A family is a basic unit of society. Among the many functions that are performed by a family, is the task of providing for its children's needs while simultaneously transmitting the society's way of life. The functioning of the family takes place through a parent-child relationship. It is therefore significant for the family to carry out parental tasks in order to give a sense of security, a sense of companion and belonging, a sense of responsibility, sense of purpose and direction to its members. Although there are many factors that pose a threat to family functioning, the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be underestimated. As the disease has advanced over time, it has negatively impinged on the children's lives. Children are losing their parents to HIV/AIDS opportunistic illnesses and this has resulted in the burgeoning of child-headed households. The phenomenon of a child-headed household presents a shift from a structural family since a significant subsystem of a family (i.e the parental subsystem) is non-existent. The study presents an in-depth investigation into the social functioning of a child-headed household. The aim was to come to a better understanding about issues that surround households that are headed by children. The social institutions with whom the household co-exists have been scrutinised in order to determine the ways in which these institutions impact upon the social functioning of child-headed households. The study highlights that child-headed households are a deviation from the norm and they create a situation where needs of children are unmet and their rights are eroded. The role of social work in mobilising resources to meet the unmet needs and championing for the rights of the children has been investigated. Case studies of ten families were conducted in the three districts of KwaZulu-Natal an area in South Africa that has widely been reported as hardest hit by the pandemic. A research team was constituted which designed a protocol for conducting case studies and collected data. Social workers also participated in the study with an aim of exploring guidelines for social service delivery with regard to a child-headed household. The study found that children are increasingly exposed to aspects of multiple care-giving through lack of parental care and a changing family structure. It was also revealed that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is shattering children's lives and reversing many hard won children's rights. In spite of the transition in the family life cycle, the family remains the central institution in the children's lives. The scourge of HIV/AIDS poses a great challenge to society. Children are left on their own without visible means of support. The problems of children develop into great magnitude in spite of policies that are in place. The findings of the study point to implications for a practice model that is aimed at co-ordinating services for effective service delivery. The researcher has presented suggested guidelines based on the findings of the study. These guidelines include the role of social work in ensuring that the social functioning of the children in child-headed households is enhanced and that social justice for these children is promoted. A protocol for intervention in child-headed households is provided. This would ensure that interventions in bringing about desired change in the lives of the children, produce sustainable results on a significant scale. / Social work / D. Phil.(Social Work)

Statistics on HIV/AIDS are alarming. Very little is known about how communities are actually coping with this disease and what methods seem to be working to empower them to deal with it. Psychosocial distress is one of the dimensions of the impact of AIDS on children and families, and stresses the necessity to enhance the capacities of extended families and friends to be able to deal with these psychosocial issues. Using qualitative research and a case study as the strategy of inquiry, this dissertation of limited scope explores and describes the factors influencing the capacity of extended families in providing psychosocial support to AIDS orphans. A literature study was done to give a theoretical overview on the following aspects: * AIDS orphans * The extended family and HIV/AIDS To reach the first objective of this study, an empirical study was done and semi-structured interviews were used to obtain information from four extended families in the Mukwe area of the Kavango Region in Namibia. The literature study and the empirical study enabled the researcher to draw conclusions on the factors which influence the capacity of extended families to provide psychosocial support to AIDS orphans. The information was analysed, interpreted and published in this research report so as to reach the other objectives of this study. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play therapy)

Grandparents fail to communicate sexual matters to the youth. It is their duty to initiate this communication. The escalating numbers of sexually transmitted infections among the youth require grandparents as carers to talk openly. The main purpose of the study was to support grandparents in their communication about sexual matters to the youth. In-depth phenomenological focus group interviews were conducted. Data analysis revealed three themes: grandparents' experience of communication, emotional experience, and the experience of political and social influence. The study developed guidelines for grandparents. The limitations of the study involve the research sample, which was not truly representative of the whole population of East London. The study recommends that all stakeholders be involved in supporting grandparents in their communicating sexual matters to the youth. The researcher recommends further research to describe youth perceptions of communicating sexual matters to grandparents / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Women throughout the world are suffering the brunt of HIV/AIDS. They carry the unenviable tag of being the suffering group who are at risk. Women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is a subject that has not received adequate attention to date. This empirical study examines the socio-cultural factors and practices that impede upon behavioural change of Zimbabwean women in an era of HIV/AIDS. Firstly, a sample of 1002 women respondents is purposefully drawn from the six major Zimbabwean ethnic groups to participate in this research study. A survey questionnaire is administered to respondents in the age group 18 to 59 years to quantify the levels and magnitude of the HIV/AIDS problem among women. Secondly, fifty in-depth interviews with key informants are conducted to assess the nature of the problem confronting and impeding upon women's quest to attain good reproductive health. Thirdly, six focus group discussions for each of the respective six ethnic groups are conducted with forty-eight mature women to understand broadly the concepts of the study. This study employs a combination of mainly qualitative and some quantitative methods of data collection and analysis, which is called triangulation. Underlying the methodology of this study is an overarching functionalist theoretical perspective, also referring to gender development theory which serves as the basis for data analyses. The main findings of this study include the view that power dynamics, gender roles and cultural practices have impacted negatively on women's quest to attain safe sexual behaviour. The problem of HIV/AIDS remains a complicated and awesome one among Zimbabwe's ethnic groups. For Zimbabwean women the HIV/AIDS problem begins with a total lack of control over sexual lives and behaviour of their husbands especially outside marriage. The women have noted that the majority stay faithful to their husbands and partners according to cultural prescriptions and roles, while their husbands do not comply. Women noted that cultural prescriptions in their various ethnic settings condone male infidelity but expect women to stay faithful to their partners. As a result it is found that women sometimes contract HIV/AIDS straight on their matrimonial beds. / SOCIOLOGY / Thesis (D. Phil. (Sociology))

The study sought to explore and describe the risk behaviour regarding HIV transmission among youth in Bulawayo, their knowledge of HIV transmission and the sources of information on HIV transmission accessible to them. A quantitative, descriptive exploratory design was used and 238 youth from three secondary schools in Bulawayo, the second largest city in Zimbabwe were the respondents. The Health Belief Model (HBM) was used to facilitate and acquire insight into the risk behaviour among the youth. The inferences drawn from the study were that youth have inadequate knowledge about HIV transmission and therefore do not fully understand their risk of infection. Youth also find shyness and fear of rejection serious barriers to communicating openly about sexuality, sexual and HIV/AIDS issues. The findings of the study have implications for programmes to limit HIV transmission among youth and should assist policymakers and educators in developing and implementing such programmes in order to improve the health of youth in Zimbabwe. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

A distressing consequence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and of the increasing numbers of orphans and decreasing numbers of caregivers is the emergence in ever larger numbers of child-headed households (CHHs). The complexity of issues affecting CHHs and the lack of research on this subject means that CHHs are not well understood. This sometimes prompts support agencies to provide emotionally driven recommendations suggesting that it is better for a child to be in an orphanage than to live in a CHH. This exploratory study, involving heads of 105 CHHs over a 12 month period and 142 participants in various focus group discussions (FGD) and interviews, suggests the need for a change in perspective. It addresses the question of CHH quality of life, coping strategies and household functioning and attempts to bring this into a productive dialogue with community child care activities, NGO and statutory support and child care and protection policies. Research data suggests that the key determining factor contributing towards the creation of a CHH is `pre-parental illness' family conflict. Another contributing factor is that siblings want to stay together after parental death. Quality of life assessments indicate that despite significant adversities, over 69% of CHHs reported a 'medium' to 'satisfactory' quality of life and demonstrate high levels of resilience. As regards vulnerability to abuse, it is found that while CHH members are more vulnerable to external abuse, they experience little within their household. Contrary to public perceptions about CHHs lacking moral values, CHH behaviour might actually be more responsible than non-CHH peer behaviour as their negative experiences appear to galvanize them into adopting responsible behaviour. Community care and neighbourhood support in older townships are better established compared with newer suburbs. Sufficient community care capacity enables CHHs to function, thus avoiding a situation where households disintegrate and household members end up as street children. CHH coping responses seem to be mainly influenced by individual and community factors, and by social, spiritual and material support. The interplay between these and the CHH's ability to engage in the required coping task impacts on the coping outcome at household level. National and international government and non-governmental child service providers in Southern Africa need to recognize that an adequately supported CHH is an acceptable alternative care arrangement for certain children in communities with high adult AIDS mortality and where adult HIV-prevalence exceeds 10%. / Development Studies / D. Ltt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

The AIDS pandemic has generated a large number of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in Swaziland, as it affects the reproductive age group. Most of the OVC are being cared for by their grandparents who are old, poor and suffer from degenerating diseases of old age. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the needs and support available for OVC under the care of grandparents in the informal settlements of Mbabane, Swaziland in order to develop guidelines for their care and support. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual study was conducted to identify the needs of the OVC and type of support provided by organizations for these children. Data was collected using unstructured and semi-structured interviews. The study was conducted in three phases each addressing a research objective. In the first phase which was to identify the needs of OVC, twelve grandparents who cared for OVC in the informal settlements participated. For the second phase seven managers of organizations that provide support to OVC in the informal settlements participated. The third phase was the development of guidelines by the researcher and validated by participants and experts. The study highlighted the needs of OVC, the nature of the existing support structure and type of support provided by organizations for these children. The findings revealed that the OVC have developmental support, protection support, psychosocial support and support for survival needs. The themes identified from the analysis of the type of support provided by organizations were developmental, partnership, protection, psychosocial and support for survival needs. The organizations' support was inconsistent and inadequate to meet these needs due to the large number of OVC. Some of the weaknesses of organizations were indicated as donor dependency and lack of coordination and collaboration among organizations. The study highlighted partnership as fundamental to the successful implementation of the guidelines. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and its impact on their identity development. The qualitative research paradigm was chosen for the purpose of this study. In depth interviews were held with three young adults who lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS when they were young. Hermeneutics thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The study’s results identified different psychosocial issues associated with HIV/AIDS which were considered to be an influence in the lives of participants and their identity development. The results indicate that HIV/AIDS still has a strong and negative connotation which influenced the participants’ attitude and behaviour, including the development of their sense of identity. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

HIV/Aids is a worldwide pandemic and as South Africans we are at the epicentre of this global health crisis. The harrowing statistics are useful as a means to quantify a horrific situation; however, what these facts do not do is provide connection amidst the uncertainty surrounding the disease. This research aims to bridge the disconnection and break the silence that weaves a net around the illness and those infected by it. This is done by deconstructing one man’s story of his journey with HIV; by looking at his personal epistemology; and by contextualising his story within his family and within the society in which he lives, South Africa. Finally, it is my reflections and interpretations that form the bridge between a construct of HIV/Aids and a life lived with the disease. / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

Ethiopia faces large and growing numbers of child household heads, mainly due to AIDS-related parental deaths. Many of them are vulnerable to abuse and are forced to look after themselves and their siblings, drop out of school and find work. This exploratory study employed qualitative research methods using purposive sampling. The aim was to ascertain how child household heads affected by AIDS adapted to changed life circumstances. The study entailed fieldwork for five weeks in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where evidence was gathered from 10 selected households headed by children (aged 12 to18), their siblings and key informants. It was found that all the children in the study are in dismal living conditions although some reported feelings of satisfaction and happiness. The need to provide special recognition and support to child household heads and their siblings by policy makers and service providers in Ethiopia is highlighted. / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS) / Social Work