In the experience of being a play therapist and social worker, the researcher became aware of the breakdown of adolescent foster placements. Although there are many causal factors of adolescent foster care breakdown, it was the treatment and sustaining of these placements that the researcher was interested in. The utilization of dyadic brief Gestalt play therapy aims to support the relationship between the carer and adolescent in order to sustain and stabilize the foster placement. The empirical study includes data collection and analysis. The data was gathered through observations and field notes from unstructured interviews, in this case the dyadic therapeutic process with the adolescent and carer. The data was then analyzed, and eleven outcomes were discussed: the building of a therapeutic relationship, the process of dialogue, the gaining of awareness, contact, resistance, the internal working model, polarities, working in the here and now, the utilization of Gestalt experiments and Gestalt play therapeutic techniques. In addition, the implications of the brief Gestalt therapeutic model were identified. These themes are discussed fully in the final chapter encompassing conclusions and recommendations.This study found that it was possible to work effectively with the adolescent and carer in a dyadic brief Gestalt therapeutic way utilizing play therapy techniques. Recommendations regarding the conclusions were made in relation to the outcomes of this study. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play therapy)

Teenage pregnancies are currently a social problem in South Africa and in the rest of the world. Social workers are involved with teenage girls by providing guidance during their pregnancies and face many challenges by accepting this role. The objective of this qualitative study was to identify and describe the needs of social workers when guiding pregnant teenage girls. A conceptual framework with the Gestalt approach as the theoretical framework for the study was stated after which an empirical study took place. In-depth interviews took place with nine social workers. Results were then verified in a focus group discussion. From the empirical data themes and sub themes were identified and verified with relevant literature. These themes and sub themes were then interpreted through the Gestalt approach. Conclusions and recommendations were made to social workers and interdisciplinary teams, which form part of the network that are involved with pregnant teenage girls. / Thesis (M.Diac. (Spelterapie)

This study investigates variables that influence choice of Physical Science as a secondary school subject. The variables are pupil, home environment, teacher and school environment. A questionnaire was administered to 849 grade 9 pupils. The following findings are recorded: The better pupils achieve in Science the more likely that they will further their studies in Science. If pupils have positive self-concepts, beliefs about, attitudes and interest in Science and enjoyed Science at primary school they are inclined to choose Science as a subject. Pupils who choose Science view it as a valuable subject for daily life, have parents who evaluate Science favourably and come from better socio-economic backgrounds than those who do not choose Science. These pupils also view the attitudes, personalities, competencies and methods of assessment of their Science teachers positively. Finally, they perceive the Science curricula and textbooks as beneficial. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions, attitudes, opinions and fears of the adolescent high school learners towards HIV counseling and testing at school.Quantitative, descriptive, exploratory research was conducted to determine if high school learners would like to be tested for HIV at school. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. The respondents in the study were daytime high school learners (n=120) who were in grade 8 to 12, between ages of 12 to 18 years of age. The study highlighted that adolescents engage in sexual activities at an early age. The results revealed that there is lack of knowledge, unavailability of HCT services for adolescents and the resources to keep a girl child school. This behavior may result in adolescents contracting sexually transmitted infections and HIV, falling pregnant at an early age, which may force adolescent high school learners to drop out of school. However, the study shows that government has more to educate adolescent high school learners about HIV/AIDS to modify their perceptions and attitudes towards HIV counseling and testing. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health studies)

The aim of this study was to investigate the causes of learner dropout in secondary schools around Johannesburg South, Gauteng Province. Twenty-seven participants from three secondary schools in Orange Farm area were purposively sampled for the study. A qualitative design was used. In-depth interviews were conducted to collect data to allow the researcher a platform to ask open-response questions and to explore the participants’ perspectives about the causes of learner dropout. The data was analysed thematically by carefully identifying and describing significant themes that emerged from educators, learners, parents, SGB chairpersons and principal’s responses to interview questions. The study revealed that teenage pregnancy, lack of parental involvement, substance abuse and peer pressure, among others, were the causes of learner dropout. The study recommends that schools put more efforts on abstinence programs, sex education and the use of contraceptives such as condoms, pills and injectables; training of educators on the management of drugs and pregnancy, and resuscitation of extra-mural activities. Recommendations for further research were made. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

As unemployment is on the rise in developing economies as the result of a decline in the global economy during the past decade, increased attention is paid to entrepreneurship as generator of global economic growth. It has been noted that sustainable economic development cannot be achieved without entrepreneurship, nor can a country increase its gross domestic product and stock of wealth, or improve its citizens’ quality of life, if entrepreneurship is not increased. In order to increase the prospect of entrepreneurship in a country, it is necessary to introduce secondary school learners to entrepreneurship from the early grades, specifically the Grades 8 and 9 General Education and Training phase years. To stimulate learners’ interest in the subject, it is important to provide them with appropriate resources and textbooks, competent teachers and a well-structured curriculum. The knowledge and skills gained from studying entrepreneurship could influence learners’ future career choices. The unemployment rate in South Africa is high and 70 per cent of unemployed South Africans are youths. This percentage grows annually as learners exit the Further Education and Training (FET) phase. There is a dearth of literature on the attitudes of South African Business Studies learners in the FET phase towards entrepreneurship as a future career. Additionally, the role that entrepreneurship education plays in the potential career choices of Business Studies learners in the FET phase has not been explored extensively. Consequently this study attempted to explore the role of entrepreneurship education in influencing Business Studies learners in the FET phase in choosing entrepreneurship as a career. A qualitative case study research method was used to conduct the study. Three schools were identified and data were collected from them. The data-gathering methods employed were face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with Business Studies teachers; and focus group interviews with Business Studies learners in the three schools. The objective of the interviews was to determine the respondents’ views on the role that entrepreneurship education plays in learners’ career choices. The findings of the study indicate that teachers and learners strongly agree that entrepreneurship education plays a significant role in learners’ choice of entrepreneurship as a career. However, the respondents (both teachers and learners) highlighted challenges that could prevent learners from choosing entrepreneurship as a career. / Namate ʼn insinking in die wêreldekonomie die afgelope dekadewerkloosheid in ontwikkelende lande laat toeneem het, geniet entrepreneurskap as stimulus vir globale ekonomiese groei groter aandag. Dit is alombekend dat entrepreneurs noodsaaklik is vir volhoubare ekonomiese ontwikkeling. Sonder entrepreneurs kan geen ekonomie groei nie, kan geen land sy bruto binnelandse produk en rykdomreserwe vermeerdernie, en bly sy burgers se lewenstandaard onveranderd. Ten einde entrepreneurs te kweek, moet hoërskoolleerders reeds in Graad 8 en 9, in die jare van Algemene Onderwys en Opleiding (oftewel die AOO-fase), met entrepreneurskap kennis maak. Om hulle belangstelling te prikkel, isgeskikte hulpmiddels en handboeke, bevoegde onderwysers en ʼn behoorlik gestruktureerde kurrikulum noodsaaklik. Die kennis en vaardighede wat leerders in die studie van entrepreneurskap opdoen, kan hulle loopbaankeuse bepaal. Suid-Afrika het ʼn hoë werkloosheidsyfer en 70 persent van die land se werkloses is jongmense. Hierdie persentasie styg jaar na jaar namate leerders die fase vir Verdere Onderwys en Opleiding (VOO) voltooi. Daar is ʼn skaarste aan literatuur oor die vraagof Besigheidstudiein die VOO-fase Suid- Afrikaanse leerders se ingesteldheid jeens entrepreneurskapas loopbaan beïnvloed. Ook is die rol wat onderrig in entrepreneurskap in leerders se keuse van ʼn loopbaan speel, nog nie volledig ondersoek nie. Gevolglik poog hierdie studie om te bepaal of onderrig in entrepreneurskap Besigheidstudieleerders in die VOO-fase entrepreneurs van beroep laat word. ʼn Kwalitatiewe gevallestudie is as navorsingsmetode gebruik. Data is by drie skole ingesamel. By hierdie skole is deels gestruktureerde onderhoude van aangesig tot aangesig gevoer met Besigheidstudieonderwysers en fokusgroeponderhoude met Besigheidstudieleerders. Die doel van die onderhoude was om vas te stel of leerders van mening is dat onderrig in entrepreneurskap hulle loopbaankeuse bepaal. Volgens die bevindings van hierdie studie is onderwysers en leerders dit volkome eens dat onderrig ʼn bepalende rol in leerders se keuse van entrepreneurskap as loopbaan speel. Desnietemin het sowel onderwysers as leerders op uitdagings gewys wat verhoed dat leerders hierdie loopbaan volg. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

This study investigated coercive and high risk sexual practices in South African adolescent dating relationships. Quantitative and qualitative information was collected from secondary school learners in a community near Johannesburg. Of 928 learners surveyed, 23.5% of females and 53.7% of males ever had sex. Of these, 57.8% of females and 44.2% of males reported sexual victimisation, and 46.8% of females and 50% of males reported perpetrating sexual coercion in a relationship. Significantly more males engaged in risky sex than females. Among females, sexual coercion was significantly linked to risky sexual behaviour. Among males, alcohol and perpetration of sexual coercion were significantly associated with risky sexual behaviour. Focus group data reveal how dominant constructions of gender normalise male coercion and contribute to risky sexual practices. Recommendations for sexual health initiatives include introducing alternative discourses of female sexual desire and male sexual responsibility as a means for building healthier adolescent dating relationships. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The mobile phone forms part of a teenager’s life world and reality today and can be regarded as a tool with which they not only communicate, but also use them to gain access to the Internet, social media and social networking sites. The primary aim of this study was to determine if the mobile phone, with all its functionalities, has an impact on the development of the adolescent’s identity formation, social development and communication skills as well as the sense of the self. Another objective of this study was to determine what the opinions and perceptions are of older generations with regard to mobile practices of the youth. A concurrent triangulation mixed method design was utilised for the purpose of the study. The quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted simultaneously and the data and results from each method were integrated and interpreted as a whole. The quantitative data gathering method was short self-structured questionnaires that were completed by learners (190), teachers (35) and parents (21) to provide a general overview of mobile usage among adolescents. A single-group pre-test post-test experimental design and individual interviews were conducted with eight volunteers. Lastly, 12 learners took part in a focus group interview as a confirmation technique for all the information that was gathered. The findings of the empirical investigation revealed that the mobile phone is used nowadays as a social tool, a planning tool and a convenience tool. The constant connectedness the mobile phone provides, strengthens the adolescents’ self-esteem and self-confidence and contributes strongly to their self-worth. The mobile phone is used as a self-expressive personalised tool and forms part of the sense of the adolescent self. It was also found that adolescents build their relationships with others on a two-dimensional platform that involves online and offline communication and activities. A definite gap exists between older generations’ perceptions and adolescents in connection with the ways that adolescents use their mobile phones nowadays. Parents and teachers have to accept the fact that technology forms part of today’s youth and they should change their mind-sets with regard to this complicated and complex phenomenon. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Text in Afrikaans / Approximately 50 percent of all marriages end up in divorce according to estimates. Thirty percent of divorcees enter into wedlock again within one year from being divorced, thereby creating a reconstructed family. The child in the late middle childhood years experiences some unique challenges during the reconstruction of the family due to influences such as the parent-child relationship, parenting styles and the start of puberty. The purpose of this qualitative study is to determine the child's psychological experience within the reconstructed family and to provide guidelines to parents (and co-therapists) on how to deal with children during the reconstruction process. The qualitative method of research was applied as it is a more informal research procedure and the boundaries of the study subject are reasonably wide and undefined. The method provides an adaptable strategy regarding problem formulation and data collection, which allow semi-structured interviews, observations and field notes, and enable the researcher to obtain first hand knowledge and understanding of the problem. / Social Work / M. Diac.(Play Therapy)

This study examines the relationship between adolescent depressive symptomology and substance abuse. From a literature study six hypotheses were developed. A quantitative empirical study, undertaken in a South African high school, investigated the level of adolescent depressiVe symptomology and substance abuse, as well as the relationship between the two. The influence of various moderator variables was also examined. In line with most international studies, the relationship between adolescent depressive symptomotogy and substance abuse was found to be significant. This research has shown that adolescent depressive symptomology is significantly and positively correlated with earlier age at onset of substance abuse as well as frequency of usage. There appear to be gender differences in the way adolescents deal with their depression in terms of substance abuse. In addition, risk factors for depression and substance abuse were confirmed. Recommendations have been made based on these results / Educational Studies / M.Ed.