A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology & Special Needs Education at the University of Zululand, [2015] / Substance abuse is one of the major challenges experienced in our schools. If learners abuse substances/drugs, they do not learn and ultimately they fail or drop out of school. The researcher undertook a study on this challenge which reviewed research findings on substance abuse in South Africa. The study was aimed at finding out why learners abuse drugs, if there is any relationship between poor academic performance, school drop out and substance abuse. A quantitative study using semi structured interviews, focus groups and questionnaires as data gathering techniques focused on six learners that were referred to Education District offices for the substances abuse problem. These learners were selected from six secondary schools in the Nquthu area. Parents and educators of these six learners also participated in the study. The findings of the study showed that substance abuse negatively impacts effective professional practice that is teaching and learning. The study concludes with recommendations to educate learners on substance abuse prevention in schools and how to assist learners that are already abusing drugs.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) in the Department of Psychology University of Zululand, 1993. / Violence by men against women has become a common occurrence. Exact statistics are, however, not available as police, hospital and social service records reflect only those incidences that are reported, while suspected large percentage of abused cases remain hidden form public awareness. The present study has been motivated by the fact that there is lack of literature on empirical investigations of women abused in South African families. The aim of the study is to present^ an understanding of violence-related interactional patterns in wife battering amongst the Zulu society in Natal. The project focused on interviewing wife-battering couples. The interviews involved individual (interviewing husband and wife separately) and joint interviews with the focus on the husband's wife's views on family interactions and battering. The results of the study indicate that wife battering in Zulu society is embedded in cultural conflicts. Men adhere to tradition, while women are pushing for a changed definition that is more westernized. This then, can be used as a basis for further exploratory studies which test wife battering and treatment programmes.

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This study is a qualitative exploration of women's experiences of abuse and communication within intimate relationships. How women remain in abusive relationship is explained by how they construct and give meaning to the relationship. Strategies for surviving and resisting the abuse, women's perceptions of the abuse; as well as how they construct communication in the relationship, are discussed. Interviews were conducted with 15 women, who volunteered to participate in this study and self-identified as being involved with a physically abusive partner. All the participants were from a particular low-income, semi-rural community in South Africa. Narrative analysis, with particular emphasis on language and discourse, was conducted on unstructured interviews regarding women's relationships with their partners. Interview topics included daily problems, the presence of drugs or alcohol, communication between partners, and their experiences and responses to violence. Women described the different types of abuse they experienced; how they made sense of it; and their attempts to prevent the abuse from occurring. Women also constructed themselves and their partners within particular gender identities and cultural frameworks. The socio-cultural context provided a filter through which women understood their experiences of abuse. Dominant male and female norms were both adopted and resisted by participants, and expressed when women spoke of their interaction and communication with their partners.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-189). / This study is a qualitative exploration of women's experiences of abuse and communication within intimate relationships. How women remain in abusive relationship is explained by how they construct and give meaning to the relationship. Strategies for surviving and resisting the abuse, women's perceptions of the abuse; as well as how they construct communication in the relationship, are discussed. Interviews were conducted with 15 women, who volunteered to participate in this study and self-identified as being involved with a physically abusive partner. All the participants were from a particular low-income, semi-rural community in South Africa. Narrative analysis, with particular emphasis on language and discourse, was conducted on unstructured interviews regarding women's relationships with their partners. Interview topics included daily problems, the presence of drugs or alcohol, communication between partners, and their experiences and responses to violence. Women described the different types of abuse they experienced; how they made sense of it; and their attempts to prevent the abuse from occurring. Women also constructed themselves and their partners within particular gender identities and cultural frameworks. The socio-cultural context provided a filter through which women understood their experiences of abuse. Dominant male and female norms were both adopted and resisted by participants, and expressed when women spoke of their interaction and communication with their partners.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) affects children and their families daily in South Africa. Non-offending caregivers play an important role in their children’s recovery following CSA but there are no interventions to assist caregivers to overcome their emotional reaction to CSA disclosure and to assist them to help children their children recover. In this study, the process of developing a structured support group programme for non-offending caregivers in South Africa is discussed and its value for caregivers assessed. The programme has been developed to fit the needs of non-offending caregivers in South Africa, using an action research approach. The study utilised a mixed-method design, with a one-group pre-test, post-test design to assess the outcome of the psychoeducational support group program. The qualitative data from the psychoeducational support group sessions were used in conjunction with the pre-and post-assessment of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), assessing levels of emotional distress, and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI-4-SF). The support group members were recruited for the study from Teddy Bear Clinic (TBC) and (WMACA) Kidz Clinic. Non-offending caregivers were invited to take part in the psychoeducational support group programme. Over five months, 60 non-offending caregivers were recruited for the study, 13 of whom were screened for the support group intervention and eight agreed to participate in the psychoeducational support group intervention. Two support groups met for eight sessions. Following the implementation of the program, the results from the pre- and post-intervention assessment were analysed and compared, in order to statistically determine the impact of the structured support group programme. Participants’ qualitative experiences during the support group session and feedback regarding their perceived personal benefits from their involvement was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the research indicate that the caregivers experienced significantly less anxiety (p < 0.05), and some improvements in their depression levels (p = 0.58) as measured by the HADS. Of the seven non-offending caregivers six expressed less anxiety and five experiences less depression symptoms after the intervention. Parenting stress did not decrease significantly for the group as a whole, although the total stress (TS) scale score indicated that five of the seven group members experienced less parenting stress after the intervention. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the support group had value to address the non-offending caregiver’s level of anxiety and depression, as well as to relieve parental stress for some participants. The qualitative results also showed that members learned some parenting skills on how to manage their own and their children’s emotional reaction to CSA. It was found that members who actively participated and attended all the sessions benefitted most. This intervention can fill the gap in treating non-offending caregivers following the disclosure of CSA. It can be implemented in Child abuse treatment centres to assist caregivers to help their children overcome the impact of CSA. / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Psychology / MA (Counselling Psychology) / Unrestricted

Mortality reports show that most overdose deaths include more than one substance. In addition, there is a gap in the literature that discusses risk factors for polysubstance use. The objective of this study was to explore what factors relate to the likelihood of engaging in polysubstance use, defined as using more than one substance. Specifically, the goal was to evaluate predictors of simultaneous (i.e., the use of alcohol and another substance at the same time in the past six months) polysubstance use and concurrent (i.e., the use of any two substances in the past six months) polysubstance use, vs. no substance use and single substance use combined. Data were obtained from the 2021 CARA Orange County Residents Survey conducted by the Orange County Drug Free Office. Seven hundred thirty-five participants aged 18 years and older were asked about their drug use, risk perceptions of polysubstance use, sensation seeking, ACE scoring, and protective measures used while using drugs and alcohol. SPSS was used to conduct bivariate and logistic regression analysis to predict simultaneous and concurrent polysubstance use from demographic factors, sensation seeking, ACE scores, number of sexual partners, and incapacitated sexual assault. Bivariate and logistic regression analysis demonstrate that neither simultaneous nor concurrent polysubstance use were associated with most demographic factors. Number of sexual partners was positively associated with both simultaneous and concurrent polysubstance use; however, incapacitated sexual assault was not related to either type of polysubstance use. High sensation-seeking and high ACE scores were significantly associated with simultaneous and concurrent use. This research supported the hypothesis that higher sensation seeking and ACE scores were associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in both concurrent and simultaneous polysubstance use. Future research is needed to further explore the frequency and problems associated with polysubstance use. This study sets the groundwork to analyze psychosocial risk factors for polysubstance use.

Focusing on policy consultation, my dissertation consults on the current US addiction epidemic and aims to answer, "What is our disposition to addiction?" Borrowing and clarifying Ulmer's MEmorial method, as established in his text Electronic Monuments, the dissertation combines the ancient Greek practice of theoria, Deleuzian theory, and psychogeographic counter-mapping methods to trace ways in which ideological apparatuses construct addiction. The aim of the dissertation is to reveal an abject value by constructing MEmorials which provide space for individuals to mourn loss and see their relation to that loss. Through mourning, individuals strengthen their ties to other community members and new policy can be made possible. Currently there is not an AIDS-like quilt for the victims of the addiction epidemic; therefore, the dissertation proposes the construction of a physical and electronic MEmorial to addiction. By conducting a psychogeography, a method directly tied to logic and reasoning appropriate to electracy, I traced the abject value of desire as it is constructed through the assemblages that construct the values of the Bradenton, FL community. The psychogeography revealed a categorical image "DE" which I traced through the ideological state apparatuses working their effects on Bradenton, FL. The image also connects to Bradenton, FL to the larger National War on Drugs through the star emblem of John Wayne. Concluding from the method, I argue to create a MEmorial to addiction at the John Wayne Birthplace Museum to reveal the horror of our communal desires and call for national drug policy reform.