Verhandeling voorgele ter nakoming van die vereistes vir die graad Magister educationis in die Derartement Opvoedkundige Sielkunde aandie Universiteit van Zululand. Eng = Submitted to the Faculty of Education for the requirements of the Master of Educational Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2006. / Afr: Die navorsingsondersoek is onderneem om nie-mishandelende ouers se belewing van hul seksueel getraumatiseerde kinders te bepaal omdat relatief min navqrsing internasionaai daaroor gedoen is en feitiik geen navorsing daaroor in Suid-Afrika beskikbaar is nie. Daar bestaan nie ooreenstemming onder kundiges oor wat as seksuele misbruik beskou word nie en die mening word gehuldig dat 'n definisie daarvan 'n mynveld van vooroordele, voorafopgestelde menings en misleidende inligting is. In hierdie studie word die konsep seksuele traumatisering gebruik. In die literatuurstudie is die rouproses as 'n kategorie gei'dentifiseer waaronder die volgende subkategoriee" resorteer skok en ongeloof, ontkenning, woede, skuldgevoelens en selfverwyt, skaamte en angs, blaam, vrees, depressie, verdriet en ambivalensie. Die ander geidentifiseerde kategoriee is die effek wat die seksueel getraumatiseerde kinders het op hul ouers se werk, kognitiewe dissonansie, sekondere traumatisering, herviktimitisering weens verskyning in die hof en posttraumatiese stresversteuring. Terme soos "gesond", "tipies", "nonnaal" en "funksioneel", wat afwisselend gebruik word, dra by tot die problematiek rondom die beskrywing van 'n gesin. Die terme funksionele en disfonksionele gesinne word vanuit die algemene sisteemteorie se perspektief vir die doeleindes van hierdie studie aanvaar. Belewing, as 'n konsep waarop die studie gebou is, maak 'n belangrike deel daarvan uit, aangesien die ouers se belewing as skakel dien met hul seksueel getraumatiseerde kind. Wat verantwoordbare hulpverlening en steun aan seksueel getraumatiseerde kinders en hul gesinne betref, vind staatstrakture dit vanwee finansiele tekorte moeilik om hul ontwerpprotokolle te implementeer. Sommige instellings (nie-regeringsorganisasies) kwyt hulle goed van hul taak betreffende hulpverlening en steun aan seksueel getraumatiseerde kinders en hul ouers. Eng:= The research was undertaken to determine the experiences of non-abusive parents who have to deal with their sexually traumatised child. Internationally, there is relatively little research done on the subject and, in South Africa, almost none. Experts have failed to agree on the concept of sexual abuse. The opinion is that definitions thereof often include prejudices, predetermined meanings, and misleading information. In this study, the concept of sexual traumatisation is used. In the literacy review, the grief process has been identified as a category that consists of the following subcategories: shock and disbelief, denial, anger, guilt feelings, self-recrimination, shame and anxiety, inappropriate blame, depression, sadness, and ambivalence. The other identified categories are the effect of the sexually abused children on their parents' work, cognitive dissonance, secondary traumatisation, revictimisation due to court appearance, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Terms like "health", "types", "normal" and "functional", which are used interchangeably, contribute towards the problematic nature of describing a family. For this study, the terms "functional" and "dysfunctional families" was adopted from the perspective of the general systems theory. Experience, as a concept on which the study was built, forms an important part thereof, since the parents' experiences serve as a link with their sexually traumatised child. Regarding responsible and effective therapeutic intervention and programmes for sexually traumatised children and their families, state structures find it difficult to implement their design protocols due to financial constraints. Some institutions (non-governmental organisations) are doing well in their task of therapeutic intervention and support to sexually traumatised children and their families.

Family characteristics, and their typologies were examined in relationship to family adaptation in 97 nonclinical families with adolescents. Cohesion, adaptability, and satisfaction were measured by Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales III. Quantity of family time and routines and value of family time and routines were assessed using an adapted version of the Family Time and Routines Index. The dependent variable, family adaptation, was obtained using the Family Member Wellbeing Index. Neither the Rhythmic Typology nor the Balanced Typology had significant differences in family across typology groups. Multiple regression analyses showed that the only family characteristic that explained variance in family adaptation was family satisfaction (Beta=.22, p <.05). The results suggest that it may be too simplistic to expect family characteristics or typologies alone to explain variance in family adaptation. The characteristics need to be examined in conjunction with stress theory variables. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to explore the image that professions other than marriage and family therapy (MFT) have of MFT as being either a profession or a subspecialty within a larger profession. Lawyers, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in three states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) were surveyed regarding their beliefs about MFT and nine other occupations. A questionnaire was developed, based upon the sociological literature pertaining to the criteria inherent in all professions. Results indicated that MFT is viewed by lawyers, physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists as being more like a subspecialty within a larger profession than a profession in its own right. Social workers were the only group which felt that MFT is more like a profession. Of note is that MFT was viewed as having a strong code of ethics, its own support structures, and it has demonstrated its usefulness. Its perceived weaknesses lie in the absence of a distinct subject matter, theory and research, methodology, that it is not based upon scholarship and research, and that clients dictate the nature of the service they receive. Future research needs to examine how MFT can change its image. / Ph. D.

The examination of literature and art has been one of psychotherapy's most powerful ways of explicating its theories and disseminating its concepts. In this study, I have explored various concepts of family psychotherapy by applying them to three works of imaginative literature, and one work of sculpture: Luigi Pirandello's play, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Franz Kafka's novella, The Metamorphosis, Robinson Jeffers' poem, "The Purse-Seine," and the ancient Roman sculpture, the Laocoon. / Ph. D.

An examination was made of the internal boundaries of families in treatment for father-daughter incest and families in treatment for other concerns. Family boundaries are described as the internal rules that define when and how family members participate within the family. Information was gathered through the use of individual in depth interviews with mothers and daughters from both groups of clinical families. A descriptive narrative about family boundaries was developed using the core category of family rules, with subsidiary categories that included family organization and family communication. Three major themes of awareness, control, and consistency emerged from the data as clinically useful concepts for describing perceptions of family rules. One important finding was that mothers and daughters from both clinical groups were found to be similar in their perceptions of family rules. A major difference between the groups related to marital power and control, with mothers in the incest treatment group reporting less control over family rules prior to the disclosure of abuse and the initiation of treatment than mothers in the control treatment group. The results of the research suggest therapists should avoid stereotyping families who are in treatment for father-daughter incest and focus instead on assessing the unique factors that contribute to a family's vulnerability to incest. The importance of providing emotional and social support for individual family members following the disclosure of father-daughter sexual abuse is also highlighted. / Ph. D.

A continuing debate in the family therapy field revolves around the issue of the academic backgrounds of therapists. Is family therapy a separate discipline learned in programs of Marriage and Family Therapy or a discrete set of skills acquired during clinical training in diverse academic and training settings? A survey of 345 student, associate, and clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) was conducted to examine the relationship between their academic backgrounds and their preferences for particular intervention methods and skills. Subjects rated their preferences for 50 therapeutic skills on a revised, self-report form of the Family Therapist Rating Scale (FTRS). When their scores were analyzed across the five scales of the FTRS (Structuring, Relationship, Historical, Structural/Process, and Experiential Behaviors), no significant differences were found across academic backgrounds, age groups, or AAMFT membership status. There was a tendency for the therapists who had more years of clinical experience to show less preference for the more directive skills on the Structural/Process Behaviors Scale. The best discriminator of therapists' choices for intervention methods and skills was their specialized training in specific models of family therapy. / M.S.

Competency-based therapy as developed by Marianne Walters is a theory-based, systemic approach modified by a feminist perspective. This thesis presented the theoretical foundations of competency-based therapy and applied them to therapy with a female-headed single-parent family with three young-adult daughters. The theory of competency-based therapy encompasses five major concepts which taken together distinguish it from other approaches to therapy. (1) Human behavior must be understood in its social context and the therapist needs to address problematic social stereotypes. (2) People have the capacity for functional behavior and the therapist's task is to focus on clients' competence to engender change. (3) The therapist sets the context for change by creating a new perspective and by working with process. (4) The therapist uses his or her own response to the family process as a guide to interventions. (5) The goal of therapy is empowering the client to make choices about how her or she will live and behave. The dysfunction which brought this family to therapy was related to the wider social context which socializes women in ways which create special difficulties for the female single-parent. The emphasis competency-based therapy places on addressing the social inequities women face and on empowering women through a systematic search for competence is illustrated by the case study. / Master of Science

Coaches and athletes utilize sports psychology as a part of training and preparation for competition. A linear individualistic epistemology is generally subscribed to by sports psychologists. This study investigated a new way of working with athletic teams, from a systems perspective. The researcher consulted with a university athletic team utilizing family systems therapy theory and techniques. This "uncommon sports psychology" approach was studied using qualitative methodology. A detailed case study, including rationale for interventions, was reported and may serve as an example to systems therapists who want to consult with “athletic teams. At the end of the consultation sessions, a focus group eliciting the participants' perceptions of the consultation process. Finally, recurrent themes and patterns which emerged throughout the consultation process were discussed. Discussion of the methodology and implications for future research and clinical work were also included. / Ph. D.

Former heart attack patients and spouses in 140 Families completed a mailed self-report questionnaire containing the Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes, the Coping and Health Inventory For Parents, three scales developed For this study measuring family process variables and demographic questions. Dependent measures were the Spielberger trait anxiety and Zung depression scales. Criteria for inclusion in the study were (a) a heart attack in the past 19 months b) married at the time of infarction and (c) ages between 30-65. The analyses included frequency distributions, correlations between the 11 variables and depression/anxiety and stepwise regression analyses using each dependent variable For both patient and spouse. Eighty-two percent of the independent variables in the patient group were correlated with anxiety and depression at at least the p≤.01 level. Thirty-nine percent of the spouse variables were correlated at at least the p≤.01 level. Variables from each of the major factors of the Double ABCX model were included. Regression analyses for the patient population showed 7 variables contributing 63 & of the variance in predicting depression and 5 variables contributing 58% of the variance in predicting anxiety. Regression analyses for the spouse population showed 4 variables that contributed 25% of the variance in predicting depression and 4 variables that contributed 32% of the variance in predicting anxiety. The results were discussed in reference to the use of these measures in further theory development and in clinical settings. Implications for further research are presented. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

A survey of 126 randomly selected family therapists investigated attitudes and practices concerning including young children (four years of age and under) in family therapy sessions. The sample was overwhelmingly in favor of including young children, but 70% of the sample included young children less than half of the time they had the opportunity. Moderating variables which were discussed included topics too sensitive to be discussed in front of the children, the lack of clarity in the literature, the need to interact with young children in an affective rather than cognitive way, and the lack of academic and experiential training in the area of child development. / Ph. D.