A dissertation submitted to the faculty of arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts (clinical psychology) / The present research study, located in the field of social psychology and attribution theory investigated variations in causal attributions of abused women in relation to reported severity, duration and frequency of the abuse. The study aimed to expand current attributional research to incorporate global/specific attributional dimensions of blame. Although theories of learned helplessness have been linked to global attributions of blame, this relationship has been under-researched in the area of women abuse. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / AC2017

No abstract available. / Thesis (M. A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2004.

D.Litt et Phil. / The study explored strategies abused women use to overcome power and control in their intimate relationships, using their own self-agency. Data was collected through the technique of triangulation in which three women who were legally divorced, wrote their own stories, after which each was individually interviewed by the researcher to get information about the process of leaving and staying away from their abusive relationships, and clearing up and moving on with their lives. Grounded theory was used to analyse the stories, the individual interviews, and the focused group discussion to generate information about the process of leaving abusive relationships on a more abstract level. The study is based on the epistemological underpinnings of post-modernism and feminism. The categories of open coding were generated from the research process and the data: These are abuse, emotional absence, dependence, resistance, use of absolutes, expectations, idealism, independence, decision-making, empowerment, recovery, innate strength and resources, self-esteem, culture and religion, introspection, verbal conceptualisation, hope, spirituality, and absence of social justice. Participants used a broad range of empowerment strategies in the process of leaving their abusive marital relationships and showed that leaving an abusive relationship is a recursive process of leaving and returning, for which women cannot be blamed. They had to make a paradigm shift to establish a basis for leaving, use their internal and external resources to make it on their own, and utilise aspects of psychological, social, racial/cultural, and religious forms of empowerment to advocate on their own behalf. The process of decision-making enabled them to gradually reclaim control over their lives. The empowerment of abused women was not necessarily equivalent to their full recovery from abuse, even though this was a pivotal point in the recovery process that began long before the women left their relationships. The results show that those women who had innate strength and were able to use it to access community resources, were more likely to leave abusive relationships. The women who participated in this study managed to leave their abusive marriages, despite having their lives threatened; each of them grew and developed personally and transformed their lives. Each has realised that there is life after abuse.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2000.

D.Litt et Phil. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. / NISAA was established in 1994. It is one of the first organisations dealing with women abuse in Lenasia and the surrounding areas. The organisation has great potential in becoming a recognised institution in South Africa. Women who are in distress, have no where to go and are left abandoned have a shelter with NISAA. In the short period of its existence NISAA has strived hard to uplift and assist women. Counselling and treatment is offered on a daily basis by professionals and trained personnel. However, many needs still have to be met and research has shown us that not nearly enough is being done for those who are being abused, be it wife abuse or child abuse. The processs of research is presented in five stages and covers, the problem statement, the literature survey, research methodology, analysis, conclusions and recommendation. The survey of the literature is very important in this study. South Africa has become epitomised by a rapidly changing social order, swiftly unfolding political development and an unprecedented fluidity in the thinking of future opinions. The attitudes and perceptions of domestic violence and violence in general needs to be changed. The chapter on research methodology stresses the importance of feminist organisations. Feminist organisations' role is vital in any study on woman abuse, as research on woman abuse began with these organisations. Methodology in this study also focuses on the qualitative nature of battering, research and the relevant themes surrounding battering. These themes include woman abuse, intervention. treatment and shelters. Other important aspects discussed is coding of data, research design, sampling and interviewing procedures. The analysis and results shows that NISAA has made a significant contribution to battering of women. From the results of this study, NISAA has become an important structure and service in the South African society. The services NISAA should expand on include, a safe and positive crisis help, as well as promoting the rights of all victims. Important to the growth of NISAA is alleviating the funding problem. Other relevant findings discussed are attitudes and perceptions of women abuse and services that encourage and discourage the use of NISAA. These findings compliments. Gishen's (1993) study on the Power Organisation. Recommendations made to NISAA are based on the findings of this research. This research hopefully will expose abuse, help women to achieve recognition in its fight against abuse and in its quest for the empowerment of women. The research was also intended as an educative process. This study entails the physical and psychological abuse of women which has become a global problem. The problem needs to be addressed, understood, analysed and treated. An effective solution must be found.

PhD (Sociology) / Department of Sociology / The purpose of the study was to explore and understand the circumstances, which influence abused female breadwinners to stay in nuptial contracts and to model coping strategies for their plight. The study was qualitative in nature and an explorative case study design of abused married female breadwinners who had reported cases at Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme (TVEP) trauma centers in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa was used. A critical case purposive sample was used to draw a cross-sectional sample of 12 participants from a total population of 1800 female breadwinners who reported cases between 2010 and 2015. The data collection methods were; in-depth interviews, focus group discussions from the same participants and key informants‟ interviews from three TVEP female managers. The three data collection techniques ensured triangulation for more complete and well-validated outcomes of the study. The data analysis method was the Van Mann. The study found out that a plethora of circumstances that involves the following; culture, the desire to take care of children, culture, religion, social needs, social status and entrapment influences abused married female breadwinners to stay in abusive marriages. As a result, they are forced to devise some coping strategies that include; problem solving strategies, reporting to the police, protection orders, seeking refuge, alcohol abuse and dependence, counselling, religious intervention, social support to cope with their plight. Establishing the reasons was critical in coming up with intervention methods that may help to curb abuse and coping strategies that may assist them in their plight. / NRF

Thesis (M. A. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of the North, 2003 / Refer to the document

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / The study investigated the psychological factors that compel battered women to remain in abusive relationships. According to statistics in South Africa (SA) one in every five women is battered by her partner, and one in every four of all women in SA are assaulted by their partners weekly. The research approach was qualitative in nature. Sampling for the study was purposive and utilised eight participants who met the criteria for the investigation. The study was conducted at Tshilidzhini Hospital Trauma Centre and The Sibasa Victim Empowerment unit in Thohoyandou, Vhembe District in the Limpopo province. Data was gathered using a semi-structured questionnaire guide. Data was analysed, using Thematic Content Analysis (TCA), to gain an in-depth account of each participant’s experience of abuse. The results of the study indicate that cultural factors still play an important role in facilitating women abuse. The women in the study used religion, denial and avoidance, guilt and self-blame as coping mechanisms. Low self-esteem, depression, cognitive dissonance and relationship hope and commitment were identified as psychological factors compelling battered women to remain in abusive relationships. The study recommended that educational programmes and workshops on woman abuse be provided to empower women in rural areas.

This study investigates the meaning that women attach to their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV). It seeks to explore how women who have experienced violence in the context of an intimate relationship understand, or make sense of, that experience. It is important to investigate this in order to address some of the assumptions that often inform understandings of the phenomena. Moreover, such information can be used to inform the design and implementation of appropriate interventions. Nine women who had previously experienced violence within the context of an intimate heterosexual relationship participated in this study. For ethical reasons only women who had extricated themselves from those relationships were interviewed for this study. Participants’ accounts were therefore retrospective. The women who participated in this study constituted a homogenous group in terms of their level of education, geographic location and employment status. Data was collected through personal, face-to-face interviews which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data in the form of text was analyzed following Willig’s (2001) criteria for Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Disclosure of the women’s experiences, how they made sense of their experiences, as well as the resources they identified as available to them are reported in the results and analysis chapter.