This research aimed to investigate the contributions of emotions and Emotional Intelligence (EI) to social work practice with children and families in Malaysia. A mixture of methods within an ethnographic approach was used. The Assessing Emotions Scale (AES) (Schutte et al., 2007) was completed by 105 child social workers. The levels of EI and differences in EI according to certain demographic characteristics were identified. Individual interviews with 25 child social workers were conducted to explore their perceptions concerning emotions and EI in the workplace. Observations were carried out over a period of three months to investigate how emotions were expressed in terms of behaviour. The quantitative results showed that levels of EI were high (mean=131.69, SD=12.483). The workers were reported to be emotionally intelligent in perceiving emotions, dealing with their own and others’ emotions and utilising emotions in their professional conduct. There were no significant differences by gender (p-value=0.367 > 0.05), marital status (p-value=0.694 > 0.05), age group F (d=3, 101), P > .05=1.468) or length of service F (d=4,100), P > .05=0.331), but there was a difference with regard to educational level F (d=3,101), P < .05=6.878). The qualitative research findings seemed to show that skills in empathising, expressing and regulating one’s and others’ emotional experiences, as well as religious practice factors, contributed to EI. The qualitative research findings also revealed the strength of religious beliefs in Malaysian social workers, which facilitate the qualities of EI. The present study implies that the spiritual and religious dimension of practice should not be ignored in social work education and training.

Positive psychology has become influential in research and practice. However, some have criticized positive psychologists who focus solely on the virtues of being positive. A tyrannical pressure to be positive may potentially exist in positive psychology, as well as mainstream United States culture. The following study explored perceptions of this theory using focus groups of individuals who differed in coping style, social desirability, and depression. Results suggest that individuals are affected by social pressures to be positive, and the expression of both positive and negative emotions is determined by social pressures, rules, context, and consequences. Although emotional expression, especially negativity, is contraindicated in several social contexts, there are also social, psychological, and physical benefits to all types of emotional expression.

This study’s contribution to knowledge is the contextualizing of emotional awareness as a prerequisite for becoming emotionally intelligent, and developing a program to educate emotional awareness, as a developmental ability, within the educational system. Emotional intelligence is a familiar and widely recognized term, but is in fundamental nature more of a broad and overreaching outcome, rather than an ability. This research focused on children in the middle childhood developmental phase and how emotional awareness can be taught to them. An Emotional Awareness Program (EA Program) was developed and implemented within the classroom context and its effectiveness was evaluated to determine whether the EA Program did have an influence on emotional vocabulary, emotional expression and the general level of emotional awareness displayed by the learners. Being emotionally aware, benefits children on different levels of their functioning. Various authors, as cited in this study, conclude that relationships, self-esteem, academic performance, independent functioning and self expression all benefit from the development of emotional awareness. Entering the school setting is often the child’s first move into relationships with peers and adults other than family members. Learners spend most of their waking lives, during their middle childhood, in school. Many aspects necessary for emotional education may be found within the school environment. These consist of peer relationships, empathy for others, problem-solving, developing a regard for the feelings of others and coping with difficult situations or emotions. A child suffering physical and emotional abuse, neglect, trauma or insufficient stimulation presents neurological deterioration in neurons (the “building blocks” of the brain). Diminished brain functioning may result in anger, emotional episodes and disruptive behaviour as methods of emotional expression in some learners. Neurological damage, suffered in this manner, can be reversed via the intervention of a caring adult. This interaction stimulates healthy neurons, and causes them to migrate to the area that suffered damage, thus illustrating the immense role educators are required to play in the future development and restoration of neurological health of some learners. The educational system is ideally positioned to deal with children from a holistic perspective by addressing not only their cognitive and physical needs, but also their emotional and subsequent social needs. Furthermore, the development of the emotional awareness of educators will equip them with the necessary insight into the emotional needs of learners. It is anticipated that emotional awareness will benefit learners in general and have a positive ripple effect on schools and communities as a whole. The study found that the Gestalt approach is best suited for the research study, as it presupposes that the child is “a whole and complex being”; and considers, as a backdrop, the child’s development regarding awareness and the influence that this has on their progress. It was noted from the study that this viewpoint is not always the point of departure of the current school set-up. This investigation was executed using a quantitative research approach, with a structured method of inquiry. This consisted of the formulation of a specific and constant hypothesis, a predetermined research process and a standardized questionnaire. The researcher wanted to measure the effectiveness of an EA program on specific variables such as the learners’ ability to: <ul> <li> be in contact with their emotions; </li><li> discriminate between different emotions; </li><li> verbalize and take ownership of their emotions; </li></ul> This study resorted within the description of applied research, as it was undertaken to acquire new knowledge and was primarily directed towards practical objectives. It focused on a practical problem; the need for an EA Program for children in middle childhood that was scientifically tested within the South African Education System. Within the context of applied research, intervention research was applicable to this study as it aimed to develop technology, useful to the educational profession. The design and development sub-type of intervention research best encompassed the researcher’s intent to design and develop technology, namely the EA Program, to implement the program (intervention) and to evaluate the effectiveness thereof for further implementation within the education system. A quasi-experimental design namely the comparison group pre-test – post-test design was utilized. A standardized questionnaire entitled Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS-C), developed by Dr. Jane Bajgar and Dr. Richard Lane (2003), was used as the measuring instrument. This questionnaire was developed specifically so that its use of language, the length and content of the form would be child appropriate. The study focused on children in the middle childhood developmental phase, which proved to be the phase where emotional awareness begins to play an important role. Children in this phase are particularly susceptible to new knowledge as they have already obtained the basic cognitive abilities (reading, writing and reasoning) necessary to comprehend the content of the EA program. The following conclusions were derived from the execution of this research study: Emotional awareness seemed to be a relatively unfamiliar term in comparison with the widely recognized and renowned term, emotional intelligence. This study positioned emotional awareness as a prerequisite for emotional intelligence; as it is a practical awareness of cognitively obtainable knowledge regarding the emotions of self and others. Emotional intelligence on the other hand is achieved through constructive and optimal emotional awareness abilities. Based on the research findings, and as suggested earlier, it appears that the education system is particularly well positioned to address the emotional development of a large percentage of the school going population. It is assumed that emotional awareness can be cognitively educated and educators are equipped with the necessary educational skills. The education system is thus further favourably equipped to educate emotional content due to the fact that cognitive development is their field of expertise. The research findings indicated that the EA Program succeeded to a great extent in developing emotional vocabulary, higher level emotional responses and the accompanying ability of emotional expression within the experimental group. This measured increase was derived from a seven week exposure to the EA program, which may be indicative of the results that could be achieved with daily exposure to emotional learning, and a healthy emotional setting within the school environment. Obtaining higher level emotional vocabulary is evidently accompanied by emotional expression as the appropriate vocabulary, which is necessary to express the emotional experience accurately. Emotional expression abilities were addressed in particular by the EA Program, and the empirical results suggest that the emotional vocabulary of respondents did expand. A caring educator, well equipped with insight into emotional awareness, may in many instances prove to be a safety net for many learners. This may well serve as a catalyst for reprogramming the brain of the emotionally scarred learner to trust, and risk getting back in the circle of life again, a better alternative than having the learner only surviving by adopting “fight‟ or “flight‟ strategies. Educators must become equipped with the knowledge to comprehend the possibly diminished brain development of the rebellious, aggressive, emotional or introverted learner. This will ensure that their response to such learners has emotional development at heart rather than further emotional harm. Educators should therefore be in touch with their own emotional awareness as well. Indeed, it may prove interesting to determine the value that would be added to the quality of education in South Africa through emotional awareness training to educators. The education system as a whole possesses a responsibility and accountability regarding the educational wellbeing of their learners, as emotional health pre-determines the learners’ ability to thrive. This study made a valuable contribution to the field of both social work and education in their collective aim to develop and empower children. It is recommended that the common grounds where these two professions may meet should be further explored to determine where such a partnership can add further value to the South African educational setting. Providing an emotionally safe and secure classroom atmosphere requires further exploration, as it is an additional factor relating to the ability of learners to excel in class. Existing literature suggests that peer relationships and self-esteem will also benefit from emotional awareness, but the development of these two variables was not tested in this study, and may be a topic for further research. It would be significant to repeat this study on a national level to determine the current emotional level of primary school learners. Comparative studies to determine the differences in emotional awareness of learners in urban and rural areas, or within different ethnic backgrounds may also be of value. This will assist in determining the South African situation regarding emotional awareness and to develop the means to enhance it within the South African education system. This study demonstrated that emotional awareness is an easily comprehendible term which can be easily educated but presents vast benefits. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

This research aimed to investigate the contributions of emotions and Emotional Intelligence (EI) to social work practice with children and families in Malaysia. A mixture of methods within an ethnographic approach was used. The Assessing Emotions Scale (AES) (Schutte et al., 2007) was completed by 105 child social workers. The levels of EI and differences in EI according to certain demographic characteristics were identified. Individual interviews with 25 child social workers were conducted to explore their perceptions concerning emotions and EI in the workplace. Observations were carried out over a period of three months to investigate how emotions were expressed in terms of behaviour. The quantitative results showed that levels of EI were high (mean=131.69, SD=12.483). The workers were reported to be emotionally intelligent in perceiving emotions, dealing with their own and others’ emotions and utilising emotions in their professional conduct. There were no significant differences by gender (p-value=0.367>0.05), marital status (p-value=0.694>0.05), age group F (d=3, 101), P>.05=1.468) or length of service F (d=4,100), P>.05=0.331), but there was a difference with regard to educational level F (d=3,101), P<.05=6.878). The qualitative research findings seemed to show that skills in empathising, expressing and regulating one’s and others’ emotional experiences, as well as religious practice factors, contributed to EI. The qualitative research findings also revealed the strength of religious beliefs in Malaysian social workers, which facilitate the qualities of EI. The present study implies that the spiritual and religious dimension of practice should not be ignored in social work education and training.

This study describes three case studies with three children diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, the focus of the dissertation being the sensory processing issues that these children experience, the limited intervention regarding this subject, and the possible emotional connotations that may accompany these difficulties. In the study, three children partook in six Gestalt Play Therapy sessions, where sensory stimulants were utilised as a medium of expression. The data was analysed, with the emphasis on the children's responses to the sensory work and the emotions that could be linked to this experience. A detailed description of the sessions is provided. It was found that these children were able to make use of the Gestalt Play Therapy setting, along with the sensory work, as a means of emotional expression. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Le taux de prévalence des troubles anxieux est très élevé chez les adolescents avec un Trouble Envahissant du Développement Sans Déficience Intellectuelle (TED-SDI). Hypothèse : Les troubles anxieux sont liés à la reconnaissance des expressions faciales émotionnelles dans les TED-SDI. Objectifs : 1) Etudier les liens entre la présence de troubles anxieux et la reconnaissance des expressions faciales émotionnelles auprès d’adolescents avec TED-SDI, en comparant leurs performances de reconnaissance des expressions faciales émotionnelles selon qu’ils aient ou non des troubles anxieux. 2) Vérifier si ces liens sont spécifiques aux TED-SDI, en comparant les performances à un groupe contrôle anxieux sans TED. 3) Caractériser les troubles anxieux dans les TED-SDI. Méthode : Il s'agit d'une étude transversale, descriptive et comparative d'une population de 46 adolescents avec TED-SDI âgés de 11 à 18 ans dont 20 ont des troubles anxieux. Ces derniers ont été comparés à 20 sujets contrôle du même âge ayant des troubles anxieux sans TED. Résultats : Dans la population avec TED, des liens sont mis en évidence entre la présence de troubles anxieux et l'altération de la reconnaissance des expressions de Colère et Tristesse. Il existe une corrélation spécifique aux TED-SDI entre l'augmentation du niveau d’anxiété sociale et l'amélioration de la reconnaissance de la Peur. Conclusion : Cette étude confirme l’existence de liens entre les troubles anxieux et la reconnaissance des expressions faciales émotionnelles dans les TED-SDI. Des pistes de réflexion sur l’évaluation et le développement de nouvelles prises en charge des troubles anxieux dans cette population sont proposées. / Previous studies reported a high prevalence of anxiety in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) without intellectual disability. Hypothesis: There is an association between anxiety disorders and facial emotional expressionrecognition in this population. Objectives: 1) to explore the relationship between anxiety disorders and facial emotional expression recognition in adolescents with ASD without intellectual disability and in a control group of adolescents without ASD. 2) to examine the specificity of this relation to ASD in comparing their performance in facial emotion recognition to that of a control group with anxiety disorder without ASD. 3) to characterize anxiety disorders in ASD without intellectual disability.Methods: Our study is cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative. Forty-six adolescents with ASD without intellectual disability aged between 11 and 18 years participated in the study. Among them, 20 had an anxiety disorder and were compared with 20 controls of the same age, with anxiety disorder without ASD. Results: In adolescents with ASD, anxiety disorders were related to impairments in recognition of the emotions like Anger and Sadness. Moreover, we found a significant correlation between the level ofsocial anxiety and improvement in Fear recognition that was specific to ASD.Conclusion and future directions: This study supports the hypothesis that anxiety disorders are relatedto facial emotion recognition in adolescents with ASD without intellectual disability. Clinicalimplications concerning the assessment of anxiety comorbidities in this population and the lack ofadapted treatments are discussed.

Expressive Writing (EW) involves writing in an emotionally expressive manner about an experienced event, and has been shown to be related to increases in psychological and physical well-being. The purpose of the current study was to extend previous work by examining how self-presentation affects psychological and physical gains following the EW task. Forty one participants who have experienced a traumatic event were recruited from the community and given either an EW or control activity. Measures assessing self-presentation and various indices of health were administered at baseline and again at one month follow-up to determine changes in symptomatology. Results indicated that higher levels of perfectionistic self-presentation were significantly associated with less improvement in symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress. Further, a nonsignificant moderation trend emerged whereby higher levels of perfectionistic self-presentation were associated with more improvement in symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress in the EW group but not control group.

Expressive Writing (EW) involves writing in an emotionally expressive manner about an experienced event, and has been shown to be related to increases in psychological and physical well-being. The purpose of the current study was to extend previous work by examining how self-presentation affects psychological and physical gains following the EW task. Forty one participants who have experienced a traumatic event were recruited from the community and given either an EW or control activity. Measures assessing self-presentation and various indices of health were administered at baseline and again at one month follow-up to determine changes in symptomatology. Results indicated that higher levels of perfectionistic self-presentation were significantly associated with less improvement in symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress. Further, a nonsignificant moderation trend emerged whereby higher levels of perfectionistic self-presentation were associated with more improvement in symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress in the EW group but not control group.

This study describes three case studies with three children diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, the focus of the dissertation being the sensory processing issues that these children experience, the limited intervention regarding this subject, and the possible emotional connotations that may accompany these difficulties. In the study, three children partook in six Gestalt Play Therapy sessions, where sensory stimulants were utilised as a medium of expression. The data was analysed, with the emphasis on the children's responses to the sensory work and the emotions that could be linked to this experience. A detailed description of the sessions is provided. It was found that these children were able to make use of the Gestalt Play Therapy setting, along with the sensory work, as a means of emotional expression. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Le présent mémoire de maîtrise porte sur la relation potentielle entre le trait de personnalité de recherche de sensations et le traitement des expressions faciales émotionnelles, en particulier la perception (intensité et valence perçues) et la réaction (excitation) aux expressions faciales émotionnelles des autres. Nous examinons si les différences individuelles dans la recherche de sensations sont liées aux variations dans la perception et les réactions aux émotions faciales positives, négatives et neutres chez autrui. Nous recherchons également si les différences de perception ont un rôle à jouer dans la relation entre la réaction d'excitation et la recherche de sensations. Un échantillon de jeunes adultes (N=77) a rempli le formulaire V de l'échelle de recherche de sensations (SSS-V) et a évalué l'intensité et la valence d'expressions faciales émotionnelles tirées de la banque de visages émotionnels dirigés de Karolinska (KDEF). Les participants ont également rapporté leur réponse d'excitation émotionnelle perçue à ces stimuli. En utilisant des régressions hiérarchiques, nous montrons que la recherche de sensations est liée à une réponse d'excitation perçue plus élevée aux expressions faciales émotionnelles positives, négatives et neutres. Une recherche de sensations plus élevée était également associée à une intensité perçue plus élevée, mais uniquement pour une expression faciale neutre, cette relation médiant entièrement l'association entre la recherche de sensations et la réponse d'excitation. Cette thèse de maîtrise fournit les premières données sur la relation entre le trait de personnalité de recherche de sensations et les différences individuelles dans le traitement des émotions chez les autres. Elle ouvre la porte à de futures recherches sur l'impact potentiel du trait de personnalité de recherche de sensations sur le fonctionnement social chez les jeunes adultes. / The present master’s thesis focuses on the potential relation between sensation seeking and the processing of emotional facial expressions, specifically the perception (perceived intensity and perceived valence) and reaction (arousal) to emotional facial expressions in others. We investigate whether individual differences in sensation seeking are related to the variations in perception and reactions to positive, negative, and neutral facial emotions in others. We also investigate if differences in perception have a role to play in the relationship between the self-reported arousal response and sensation seeking. A sample of young adults (N=77) completed the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (SSS-V), and rated the intensity and valence of facial emotional expressions taken from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces (KDEF) set. Participants also reported their perceived emotional arousal response to these stimuli. Using hierarchical regressions, we show that sensation seeking is related to higher self-reported arousal response to positive, negative, and neutral emotional facial expressions. Higher sensation seeking was also associated with higher perceived intensity but only for neutral facial expression, this relation fully mediated the association between sensation seeking and arousal response. This master’s thesis provides the first data on the relation between sensation seeking trait and individual differences in processing of emotions in others. It opens the door to future research on the potential impact of the sensation seeking personality trait on social functioning in young adults.