This study focuses on the lived experience of four women who have undergone induced abortions. The women are white, Afrikaans speaking and from a middle to upper class background. Their ages range from 38 to 45 years. It was expected that these women would reflect and articulate their experiences in their own ways. This study was therefore of a qualitative nature. More specifically, the methodology used was a phenomenological exploration of the lived experience of each woman. The primary aim of this study was, therefore, to understand the experiences of women who have undergone induced abortions, using a qualitative form of enquiry. The acknowledgement of abortion as a potentially ambivalent experience allows one to consider the abortion process as complex, and that different women in different contexts will have both unique and common reactions to abortion. This study utilized theories of motherhood, gender and reproduction to explore the various contexts. The themes of guilt, isolation and anger that emerged were experienced by all the women, but each one not only experienced them differently but also contextualized them differently. Some general suggestions for future research are offered: exploring the different ways in which women deal with this situation could be helpful in working with those who might present with psychological symptoms. This would be particularly helpful to the role which psychologists could play in dealing with women who have undergone an abortion. The importance of support and acceptance is highlighted in this study. With the change in legislation regarding abortion, it would be helpful to consider the attitudes of the health professionals who may encounter women having abortions. In addition it is important to consider post-abortion counselling. Post abortion feelings could be normalized by explaining to women that reactions are not uni-dimensional and that positive and negative reactions are to be expected. As stated, some women do experience negative symptoms post-abortion and more research is needed to examine in depth the experience of these women. Longitudinal studies and narrative research could be beneficial in this regard. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

In a South African society in transformation it is well known that "white‟ Afrikaans-speaking South Africans are experiencing social change as a painful process. Against this background the purpose of the study was to investigate the construction of identities of being Afrikaans during family conversations between school-going Afrikaner adolescents and their parents in the post-apartheid context. A qualitative research design was utilized to investigate the phenomenon of negotiating identities of Afrikaansness in depth, openness and rich detail. A social constructionist meta-theoretical perspective underpinned the study. Theoretical perspectives from discursive psychology, as well as the dialogical self theory, formulated by Hermans and colleagues, framed the analysis and interpretation of the data. In contrast to conventional psychological approaches to the study of adolescent identity, such as the neo-Eriksonian identity status model developed by Marcia, identity was conceptualised as discursively produced between speakers in dialogue, and in particular social, cultural and historical contexts. Nine Afrikaner families, consisting of both parents and at least one school-going adolescent, between 16 and 18 years of age, were invited to take part in family conversations about their "white‟ Afrikaner identity. The nine family conversations were managed as focus groups (Wilkinson, 2004), and the purpose was to allow family members to talk freely and interact with one another around their experiences as "white‟ Afrikaans-speakers in the post-apartheid society. A discursive and rhetorical analysis, using Billig's (1996) rhetorical approach, was utilized to analyse the transcribed texts of the family conversations. The analysis revealed that when Afrikaners talk about their identities of being Afrikaans in the post-apartheid context their discourse involves talk about being threatened. Afrikaners seem to experience a sense of threat in relation to the stigma of being branded as "oppressors‟ and "racists‟ under apartheid, and they often utilize the discursive strategy of constructing themselves as victims and the Other as a powerful opponent or enemy. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the threat narratives contained an ambivalent structure. This ambivalent structure can be seen in the use of disclaimers, mitigations and other forms of racism denial in the construction of these threat narratives. These are the routine discursive manoeuvres of social face-keeping when talking about the Other. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that discourses of the past were often recited in the construction of threat narratives. In unpacking the Afrikaner threat narratives, it was shown how the participants recited ways of talking that were dominant in the apartheid era in making sense of changing realities in post-apartheid South Africa. The discourse of the "Swart Gevaar‟ (Black Danger) seems to be one of the most pervasive discourses in the production of the threat narratives, and it is used to construct a powerful Enemy that wants to harm the language, culture and interests of Afrikaners. The analysis indicated that Afrikaner adolescents and their parents often collaborated in producing identities of threat and apartheid in conversation. However, during the dialogue forms of contradiction, contestation and discursive struggle also emerged. There were occasions during the dialogue where the adolescents utilized discursive and rhetorical resources from being embedded in de-segregated settings. These ways of talking can be characterized as "non-threat talk‟ and "non-separation/apartheid talk‟. From a discursive and dialogical self theory perspective, identities are taken up as ways of doing or enacting identities in discourse and in dialogue, and not as universal and timeless structures of personality (such as the neo-Eriksonian identity status model). In trying to understand the complex identity struggles of Afrikaner adolescents in a tension-filled and rapidly changing society like South Africa, it is necessary to utilize theoretical and methodological tools that are appropriate in dealing with the complexity and multiplicity of identity responses that emerge in these contexts. For this reason the dialogical self theory was found to be a useful theoretical perspective in making sense of the multiplicity of voices or identities that emerge in a heterogeneous and globalizing society like South Africa. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Psychobiographies use psychological theory as a paradigm within which to re-awaken an individual’s life story. The psychobiographical approach historically tended to be neglected within the South African context. The aim of the current study was to explore and describe the life of Ralph John Rabie through the use of psychobiography. Ralph John Rabie (1960 – 2002) was a South African Afrikaans singer-songwriter, journalist and playwright, also known as Johannes Kerkorrel. He challenged the cultural system and the government and was arguably the most prominent member of the Alternative Afrikaans Movement until his suicide on 12 November 2002. To some he betrayed the identity of post-apartheid Afrikanerdom and to others he became an icon in the homosexual community. No existing literature to date has adopted a psychological stance on this controversial South African figure. His own writings and published material by others were utilized to illuminate his life and its many dimensions. Richard C. Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems Model (1995) was used to analyze the multiplicity and inner workings of Rabie’s personality. The influence of external systems is also discussed. The data collection and analysis were conducted according to Yin’s (1994) analytic generalization, which consists of using theoretical guidelines as a framework to select relevant data and develop a matrix as a descriptive framework for organizing and integrating the data. Alexander’s (1988) nine proposed guidelines assisted in the process of data analysis, together with the Internal Family Systems Model (1995). The findings of the study indicate that subpersonalities in different roles could be identified in Rabie’s life as described by Schwartz (1995). The different subpersonalities interacted with each other and assumed roles to protect Rabie. The findings of the study also indicated that these subpersonalities used stories to obtain power and influence within Rabie’s personality structure. The subpersonalities were successful in making Rabie influential and famous within the Afrikaans music industry and they helped Rabie change rigid Afrikaans cultural beliefs that were present within the Apartheid system. The findings further indicate how important it is for subpersonalities to work together and how a fragmented system is difficult to contain.

This thesis reports on a project which investigated how young native, Afrikaans-speaking Rhodes University students responded to the musical outfit Die Antwoord and to their music video “I Fink U Freeky”. The study attempted to establish how a selected group of Afrikaans-speaking students consisting of Whites, Coloureds and Blacks interpret the work of Die Antwoord as well as their own Afrikaans identity. The purpose of the study was to interrogate the relationship between artistic media, citizenship and belonging to a particular group. The thesis reports on the ways in which interviewees in the group discussions responded to notions of identity, whiteness, class, race, hybridity and creolization registered in the music video which was used to prompt the discussions. Finally the thesis reports on findings regarding the relationship between citizenship and the artistic media. The enormous change in the socio-political position of Afrikaans-speakers in the post -1994 dispensation provides the social context of the study. The project utilised qualitative research and a reception study of the music was undertaken by means of focus group discussions in order to arrive at thick descriptions in an attempt to understand the contextual behaviour of the participants. It was postulated that Die Antwoord provides a discursive site within which audiences could generate their own innovative meanings regarding being Afrikaans. While there was no clear indication that the identities of the participants was constructed by the media, the video prompted discussions regarding identity and provided evidence that media texts are capable of stimulating an interrogation of identities. It emerged that all participants, while abandoning some aspects of Afrikaans culture, strongly embraced and highly valued the language. Participants did not regard race as an important aspect of citizenship. Vociferous discussions regarding class demonstrated how media texts can influence citizenship. Discussions about hybridization and creolization demonstrated how the media can challenge received conceptions regarding citizenship. Responses provided evidence that the media could stimulate new forms of citizenship and contribute to the inclusion of previously excluded subjects. The research findings clearly demonstrate links between artistic media, citizenship and belonging to a group of Afrikaanses rather than Afrikaners. Post- 1994 young Afrikaans-speakers in this study provided clear evidence that they are exploring new and alternative ways of being Afrikaans.