This research case was divided into five facets (amacala) and was carried out in Mthatha at the Eastern Cape Province and in the University of Pretoria in Gauteng Province. The first phase of this project was aimed at introducing a general introductory chapter to this study, the second phase was a research methodology, the third phase was literature review of the related publications, the fourth phase was the pastoral therapeutic process and interviews, the fifth phase was the final phase that cycled off this dissertation with the summary of findings and the conclusions of the research project with recommendations. The uniting factor to help these weak three grouping families would be the theocentric family based on Trinitarian unconditional love covenant, grace, empowering and intimacy. The pastoral care narrative counseling should be based on narrative therapy supported by the Word of God basically in Acts 4.10&12, John 1: 12-13. The marriage question seemed to be source or relationship counselling which also needed theocentric approach to return to family origin of God. The Eurocentric, Africentric and Asiacentric approaches are not the answers to the infected and affected African families experiencing loss and grief and both European and Asian families have the same origin as that of African family, the theocentric family of God. This need further investigate especially to the extended family in Africa and Asia and Asiatic family on Asiatic side. Polygamy also would need much attention since it could be a source of traumatic event to both African and Asian families. Church involvement to counselling was not yet clear how parishioners were trained to help the pastor in the therapeutic activities. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

This research case was divided into five facets (amacala) and was carried out in Mthatha at the Eastern Cape Province and in the University of Pretoria in Gauteng Province. The first phase of this project was aimed at introducing a general introductory chapter to this study, the second phase was a research methodology, the third phase was literature review of the related publications, the fourth phase was the pastoral therapeutic process and interviews, the fifth phase was the final phase that cycled off this dissertation with the summary of findings and the conclusions of the research project with recommendations. The uniting factor to help these weak three grouping families would be the theocentric family based on Trinitarian unconditional love covenant, grace, empowering and intimacy. The pastoral care narrative counseling should be based on narrative therapy supported by the Word of God basically in Acts 4.10&12, John 1: 12-13. The marriage question seemed to be source or relationship counselling which also needed theocentric approach to return to family origin of God. The Eurocentric, Africentric and Asiacentric approaches are not the answers to the infected and affected African families experiencing loss and grief and both European and Asian families have the same origin as that of African family, the theocentric family of God. This need further investigate especially to the extended family in Africa and Asia and Asiatic family on Asiatic side. Polygamy also would need much attention since it could be a source of traumatic event to both African and Asian families. Church involvement to counselling was not yet clear how parishioners were trained to help the pastor in the therapeutic activities. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

“The family is the building block of society. It is a nursery, a school, a hospital, a leisure centre, a place of refuge and rest. It encompasses the whole of society. It fashions our beliefs; it is the preparation for the rest of our life,” Margaret Thatcher (1988). We are all well aware of the important role of family in people’s lives, we know it can affect you, empower you, or break you. Many studies and research has sought to define the role and influence of family in every which way, but truthfully, we can never know enough and we will never know everything. As human beings, we constantly strive for more – more knowledge, more understanding, and more insight. But the family, in essence, is a mystery; a far too complex and unique system that cannot be broken down into simple numbers or words. It is this that inspired me to do this study – although we can never know everything, we can always know more. This study therefore aimed to investigate the psychosocial well-being of a group of families and from the findings obtained, develop a conceptual framework and a model for psychosocial well-being of families from diverse cultures in a South African context. The research method consisted of two stages namely, stage one: a multi-method approach using quantitative and qualitative research for theory generation, and stage two: formulation of a conceptual framework and visual model. The first phase consisted of a quantitative research design with a sample size of 772 participants. The aim of the first phase was to determine the prevalence of psychosocial well-being in families and to identify families who report high, moderate and low levels of psychosocial well-being, using validated psychological instruments. The second aim of the quantitative phase was to propose a measurement model to assess family psychosocial well-being in a South African context. The second phase consisted of a qualitative, explorative research design used to understand and describe aspects that contribute to the psychosocial well-being of families from diverse cultures in a South African context, by analysing the storied (narrative) experiences (N = 23), drawings (N = 14) and family interviews (N = 36) of identified families who reported psychosocial well-being or less thereof, in the first phase of the study (Creswell, 2003). These findings were then utilized to develop a conceptual framework followed and a model for the psychosocial well-being of families in a South African context. The findings from the first, quantitative phase show a rather small group of participants who report high levels of family psychosocial well-being, while the majority falls within the low and moderate ranges, and approximately 64% of the participants are not experiencing optimal psychosocial well-being. The results support a two-factor model of family psychosocial well-being consisting of family functioning and family feelings. Family functioning included family relational patterns, family functioning style and family hardiness while the second factor, family feelings, included family satisfaction and attachment. The findings from the qualitative phase suggest that communication, mutual support, togetherness as a family and spirituality are the most prominent contributing factors, whilst financial difficulties and interpersonal conflicts or arguments are the most prominent hindering factors with regard to family psychosocial well-being in this group of participants. These findings were utilized to develop a conceptual framework and a model for the psychosocial well-being of families from diverse cultures in a South African context that can be used in future research and in the development of programmes to enhance the psychosocial well-being of South African families. / PhD, Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

“The family is the building block of society. It is a nursery, a school, a hospital, a leisure centre, a place of refuge and rest. It encompasses the whole of society. It fashions our beliefs; it is the preparation for the rest of our life,” Margaret Thatcher (1988). We are all well aware of the important role of family in people’s lives, we know it can affect you, empower you, or break you. Many studies and research has sought to define the role and influence of family in every which way, but truthfully, we can never know enough and we will never know everything. As human beings, we constantly strive for more – more knowledge, more understanding, and more insight. But the family, in essence, is a mystery; a far too complex and unique system that cannot be broken down into simple numbers or words. It is this that inspired me to do this study – although we can never know everything, we can always know more. This study therefore aimed to investigate the psychosocial well-being of a group of families and from the findings obtained, develop a conceptual framework and a model for psychosocial well-being of families from diverse cultures in a South African context. The research method consisted of two stages namely, stage one: a multi-method approach using quantitative and qualitative research for theory generation, and stage two: formulation of a conceptual framework and visual model. The first phase consisted of a quantitative research design with a sample size of 772 participants. The aim of the first phase was to determine the prevalence of psychosocial well-being in families and to identify families who report high, moderate and low levels of psychosocial well-being, using validated psychological instruments. The second aim of the quantitative phase was to propose a measurement model to assess family psychosocial well-being in a South African context. The second phase consisted of a qualitative, explorative research design used to understand and describe aspects that contribute to the psychosocial well-being of families from diverse cultures in a South African context, by analysing the storied (narrative) experiences (N = 23), drawings (N = 14) and family interviews (N = 36) of identified families who reported psychosocial well-being or less thereof, in the first phase of the study (Creswell, 2003). These findings were then utilized to develop a conceptual framework followed and a model for the psychosocial well-being of families in a South African context. The findings from the first, quantitative phase show a rather small group of participants who report high levels of family psychosocial well-being, while the majority falls within the low and moderate ranges, and approximately 64% of the participants are not experiencing optimal psychosocial well-being. The results support a two-factor model of family psychosocial well-being consisting of family functioning and family feelings. Family functioning included family relational patterns, family functioning style and family hardiness while the second factor, family feelings, included family satisfaction and attachment. The findings from the qualitative phase suggest that communication, mutual support, togetherness as a family and spirituality are the most prominent contributing factors, whilst financial difficulties and interpersonal conflicts or arguments are the most prominent hindering factors with regard to family psychosocial well-being in this group of participants. These findings were utilized to develop a conceptual framework and a model for the psychosocial well-being of families from diverse cultures in a South African context that can be used in future research and in the development of programmes to enhance the psychosocial well-being of South African families. / PhD, Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

Pearl millet is a staple food source for millions of African families living in semi-arid regions of the continent. Yet, despite its importance and ability to provide consistent yields, very little research and resources have been directed towards understanding mechanisms governing this crop’s resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. The research outlined in this thesis therefore aimed to elucidate defence response mechanisms in pearl millet, a non-model cereal crop. This was accomplished through the construction and characterisation of a pearl millet defence response cDNA library, which was subsequently utilised in large scale gene expression studies to profile pearl millet’s response to the defence signalling compounds nitric oxide (NO), methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and salicylic acid (SA), and to the biotrophic rust fungus Puccinia substriata var. indica. A pearl millet cDNA library was constructed by treating pearl millet plants with the defence elicitors chitin and flagellin, and by wounding the plants. Suppression subtractive hybridisation (SSH) was employed to enrich the library for defence response transcripts. In order to characterise the cDNA libraries, a quantitative cDNA microarray-based screening method was developed that enabled identification of false positive transcripts, as well as clones that represented rare or abundant transcripts. Based on this screening method, a number of clones were selected for sequence analysis, and their identity ascertained through homology searches with previously sequenced genes. This revealed a number of genes known to play important roles during pathogen attack. The pearl millet SSH defence response library, consisting of 1920 cDNAs either up- or down regulated in defence response, was spotted onto a glass slide microarray and used in transcript profiling studies to examine pearl millet’s response to the defence signalling molecules NO, MeJA and SA. Whilst only 45 cDNAs responded significantly to NO treatment, 279 and 224 cDNAs responded to MeJA and SA sprays, respectively. Closer examination of MeJA and SA responsive genes revealed that many of the induced transcripts were common to both signalling pathways, demonstrating that a substantial network of regulatory interactions exists between the salicylate and jasmonate pathways, which were previously believed to act in an antagonistic manner. Pathology studies indicated that pretreatment of pearl millet with SA conferred resistance to a virulent isolate of P. substriata var. indica, whereas MeJA application did not significantly reduce subsequent infection levels. Transcript profiling of a susceptible pearl millet line in response to virulent rust infection revealed that genes common to both the jasmonate and salicylate pathways were induced, suggesting that the plant adopts elements from a number of defence signalling pathways in an attempt to ward off infection by the virulent rust fungus. However, in view of results obtained from pearl millet defence signalling molecule pretreatments, it is probably genes that are significantly induced in response to SA, but to a lesser extent by MeJA that actually confer resistance to an avirulent rust isolate. Treatment of pearl millet plants with an avirulent P. substriata strain and subsequent microarray analysis would answer this hypothesis by revealing whether an incompatible reaction elicits more elements of the salicylate defence response pathway. / Thesis (PhD (Botany))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Plant Science / unrestricted

Theology was referred to the study of faith in God and the history of God’s journey with His people and their narratives about God and His journey with them. Theology was applied within the context of religious experience. Practical theology is the hermeneutics of God’s encounter with human beings and their world. It was often referred to as a theology of crisis and practical oriented science and the task of maintaining the connections between the varied stories of life and grounding the stories of Christian Community Practical theology could also be summarised as follows (1) as having its roots in the practice of research methodology. Methodology had developed practical theology into various phases, namely: (1) A personality –oriented moral model. (2) The official model, (3) the so-called application model. (4) An empirical model; (5) A phenomenological model, and (6) a last development called the ecclesiological model. Epistemology, in this project, is referred to the branch of philosophy that studied issues, related to knowledge. It is an empirical (deriving knowledge from experience alone) theory that enabled the practical theology to be referred to as the empirical theology. In this case, it was a scientific knowledge to address the question how do traumatised African clergies therapeutically deal with traumatised African families while being affected, themselves? The post-modern world was using the epistemology framework which was based on narrative hermeneutical emancipatory relationships that was critical of power relationships of modern books. The writer here had adopted narrative hermeneutical emancipatory relationshipsstructural approach to use for both in obtaining information from the organisational structures of the church and the dual church of democracy and theocracy for the emancipation of traumatised African clergies therapeutically dealing with traumatised African families. . The narrative hermeneutical emancipatory relationships discourses were used to solve the problem of traumatised African clergies and traumatised African families through conference approach. Practical theology also strived to understand this experience as a place where gospel of love towards others, were grounded and lived out. Grief was generally viewed as having psychological and social repercussions (driven back) to the status of traumatised African clergies. It was also a significant spiritual condition of sleeplessness, and anxiety, in that, it impacted on relationships with God, self, and others. Pastors, therefore, had a key role to play in the well being of people within the Christian iv communities; including other pastors who suffered from different traumatic experiences. God created them with spirit, soul and body to function, not in exclusion, but included them as one in human body. It was in the light of this understanding that the body of a human being needed to be balanced well with the three (spirit, soul and body), in order to function fruitfully within the community of God. The human being was not a fragmentation but a complete entity, needing healing for his or her whole being: spiritually, socially, psychologically and in relationship with his or her environment. The African clergies did stand in need of healing in order to redirect their lives; following their traumatic experiences. They needed to be healed so that they could carry on with their tasks as pastoral care giving. In traditional African society, health was conceived as more than physical well-being. It was a state that entailed mental, physical, spiritual social and environmental (cosmic) harmony. It was associated with all that were positively valued in life. It was also a sign of a correct relationship between people and their environment, with one another and with the supernatural world. Health was understood both in a social and in a biological sense. When the physical was ill the body was reluctant to help in social life and when the loved some was dead the social life was affected in grief and the body became weak. Pastoral care had the potential to bring healing and hope; through good shepherding. Pastoral care and counselling was historically concerned with healing of the broken-hearted and liberating the people of God in order for them to develop self-esteem. In most of the African churches, the hierarchy of the church tended to treat problems of pastors as personal problems and as having no bearing to the church as an institution at all. Personal problems of pastors were hostility from Christians, lack of money and mismanagement of church funds; inferiority complex; rejection by community, some pastors were favoured, and some were rejected because of their background, misunderstood by church members. In many instances, pastors left their church due to the lack of support and encouragement. At times, it was the church that disowned them on the basis of churches discriminatory practices and personal challenges that distracted such as planning other clergies outside the region from their pastoral duties. Even though the church was not perceived as a building, but as people who worshipped God in the church building, it was beyond that. It was the people, including its pastors that were ministering to people of God in it that constituted a church. The perception was that the church v had no problem to solve, had to be dismissed without any condition. Many pastors experienced and suffered rejection from churches discriminatory practices. God’s general call to all Christians was to serve: the truth that everybody served a master either the devil or God ((Matt.6:24; John 8: 34-36; John 15:19; Romans 6:6-22; James 4:4; 1John 2:15-17; 4:4-6); there was no middle ground. We were either under the dominion of sin and the devil, or we had been ransomed by Jesus Christ of Nazareth and we were then His servants (Galatians 1:10). Pastors before they were called to leadership of God, they were also among those Christians who were called to serve either the devil or God. A shepherd was referred to one employed in tending, feeding and guarding the people of God who were metaphorically known as the flock of God that were under his care and service as an overseer. Shepherding was applied to the pastor, in the fivefold ministry gifts of Jesus of Nazareth, and as means of shepherding the flock of God in the Church. The traumatised African pastors were included in this shepherding. The remedy to the traumatised African clergies and traumatised African families was chosen to be the dual church government of theocracy and democracy; as we intended to reach the eternity of the true God, the creator of the Zoe and Bios Universe, the dual church government of democracy and theocracy of God was regarded as the solution to the churches discriminatory practices through the conference approach. Churches who tried to unite and fight against apartheid’s discriminatory practices were: The Methodist Church of Southern Africa; the Congregational Assembly; the Anglican Church of South Africa; Presbyterians of S A and the Assemblies of God in South Africa. Churches adopted a neutral stance: Evangelical movements were: three types of Evangelical churches, namely: (1) Fundamentals (2) Conservative Evangelical (3) New Evangelicals. The Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) stood as an example of the evangelical or Pentecostal Movement. These churches used conference approach to destroy apartheid discriminatory practices of the then Apartheid Government of South Africa. But the assumption was that the local churches were affected by these discriminatory practices, hence after apartheid they adopted the same discriminatory practices used against their traumatised local African clergies. As they were affected they also needed individual counseling. Pastoral counselling should be always there to address the needs and feelings of priests through seminars, workshops, and fellowship. Members of the church –the elders should be involved in these workshops to present the feelings vi of the congregation towards the priest’s conduct. The Blacks saw apartheid discriminatory practices as “unchristian” apartheid. Therefore when leaders of churches saw the apartheid discriminatory practices as unchristian, the dual church government of democracy and theocracy of God had seen discriminatory practices as unchristian and might be thrown out of the Church by conference approach of the BTGM: The leadership of the Assemblies of God Back to God Movement was the BTGEXCO, BTGTT and the Evangelistic arm the BTGTT, BTGCNC, each committee of the Church normally fell under the supervision and guidance of these above named highest levels in the church hierarchy. The following middle levels were RDCCs, RMFs, BTGCRC and the lower-levels were Elders and deacons or Church Boards and Trans-local Ministries in the low-level in the hierarchy. The leadership of the BTGTT was vision, empowering and releasing people (employing called people: RMFs in middle level, Elders & Deacons and Trans-local Ministries in lower- level. The BTGTT leadership was in leadership similar to Aaron and Levities, Jesus of Nazareth and the 12 Apostles and 70 disciples of Jesus of Nazareth: The BTGCNC in highest hierarchy and BTGCRC in the middle level. The BTGEXCO was the highest level in the hierarchy of elected committees, RDCCs middle-level and Local Church Boards and delegates in lower-level. The hermeneutical emancipatory relationships which were very critical of power relationship that had been used in conference approach to destroy churches discriminatory practices would no longer be used in dealing with individual traumatised African clergies and traumatised African families. Pastoral counselling would use a narrative approach to address the needs and feelings of pastors through seminars, workshops and fellowships to agree that we still live in relationships with the post-modern society well known only in engaging one another in solving problems of the post-modern world. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Thesis (M. A. (Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2017 / This study investigated the perceptions of African families of TBI. Caregivers and TBI victims were given the opportunity to talk about their TBI perceptions. The study revealed that people’s knowledge of TBI is not good. This is proven by the way in which the participants understood and explained the conditions the victims found themselves in, after the accidents and how their family members are. Findings reveal that culture does play a vital role in the perceptions of African people. The study illustrates that the perceptions are culturally-rooted. The study interviewed five individuals (n=5) with TBI and a total of nine caregivers (n=9) were interviewed. A total of fourteen (n=14) participants were interviewed. The study reveals that the causes of TBI were attributed a number of things. According to the participants TBI is caused by witchcraft, the will of God and ancestors. The study also helped highlight the beliefs and the cultural system of Africans. It also explained the reality of an African. The Afrocentric theory helped shape the study as it helped in explaining the importance of an Africans’ view. The Afrocentric theory postulates that Africans have a different reality from that of Westerns and it has been proven by the findings. Although the participants were told about TBI by the doctors, they still had their own explanations and attributions to the problem.

The study aimed at giving a thick description of African families' experiences, views, cultural beliefs and interpretations of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and making recommendations for rehabilitation. It was conducted from the qualitative research paradigm, adopting a phenomenological research method. Twenty-two pairs of participants (patients and their caregivers )were interviewed about their perception of TBI. The semi-structured interviews were conducted at the participants' homes in Sesotho, and where necessary in their home languages. The consequences of TBI were found to follow universal trends (Oddy, 1984). However, participants' perceptions, as shaped by their experiences, views and cultural beliefs, were found to be unique. On analysing the gathered data, using inductive data analysis, it was found that African families' interpretations of TBI were based on beliefs about witchcraft, thwasa, Satanism, ancestral anger and God's wish. Based on these findings, rehabilitation services in the form of education, advocacy, networking and family therapy are recommended. / Psychology / M.A.(Clinical Psychology)

Thesis (MA (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Limited academic work has paid attention to the memories generated by claimants engaged in the restitution process. My thesis thus sought to investigate the role of memory in urban land restitution, with specific focus on the Stellenbosch context. In my discussion, I highlight how claimant memories are not only generated by the restitution process but how the master narrative of restitution shapes the memories produced. I argue that claimant memories function and gain wider meaning within the collective memory, through which the master narrative of restitution shapes how they remember – and in so doing, how claimants reconstruct the place from which they were removed. My thesis elucidates how, through the individual narratives of removal and dispossession (and thus, the making of place), claimants position themselves as part of a particular and new form of “imagined community” of land claimants. The context of my research is focussed on the area previously known as Die Vlakte which was located in urban Stellenbosch. Dispossessed and displaced to the outskirts of Stellenbosch town in the early 1960s, the advent of democracy provided the former residents of Die Vlakte the opportunity to claim the land lost. The qualitative methodology of five selected case studies, sought to explore the following objectives of my study: Firstly, to examine how claimants remember and reconstruct the places from which they were removed (that is, the making of place); and secondly, to investigate whether these memories or individual narratives of place are shaped by the master narrative of restitution. By means of engaging prominent theorists and scholars on memory and the master narrative of restitution, my study analyses the various aspects of memory construction and reconstruction within the collective framework. The research points to the interdependent relationship between individual memory and that of collective memory. It is argued that individual memory can only function as part and in reference to the collective memory. Within the restitution process, research shows that the master narrative of restitution not only shapes but controls and organises memory on a collective and hence, individual level. My thesis argues that the individual memories of dispossession and removals of the claimants are similar to national narratives and hence, my thesis illustrates, that the five claimant memories of the place from which they were removed in Die Vlakte is shaped by the master narrative of restitution. Through relaying these narratives of removals and dispossession they thus draw on the master narrative of restitution (from which they derive legitimacy), in order to legitimise their own claim to land and in so doing, placing themselves within the “new” form of imagined communities of land claimants. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Beperkte akademiese werk het aandag geskenk aan die herinnering wat deur eisers, wie betrokke was in die restitusieproses, gegenereer is. My tesis poog dus om die rol van herinnering in stedelike grondrestitusie, met spesifieke fokus op die Stellenbosch konteks. In my bespreking beklemtoon ek hoe eiserherinnering nie net gegeneer word deur die restitusieproses nie, maar hoe die meesternarratief van restitusie die herinnering wat geproduseer is, vorm. Ek voer aan dat eiserherinnering funksioneer en wyer betekenis verkry binne die kollektiewe herinnering, waardeur die meesternarratief van restitusie vorm hoe hulle onthou – en deur dit te doen, hoe eisers die plek waaruit hulle verplaas is waarvandaan hulle verwyder is, heropbou. My tesis verduidelik hoe, deur die individuele narratiewe van verwydering en onteiening (en dus, die skep van plek), eisers hul posisie inneem as deel van 'n besondere en nuwe vorm van "denkbeeldige gemeenskap‟ van grondeisers. Die konteks van my navorsing is gefokus op die area wat voorheen bekend was as Die Vlakte wat voorheen geleë was in die dorp Stellenbosch. Onteien en verdring tot die buitewyke van Stellenboschdorp in die vroeë 1960s, die koms van demokrasie voorsien aan die voormalige inwoners van Die Vlakte die geleentheid om die verlore grond te eis. Die kwalitatiewe metodologie van vyf gekose gevallestudies poog om die volgende doelwitte van my studie noukeurig te bestudeer: Eerstens, om te ondersoek hoe eisers die plekke waarvan hulle verwyder is onthou en heropbou; en tweedens om te ondersoek of hierdie herinneringe of individuele narratiewe van plek deur die meersternarratief van restitusie gevorm word. Deur gesprekvoering met prominente teoretici en kundiges op die gebied van herinnering en die meesternarratief van restitusie, analiseer my studie die verskeie aspekte van herinnering-opbou en heropbouing binne die kollektiewe raamwerk. Die navorsing wys na die interafhanklike verhouding tussen individuele herinnering en die van kollektiewe herinnering. Daar is aangevoer dat individuele herinnering slegs kan funksioneer as deel van en in verhouding tot die kollektiewe herinnering. Binne die restitusieproses wys navorsing dat die meesternarratief van restitusie nie net herinnering vorm nie, maar dit ook beheer en organiseer op 'n kollektiewe en dus individuele vlak. My tesis voer aan dat die individuele herinnering van onteiening en vverwydering van die eisers soorgelyk is aan nasionale narratiewe en dus illustreer my tesis dat die herinnering van die vyf eisers oor die plek waarvan hulle verwyder is in Die Vlakte, gevorm is deur die meesternarratief van restitusie. Deur hierdie narratiewe van verwydering en onteiening te vertel, ontleen die eisers aan die meesternarratief van restitusie (waaruit hul wettiging voortkom), om sodoende hul eie eis om grond wettig te verklaar, en deur dit te doen, hulself te plaas in die “nuwe” vorm van verbeelde gemeenskappe van grondeisers.

The study aimed at giving a thick description of African families' experiences, views, cultural beliefs and interpretations of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and making recommendations for rehabilitation. It was conducted from the qualitative research paradigm, adopting a phenomenological research method. Twenty-two pairs of participants (patients and their caregivers )were interviewed about their perception of TBI. The semi-structured interviews were conducted at the participants' homes in Sesotho, and where necessary in their home languages. The consequences of TBI were found to follow universal trends (Oddy, 1984). However, participants' perceptions, as shaped by their experiences, views and cultural beliefs, were found to be unique. On analysing the gathered data, using inductive data analysis, it was found that African families' interpretations of TBI were based on beliefs about witchcraft, thwasa, Satanism, ancestral anger and God's wish. Based on these findings, rehabilitation services in the form of education, advocacy, networking and family therapy are recommended. / Psychology / M.A.(Clinical Psychology)