D.Ed. / World-wide, as well as in South Africa, divorce is on the increase. Divorce appears to be an intensely emotional experience, whilst the problems of families in the process of divorce are unique in each instance. The trauma resulting from divorce is intensified when disputes arise over the distribution of property, the payment of maintenance, and custody of and access to children. Three questions for research arise, namely: "How do the members of a family in the process of divorce interact in their daily lives? How will an educational psychologist's knowledge of this contribute towards a conceptual framework in order to diminish the trauma of divorce and to facilitate adjustment after divorce? and "In what way can the educational psychologist make a contribution in custody disputes that will be in the best interests of the children?" The purpose of this research is, therefore, to examine and describe the process of divorce, to utilise this information to develop an educational-psychological approach towards families in the process of divorce, and, thirdly, to formulate guidelines for handling custody disputes. This qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research focusses on the lives of four groups of respondents in the divorce situation, namely divorced adults, children under the age of 8 years, adolescents whose parents have already divorced, and adolescents from homes where the marriage is in the process of breaking up. The research was carried out in three phases. Phase one comprised the exploration and description of the process of divorce, and this data was used in phase two to generate an approach for educational psychologists. In phase three guidelines were developed for an educational-psychological approach to families in the process of divorce. During phase one the collection of data was done by using explorative multiple case studies. The data was analysed using Giorgi's phenomenological approach and Kerlinger's guidelines for a content analysis. To further augment the data a review of the literature and comparison of the information with similar research has been done. Various themes were identified with regard to divorce as phenomenon and the way the different parties experienced and coped with divorce. During phase two these themes were highlighted as areas that should form part of an educational-psychological approach to families in divorce. During phase three guidelines were developed down for the handling of families-in-divorce. The focus had been especially on the role of the educational psychologist as therapist, mediator end evaluator before, during and after the divorce. Emphasis was specifically placed on the interests of the children, which should take precedence. Criteria for the determination of the best interests of children were also developed. This research aims at contributing to a better understanding of families-in-divorce and also provides a comprehensive approach with guidelines for an educational-psychological approach with regard to divorce referrals.

Data from the National Survey of Households and Families were used to study the factors previous research identified as affecting post-divorce child adjustment. Responses from 358 divorced parents with custody of children under age 12 were analyzed. Special attention was paid to the effect of family financial status. The strongest predictor of problem behavior for both preschool children and school-aged boys was the amount of parent/child activity time. Older boys were also particularly sensitive to interparental conflict. Elementary-aged girls, however, were most affected by the presence of parental depression, which was found to be significantly associated with a decline in post-divorce family financial status. Only girls' problems showed a direct relationship with family income.

Text in Afrikaans / The adolescents touched by their parent's divorce often display certain behavioral problems, such as withdrawal, aggression, and deterioration in academic performance, total apathy and misconduct. These adolescents experience mixed feelings in their period of distress. When one gets behind the reasons for certain behavior, the adolescents usually confess that the parents' divorce affected them. Parents often do not think about the emotional implications their divorce has on their children. Authors differ about the age at which children are influenced the most by their parents getting divorced. This study confirms suspicions that although adolescents want to break ties with their parents, they still feel threatened when their parents split up. During serious conflict in the family, the divorce is sometimes perceived as positive. The study makes everybody involved with the adolescent aware of the emotional disruption and the influence a divorce could have on their daily functioning. / Die studie oor die belewinge van die adolessente in die enkelouergesing as gevolg van egskeiding, spruit voort uit waarnemings tydens die interaksie met adolessente wat deur die ouers se egskeiding geraak is. Sodanige adolessente toon dikwels sekere gedragspatrone, soos onttrekking, aggressie, verswakking van akademiese prestasie, algehele lusteloosheid en wangedrag. Wannneer hulle genader word, ontken hulle dikwels dat iets skort. Hulle wil nie anders beskou word as ander adolessente wat nie in dieselfde situasie verkeer nie. Die ondersoek toon dat adolessente gemengde gevoelens in hulle tyd van nood ondervind het. Wanneer wel agter die rede vir die teruggetrokkenheid of aggressie of verswakkende akademiese prestasie gekom word, erken adolessente gewoonlik dat die ouers se egskeiding hulle onderkry. Ouers dink dikwles nie aan die emosionele uirwerking wat hulle egskeiding op die kinders het nie. Skrywers verskil oor die ouderdom waarop kinders die meeste deur die ouers se egskeiding beinvloed word. Die respondente in hierdie studie bevestig vermoedens dat, alhoewel adolessente hulself wil losmaak van die ouers, hulle wel bedreig voel wanneer die ouers uitmekaargaan. Tydens ernstige konflik in die gesin word die egskeiding tog soms as positief ervaar. Dit beteken egter nie dat dit vir hulle maklik is nie. Wanneer daar voor die egskeiding min konflik is en die verblyfreelings daarna vir die aolessent aanvaarbaar is, is die aanpassingsproses gewoonlik makliker. Die studie maak alle betrokkenes by die adolessent bewus van die emosionele ontwrigting waaraan hy blootgestel word en die uitwerking wat dit op sy alledaagse funksionering kan he. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Voorligting)

The psychological effects on, and the experience of divorce by women and children are widely researched. However little data is available on how divorce affects men and how they experience a marriage break-up. This study aims to explore and describe the `voices' (experiences) of divorce from three men's perspectives. The randomly selected sample for this study consisted of three participants'. Data was collected in the form of the participants own written testimonials. Out of the written testimonials themes were identified and explored by the researcher. This was done from an ecosystemic epistemological stance within the post-modern paradigm, with the symbolic use of music / popular songs to further `enhance' the exploration and description of the research participants' experiences of divorce. A qualitative methodological design was followed, allowing `unique' and personal `meaning' and experience to emerge. This study's results were presented in the form of `integrative' and descriptive text. Overall the study explicated unique descriptions of men's experiences of divorce with the creative application of music to enhance descriptions and experiences. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Text in Afrikaans / The adolescents touched by their parent's divorce often display certain behavioral problems, such as withdrawal, aggression, and deterioration in academic performance, total apathy and misconduct. These adolescents experience mixed feelings in their period of distress. When one gets behind the reasons for certain behavior, the adolescents usually confess that the parents' divorce affected them. Parents often do not think about the emotional implications their divorce has on their children. Authors differ about the age at which children are influenced the most by their parents getting divorced. This study confirms suspicions that although adolescents want to break ties with their parents, they still feel threatened when their parents split up. During serious conflict in the family, the divorce is sometimes perceived as positive. The study makes everybody involved with the adolescent aware of the emotional disruption and the influence a divorce could have on their daily functioning. / Die studie oor die belewinge van die adolessente in die enkelouergesing as gevolg van egskeiding, spruit voort uit waarnemings tydens die interaksie met adolessente wat deur die ouers se egskeiding geraak is. Sodanige adolessente toon dikwels sekere gedragspatrone, soos onttrekking, aggressie, verswakking van akademiese prestasie, algehele lusteloosheid en wangedrag. Wannneer hulle genader word, ontken hulle dikwels dat iets skort. Hulle wil nie anders beskou word as ander adolessente wat nie in dieselfde situasie verkeer nie. Die ondersoek toon dat adolessente gemengde gevoelens in hulle tyd van nood ondervind het. Wanneer wel agter die rede vir die teruggetrokkenheid of aggressie of verswakkende akademiese prestasie gekom word, erken adolessente gewoonlik dat die ouers se egskeiding hulle onderkry. Ouers dink dikwles nie aan die emosionele uirwerking wat hulle egskeiding op die kinders het nie. Skrywers verskil oor die ouderdom waarop kinders die meeste deur die ouers se egskeiding beinvloed word. Die respondente in hierdie studie bevestig vermoedens dat, alhoewel adolessente hulself wil losmaak van die ouers, hulle wel bedreig voel wanneer die ouers uitmekaargaan. Tydens ernstige konflik in die gesin word die egskeiding tog soms as positief ervaar. Dit beteken egter nie dat dit vir hulle maklik is nie. Wanneer daar voor die egskeiding min konflik is en die verblyfreelings daarna vir die aolessent aanvaarbaar is, is die aanpassingsproses gewoonlik makliker. Die studie maak alle betrokkenes by die adolessent bewus van die emosionele ontwrigting waaraan hy blootgestel word en die uitwerking wat dit op sy alledaagse funksionering kan he. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Voorligting)

The psychological effects on, and the experience of divorce by women and children are widely researched. However little data is available on how divorce affects men and how they experience a marriage break-up. This study aims to explore and describe the `voices' (experiences) of divorce from three men's perspectives. The randomly selected sample for this study consisted of three participants'. Data was collected in the form of the participants own written testimonials. Out of the written testimonials themes were identified and explored by the researcher. This was done from an ecosystemic epistemological stance within the post-modern paradigm, with the symbolic use of music / popular songs to further `enhance' the exploration and description of the research participants' experiences of divorce. A qualitative methodological design was followed, allowing `unique' and personal `meaning' and experience to emerge. This study's results were presented in the form of `integrative' and descriptive text. Overall the study explicated unique descriptions of men's experiences of divorce with the creative application of music to enhance descriptions and experiences. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

M.Litt. et Phil. / Divorce has become a widespread phenomenon in modern society. The high divorce figures indicate a change of attitude in society. Today divorce has become a highly probable and accepted event with fewer stigmas attached to it. For children, the divorce of their parents is a totally unplanned life event over which they have little or no control. It can therefore be defined as a non-normative idiosyncratic life event. This event inevitably leads to stress and can have certain deleterious, but also positive, effects on children. The specific effects that a child experiences will be determined by an interaction of variables, viz. his personality and temperament, the environment and his family home. Riegel (1975) states that development evolves out of crises which can therefore be constructive and have significant meaning. If the child can adapt and work through the event of divorce constructively the divorce can lead to growth, and not necessarily to stagnation and more problems. In the litigation of custody some development has taken place. Traditionally, young children were placed in the custody of their mothers, and the judges who did the assignments depended on information which was obtained from the parents. This resulted in decisions which were not always in the best interests of the children. To assist the judges in the placement of children, family advocates were appointed, thus fulfilling the requirements of the Act on Mediation in Certain Divorce Matters, (Act 24 of 1987). The task of the family advocate is to act as a watchdog on behalf of minors who have been subjected to divorce and subsequent litigation over custody disputes. Custody disputes cause tension and uncertainty for the children involved. The family advocate ensures that the children are exposed to as little disruption as possible during the litigation process, and also sees to it that the proposed ruling in connection with the children is in their best interests. The motivation for this research stems from the developments which have taken place regarding the placement of children after divorce where a custody dispute erupts, as well as those regarding the functions and purpose of the family advocate in the process. Questions can be raised as to whether the system of family advocates succeeds in its primary aim to act on behalf of the children, and whether the children involved in a custody dispute are not subjected to more stress as a result of the litigation. As few study regarding these questions has been done and many new questions have evolved, an exploratory study was conducted on the subject. The aim of this study was to evaluate children with respect to three variables, namely, 1) positive self regard 2) loyalty conflict between biological parents 3) depression. These evaluations were done on three groups, namely, 1) children in a nuclear family, 2) children in a single-parent family where divorce had occurred, and 3) children in a family where a custody dispute had taken place. A non-experimental method of research was used. To test the specific hypotheses the following test instruments were used: Bene-Anthony family relations, Draw a Person Test (D.A.P.), and Draw a Family Test (D.A.F.). The conclusions of the study are, firstly, that children in nuclear families do have higher self regard than children from single-parent divorced families, but these latter, in turn, do not have higher self regard than those from custody dispute families. Furthermore, children from nuclear families do not have less loyalty conflict than children from single-parent divorced families, but these latter do have less loyalty conflict than those from custody dispute families. Finally, children from nuclear families do suffer less from depression • than children from single-parent divorced families, but these latter do not have less depression than those from custody dispute families. As this was merely an exploratory study only tendencies can be deduced from the results. Further studies will require larger and better controlled samples. Further research and development in the field of custody litigation is necessary so that the whole family, and especially the children, can use this life crisis as an opportunity for growth.

The global rise in divorce since the 1960s has brought into question the idealised view of the nuclear family which has for centuries been awarded special status in western societies and has been regarded as the primary social institution. According to contemporary research parental divorce has become a reality for every one in six children in South Africa. Until recently, little consideration had been given to how divorce affects black South African families, as it was considered to be an occurrence which only took place in white, mainly middle-class, families. The proportion of black South African couples divorcing has been increasing over the past decade, and in 2008 was said to contribute to 35% of all divorce in South Africa. Most research to date on the children of divorce has focused on young white children and adolescents and is largely concerned with those who have found parental divorce particularly difficult, and are manifesting adjustment and other behavioural problems. The research which has been done on the effects of parental divorce on young adults focuses mainly on clinical studies with middle-class families based either in the United States or in the United Kingdom. This research, using an experience-centred, life-story narrative approach, explores the stories which young black South African adult women between the ages of 18 and 25 tell, to give account to the ways in which recent parental divorce has affected their lives, views on family life, and what it has meant to them. The use of an experience-centred, life-story narrative approach allows for a process of rupture, acceptance and re-storying to be accounted for, as the participant’s narrative shifts from past, to present and the future. Five young black women from a South African university each participated in two narratively sequenced semi-structured interviews based on McAdams’ personal narratives protocol, which includes six core themes, namely: Key Events, Significant People, Stresses and Problems, Personal Meanings and Life-Lessons, Future Script, and Life Theme. Crossley’s narrative analysis was then used to identify emergent themes and images in each individual narrative, after which they were woven together into a coherent story linked to previous literature. This study found that divorce involves a highly complex transition and reconfiguration process perhaps not fully accounted for in the existing idea and images associated with it. Despite being young adult women who had moved away from home and were engaged in their own lives, it became apparent that parental divorce was still a difficult and complicated experience, but that it is possible to tell both pessimistic and optimistic stories of parental divorce and its consequences.

Thesis (PhD. (Clinical & Applied Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / This study aims at developing an optimal psychological assessment procedure for determining primary residence allocation for children whose parents are divorcing. The research consisted of two studies: the first study focused on “translating” 13 identified legal constructs formulated by Justice King for safeguarding the best interests of children and the identification of suitable psychometric instruments that can be used to determine how effectively a particular family is functioning. These 13 legal constructs were converted into psychological constructs by three independent clinical psychologists. Following this a psychological assessment procedure for children and parents within a divorce context was developed incorporating the newly developed psychological constructs. The 2nd phase consisted of a sample of 39 families (26 families in the experimental group and 13 families in the control group). Six months later after primary placement the families were followed up in order to determine the psychological “health” of the families concerned using the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE); Index of Family Relations (IFR); Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory (ECBI) and the Family Assessment Device (FAD). The means obtained from both the experimental and control groups were compared using the MANOVA analysis. The results from the RSE concluded that the self-esteem of children in the experimental group, improved significantly to those in the control group. The IFR indicated that families in the experimental group had improved significantly at resolving family problems. According to the ECBI the children in the experimental group with behavioural problems improved significantly after primary placement. In all children in the control group did not improve significantly. The Family Assessment Device therefore indicated significant family cohesion. In summary the results indicate that the families in the experimental group were functioning at a higher level in comparison to the control group six months after primary placement.