This research set out to investigate factors that lead to seemingly prevalent pre-marital sex by Botswana Seventhday Adventist youth aging between 12 and 30 years. A 31- item questionnaire, divided into four sections, was used on a group of 45 youths. It was discovered that 78% of the youths studied had been involved in pre-marital sex at some point in their lives. Thirty-seven percent were still practicing it. The most vulnerable age range was 14 to 18 years, but some had started experimenting with sex as early as six years. Some of the contributing factors to the youth's involvement in sex included media, friends and lack of knowledge due to parents not giving them guidance.Prevention of pre-marital sex can be made possible by the cooperation of entities like the family, the church, the school and the individual. Hence, the suggested model called the Integrated Sexuality Education. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

Text in English, Appendice 9 (pages 253-264) the isiZulu version of the corresponding English version. / The discourse on youth in South Africa’s post-apartheid era attempts to explore black African youth as agents for social change in their locale. Various perspectives define methods that are utilised by the youth to overcome the social challenges in this era. A case study approach was adopted in conducting this research. The role(s) played by the youth to influence social change were also investigated. The term youth in this research, refers to black African youth between 18 and 29 years of age, living in the township of KwaMashu in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. This investigation attempted to unravel the contributions made by youth towards community development, as well as the strategies that they adopted to secure their day-to-day livelihoods. In addition, various stereotypes and attitudes connected to youth were examined and were also documented. This study also investigated the role played by social agencies such as government institutions, education sector and also non-governmental and faith-based organisations in relation to the empowerment of young people in defining their futures. This investigation enabled the exploration of the impact of contemporary cultural value system(s) in shaping youth’s identities and their perceptions. The findings revealed that there is a need for relevant stakeholders and policy makers to consider interventions that will ensure support of youth initiatives, to curb the scourge of unemployment and poverty. It also recommends that the academic sphere needs to consider the decolonisation of the curriculum towards an Afrocentric Indigenous Knowledge orientation to enhance the aspirations of the Constitution of South Africa. The study also discovered evidence that suggests that the youth have a critical role to play in the development of their locales. Finally, the findings of this research acts as the baseline that could assist future studies in identifying possible themes that can provide [a fuller] understanding of the role played by black African youth in different social settings, i.e. township life, academic and political spheres in the post-apartheid era. / Sociology / D.Litt.et Phil. (Sociology)

This research set out to investigate factors that lead to seemingly prevalent pre-marital sex by Botswana Seventhday Adventist youth aging between 12 and 30 years. A 31- item questionnaire, divided into four sections, was used on a group of 45 youths. It was discovered that 78% of the youths studied had been involved in pre-marital sex at some point in their lives. Thirty-seven percent were still practicing it. The most vulnerable age range was 14 to 18 years, but some had started experimenting with sex as early as six years. Some of the contributing factors to the youth's involvement in sex included media, friends and lack of knowledge due to parents not giving them guidance.Prevention of pre-marital sex can be made possible by the cooperation of entities like the family, the church, the school and the individual. Hence, the suggested model called the Integrated Sexuality Education. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

Dealing with HIV and AIDS and parental illness and death are realities many teenagers have to face, yet little is known about their psychosocial well-being. This study gauged the psychosocial well-being of teenaged orphans in a rural area in KwaZulu-Natal. Using a narrative approached, data were collected by means of interviews. The study examined the nature of social support available to teenaged orphans and their subjective experiences of well-being. Findings suggest that these teenagers were confronted with drastic changes before and after the deaths of their parents. The ramifications of these and the different ways of coping with orphanhood were explored. Foster parents and other care-givers were found to provide differentially in the needs of the teenagers and this impacted on their well-being and coping. This study extends the literature on children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS by considering the specific experiences of teenagers. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Poverty, violence, unemployment, the high rate of HIV/Aids and a lack of resources are some of the issues the South African government is currently trying to address. Victims of crime and violence have special needs that require early intervention. Studies show that if left unattended, victims may show maladjustment in their social, marital and work environments; receiving assistance and support following victimisation therefore holds many benefits for the victim. The Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) announced by government as part of the National Crime Prevention Strategy is meant to address these needs. The VEP is a comprehensive, multifaceted, intersectoral model that brings together integrated service delivery for victims of crime and violence. One of the mandates of the Department of Social Development as the lead department of the VEP is to provide services that empower and meet the needs of communities and individuals who are considered victims. This study seeks to justify why it is beneficial to use a participatory learning approach when designing and conducting „in-service‟ continuing professional development training courses for state-appointed social workers working within the field of victim empowerment (VE) in South Africa. It also advocates for the theoretical approaches of experiential problem-based learning and psychosocial empowerment, and discusses the use of a crossover of theories from the different disciplines of mainstream psychology, community psychology and social work. The vision of a new South Africa based on post-1994 ANC government policies is outlined and the history of the field of socio-economic development and community development is discussed. Mainstream psychology‟s contribution to community development, and the tenets of community psychology, participation and empowerment, are applied in the design of an „in-service‟ short course. The primary focus of the study is on the range of skills and abilities needed to initiate and maintain successful VE services. These include the following: skills in group process facilitation; skills in intersectoral collaboration (referral and networking) with other governmental departments and other healthcare professionals; knowing how to establish and maintain forums; an understanding of the principles and tools of participatory learning and action; skills required for designing, organising and presenting workshops; project management, and the monitoring and evaluation of VE projects. This study elucidates how critical the „in-service‟ training of VE social workers is within the new social development paradigm in South Africa, and offers key considerations and recommendations regarding future „in-service‟ training programmes/short courses for state-employed social workers involved in VE services. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions, attitudes, opinions and fears of the adolescent high school learners towards HIV counseling and testing at school.Quantitative, descriptive, exploratory research was conducted to determine if high school learners would like to be tested for HIV at school. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. The respondents in the study were daytime high school learners (n=120) who were in grade 8 to 12, between ages of 12 to 18 years of age. The study highlighted that adolescents engage in sexual activities at an early age. The results revealed that there is lack of knowledge, unavailability of HCT services for adolescents and the resources to keep a girl child school. This behavior may result in adolescents contracting sexually transmitted infections and HIV, falling pregnant at an early age, which may force adolescent high school learners to drop out of school. However, the study shows that government has more to educate adolescent high school learners about HIV/AIDS to modify their perceptions and attitudes towards HIV counseling and testing. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health studies)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Little is known regarding the psychosocial outcomes of adult siblings of adults with autism. Accordingly, the current study sought to: (1) illuminate factors that predict health-related quality of life, caregiver burden, and reported benefits in adult siblings of adults with autism, using a stress and coping framework and (2) compare outcomes of siblings of adults with autism (n = 31) to siblings of adults with Down syndrome (DS) (n = 54). For the within subject hypotheses, analyses were repeated within the DS group and an overall Disability group (n = 97). The Disability group consisted of participants in the Autism and Down syndrome groups plus twelve individuals in a mixed group of adult siblings of adults with DS who presented with co-morbid symptoms of autism. Variables were organized using The Adult Sibling Caregiver Conceptual Model (ASCCM) into three categories: antecedents (e.g., sibling relationship quality, problem behaviors of the disabled sibling), mediators (e.g., coping strategies, cognitive appraisal types), and psychosocial outcome variables (i.e., mental and physical health-related quality of life, caregiver burden, and reported benefits). For the within subject primary hypotheses, I posited a series of relationships between the antecedents and outcomes based on prior literature on demographic and individual difference predictors (e.g., siblings of adults with autism with fewer problem behaviors would have increased health-related quality of life [HRQOL], decreased caregiver burden, and increased reported benefits) and on stress and coping factors related to the burden of providing care for an individual with autism (e.g., greater use of avoidant coping strategies would be related to lower HRQOL, increased caregiver burden, and decreased reports of benefits). Exploratory hypotheses also were examined (e.g., being married would be associated with increased HRQOL, decreased burden, and increased reported benefits). The within-subject results indicated support for eight of the ten primary hypotheses and five of the six exploratory hypotheses when examined within at least one of the study groups: Autism, DS, or Disability. Overall, sibling caregivers, regardless of their sibling’s disability, reported more favorable psychosocial outcomes when demands were lower (e.g., less severe levels of problem behaviors, fewer autism symptoms exhibited by their disabled sibling, decreased additional pile-up stress), when resources were available to cope with stress (e.g., social support, respite care), and when healthy responses to stress were reported (e.g., use of emotion focused vs. avoidant coping strategies, use of challenge vs. threat appraisal types). Of note, reported benefits, which have rarely been examined in the autism literature, were strongly related to the quality of a sibling relationship across all study groups, and with the helpfulness of received services and perceived social support within the Autism group. The between subject hypotheses also were largely supported. As expected, compared to siblings of those with Down syndrome, siblings of those with autism demonstrated greater levels of caregiver burden and lower mental HRQOL. Moreover, there was a rank ordering in levels of caregiver burden across disability groups; siblings of adults with DS reported the lowest burden, siblings of adults with DS with symptoms of autism reported significantly higher levels of burden, and siblings of those with autism reported the most burden. The results imply that autism, either alone or co-morbid with another diagnosis, presents an increased risk of stress and caregiver burden, not only in parent caregivers, but also in sibling caregivers. Interestingly, there was also evidence for higher levels of stress related growth within the Autism group compared to the DS group. Future research will be needed to generalize the results of this study to broader samples of adult siblings while taking a life course perspective to assess changes in non-disabled siblings’ outcomes over time.

The problem this research seeks to address is the support educators receive in teaching HIV and AIDS topics in the classroom. The reason for the choice of topic is to contribute to the revival of HIV and AIDS education in all schools in South Africa. This exploratory study uses the empowerment theory and presents the qualitative research findings based on in-depth interviews with six educators, four school managers and two parents. Thematic content analysis is used to analyse the data. The study found out that the Department of Education had in the past two years provided training workshops for principals of schools, educators and peer educators in the last two years yet the findings from the two schools under study painted a different picture all together. Findings from the interviews show that any support from the Department of Education or any other stakeholder involved in education, such as the Teacher Unions, happened some years ago. Some of the respondents were not very comfortable on this topic as to most of them HIV and AIDS education is not really being taught as it used to years ago. Finally, the research made some recommendations to these two schools on what could be done as a way of reviving HIV and AIDS education to help children and youths to grow up better able to challenge HIV and AIDS. This is in line with the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEC) 2011 report that the education sector has a critical role to play in terms of the delivery of effective HIV and AIDS prevention and awareness programmes. The findings were important as they highlighted the need for the Department of Education to monitor and evaluate the implementation of HIV and AIDS policies in all public schools. They also they gave recommendations on the way forward on HIV and AIDS education in primary schools. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV and AIDS)

The problem this research seeks to address is the support educators receive in teaching HIV and AIDS topics in the classroom. The reason for the choice of topic is to contribute to the revival of HIV and AIDS education in all schools in South Africa. This exploratory study uses the empowerment theory and presents the qualitative research findings based on in-depth interviews with six educators, four school managers and two parents. Thematic content analysis is used to analyse the data. The study found out that the Department of Education had in the past two years provided training workshops for principals of schools, educators and peer educators in the last two years yet the findings from the two schools under study painted a different picture all together. Findings from the interviews show that any support from the Department of Education or any other stakeholder involved in education, such as the Teacher Unions, happened some years ago. Some of the respondents were not very comfortable on this topic as to most of them HIV and AIDS education is not really being taught as it used to years ago. Finally, the research made some recommendations to these two schools on what could be done as a way of reviving HIV and AIDS education to help children and youths to grow up better able to challenge HIV and AIDS. This is in line with the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEC) 2011 report that the education sector has a critical role to play in terms of the delivery of effective HIV and AIDS prevention and awareness programmes. The findings were important as they highlighted the need for the Department of Education to monitor and evaluate the implementation of HIV and AIDS policies in all public schools. They also they gave recommendations on the way forward on HIV and AIDS education in primary schools. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV and AIDS)

Text in English / The aim of the current study was to explore the impact of the Educhange and Research Foundation (ERF) self-awareness programme on the participants’ reactions, experiences, and changes in opinion regarding their knowledge of concepts of self-awareness. This study constitutes an evaluation of a workshop presented by the ERF which is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) aimed at generating solutions toward a better education for all learners through the application of Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluating education and training programmes. Kirkpatrick’s model follows the goal-based evaluation approach and is based on four levels of evaluation. These four levels are widely known as reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. Due to the feasibility of the research, only the reaction and learning evaluation levels were researched. The population identified for the study comprised 15 grade 9 to 11 secondary school learners from Soweto in South Africa which were encouraged to volunteer to take part in the study at their convenience. The sample consisted of all the learners who attended the self-awareness workshop, in effect making this a purposive, convenience sampling. The ERF Board were responsible for the sample selection for their scholarship programme. One of the minimum criteria of selection to take part in the programme was that the learner must have obtained 70% and stem from poor backgrounds. The relatively small sample size possesses the potential to limit the generalisation of the findings. A mixed method approach was employed for this research. Positivist paradigm is the epistemological stance adopted due to the social reality investigated. The sources of data consisted of pre- and post-evaluation questionnaires on self-awareness. The results were thematically and statistically analysed. Thematic analysis included familiarisation with the data and first finding meaning, and then identifying patterns of recurring meaning by generating initial codes and lastly generating themes that run through these meanings.Statistical analysis was conducted through comparison of the data before and after the workshop using chi-square. Objective self-awareness theory and the self-regulation theory were the theoretical framework that informed the current research study. The main finding from this study was that the programme was perceived to have raised positive subjective opinions and feelings of most of the participants, although one participant raised negative subjective opinions about the programme and made suggestions for improvement. After the workshop, the participants felt that they had gained a better understanding of the key concepts of self-awareness, although most items were found to be statistically insignificant. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)