A dissertation submitted in the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Masters degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013. / This study examined the relationship between the Child Support Grant (CSG) and teenage pregnancy. The first objective of the study was to establish the relationship, if any, between teenage pregnancy and the Child Support Grant. The second objective was to determine whether or not the variable of educational level, religious affiliation, and location play a role in teenage pregnancy and the support grant. In order to achieve the aims of the study, the researcher constructed his own scale. The study used a quantitative methodology to establish the relationship between Child Support Grant and teenage pregnancy. Questionnaires were used to collect data. The questionnaires were distributed to fifty participants representing the total sample of the study. These questionnaires were correctly completed and were analysed using SPSS. The chi-square measure of association was used to test for the relationship between CSG and teenage pregnancy. The findings of the study indicated that teenagers differ in terms of whether there is a relationship between CSG and teenage pregnancy. Forty eight per cent of the participants were found to have a negative view on the notion that there is a relationship between CSG and teenage pregnancy, and fifty two per cent were favourably disposed. However, the difference was not statistically significant. In answering the second research question, this study revealed that variables such as educational level, location and religious affiliation did not have any influence on child support grant. This was confirmed by statistical tests performed. The limitations of the study were identified and suggestions for further research were documented.

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With an increasing number of veterans returning to civilian life after deployment in combat, it is important to analyze what challenges they face during reintegration, what resources assist them with coping with these challenges, and which of these resources they perceive as the most helpful. The literature indicates that the most common challenges faced by returning veterans are employment difficulties, family readjustment problems and mental health issues which are shown to be positively affected by the presence of social support networks (Burnell, Coleman, & Hunt, 2009). There exists a gap, however in the research regarding the extent to which each particular social support network affects veterans' reintegration. This qualitative study explored veterans' perceptions of the challenges faced during reintegration, and the social supports which assisted the most during the reintegration process in order to try to bridge the gap in the research. The findings indicate that veterans struggle the most with reconnecting emotionally with family and friends, managing strong emotions (such as anxiety and alienation), missing the military after discharge, and dealing with the negative effects of deployment on daily life (such as difficulty sleeping, anxiety, and difficulty finding employment). Unit support was overwhelmingly expressed as the most helpful social support, while family and friends were seen more as a challenge than a help. Many veterans went on to surround themselves with fellow veterans and/or join the reserves after their active duty was up.

Social support is an important prerequisite for us humans to maintain healthy and rewarding relationships vis-à-vis our work. Further, social support is about giving the individual resources such as encouragement, information and tools which lead to positive health and good work achievements. Previous research indicates that middle managers constitute a professional group of people lacking in resources and support, which makes it difficult for them to do a good job. Additionally, this area of research is not much researched. For these reasons the aim of this study is to narrow the research gap with regard to our understanding of middle managers’ experiences of social support. The empirical data on which the study is based consist of seven semi-structured interviews with middle managers from a specific municipal administration in the municipality of Norrbotten in North Sweden. This study was conducted in close cooperation with the municipality and it was the municipality itself that selected the respondents/interviewees, which admittedly may be a shortcoming of the study. This is explained more in detail in the method section. The results show that the coworkers are a great asset to the social support the middle managers receive, for example by being able to ease the burden and assist the middle managers with new knowledge in their work. Indeed, the support of the coworkers seems essential in providing the middle managers with social support. Also, the results show that middle manager colleagues can be a valuable resource in social support: in the study the middle manager colleagues give each other advice and in doing so they are able to ease the burden of work they experience. However, the middle managers also experience a lack of giving each other feedback. They experience that “negative feedback” is not exchanged between them for fear of it being sensitive. Conversely, “positive” feedback is not exchanged since the middle managers judge themselves bad at praising each other. The results also show that the middle managers all feel trusted by their supervisors, which in turn makes them more confident and allows them to make difficult decisions. Furthermore, the results show that the middle managers feel that there are deficits in social support and they experience a lack of resources, which make it harder for them to carry out certain work tasks. In particular, the lack of resources pertains to skills development in finances, financial systems and HR related matters. Lastly, the middle managers feel that elearning within the municipality is insufficient due to difficulties of learning through this mode of teaching

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