Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophiae in psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, 2006. / It is widely documented that institutionalised children represent a vulnerable sector of the population as they carry a high risk for the development of psychological problems. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the use of exercise as a medium for mental health promotion. Various studies have provided evidence that exercise improves general health, quality of life, mood, subjective well-being, self esteem, self perception and other attributes which influence mental health positively. However, there is little research done in the South African context with specific emphasis on children. It was against this backdrop that an investigation into the use of exercise as a medium of mental health promotion among institutionalised children was conducted. This study was contextualised within the community psychological model of mental health promotion with mental health being conceptualised as a subset of physical activities aimed at improving health and well-being. A quasi-experimental control group research design, with pre and post testing on self report measures of physical self-perception, depression and paediatric symptoms, was used to investigate the effectiveness of physical exercise as a medium for mental health promotion among institutionalised children in local children's homes. Focus groups were held with children and caregivers to obtain qualitative data. The exercise intervention was associated with significant improvements in the physical self-perception of the children and caretakers' ratings of children's behaviour. These findings provide a compelling argument for the value of exercise in the promotion of mental health in children's homes. / National Research Foundation

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Psychology of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 1996. / The aim of this investigation was to determine the awareness and capability of house-parents in children's homes to meet the educational needs of the children who have been entrusted to their care. An introductory historical overview was provided of the origin and development of children's homes with specific reference to the Muslim Darul Yatama Wal Masakeen Children's Home, Lakehaven Children's Home and the Aryan Benevolent Home in KwaZulu-Natal. Attention was also given to the "idealized" task of these homes. The admission of a child to a children's home was described in terms of the Child Care Act, Act No. 74 of 1983. Aspects that need to be considered when placing a child in a children's home, such as the child's cultural and religious affiliation and the distance from his parental home, were discussed. The fact that the child is admitted to the children's home as an educationally neglected child, was considered. By adopting the education situation as point of departure, educational neglect as the outcome of the inadequate realisation of educative intervention, was elucidated. The non-accountable interventional assistance of the child's own parents who are incapable, causes the child to experience the education relationships as impaired. Arising from this, the education sequence structures and the education activity structures are inadequately actualized. As outcome of the non-accountable educative intervention the normative image of adulthood which is strived for as educational aim, is not adequately realised and is posed as a delayed education aim. An own parental home with both parents available, was scrutinised. The importance of a happy and normal family life for the becoming child was discussed by referring among others, to the significance of the father and the mother in the education of the child. The group situatedness of the child in the children's home, which entails both positive and negative educative lived- experiences, was addressed. Attention was given to the special educative task of the house-parents, which includes the physical, psychological and spiritual "re-education" of the child in the children's home. Sufficient physical care of the child is imperative for the creation of a basis for all other educative actions. The educationally neglected child's emotional education {affective education) shows a distorted image in becoming. The house-parents* unconditional acceptance of the child and their willingness to provide assistance, aid and guidance, are necessary to winning his confidence and enabling him to live-experience acceptance. Through mutual trust and acceptance, and authoritative guidance the child experiences security. Certain aspects of the educational task of the house-parents with regard to the cognitive education of the child, are highlighted. Through the support and guidance of the house-parents, the child must be assisted in learning how to cope with his emotions. The child can only pay full attention to his school work and studies when he experiences a stable emotional life. Attention is also given to the moral education, social orientation and religious guidance of the child in the children's home. For the purpose of the empirical investigation, self-structured questionnaires were used. The questionnaires were completed by the house-parents of the children's homes selected for the investigation. An analysis was done of questionnaires completed by house-parents and the data thus obtained was processed and interpreted by means of descriptive statistics. In conclusion, the findings emanating from the literature study and the descriptive statistics were presented. Based on these findings, the following recommendations were made: Urgent attention must be given to further training of house-parents and improved conditions of service for them. No house-parent must be responsible for more than ten children. Educational support services must gradually be incorporated in the assistance and control over the children in the children's homes.