No description available.

No description available.

M.A. (Psychology) / Interest has grown over the past decade in the study of stress and more recently in the development and Implement at Ion of primary prevention programmes for various forms of stress related illnesses. Such programmes hold great promise for reducing , illness reactions in combination with, or, as an alternative to pharmacological medication. None of these programmes have been conducted amongst a sample of South African black blue-collar workers and it is important that these procedures are tested in order to evaluate their efficacy for specific cultural contexts. In this dissertation, an extensive review of the literature on the various models of stress is included as well as a proposed model for South African blue-collar workers. The stressors inherent in the lives of the sample population are also discussed. The sample consisted of sixty six male black blue-collar workers between the ages of twenty five and fifty five employed in the milling industry. Over a period of six weeks the effects on work-related stress of five different treatment regimes consisting of the following are evaluated: just lying down, relaxation tape, placebo, Royl 6 (vitamin B) and Panado (paracetamol). sUbjects completed the Job-related tension questionnaire and the Anxiety-stress questionnaire upon commencement of treatment and two weeks after' they had concluded treatment. An analysis of variance and a multivariate analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in the levels of work-related stress at the post-measurement stage of assessment.' This indicates that none of the five treatment regimes had any affect on the work-related stress levels of the subjects...

D. Litt. et Phil. / This report presents the findings of a study conducted in February-March 1995, involving 109 members of different emergency services from three regions: Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town. The emergency services included in the study were three units of the South African Police Service (Visible Policing, the Internal Stability Unit and the Flying Squad), provincial fire and ambulance services, and municipal traffic services. The aims of the study were to: (1) describe the underlying causes of stress in the emergency services; (2) establish how stress is currently being dealt with by members and identify the structures and support systems available to assist members with stress-related problems; (3) identify constructive and destructive, effective and ineffective mechanisms used by members to cope with their stress, and (4) suggest solutions to problems experienced in managing stress in the emergency services. The study investigated stressors of SAPS members under the following themes: (1) public image of the SAPS, (2) management style in the SAPS, (3) communication in the SAPS, (4) working environment in the SAPS, (5) working conditions and remuneration packages, (6) distinct characteristics of the work of SAPS members, and (7) the priorities set by SAPS members that need to be addressed in order to reduce their level of stress. The stressors of members of the fire and ambulance services were dealt with under the following themes: (1) utilisation of manpower in the organisation, (2) training provided to members, (3) management style in the fire and ambulance services, (4) distinct characteristics of the work of members of the fire and ambulance services, (5) remuneration packages, and (6) the priorities set by members that need to be addressed in order to reduce their level of stress. The stressors of members of the traffic services were dealt with under the following themes: (1) the public image of the traffic services, (2) distinct characteristics of the work of traffic officials, (3) communication in the traffic services, (4) working conditions and remuneration packages and (5) the priorities set by members that need to be addressed in order to reduce their level of stress. Regarding the support members of the emergency services receive within their organisations for managing stress, a number of sources of support were mentioned, such as social workers, psychologists and chaplains in the SAPS, support by supervisors, debriefing after traumatic events, stress management training, nursing sisters at ambulance stations, drinking and socialising, with the biggest form of support being "buddies". Regarding the co-operation between members of the different emergency services, the perception was that there was a very good relationship and good co-operation. Number of problems experienced in their day-to-day contact with each other were however mentioned.

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (Social Sciences) / Presently a fine balance between South Africa's politics and the industrial situation exists. The South African political focus was aimed at fulfilling the clamouring of America and Europe, and not tailored for the South Africa situation that asks for reciprocity. This immediate way of handling the South Africa political field, has resulted in the industry being at the receiving end of the country's political controversies. What we find in the industry is a total distortion of white male managers occupying 88.2% of all the middle and senior positions, whilst 75% of the South African population consist out of blacks. A very poor representation of African managers is thus visible in the industry that asks for change, reformation and renewal. These changes that are required, will have to take place within a limited accelerated time span, which might be revolutionary rather than evolutionary. Limited research has been done on coping during stressful situations (Feldman & Brett, 1983; Latack, 1986; Burke & Belcourt, 1974; Newton & Keenan, 1985 and Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The research that had been implemented was taxonomic (Burke & Belcourt in Newton & Keenan, 1985:108). This scientific research is about the stress management and coping skills of Afrocentric and Eurocentric middle managers. These managers are employed by Eskom which implies a working milieu that has been exposed to reorganisation, structural changes and rationalisation. An important component of .this research, is that the Eurocentric middle managers are being compared with the Afrocentric middle managers regarding their work and life circumstances and coping skills one or two months before South Africa's very first democratic election that took place on the 27th April 1994. It was important to assess the climate within Eskom as an organisation regarding the white versus the black managers just before a third world democratisation.

M.Phil. / This research focuses on aspects of burnout amongst ministers of religion in the Dutch • Reformed Church ("NG Kerk") Synod of Southern Transvaal. Burnout is a common metaphor for a state of mental exhaustion, usually work-related. It is described as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who do 'people work' of some kind. Research literature describes the general symptomatology of the syndrome, its preconditions, as well as the domain in which it occurs. From the literature it becomes apparent that burnout is a persistent, negative, work-related state of mind in 'normal' individuals that is primarily characterised by exhaustion, which is accompanied by distress, a sense of reduced effectiveness, decreased motivation, and the development of dysfunctional attitudes and behaviours at work. This psychological condition develops gradually but may remain unnoticed for a long time by the individual involved. It results from a misfit between intentions and reality at the job. Often burnout is selfperpetuating because of inadequate coping strategies that are associated with the syndrome. The research design can be typified as exploratory, descriptive and quantitative. The central hypothesis of this study is that burnout is the product of specific factors in the person-work environment interaction of ministers in the Dutch Reformed Church. With the aim of the study in mind, the following research process was followed: A literature review as theoretical grounding for burnout in general, as well as the analysis of literature specifically on burnout amongst ministers of religion. The development of a questionnaire, based on the review of literature, as self-report measure for burnout amongst ministers. After a field investigation, with the questionnaire as a method of data collection (on two occasions, 20 months apart), the data were analysed, consolidated, displayed and interpreted. The consolidated data were also interpreted in the broader perspective of the theoretical framework and recommendations were made about aspects of burnout amongst ministers in the Dutch Reformed Church. Possible causes, negative outcomes, ways of coping, interventions and support were explicated. The most important findings on aspects of burnout amongst ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church, as shown in this study, are: low horizontal mobility, quantitative work overload, time pressure, negative personal experience of the work situation, a negative evaluation of training and the negative evaluation of personal well-being because of the work situation. It can be concluded that ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church are at risk of burnout, caused by unique stressors in their work environment.

D.Phil. / This study investigates the management of burnout among ministers of religion in the Dutch Reformed Church ("NG Kerk") Synod of Southern Transvaal. Burnout is a common metaphor for a state of mental exhaustion, usually work-related. The traditional, and most frequently used definition describes burnout as "a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who do 'people work' of some kind" (Maslach & Jackson, 1986: 1). Research literature describes the general symptomatology of the syndrome, its preconditions, and the domain in which it occurs. From the literature it becomes apparent that burnout is a persistent, negative, work-related state of mind in 'normal' individuals that is primarily characterised by exhaustion, which is accompanied by distress, a sense of reduced effectiveness, decreased motivation, and the development of dysfunctional attitudes and behaviours at work. This psychological condition develops gradually but may remain unnoticed for a long time by the individual involved. Often burnout is self-perpetuating because of inadequate coping strategies associated with the syndrome. The more recent multidimensional theory describes burnout as an individual's stress experience embedded in a context of social relationships involving the person's conception of both the self and others. According to this view burnout is a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion (stress component), depersonalization (otherevaluation component), and reduced personal accomplishment (self-evaluation component), the product of a major mismatch between the nature of the job and of the person who does the job, and the index of the dislocation between what people are and what they have to do. Six areas of organizational life are identified which can cause the imbalance, mismatch or misfit between the person and work: Workload, control, reward, sense of community, fairness and values. According to the multidimensional view burnout is also seen as a syndrome of exhaustion, negativity, hostility, cynicism and distance, and inefficiency on one side of a continuum, while the opposite and positive side of the continuum is represented by a state of engagement, characterised by energy, positive and supportive involvement and a sense of efficacy and accomplishment. Burnout is not a trivial problem but an important barometer of a major social dysfunction in the workplace that says more about the conditions of their job than it does about the workers. It is therefore not only a problem of the individual worker, but involves the complex interaction between organization and employees, on personal and interpersonal level, and also of specific working conditions and the context in which the work is being done. This interaction shapes the way people see and do their work, and impacts on the well-being of the workers and the organization. Burnout is therefore not only related to negative outcomes for the individual, including depression, a sense of failure, fatigue, and loss of motivation, but also to negative outcomes for the organization, including absenteeism, turnover rates, and lowered productivity.

M.A. / This study looks into the types of stressors specific to the Emergency Medical Services. The study was undertaken over a period of two years with the following objectives: • A literature survey regarding stress, organisational stress in general and stress in the context of Emergency Medical Services in particular. • An investigation of the personnel of the Emergency Medical Services to ascertain the stressors perceived as stressful by them. • Recommendations on how to prevent or lower stress in the Emergency Medical Services. The first part of this study is devoted to a theoretical investigation which gives an overview of stress in its broadest sense as well as stress in organisations which includes cumulative stress/burnout. Critical Incident Stress and Post Traumatic Stress are also closely examined, as well as the personality characteristics of members of the Emergency Medical Services. The point of departure for the researcher is an ecosystemic perspective where objectivity itself is questionable. Therefore, qualitative research was called for and the transactional/interactional model of Richard Lazarus was used to categorise stressors. The research results suggest that what the Emergency Medical Service personnel perceive as stressful are mainly organisational stressors but they acknowledge that in the long term the continual dealing with death and trauma starts to take its toll. Criticisms that could be levelled against the study are that the results are only generalisable to the personnel of the Johannesburg Emergency Services, whose demographic characteristics and backgrounds differ, for instance, from those who work at Bryanston, or Pretoria. As the study relied solely on personal disclosure and observation the results can be seen as somewhat subjective in nature. What was communicated as stress-related events was what was perceived as stressful by the personnel as well as the researcher's subjective perception of whether certain events were perceived as stressful for the personnel. After working on the ambulance with these personnel for over three years, the researcher is an accepted part of their system, and became subject to the same blunting of affect and depersonalisation of victims as the Emergency workers. Over an extended period in time, it became harder to divorce the researcher from the "worker" while on duty, to maintain a scientific perspective and to write objectively. However, the findings of this study concur with those done by previous researchers on this subject such as Sparrius (1992) and Du Toit & Botes (1996).

M.A. / The goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between trait anxiety, years of service and posttraumatic stress disorder in the South African Police Service. This study was regarded as important because posttraumatic stress can have a significant influence on the personal life and work-related performance of police officers. One hundred and twenty white, male police officers volunteered to participate in the study. A structural model of the relationships between trait anxiety, years of service and posttraumatic stress was postulated. The model specified that trait anxiety and years of service influence posttraumatic stress both individually and jointly. Trait anxiety is operationalised by means of the IPAT Anxiety Scale and posttraumatic stress disorder by means of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview Schedule. The fit of the postulated model with the observed data was investigated by means of structural equation modelling. The results indicated that the postulated model showed an acceptable fit with the observed data. The estimated parameters of the model indicated that the subscales of the IPAT Anxiety Scale and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview Schedule are good indicators of their respective constructs. It was further shown that trait anxiety and years of service have a significant influence on posttraumatic stress disorder. The results support those of previous studies where it was shown that these variables can influence posttraumatic stress disorder. The present study emphasizes that trait anxiety may predispose police officers to the development of trait anxiety. The study also shows that if police officers are exposed to extended periods of traumatic experiences, they run the risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder.