Published Article / This study focuses on the impact of societal change and related societal problems on the black youth of post-apartheid South Africa. It is argued that adolescents' perspectives on their future in this country could be negatively influenced by the extent of societal problems which are currently experienced in South Africa. Other findings indicate that the influence of traditional cultural norms and values on the black youth is slowly but surely diminishing. Middle class Black adolescents tend to share the general consumerism of South Africa's wealthy classes, and many are detached from the history of the struggle for political freedom. Amidst severe societal problems such as poverty, unemployment, HIV / AIDS and violent crime, the findings of an empirical investigation into the views of 391 black adolescents from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds indicate that a general spirit of optimism and independence exists, paired with a strong desire to escape the trappings of poverty and to fulfil their career and social expectations.

acase@tulane.edu / 1 / Kristin Scott

As the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) continues to rise, large numbers of individuals with ASD are estimated to be entering young adulthood each year. While exploring factors that support success in adulthood, some studies have found that higher expectations of a parent, a teacher, and a student with ASD may predict more positive young adulthood outcomes for students. Additionally, summer transition programs have recently emerged as a means of providing services to transition-aged youth with ASD, to support their entering adulthood. Yet, little research has been done to understand how future expectations for a student with ASD are formed, specifically as they relate to participation in a summer transition program. A qualitative case study was conducted to better understand how a student with ASD, a parent, and a teacher described the student’s abilities and expectations for his future, before and after participating in a summer transition program. Although the student’s perspective did not change over time, both his parent and teacher shifted their understandings of his abilities and expectations for his future, becoming more nuanced in their descriptions and optimistic about the student’s future. Further research is needed to better understand the impacts and maintenance of these shifted understandings, as well as to identify specific transition program features that contributed to these shifts. / 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

The main purpose of the study was to obtain an estimate of Upon-Release Future Expectations of prisoners, and to examine the associations between these expectations and prisoners&rsquo / psychological problems. In addition, the effect of being parent, and of time left before release on Upon-Release Future Expectations of prisoners and their psychological problems were aimed to be examined. For these purposes, firstly, Upon-Release Future Expectations Scale was developed, and its reliability was investigated. Positive-Negative Affect Scale, Beck Depression Scale, the Trait Form of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Hopelessness Scale were used to test its criterion-related validity. Then, in order to reveal the associations between the variables, two sets of regression analyses were conducted. In the first regression analysis, age, gender, time left before release, parental status (i.e., being a parent or not), and scores of Rosenbaum&rsquo / s Learned Resourcefulness Scale and Basic Personality Traits Inventory were used as independent variables, and revealed factors of Upon-Release Future Expectations (i.e., Future Conditions, Perceived Risks, and Confidence in Coping) were entered as dependent variables. In the second regression analysis, besides the independent variables of the first analysis, factors of Upon-Release Future Expectations were used as independent variables, and depression, trait anxiety, and hopelessness scores were entered as dependent variables. The results did not reveal a main effect for time left before release and parental status. Both the significant associations and the insignificant associations between the dependent and the independent variables were discussed. The study was conducted with 96 female and 84 male prisoners.

No description available.

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In the undergraduate and working environments, some science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) areas remain dominated by males. The purpose of this study was to understand the gendered experience of individuals in STEM majors by assessing students’ math self-efficacy, impostorism (a feeling of intellectual phoniness), and future goals. Based on prior research, an overall conceptual model was proposed and analyzed. Several related precursors including gender role orientation, perceived parental influence, math identity, and theories of intelligence were included in the model. Three hundred six undergraduates (64.38% female) in the colleges of natural science, geosciences, and engineering responded to an online survey addressing these constructs. Based on prior research, hypotheses were created proposing that females would report higher impostorism, lower math self-efficacy, and more femininity than males. I expected that masculinity, perceived parental influence, an entity theory of intelligence, and high math identity would predict the impostor phenomenon. Moreover, I hypothesized that the relation of each of these predictors to impostorism would be moderated by sex. For the next two hypotheses, I proposed that the four sources of math self-efficacy would predict math self-efficacy, but this relation would be moderated by impostorism. Finally, I expected that impostorism would lead to reduced future expectations and aspirations, but that this association would be mediated by math self-efficacy. Results indicated partial support of the study hypotheses, and a revised model was created. Both sexes reported similar levels of impostorism, but females had lower math self-efficacy and greater femininity than males. Masculinity negatively predicted the impostor phenomenon, while math identity and an entity theory of intelligence positively related to the dependent variable. Sex moderated the effect of perceived parental influence such that males’ impostorism was more affected by parental influence than females’. Emotional arousal was a strong contributor to math self-efficacy, but this relation was attenuated by impostorism. Coping with emotional arousal was positively associated with math self-efficacy; however, this association was significantly stronger for low impostors than high ones. Finally, impostors were less likely to expect to go to graduate school or work in a STEM-related field. Implications for schools and professors are discussed. / text

Baigiamasis bakalauro darbas Šiuolaikinis gyvenimas suteikia labai daug galimybių pasirinkimui, tuo pačiu supainiodamas žmogų, o ypatingai jauną besivystančią asmenybę. Paskutiniais dešimtmečiais įvyko labai žymūs pokyčiai visose socialinio gyvenimo sferose. Švietimo sistema vis labiau reikalauja ankstyvo moksleivių apsisprendimo dėl studijų krypties ir profesijos pasirinkimo. Norėdamas pasirinkti realius ateities tikslus, bręstantis žmogus turi suderinti savo individualius motyvus su socialiniais reikalavimais, normomis ir galimybėmis. Paaugliai siekia išsiaiškinti esamas vertybes ir susidaryti savąją vertybių sistemą, nes vertybės turi daug reikšmės priimant sprendimus. Tyrimo objektas - dešimtos klasės mokinių vertybinės orientacijos ir ateities lūkesčiai. Bakalauro darbo tikslas - ištirti dešimtos klasės mokinių vertybines orientacijas ir ateities lūkesčių ypatumus. Tyrime dalyvavo 19 (10 merginų bei 9 vaikinai) X klasės mokinių iš Radviliškio rajono vidurinės mokyklos. Ateities lūkesčių tyrimas atliktas taikant R. Pivorienės (Sud.) (2005) „Pasiekimų motyvacijos skalę“; vertybinėms orientacijoms tirti taikyta Allport – Lindzey – Vernon (ALV) metodika; asmenybės bruožams tirti pasirinkta „Didžiojo penketo asmenybės dimensijos“ (DPAD) skalė. Tyrimo hipotezė – tikėtina, kad egzistuoja ryšys tarp vertybinių orientacijų pobūdžio ir ateities lūkesčių. Nustatyta, kad vyresniųjų paauglių religinė vertybinė orientacija buvo įvertinta aukščiausiai, o žemiausiai estetinė vertybinė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Bachelor’s Thesis Modern life offers many opportunities for choice, the same confusion person, especially in developing the personality of a young. In recent decades there have been very significant changes in all spheres of social life. Education system is increasingly demanding an early decision on the students' course of study and career choices. In order to choose realistic goals for the future of the maturing of man have to harmonize their individual motives with social requirements, standards and opportunities. Teenagers to find out the current values and create their own system of values, because values have great importance in decision making. The subject matter is 10th form students’ value orientation and future expectations. Bachelor's Thesis aim – to examine the 10th form students’ value orientations and future expectations features. The study included 19 (10 girls and 9 boys) 10th form students’ from a secondary school of Radviliškis district. Future expectations survey has been conducted by the R Pivorienė (editor) (2005) Achievement Motivation Scale; to investigate value orientations Allport – Lindzey – Vernon (ALV) methodology has been used; to investigate The Big Five personality dimensions scale. Research hypothesis is unlikely that there is a correlation between the nature of value orientations and future expectations. It was found that older adolescent religious orientation was the highest and the lowest appeared values of aesthetic orientation. The... [to full text]

The number of children being abandoned in South Africa is rising steeply. With already existing challenges in the current South African labour market, one must consider the expectations of abandoned adolescents in terms of future careers. It is unreasonable to expect an abandoned adolescent to be guided towards making career decisions using modern career counselling methods, as these were developed for use with individuals from traditional, nuclear families. Most abandoned adolescents are taken in by extended family; grow up in children’s homes or on the streets. One can expect these circumstances to negatively impact the abandoned adolescent’s outlook and hope for the future. There is thus a need for an approach to career facilitation, which takes into account the abandoned adolescent’s subjective experience of his/her context. It was the primary goal of this study to investigate the possibility and limits of life design counselling with an abandoned adolescent. This was done against the background of both the systems theory and social constructionism in order to help the researcher to focus on the experience of the participant within his/her unique context. The study specifically focused on the experience of an abandoned adolescent. In order to better understand the subjective and diverse experiences of the participant, I aimed to investigate, through the lens of social constructionism, the way in which abandoned adolescents in general (and my participant in particular) create meaning through interaction with others as well as his/her environment. Within the qualitative paradigm this study was conducted by means of a case study during which a variety of postmodern techniques were implemented in order to facilitate co-constructive conversations with the participant. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

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