This thesis explores mothers' reactions to, and methods of dealing with, the sudden death of a child, using a constructivist approach. The study focusses on the meanings that mothers construe in relation to the sudden death of their child and the role of these constructions in her "recovery" from this loss. It also explores the grieving process, the effect of the loss on the mother, including a focus on changes in her value system, her role as a mother and as a wife, as well as the impact of this loss on the family system. The study was conducted on the basis of qualitative research methodology, making use of the case study method. The sample consisted of three mothers, selected purposively. The data gathered was analysed inductively. / Psychology / M.A.(Clinical Psychology)

This thesis constitutes a narrative that explores an alternative meaning construction for the experience of loss. During the telling of this story, I consider the appropriateness of adopting the 'new paradigm' approach for this particular thesis, and the constructivist and social constructionist epistemological assumptions underlying such an approach. I delve into the use of 'self as researcher under this epistemological umbrella. This is followed by an exploration of 'chaos theory' and its application to social systems. And finally, I consider the usefulness of this theory in constructing meanings for loss experiences on various systemic levels within my own family system. / Psychology / M.A.(Clinical Psychology)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Die dood van 'n ouer he! 'n effek op die totale lewe van die kind en dompel die kind in emosionele nood wat terapeutiese begeleiding noodsaak. Na afloop van die afsterwe van 'n ouer, vind daar fisieke, emosionele, sosiale en kognitiewe veranderinge in die kind se lewe plaas waarop hy nie voorbereid is nie, en wat hy ook nie verstaan nie. Hierdie veranderinge veroorsaak dat die kind se leefwereld in so mate verander dat sy funksionering benadeel word. Daar is met hierdie studie gepoog om vas te stel watter effek die dood van 'n ouer op die kind he! en tot watter mate terapeutiese begeleiding die kind se emosionele nood kan verlig. Daar is in die studie gevind dat rou inderdaad 'n gekompliseerde proses is wat lei tot die ontstaan van talle onbeantwoorde vrae, gevoelens van magteloosheid en emosionele pyn. Kinders wat in rousmart verkeer word dikwels deur die samelewing misgekyk en kry as gevolg hiervan nie voldoende hulp nie. Di! lei tot die ontstaan van persoonlikheidsontwikkelingsprobleme, relasionele probleme en intra-psigiese probleme soos 'n swak selfbeeld, ego-verdedigingsmeganismes, persoonlike kwesbaarheid, ongunstige betekenisgewing en ongunstige belewenisse. Hierdie probleme veroorsaak dat die kind in sy selfaktualisering gerem word en as gevolg hiervan nie sy gegewe moontlikhede verwerklik nie. Die studie het verder bewys dat die kind wat 'n ouer aan die dood afgestaan het, wel deur middel van terapeutiese begeleiding deur 'n sielkundige gehelp kan word om die verlies van 'n ouer in so 'n mate te hanteer dat die faktore wat die kind se selfaktualisering rem, opgehef kan word. Die studie voorsien die sielkundige van riglyne ten opsigte van die proses van terapeutiese begeleiding aan die kind wat 'n ouer aan die dood afgestaan het. Riglyne word gebied ten opsigte van die hantering van die kind se onmiddellike situasie, die evaluasie van die kind-inrousmart, die vasstelling van doelstellings en doelwitte vir terapeutiese begeleiding, die selektering van terapeutiese tegnieke, die terapeutiese hulpverlening aan die kind, die hulpverlening aan die oorblywende ouer en die hulpverlening aan die onderwyser wat gemoeid is met die kind-in-rousmart. Riglyne word ook gebied ten opsigte van die terminering van terapie. / The death if a parent has an influence on the total life of a child and causes emotional trauma that necessitates therapeutic guidance. After the death of a parent, physical, emotional, social and cognitive changes occur in the child's life for which he is not prepared and that he also does not understand. These factors cause such a change in the child's life-world that his functioning is hampered. In this study it was endeavoured to determine what effect the death of a parent has on a child's life and to what extent therapeutic guidance can alleviate the child's emotional trauma. In this study it was found that mourning is indeed a complicated process that gives rise to countless unanswered questions, feelings of helplessness and emotional pain. Children suffering grief in mourning are often ignored by society and as result of this, they do not receive adequate assistance. This leads to problems concerned with the development of the personality, relational problems and intrapsychological problems such as a poor self-concept, ego defence mechanisms, personal vulnerability, negative ways of acquiring meaning and unfavourable ways of experiencing life. These problems give rise to the hampering of the child's selfactualisation and because of this he cannot realise his potential. The study has furthermore proved that the child who has lost a parent through death, can be helped by a psychologist. This can be done by means of therapeutic guidance so that the child can handle the loss of a parent to such an extent that the factors that hamper his self-actualisation can be removed. The study provides guidelines for therapeutic guidance to the child who has Jost a parent through death. Guidelines are given on handling the child's immediate situation, the evaluation of the child in mourning, the determination of aims and objectives for therapeutic guidance, the selection of therapeutic techniques, therapeutic assistance to the child, assistance to the remaining parent and assistance to the educator who is involved with the child in mourning. Guidelines are also given for the termination of therapy. / Educational Studies / D.Ed (Clinical Psychologist)

Among the AmaXhosa the death of a person is marked by a tradition called ukuzila - the equivalent of the mourning process. As a sign of spousal mourning, and to show respect, the remaining spouse has to put on a marker (be visible). However, it is mostly the woman who is under obligation to show her mourner status by wearing ‘clothes of mourning’. The discriminatory nature of the practice, especially pertaining to visibility and some of the detrimental effects on the widows’ health and safety have been documented by some researchers, but the reasons for the continuity of visibility remain largely unexplored. Taking into account the dynamic nature of ‘culture’, this research explored the discourses deployed in men and women’s constructions of ukuzila specifically focusing on spousal mourning and the continuity of widows’ visibility in spite of their resistance to it. The research used postcolonial feminism drawing on postructuralism as its theoretical lens. This theoretical lens provided useful concepts such as hybridity, visibility, surveillance and power with which to examine spousal mourning and conceptualised people’s subject positions as multiple, fluid and contingent. Furthermore, the research employed thematic and discourse analysis at its methodology. Discourse analysis was employed to identify and analyse the discourses utilised in the constructions of spousal mourning. The research was conducted through focus group discussions held with younger and older urban and rural men and women, as well as interviews held with widows and widowers and key cultural informants. Concerning the question of constructions of spousal mourning for men and women, visibility of the mourner emerged as a central and contentious issue. Some participants were of the view that one could show mourning by engaging in culturally appropriate mourning behaviour, whilst others were of the view that showing one’s mourning had to be visible by publicly displaying mourning through a marker. Another group proposed mourning “by heart”, whereby the mourners’ status could either be inferred from their behaviour, whereas others maintained that behaviour was not mandatory. Various justifications for the continued visibility of widows were advanced. These justifications included showing love and respect to the deceased husband; showing respect to the ancestors; and helping to monitor their own behaviour in order to ensure that it is in line with appropriate mourning behaviour. The continued visibility of widows was also used to regulate the widows’ sexuality. Widows were coerced to put on ‘clothes of mourning’ in order to ‘protect’ them from being approached by men for a relationship during the mourning period. The regulation of the movement of widows was also managed through visibility. Widows’ movements were restricted in order to protect the community from pollution or bad luck. For example, they were not allowed to visit places of entertainment or visit other households. Key discourses identified were the familial-‘ukwenda’, respect-‘hlonipha’, and male sexual drive (MSD) discourse. The familial - ‘ukwenda’ discourse is centred on the idea that one is ‘married to the household’, which includes the nuclear family and wider extended family including ancestors. According to the respect-‘hlonipha’ discourse, respect is due to others on the basis of their age, status, and more especially their gender. Showing respect (hlonipha) necessitates the avoidance of all forms of behaviour and utterances that could be deemed disrespectful. The MSD holds a widespread view of sexuality as a biological drive that resides within each male and it was drawn on to make sense of discontinued visibility among widowers, whilst visibility of widows continued. It is argued that it is these discourses, embedded in the ‘culture’ of the AmaXhosa and upheld by the family that sustain the discriminatory nature of the practice, especially concerning the continued visibility of widows in spite of the resistance that has been voiced.

This study was conducted on the mourning rituals of the AmaXhosa widows of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study focused on the descriptive presentation of the experiences of the AmaXhosa widows in the Buffalo City municipality of the Province. The study sought to establish the widows’ perceptions regarding the mourning rituals and to interpret their experiences within the context of contemporary cultural, religious, gender and socio-political influences. The experiences among the widows interviewed were found to have a similar context but their perceptions about the mourning rituals were different between the widows younger than 40 years and those older than 50 years. Widows from urban and rural areas of East London, Mdantsane Township and from within a 60 kilometre radius of East London were interviewed. Purposive random sampling was used to identify an equal number of either urban or rural voluntary participants for the study. Structured interviews were held with widows ranging in age from 29 to 91 years. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the recorded discussions was conducted. The experiences of the AmaXhosa widows during the conduct of the mourning rituals are described. The key findings of the study indicated that most of the widows felt they had to go through the mourning rituals mainly to show respect for their departed husbands and so that the dignity of the family and clan was maintained. The mourning rituals seemed mostly to have negative implications for the widows such as a lack of family and financial support and being treated as social outcasts; however the rituals also seemed to help the women adjust to their new status as widows. Although the mourning rituals were embedded in the socio-cultural tradition generally followed by the AmaXhosa, religious beliefs also influenced some of the traditions by introducing changes in the way some widows conducted the mourning rituals. For example, some religions advocated for shorter periods of mourning than usual as well as wearing different types of mourning clothes from the usual black or purple dress. Overall the perceptions of the older widows aged above 50 years revealed that they had no reservations about performing the mourning rituals and quite readily and unquestioningly accepted the customs. The younger widows aged below 40 years on the other hand felt that the mourning rituals were biased against women and did not serve a useful purpose and even proposed changes to the manner in which the mourning rituals are conducted particularly the shortening of the mourning period from 12 to 6 months or less. However, they seemed to recognize the role played by the mourning ritual in lessening and possibly healing the pain and sorrow caused by their bereavement.

Submitted by Biblioteca Central (biblioteca@unicap.br) on 2017-11-06T17:29:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_vania_maria_ferreira_silva.pdf: 1427734 bytes, checksum: 90465c0e926f63e719843b8deb59d085 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-06T17:29:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_vania_maria_ferreira_silva.pdf: 1427734 bytes, checksum: 90465c0e926f63e719843b8deb59d085 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-01-05 / The present report has the objective to identify thoughts and feelings of people toward death, searching to understand how this crisis interferes in the adult religious identity. The essay aims to identify how crisis facing death interferes in the religious identity reconfiguration of researched adults, as well as, to find out if among those feelings there is a fear related to death and the after death situation. This research uses a qualitative approach of data, once, one does not intend to generalize results. It is used the phenomenological method from this perspective, to identify the meaning of feelings undergone by adults due to death crisis. We collect data from semi-structured interviews with two main questions for the proposed objectives. The sample is of twelve persons from 54 to 90 years old, that say to be Catholic Spirit, Evangelic, no defined Religion and some self-defined with new religious denominations, created at the moment of the interview. The qualitative analysis of experiences and representations is carried out with the data seeking to delimitate the interview content phenomenological description in meaning units, to confront them with based upon theories. The results of the analysis show that adults go through crisis situation when facing death, they tend to question their religious values, developing attitudes that are reflected in their religious identity reconfiguration: some of them withdrawing themselves or completely breaking the affective ties that link them to their religious institutions, others, differently, get closer and intensify ones relations with those institutions or religious groups. And others at home have a holy place, going from the inherited faith to an inner faith, that it is reflected in daily life, so, one can conclude that, an existential crisis happens, when facing death. / A presente dissertação tem como objetivo geral identificar pensamentos e sentimentos das pessoas ante a morte, buscando compreender como esta crise interfere na identidade religiosa do adulto. O trabalho visa identificar como a crise ante a morte interfere na reconfiguração da identidade religiosa dos adultos pesquisados bem como averiguar se dentre os sentimentos elencados surgem medos relacionados à morte e a situação pós-morte. Esta pesquisa usa a abordagem qualitativa dos dados, sobretudo por não se pretender generalizar resultados. A partir desta perspectiva, utiliza-se o método fenomenológico, com o propósito de identificar os significados dos sentimentos vividos pelos adultos, diante da crise ante a morte. Para alcançar os objetivos propostos, o instrumento da coleta de dados é a entrevista semi-estruturada, baseando-se em duas perguntas norteadoras. A amostra consta de doze sujeitos com idade entre cinqüenta e quatro e noventa anos que se declaram pertencendo à religião católica, espírita, evangélica, sem religião definida e alguns que se auto-atribuíram denominações religiosas novas, criadas no momento da própria entrevista. Com os dados em mãos, faz-se a análise qualitativa das vivências e representações, buscando delimitar e descrever fenomenologicamente o conteúdo das entrevistas em unidades de significados, confrontando-as com as teorias embasadoras. Os resultados das análises demonstram que os adultos que vivenciam uma situação de crise ante a morte, tendem a questionar os seus valores religiosos, desenvolvendo algumas atitudes que se refletem em um movimento de reconfiguração de suas identidades religiosas: uns retraindo-se, distanciando-se ou rompendo completamente com os laços afetivos que os ligam as instituições religiosas de origem, outros, de modo contrário, aproximam-se e intensificam as suas relações com suas instituições ou grupos religiosos. E ainda outros, afastando-se fazem do seu lar, um lugar sagrado e passam de um tipo de fé herdada, para um tipo de fé pessoal, íntima, que se reflete no seu cotidiano, donde se pode concluir que o confronto com a morte, ocasiona uma crise de natureza psicoespiritual.

The aim of this research was to uncover and understand the experiences, and the coping strategies employed by African teenagers in coming to terms with the death of a loved one, the support needs in relation to this, and the need to provide guidelines on how they would like to be supported by social workers. A qualitative research approach was employed, following an explorative, descriptive and contextual research design. The study was conducted in Cullinan near Pretoria in Gauteng Province. Data were collected, using structured interviews with a purposively selected sample of African teenagers who met the criteria for inclusion in the study. The data were analysed, according to the framework provided by Tesch to ensure the trustworthiness of the qualitative data was to be employed for the data verification. The findings included seven identified themes, the sub-themes and categories of which were supported by the extracts from the interview transcripts, and the literature reviewed for this research. The research report, together with the conclusions and recommendations, based on the conclusion, were drawn from the research- thereby, showing how the goals of the study were achieved. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

With the widespread use of the Internet, grief has been extended in its representation. Specifically, social networking sites, like MySpace, have turned grief presentation from private expressions into public displays of mourning. This study utilizes the theoretical foundations of the grief presentation process of Kübler-Ross' (1969) five categories of bereavement (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) to determine whether the grief presentation process is present in an online setting. In this study, the researcher conducted an empirical investigation of 4,931 comments, resulting in 22,263 bereavement themes outlined by Kübler-Ross, which were condensed into 2,288 time-point comparisons posted to 140 MySpace profiles of users who have passed-on. Results revealed noteworthy practices surrounding grief presentation on the MySpace profiles of the deceased. Specifically, bereaved commenters post a significantly greater number of bereavement narratives in the first three months post-mortem as opposed to months four through six. Additionally, race and sex of the deceased, as well as sex of the bereaved, did not prove to be mitigating factors in online grief presentation. Moreover, across observed races and sexes, the bereavement category of acceptance was found most often, followed by depression, denial, anger, and bargaining. Findings suggest that post-mortem commenting behavior blends current memorializing practices while also extending the space for communication and grief presentation. Additional implications for understanding grief communication on MySpace and future directions for research conclude this study.

Text in Afrikaans / In today's society our children are being incredibly exposed to trauma and death. Parents want to protect their children against hardship and loss and it is evident that todays society is characterized by social pathology. In view of the above the researcher studied literature extensively to investigate the affect of the phenomenon of death and trauma in the life of the young child. In order to establish the availability of therapy programs for the young child in childcare whose parents died in an unnatural way. It was evident that the present South African society is indeed characterized by conflict, homicide and violence. The death of a parent is a traumatic experience for the young child (aged two to seven years). VVhen death occurs suddenly it was found that the grief process is more complex. Through the process of literature study and empirical investigation it seems that many young children, who lost their parents through unnatural death, are placed in childcare institutions. In this study it was established that the fact that children were placed in childcare did not always imply that therapeutic intervention took place. Limited financial support and social services contributed to insufficient therapeutical intervention. Furthermore it was found that the investigated childcare institutions couldn't provide the researcher with therapeutic programmes. This study therefore indicates that there is a need for the development of therapeutic programmes for the young child in childcare. whose parents died in an unnatural way. / In die hedendaagse samelewing blyk dit dat kinders al hoe meer aan dood en trauma blootgestel word. Hoewel ouers graag hulle kinders wil beskerm teen hartseer en verlies, blyk dit dat vandag se samelewing gekenmerk word deur 'n vorm van sosiale patologie. In die lig van voorafgaande, het die navorser literatuurstudie onderneem om die teenwoordigheid en die fenomeen van dood en trauma in die lewe van die jong kind te ondersoek. 'n Verdere literatuurstudie is ook onderneem om die rou ervaring van die jong kind te ondersoek. Die navorser wou ook in hierdie studie vasstel of daar terapeutiese begeleiding aan die jong kind in kindersorg, wie se ouers op 'n onnatuurlike wyse gesterf het, beskikbaar is. Daar is in die studie gevind dat die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing inderdaad gekenmerk word deur konflik, moord en misdaad. Die afsterwe van 'n ouer is 'n traumatiese ondervinding vir die jong kind (twee tot sewe jaar). Wanneer die dood skielik en onverwags intree, is bevind dat die rouproses gekompliseerd is. Deur die proses van literatuurstudie en empiriese ondersoek blyk dit dat verskeie jong kinders wie se ouers op 'n onnatuurlike wyse gesterf het, in kindersorginstansies geplaas word. Daar is in hierdie studie bewys dat hoewel die kind in kindersorginstansies geplaas word, terapeutiese begeleiding nie altyd plaasvind nie. Hierdie gebrekkige terapeutiese begeleiding word toegeskryf aan die feit dat nie voldoende finansiele ondersteuning en maatskaplike dienste is nie. Daar is verder gevind dat kindersorginstansies, wat aan die studie deelgeneem het, nie oor traumaterapie programme vir terapeutiese begeleiding beskik nie. Hierdie studie toon dus dat daar 'n behoefte is vir die ontwikkeling van terapeutiese programme vir die jong kind in kindersorg wie se ouers op 'n onnatuurlike wyse gesterf het. / Educational studies / M. Ed. (Voorligting)

Text in Afrikaans / In today's society our children are being incredibly exposed to trauma and death. Parents want to protect their children against hardship and loss and it is evident that todays society is characterized by social pathology. In view of the above the researcher studied literature extensively to investigate the affect of the phenomenon of death and trauma in the life of the young child. In order to establish the availability of therapy programs for the young child in childcare whose parents died in an unnatural way. It was evident that the present South African society is indeed characterized by conflict, homicide and violence. The death of a parent is a traumatic experience for the young child (aged two to seven years). VVhen death occurs suddenly it was found that the grief process is more complex. Through the process of literature study and empirical investigation it seems that many young children, who lost their parents through unnatural death, are placed in childcare institutions. In this study it was established that the fact that children were placed in childcare did not always imply that therapeutic intervention took place. Limited financial support and social services contributed to insufficient therapeutical intervention. Furthermore it was found that the investigated childcare institutions couldn't provide the researcher with therapeutic programmes. This study therefore indicates that there is a need for the development of therapeutic programmes for the young child in childcare. whose parents died in an unnatural way. / In die hedendaagse samelewing blyk dit dat kinders al hoe meer aan dood en trauma blootgestel word. Hoewel ouers graag hulle kinders wil beskerm teen hartseer en verlies, blyk dit dat vandag se samelewing gekenmerk word deur 'n vorm van sosiale patologie. In die lig van voorafgaande, het die navorser literatuurstudie onderneem om die teenwoordigheid en die fenomeen van dood en trauma in die lewe van die jong kind te ondersoek. 'n Verdere literatuurstudie is ook onderneem om die rou ervaring van die jong kind te ondersoek. Die navorser wou ook in hierdie studie vasstel of daar terapeutiese begeleiding aan die jong kind in kindersorg, wie se ouers op 'n onnatuurlike wyse gesterf het, beskikbaar is. Daar is in die studie gevind dat die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing inderdaad gekenmerk word deur konflik, moord en misdaad. Die afsterwe van 'n ouer is 'n traumatiese ondervinding vir die jong kind (twee tot sewe jaar). Wanneer die dood skielik en onverwags intree, is bevind dat die rouproses gekompliseerd is. Deur die proses van literatuurstudie en empiriese ondersoek blyk dit dat verskeie jong kinders wie se ouers op 'n onnatuurlike wyse gesterf het, in kindersorginstansies geplaas word. Daar is in hierdie studie bewys dat hoewel die kind in kindersorginstansies geplaas word, terapeutiese begeleiding nie altyd plaasvind nie. Hierdie gebrekkige terapeutiese begeleiding word toegeskryf aan die feit dat nie voldoende finansiele ondersteuning en maatskaplike dienste is nie. Daar is verder gevind dat kindersorginstansies, wat aan die studie deelgeneem het, nie oor traumaterapie programme vir terapeutiese begeleiding beskik nie. Hierdie studie toon dus dat daar 'n behoefte is vir die ontwikkeling van terapeutiese programme vir die jong kind in kindersorg wie se ouers op 'n onnatuurlike wyse gesterf het. / Educational studies / M. Ed. (Voorligting)