M.Cur. / Nursing is a profession involving the care of people. Nursing is a goal directed process in which the primary objective is to develop a relationship between the care provider (nurse) and the care receiver (patient) for the purpose of maintaining a level of functioning (Kreigh & Perko, 1979:10). Psychiatric nursing is defined as specialised field within the practice of nursing. The focus of psychiatric nursing is both corrective and preventative. It is corrective in that it provides individuals, families or groups, who are experiencing various degrees of emotional or psycho-social disequilibrium with an opportunity to engage in a therapeutic interactional process. It is preventative in that it endeavours through the educative aspect of the interpersonal process and role model exemplification, to preserve equilibrium and promote optimum mental health (Kreigh &Perko, 1979:7).One of the concepts that the psychiatric nurse believes is important in developing criteria for care is that behaviour has meaning. In this study, behaviour is what the youth says and does. Meaning is defined as the way in which young people attempt to convey the expression of their innermost feelings. Harris and Radaelli, 2007 state that the perception of people constitute the reality of daily life, hence what the youth says and does, is in response to perceived external and internal stimuli.