Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work)) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / Refer to document / Financial Aid of the University of Limpopo

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Psychiatry. Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on August 13, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

M.Sc. / The present study explores the personal narratives of three battered women who have been involved in the killing of their batterers, with regards to the processes of the perpetuation of abuse and victimising patterns in contexts of the battering - relationships, the criminal justice system and the prison system, which contribute to the co-creation of the women's sense of self and identity. The narratives unfold from a prison setting, where these three women are serving long-term sentences. The narratives are described within a social constructionist perspective. Two-tape recorded conversations of an hour and a half were held with each of the participants in this study. The conversations included a written dialogue from the women. In-depth interviews were used to guide the emerging narratives. The reflections of the researcher are linked to the analysis of the co-created narratives. The narratives suggest that the recognition of these women as victims of violence is clouded by the need for larger systems, namely, the criminal justice system and the prison system to identify the women as perpetrators of violence. The prison system parallels the battering relationship in positioning the women as victims. Suggestions around the treatment of- battered women who kill in prison, include communally validating the experiences and feelings of these women through the processes of group therapy. Re-categorising the women in prison, as battered women who kill, rather than murderers so as to recognise the context of the battered women is suggested. Community service is considered as an alternative to long term imprisonment. Community outreach programs from prison to share knowledge of battered women who kill is also suggested. Government policies, where possible, should be made accessible and government sponsored shelters should be established so as to recognise battered women who kill as victims of violence. Children of battered women who kill should be given assistance and provided with necessary treatment. Empirical research is needed in order to determine the prevalence of battered women who kill. Comparative studies are needed to determine whether these findings can be generalised to the general population of battered women who kill.

PhD (Sociology) / Department of Social Work

<p>This thesis sought to explore the challenges experienced by selected clergy within the Anglican Church in dealing with domestic violence. The sample was drawn from the Diocese of Cape Town of the church of the Province of Southern Africa, based on the participants' experience of the phenomenon and their willingness to participate in the study. The researcher used face-to-face interviews utilizing a semi-structured interview guide for data collection. Questions were open-ended to allow for free flow of information. Because of the sensitive nature of the study, probing questions were followed up by responses to get in-depth perceptions and experiences of clergy's involvement in domestic violence. With reference to the ethical considerations in this study, all participants were thoroughly briefed before the interview with clear explanations of the goal, procedure and advantages of the study. Participants had the opportunity to withdraw at any stage of the interview as participation was completely voluntary.Consistent with literature, this study confirmed the complex nature of domestic violence. Participants experienced various challenges on different levels in the ministry pertaining to domestic violence.These challenges primarily related to the lack of training in dealing with real life issues such as domestic violence during their theological training, the lack of theological guidelines offered by the church to address patriarchal societal practices, beliefs and gender stereotyping, and the lack of guidance on contexual interpretation of Scriptures.</p>

This thesis examines the therapeutic narratives of sexually abused women. It is based on four in-depth case studies and my experience in counselling hundreds of other women. Two opening chapters outline the methodological and theoretical basis upon which these stories have come to be presented. These accounts unfold through a therapeutic facilitation which has been informed by feminist and narrative therapies, Jungian dream analysis, and a vast array of sexual abuse and related literature. My written translation of these experiences, on the other hand, has been shaped greatly by sociological argument. The foremost of these include feminist standpoint theory, reflexive transformation, and symbolic interaction. The bringing together of these fields serves to create two additional and sometimes conflicting voices - therapist and researcher - which are heard in and around the voices of my clients. The main body of the thesis develops, in storied form, clients' attempts to define and reintegrate themselves following sexual violations in light of a lack of self-authority, fears around voicing their trauma, fragmented memories, disassociation from their own language and symbolism, and a general sense of personal invalidity. In the face of these and other obstacles the therapeutically facilitated accounts bring to the fore unique and creative strategies for integrating these similarly dehumanizing experiences. Each narrative also speaks clearly of the need for a perspective outside of the client which will, in reflecting it back to her, hopefully disarm some of its horror for her and eventually allow it to be integrated by her. In addition, popular therapeutic discourse on sexual abuse has inadvertently served to silence many of my clients by removing them from this experience through a reconstruction of it for them in a theory and language that falls short of capturing its essence. These narrative reconstructions alternatively dispense with those and other descriptions of the client's trauma in favour of internally produced symbols and associations. Just as the sexual abuse narrative needs a discourse into which it can flow in order for it to be heard, it needs also to first be made right at the intra-personal level before it can be widely shared. Within the context of this thesis the therapist has mediated the client's story while the sociologist has sought and amplified its social significance.

Battered women's perceptions of gender roles within the family were studied. Twenty white, working-class women who were victims of domestic violence were interviewed. It was determined that battered women have very traditional views of gender roles in the family and these views affected the choices that they made within their relationships and their ability to escape these abusive relationships.

Research has documented an association between sustained overt psychological abuse and women's self-concept and psychological distress. However, the focus on overt domination and control limits our understanding of its impact and is a weakness addressed in this study. Women in distressed relationships who had sustained severe psychological abuse from a partner and either no, moderate, or serious violence met inclusion criteria.

Women's vulnerability to domestic violence is a widespread social problem that causes problematic consequences for society and to the individual. I wondered what significance the professionals' knowledge has to help abused women, how professionals and abused women describe abused womens needs, and how the professionals work with and consider important in meeting with and helping abused women. Six qualitative interviews with a social worker who were working as a therapist in the social services, as councilors and in women's shelter were performed. The results showed that the professionals regarded specific knowledge of domestic violence as a prerequisite for being able to help the woman adequately. Furthermore, it appeared that the woman's needs could be psychological need of support and processing, but also help with practical issues to sort out their situation. The social workers were mapping the violence and the situation of the abused women. The mapping could determine the woman's needs and potential contributions. / Kvinnors utsatthet för våld i nära relationer är ett omfattande samhällsproblem som får problematiska följder både för samhället och individen. Jag ställde mig frågan vilken betydelse de professionellas kunskap har för att hjälpa våldsutsatta kvinnor, hur de professionella och kvinnorna ser på kvinnans behov, samt hur de professionella arbetar med och anser är viktigt i mötet med våldsutsatta kvinnor. Sex intervjuer med socialarbetare som jobbade som behandlare inom socialtjänst, kuratorer och kvinnojour genomfördes. Resultatet visade att de professionella såg särskild kunskap om våld i nära relationer som en förutsättning för att kunna hjälpa kvinnan på ett adekvat sätt. Vidare framgick att kvinnans behov kunde utgöras av psykiskt behov av stöd och bearbetning, men också praktisk hjälp för att få ordning på sin situation. För att hjälpa kvinnan kartlade man våldet och kvinnans situation. Genom kartläggningen kunde man utröna kvinnans behov och bedöma insatser.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. / The present research aimed to illustrate a link between the two domains of work and abuse. It was an investigation into "the various relationships which exist between spouse abuse and intrapersonal and alternative interpersonal coping resources in employed women.The intrapersonal coping resources identified in past literature and currently examined included self-esteem and level of depression. Alternative interpersonal resources provided by the work sphere were also included for investigation; namely work social support and value-rich work. Amixed quantitative-qual itative research design yielded measures on the five variables of spouse abuse, self-esteem, depression, work social support, and value-rich work; as well as on the two dimensions of physical and non-physical violence, and an additional variable of work support obtained from counselling programmes.The final sample consisted of 106 female employees from a variety of occupational groups. A content analysis of information regarding workplace counselling programmes and its effect on self-esteem and depression generated insignificant results. However, quantitative analyses via Pearson's Product MomentCorrelation Coefficients, one-way ANOVA's and multiple moderated regressions, illustrated very strong support for the remaining hypotheses. This implied that significant relationships did exist between abuse and the coping resources of self-esteem, depression. work support and value-rich work.