This study focuses on the strengths of early adolescents after losing a parent to suicide. Strengths is a global phenomenon and yet little research has been undertaken in South Africa pertaining to strengths in early adolescence. The goal of the study was to determine how the early adolescent experiences the suicidal death of a parent while simultaneously going through puberty, and what strengths were present to help them make meaning out of what happened in their lives. The research was conducted through a phenomenological design and followed a qualitative research approach within an interpretivist paradigm. The research design and approach allowed the participants to give meaning to the construct by sharing their own experiences. A total of 6 early adolescent girls from the ages of twelve to sixteen years were purposefully selected from the East Rand area, Gauteng. Five of the girls were Afrikaans speaking and one was English speaking. Three of the girls lost a mother to suicide and three of the girls lost a father to suicide. The qualitative data was collected in the form of individual in-depth interviews with the early adolescents. The interviews were voice recorded, transcribed and typed out by online transcribers. The raw data was checked by the researcher for accuracy and categorised to ascertain certain emerging themes. Thematic data analysis was used to transform the transcribed data into meaningful information. Principles and strategies to increase the trustworthiness of the data were done through a process of crystallisation. The researcher's objective was to understand and interpret the meanings the participants gave to their own experiences, to identify the strengths that emerged and make findings available to professionals and parents. The findings of the study revealed that early adolescents do present with certain strengths of an intrapersonal nature that assisted and support them through the grief and bereavement process after the suicide of a parent. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Child-friendly spaces are not successfully implemented in South Africa due to problems such as urbanization, development pressure, lack of qualitative open spaces and lack of policy and legislation guiding the planning and protection of such spaces. This study evaluates local and international planning approaches of childfriendly spaces in an attempt to identify best practices and explore how child-friendly spaces can be planned and utilized locally, in South Africa, (especially rural areas such as the Vaalharts district in the North West Province) to develop playful, educational, environmentally preserving and qualitative child-friendly spaces.The research methodology used in this study consist of (i) a literature investigation on concepts of child-friendly environments, qualitative open spaces, rural challenges, as well as current child-friendly policy and legislation, both from an international and local perspective; and (ii) an empirical study, conducted qualitatively by means of Pilot testing and case study evaluation. Local pilot tests were limited, due to a lack of child-friendly spaces in South Africa to, proposed Valhalla Water Park in Cape Town and Irene Village Mall in Pretoria. The case study evaluation consists out of Green Point Urban Park and the Vaalharts Water Innovation Project that is a newly planned, “still in progress”, project. International case studies included examples of successful child-friendly spaces such as La Louviere in Belgium, Chapefield play area and Darnley Park in Scotland, Play Field Farnborough in England, Caronport Spray Park in Canada and Bellevue Redmond Spray Park in Washington. Based on the findings, recommendations are made in terms of the planning and development of child-friendly spaces, incorporating examples such as the provision of spray parks in rural areas in order to create playful, educational, environmentally preserving and qualitative outdoor spaces. / MArt et Scien (Urban and Regional Planning), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Industrial-organisational (I-O) Psychology is known for specialising in the study of human behaviour in the workplace (Van Vuuren, 2010). It is clear that the problems associated with individuals in the workplace form the basis for the existence of I-O psychology. Veldsman (2001) stated that it is imperative to reflect upon the future of I-O psychology and that I-O psychology must be repositioned in future. Therefore, it is emphasised that additional roles should be elicited for I-O psychologists in South Africa (Barnard & Fourie, 2007). Moalusi (2001) has recognised the need for I-O psychologists to reposition themselves in future by focusing on significant workplace issues. Upon further investigation it should be noted that many factors that exert an influence upon workplace behaviour do not necessarily derive from the workplace. These factors, such as family responsibilities, cultural influences and traumatic events, suggest that the sphere of influence of the I-O psychologists stretches far beyond the physical borders of the workplace (Landy & Conte, 2004; Van Vuuren, 2010). According to Strümpfer (2007), it is the I-O psychologist who is concerned with the deep-rooted problems of individuals. The objective of the study was therefore to critically review the role I-O psychologists play as counsellors, and to determine whether counselling should form part of the I-O psychologist’ scope of practice. A qualitative research design was utilised in the study following a phenomenology strategy. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to identify (n=22) I-O psychologists across the Gauteng and North West provinces. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, where the participants were asked to reflect upon seven interview questions which were later transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis. Nine themes were extracted from the data, namely, the meaning of counselling, counselling situations that I-O psychologists face, counselling skills required by I-O psychologists, characteristics displayed by I-O psychologist during counselling, counsellor competencies required of I-O psychologists, post graduate counselling training received by I-O psychologists, additional counselling training received by I-O psychologists, recommendations made for future training of I-O psychology students and lastly the inclusion of counselling in the scope of practice From the results it was clear the I-O psychologists are familiar with the meaning of counselling and that they are faced with a diverse range of counselling situations requiring a unique set of skills and competencies. Participants had divergent experience and opinions with regard to the training received in preparation of their role as counsellor. In relation to their training participants made recommendations for the future training of I-O psychologists. Finally, participants mentioned that it would be in their best interest if counselling is formally included in the scope of practice of the I-O psychologists. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Research has shown that we presently live in an era where birth rates are low and life expectancy is high, drawing the conclusion that older people will be part of young people’s lives for longer. Intergenerational relationships refer to the relationship between two or more generations and are crucial for growth within both generations, young and old. There are many stereotypes attached to old age, and it has been found that young people take on these stereotypes through the media and society. The aim of this study was to explore young people’s perceptions of older people before and after an ethnodrama presentation. Programme evaluation which forms part of applied qualitative research was used. The participants for the research were selected from four schools across Gauteng through convenience sampling, and their ages ranged from ten to sixteen years old. The presentation consisted of an icebreaker and the ethnodrama, which is defined as the dramatisation of researched data. The ethnodrama aimed at generating a better understanding of older people, and refuting negative perceptions associated with older people and aging. It was specifically aimed to tell a story of how older people are living in South-Africa based on previous research. The data, to determine the participants’ perceptions of older people, were collected by means of questionnaires containing open-ended questions. The data were obtained before and immediately after the presentation of the ethnodrama. Thematic analysis was used to transform the data into meaningful information. Findings in this study were not intended to generalize or prove the efficacy of the programme, but to establish how young people perceive older people and whether an ethnodrama presentation had any influence on these perceptions. The findings of the evaluation before the presentation revealed that young people have ambivalent, stereotypical or favourable perceptions of older people. The evaluation directly after the presentation showed a more nuanced description of older people, whereby younger people did not just describe them according to their identities as older people, but also described the relationship between young and old, and expressed an understanding for older people’s needs. In conclusion, the ethnodrama seemed to have an impact on younger people’s perceptions of older people, although stereotypical perceptions remained throughout the study. It is recommended that young people are encouraged to interact with older people from a young age in order to base their perceptions on first-hand accounts of experience gained through these interaction, and possibly dismiss any negative perceptions they may have. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study focuses on the strengths of early adolescents after losing a parent to suicide. Strengths is a global phenomenon and yet little research has been undertaken in South Africa pertaining to strengths in early adolescence. The goal of the study was to determine how the early adolescent experiences the suicidal death of a parent while simultaneously going through puberty, and what strengths were present to help them make meaning out of what happened in their lives. The research was conducted through a phenomenological design and followed a qualitative research approach within an interpretivist paradigm. The research design and approach allowed the participants to give meaning to the construct by sharing their own experiences. A total of 6 early adolescent girls from the ages of twelve to sixteen years were purposefully selected from the East Rand area, Gauteng. Five of the girls were Afrikaans speaking and one was English speaking. Three of the girls lost a mother to suicide and three of the girls lost a father to suicide. The qualitative data was collected in the form of individual in-depth interviews with the early adolescents. The interviews were voice recorded, transcribed and typed out by online transcribers. The raw data was checked by the researcher for accuracy and categorised to ascertain certain emerging themes. Thematic data analysis was used to transform the transcribed data into meaningful information. Principles and strategies to increase the trustworthiness of the data were done through a process of crystallisation. The researcher's objective was to understand and interpret the meanings the participants gave to their own experiences, to identify the strengths that emerged and make findings available to professionals and parents. The findings of the study revealed that early adolescents do present with certain strengths of an intrapersonal nature that assisted and support them through the grief and bereavement process after the suicide of a parent. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The aim of this study was to evaluate the "beautification of schools" programme as an environmental management tool with a view to facilitating the improvement thereof wherever necessary. An in-depth literature review on theoretical perspectives in environmental management indicated that these partially addressed the problem of the study, namely, to comply with some principles of environmental management system, but not to implement them fully. The theory developed from the literature review facilitated the development of an empirical research. Qualitative research was conducted to evaluate the "beautification of schools" programme as an environmental management tool with a view to facilitating the improvement thereof wherever necessary. It emerged from the findings of the research, that some schools do not have environmental policies. Those schools with environmental policies lack environmental policy objectives. They do not have time frames according to which environmental programmes of action need to be reviewed. Although some schools have used the environmental management strategies in the "beautification of schools" campaign as a management tool, they have never taken proactive measures to better manage the environment of their schools. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of adolescents living with a diagnosed chronic auto-immune Illness (CAI) due to the fact that there is a wider increase in the prevalence and incidence of auto-immune illnesses among adolescents. The researcher applied one primary scientific paradigm and two theories in this study, namely the Gestalt paradigm, Field theory and Erikson’s Theory of Adolescent Development, pertaining to adolescents living with a CAI. A qualitative, explorative and descriptive case study approach was followed. Purposive sampling was used to select six adolescents with a diagnosed CAI. Data was collected through individual semi-structured interviews and observations. Qualitative data analysis using Creswell’s “data analysis spiral” was used to analyse data and identify themes. It was clear that the adolescents” environments, as well as their intra- and interpersonal resources and outlook on life have an influence on the way they experience their illness. They experienced a continuum of feelings which ranged from support and encouragement from family and community members, to a lack of understanding from community members, and ridicule and isolation by peers. Sharing success stories and exploring a multidisciplinary, more holistic treatment plan that focuses on mind, body and soul, may benefit adolescents living with a CAI. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This study focuses on the sense of self of adolescents when they are reintegrated into schools after dropping out. Dropout is a global phenomenon and yet very little research has been undertaken regarding reintegration and especially the successful reintegration of adolescents and how this reintegration affects their sense of self. The goal of the study was to determine how reintegrated adolescents experience their reintegration into schools, and how this has affected them in terms of how they see themselves. The research hoped to discover what personal difficulties the adolescents had overcome in their return to school as well as the motivating factors that would keep the reintegrated adolescents in school. The research was conducted from a phenomenological Gestalt, field approach and followed a qualitative research design within an interpretivist framework. This research design allows the participants to give meaning to their own experiences. A total of six adolescent boys between the ages of 13 and 17 were purposefully selected from the informal settlement of Groenheuwel, Paarl in the Western Cape. Five of the six adolescents had been reintegrated into schools in 2011 and 2012 by the Khula Development Group. One adolescent participant was a peer educator and although he had never dropped out, he contributed meaningful data on how reintegrated adolescents are experienced as seen from his role as a peer educator. Other participants in the research included the Headmaster of Groenheuwel Primary School and the President and Project leader of the Khula Development Group. The qualitative data were collected in the form of individual open-ended interviews with the adolescents, project leader and headmaster. The researcher’s objective was to understand and interpret the meanings the participants gave to their own experiences, which was further done through observation, member checking, and a reflective group discussion including the application of an art technique. The interviews were recorded on DVD. The reflective group discussion was held with the adolescent participants two weeks after the individual interviews. The group discussion included an art technique, where the adolescents were asked to create their experiences of their return to school in clay. This session was also recorded on DVD. Recordings were transcribed by the researcher to ascertain certain emerging themes and categories. Thematic data analysis was used to transform the transcribed data into meaningful information. The principles and strategies for enhancing the trustworthiness of the data were done through crystallisation. The findings of the study revealed the unrealistic expectations with which the adolescents view their sense of self. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of adolescents living with a diagnosed chronic auto-immune Illness (CAI) due to the fact that there is a wider increase in the prevalence and incidence of auto-immune illnesses among adolescents. The researcher applied one primary scientific paradigm and two theories in this study, namely the Gestalt paradigm, Field theory and Erikson’s Theory of Adolescent Development, pertaining to adolescents living with a CAI. A qualitative, explorative and descriptive case study approach was followed. Purposive sampling was used to select six adolescents with a diagnosed CAI. Data was collected through individual semi-structured interviews and observations. Qualitative data analysis using Creswell’s “data analysis spiral” was used to analyse data and identify themes. It was clear that the adolescents” environments, as well as their intra- and interpersonal resources and outlook on life have an influence on the way they experience their illness. They experienced a continuum of feelings which ranged from support and encouragement from family and community members, to a lack of understanding from community members, and ridicule and isolation by peers. Sharing success stories and exploring a multidisciplinary, more holistic treatment plan that focuses on mind, body and soul, may benefit adolescents living with a CAI. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This study focuses on the sense of self of adolescents when they are reintegrated into schools after dropping out. Dropout is a global phenomenon and yet very little research has been undertaken regarding reintegration and especially the successful reintegration of adolescents and how this reintegration affects their sense of self. The goal of the study was to determine how reintegrated adolescents experience their reintegration into schools, and how this has affected them in terms of how they see themselves. The research hoped to discover what personal difficulties the adolescents had overcome in their return to school as well as the motivating factors that would keep the reintegrated adolescents in school. The research was conducted from a phenomenological Gestalt, field approach and followed a qualitative research design within an interpretivist framework. This research design allows the participants to give meaning to their own experiences. A total of six adolescent boys between the ages of 13 and 17 were purposefully selected from the informal settlement of Groenheuwel, Paarl in the Western Cape. Five of the six adolescents had been reintegrated into schools in 2011 and 2012 by the Khula Development Group. One adolescent participant was a peer educator and although he had never dropped out, he contributed meaningful data on how reintegrated adolescents are experienced as seen from his role as a peer educator. Other participants in the research included the Headmaster of Groenheuwel Primary School and the President and Project leader of the Khula Development Group. The qualitative data were collected in the form of individual open-ended interviews with the adolescents, project leader and headmaster. The researcher’s objective was to understand and interpret the meanings the participants gave to their own experiences, which was further done through observation, member checking, and a reflective group discussion including the application of an art technique. The interviews were recorded on DVD. The reflective group discussion was held with the adolescent participants two weeks after the individual interviews. The group discussion included an art technique, where the adolescents were asked to create their experiences of their return to school in clay. This session was also recorded on DVD. Recordings were transcribed by the researcher to ascertain certain emerging themes and categories. Thematic data analysis was used to transform the transcribed data into meaningful information. The principles and strategies for enhancing the trustworthiness of the data were done through crystallisation. The findings of the study revealed the unrealistic expectations with which the adolescents view their sense of self. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013