A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY in the Faculty ofArts at the University of Zululand, 1999. / Literature repeatedly indicates that stress and burnout constitute a serious problem in the police profession. This study endeavours to identify and describe the stress experiences of community police personnel and in so doing, to gain a deeper and clearer insight into the complex process of stress and burnout in a presently fast changing South African safety and security milieu. A biographical questionnaire as well as a semi-structured questionnaire was used in this research study, which followed a qualitative route. In-depth interviews were held with seven community police officers in the Port Elizabeth region, Eastern Cape. Six of these police officers were from urban areas and one was from a rural area. Content analysis revealed that various stressors, stress reactions, coping mechanisms and support sources as well as various degrees of self-esteem and burnout were manifested. The distinction and relationship between burnout and stress was also considered. In addition, emphasis was placed on biographical variables that play a role in the manifestation of stress among policemen. Each police officer's individual degree of stress experienced was related to a unique process in terms of the identified variables. An integrated description on their stress experiences was also presented in order to show both their uniqueness and similarities. Community policing as a general field of application is sorely under-researched in South Africa. Prior to the present study, no studies had been undertaken to specifically describe the stress process of police personnel in their new role as community policing officers. It has become clear that further research in this regard is required to bring about a deeper understanding of the stress experiences of community police personnel. A greater premium should be placed on all the persons involved in this area of research to address the problem of stress among the police profession and thus find solutions. The objective being to secure a greater safety for future generations and provide more support to the police.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. / This study examined the nature of educators’ experiences in dealing with teenage pregnancy. The study focused on educators in secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal province of the Republic of South Africa. The researcher looked at teenage pregnancy as a major problem in the education system in South Africa. Educators are dealing with pregnant learners almost every day. More learners, mostly teenagers, fall pregnant while they are still at school. Educators have different experiences of such a problem. The study further examined the influence of educators’ biographical characteristics like age, gender, race, teaching experience, educational level and religious affiliation on their experiences in dealing with teenage pregnancy. The study further looked at the extent to which educators experience stress when dealing with teenage pregnancy in secondary schools.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education (Research Methodology) in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Zululand, 2017 / Given the need to employ effective reading strategies in the primary school, this article sets out to address the question of primary school educators’ experiences with the National Reading Strategy (NRS). The study focuses on six (6) primary schools in the Mbabane Circuit at Ingwavuma in UMkhanyakude District of South Africa. Forty (40) primary school educators from the selected schools within the circuit took part in a quantitative survey. Pearson’s chisquare was employed to explore the relative effects of teachers’ biographical data and their experiences with the NRS. The findings suggest that teachers’ gender, job title, teaching phase, experience in years and qualifications had an influence on their experiences with the NRS. On the other hand, teachers’ age was shown to have no relationship with their experiences with the NRS. The study confirms the appropriateness of understanding how teachers’ biographical data relate to and impact on reading intervention strategies.

Despite the high incidence of prostate cancer (PC) amongst men of African descent, there is a paucity of qualitative data that explores how Afro-Caribbean men perceive their risk, susceptibility to, and management of this disease. This phenomenological study sought to explore and analyze beliefs about PC in a sample of Afro-Caribbean men who reside in the United States (U.S.). The research questions considered the perceptions, beliefs, and lived experiences of participants. The conceptual framework is a synthesis of the health belief model (HBM) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA), primarily because the TRA allows for a culturally-based relevance and perspective that is lacking in the HBM. Data were collected using in-depth interviews from a purposive sample of 13 U.S. participants from 7 Caribbean territories, who provided detailed descriptions of their perceptions. Data management and inductive, iterative analysis were facilitated through the use of the NVivo 10 software program. This study found that participants had a low level of awareness and education about PC, but they also believed that if PC were caught early, they have a good chance of a long life. There was no indication that culture played a significant role in their attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of the disease. Education about PC should be targeted to this population as well as their significant others. In addition, qualitative research is needed to compare perspectives of Afro-Caribbean, African American, and African men who all reside in the United States. This study may contribute to positive social change by providing practical strategies that may increase screening and early diagnosis among Afro-Caribbean men, thereby reducing the mortality from this disease.

Institutions of higher education serve students in more ways than simply fostering academic growth. University and college campuses are often the introduction people have to the societal, interpersonal, and career/field specific expectations they will be guided by after completing their degree. One way for universities to do this is through the cultivation of critical consciousness by way of encouraging engagement in diversity-related activities. This study examined associations between engagement in diversity-related activities and reported levels of critical consciousness, along with differences between students of color and White students in patterns of association. Diversity-related experiences, including extracurricular diversity activities, positive cross-racial interactions, curriculum inclusion, and experiences of microaggressions, strongly correlated to levels of critical consciousness for students of color and White students. These findings add support to previous research that suggests diversity experiences on college campuses positively influence students. However, the findings also suggest differences in the outcomes that these diversity-related experiences links to for students of color versus White students. Community involvement was more strongly correlated to extracurricular diversity activities for White students than students of color. In turn, social justice orientation was more strongly linked to extracurricular diversity activities, positive cross-racial interactions, and experiences of microaggressions for students of color than for White students. Linked between diversity-related experiences and multicultural openness were not moderated by ethnicity. These findings suggest that there may be differences between behaviorally based experiences/outcomes and attitudinally based experiences/outcomes for students of color vs. White students. Overall, engagement in diversity-related activities was strongly correlated with critical consciousness among all students. Findings provide guidance for curriculum development, the development and implementation of diversity-based initiatives on college campuses, and adherence to mission statements to foster more inclusive environments for all students.

This exploratory study examined the differences between ma les who have and ma les who have not experienced nocturnal emissions. There were 104 males between the ages of 18 to 41 who participated by completing a sexuality pretest and a nocturnal emissions questionnaire. The respondents' information and education about sexuality, reactions to nocturnal emission ejaculation or the lack of ejacu l ation, dream frequency levels of nocturnal emissions, and the effect of other sexual outlets upon the freq uen cy of nocturnal emissions were assessed. Results revealed that in this sample the males who did not experience nocturnal emissions had received less sexual information than ma l es who experienced nocturnal emissions.

A survey was created and mailed to 500 school psychologists randomly selected from the National Association of School Psychologists' membership lists. The final sample consisted of 228 school psychologists working at least half-time in a school setting. The survey's purpose was to gather information from school psychologists on their perspectives on crisis training and on crises experienced by public schools, as well as what schools have for crisis plans/teams, and what they do for crisis response. Nearly all of the participants (98.2%) reported that they had some type of crisis intervention training. The majority of respondents indicated that their schools had both crisis plans (95.1%) and teams (83.6%). Most of the participants reported that their schqols have experienced and responded to serious crises. Respondents indicated that lll psychological debriefing was being used by the majority of schools (67%). Many participants suggested that additional training and practice would improve schools' crisis responses.

Bakgrund: I Sverige har kvinnor enligt lag kunnat välja att genomgå en abort sedan 1975. Utmaningar och svårigheter kan upplevas av både sjukvårdspersonal och kvinnor då det finns en emotionell dimension vid abort. Sjuksköterskor inom abortvård har beskrivit etiskt svåra situationer i mötet med kvinnor som genomgår abort. Inom sjuksköterskans ansvarsområde beskrivs ett professionellt förhållningssätt präglat av respekt för individens autonomi och integritet. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser vid en inducerad abort. Metod: En litteraturöversikt har gjorts enligt Fribergs metod. Tio vetenskapliga artiklar, åtta kvalitativa, en kvantitativ och en mixad metod har använts för att tematiseras till ett resultat. Resultat: Analysarbetet resulterade i två huvudteman och sex subteman. Första huvudtemat är Beslutsprocessen, att göra eller att inte göra abort? med följande underteman: Blandade känslor vid ett svårt beslut och Autonomi och det egna valet. Andra huvudtemat är: Att genomgå abort med följande underteman: En emotionell handling, Att genomgå en abort fysiskt, Bemötande och stöd och Delaktighet och trygghet Diskussion: I diskussionen behandlas kvinnans upplevelse av delaktighetsamt sjukvårdspersonalens bemötande vid inducerad abort. Författarna diskuterade dessa ämnen i relation till litteraturöversiktens bakgrund, vetenskaplig forskning inom personcentrerad vård, egna reflektioner samt Phil Barkers tidvattenmodell. / Background: In Sweden, women have legally been able to choose to undergo an abortion since 1975. Challenges and difficulties can be experienced by both healthcare professionals and women since there is an emotional dimension to abortion. Nurses in abortion care have described ethically difficult situations in their encounter with women who undergo an abortion. A professional approach characterized with respect for the individual's autonomy and integrity are described within the nurse's area of responsibility. Aim: The purpose of the study was to illustrate women´s experience of induced abortion. Method: A literature review were performed based on Friberg's method. Ten articles, nine qualitative, one quantitative type and one mixed method have been used to be thematized into the result. Results: The analysis resulted in two main themes and six sub-themes. The first main theme is the decision making process, to perform or not to perform an abortion? with the following sub-themes: Mixed feelings in a difficult decision and Autonomy and your own choice. The second main theme is: To undergo and abortion with the following sub-themes: An emotional act, To undergo an abortion physically, Patient treatment and support and Participation and security. Discussion: The discussion raises the women's experience of participation and its impact on integrity as well as the care staff's patient treatment in relation to induced abortion. The authors discussed these subjects in relation to the literature review background, scientific research within person-centered care, their own reflections and Phil Barker's tidal model.

Background: Telephone counseling is constantly increasing in health care. It involves a dialogue and assessment process with the aim of examining both the subjective and objective in patients' health problems. Telephone counseling is made difficult when there is no visual contact. Patient safety can be reduced on the basis of the long call queue, which can lead to incorrect assessment due to a high work rate. Aim: To describe nurses' experiences of working with telephone counseling in somatic care. Method: A literature-based study in which ten scientific articles have been analyzed. Systematic searches for scientific articles in nursing were made in the databases CINAHL and PubMed. Articles about nurses experiences of working with telephone counseling in somatic care with a qualitative method were included. Results: The result obtained showed different experiences for the nurses, which included four main themes: difficulties in making a professional assessment, challenges in conversations with the care seeker, stress and fatigue, and deficiencies in the working environment. The main themes are supported by a total of ten subcategories. Conclusion: The nurses experienced telephone counseling difficult and challenging. Due to the lack of visual contact, it becomes more difficult to create a good quality of care for the patient. The nurses experienced various obstacles in telephone counseling, which proved to be difficult for the nurses to work patient-safety. Therefore, it is important that there is a good communication between the nurse and the patient to facilitate the work and meet the patient's needs.

Background: Organ transplantation is seen as a treatment to save lives. There are great differences in the transplantation process between different countries. Patients have previously described the process of organ transplantation as restrictive and emotionally draining with an overhanging fear of death before transplant. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe patients’ experiences of waiting for organ transplantation.  Method: This literature-based study was conducted with analysis of qualitative research to gain knowledge about the patients’ experiences. Analysis of the eleven articles was performed by using Friberg’s five-step method. Results: Two main themes and six subthemes emerged from the analysis. The main themes The need for support and information highlighted the patients need for support and adequate information from both family and health care professionals. This was seen as a way to handle the uncertainty that the waiting time could bring. The other main theme The time on the waiting list described that waiting for an organ transplantation could bring restrictions to their daily life. Patients described the time on the waiting list as uncertain and many thoughts about the donor arose. Also, hope about their future was prominent throughout the time on the waiting list. At times this hope could turn to despair. Conclusion: Waiting for an organ transplantation is a multifaceted experience. Support from family was considered crucial and therefore should be included when possible. Nurses are responsible for giving enough and appropriate information and support to the patients during their wait.