Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The aim of the present study was to determine whether it was possible to identify changes in levels of postpartum depression and maternal adjustment and attitude in primiparae before and after birth. It aimed, furthermore, at assessing certain risk factors that could provide an understanding of the etiological factors (causes, determinants) influencing postpartum levels of depression and maternal adjustment and attitude. The study focused on risk factors among married and unmarried primiparae (first time mothers), with a view to establishing vulnerability profiles of the respective groups. The specific risk factors that formed part of the investigation were social support, personality (neuroticism) and life events. All the subjects investigated were recruited from the Mitchells Plain Maternity and Obstetrics Unit. A sample of 70 subjects, in the third trimester of pregnancy, voluntarily participated in the first part of this study. Of these, 26 belonged to the married group and 44 belonged to the unmarried group. As a result of the attrition factor, 57 subjects constituted the final sample for analysis. The final sample comprised 20 married and 37 unmarried subjects. Subjects were followed up four to eight weeks postpartum. Results revealed that there were no significant changes in levels of depression between the married and unmarried groups, either before or after delivery. Of significance was that with the event of birth, the depression scores amongst women rated high in neuroticism decreased significantly. Married women with high social support satisfaction scores were found to have low depression scores. Similarly, married women who experienced fewer negative life events had lower levels of depression than did the unmarried women who experienced fewer negative life events. The maternal adjustment and attitude scores did not change before or after birth, except in the married group. The married group showed a significant increase in scores on the maternal adjustment and attitude scores after the birth of the child. Regarding personality (neuroticism), the high neuroticism scorers had significantly lower maternal adjustment and attitude than did the low neuroticism scorers. As was the case with social support and depression, married women with high social support had a higher maternal adjustment and attitude. A significant effect of negative life events on maternal adjustment and attitude was only found for the married women (after delivery) who experienced a low number of life events. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed, in order to yield a model in which the depression and maternal adjustment and attitude scores would be predicted by risk factors. The finding of this analysis for both depression and maternal attitude and adjustment was not significant. Social Identity theory was suggested as a possible interpretation of these results. Future research which views social identity as a factor in understanding postpartum depression and maternal adjustment and attitude has been proposed .

Mental health is an ever-growing crisis among adolescents and young adults, with suicide as second leading cause of death and the number of those negatively affected continually on the rise. Transitions are one of the major stressors prevalent among these age groups, placing individuals at risk for mental health deficits. This quantitative voluntary response comparative study assesses the transitional mental health of pre-nursing students and students in the nursing program at East Tennessee State University. Emailed to all with a declared major of pre-nursing or nursing, this study measured mental health using evidenced based assessment tools. The PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety, along with additional demographic information and mental health service usage questions, was sent to and completed by participants. A total of n = 173 responses were received. Of these responses n = 99 or 57.2 percent were nursing students, a participation rate of 9.6 percent, and n = 74 or 42.8 percent were pre-nursing students. The research revealed that depression and anxiety scores were above the cutoff for moderate depression and anxiety in both groups, as well as identified a deficit in availability of mental health resources, with over 10 percent of students unable to access counseling or psychiatric services. Contraindicatory to literature, which predicted improving mental health in the progression through university studies, this study reveals a variable and even worsening trajectory of mental health as students transition into the nursing program and progressed through college.

Background: Cognitive impairment is prevalent in survivors of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and increases risk for poor outcomes. Lifestyle changes are recommended to patients after ACS to reduce their risk for recurrent events, but cognitively impaired patients may encounter difficulties initiating these changes. This dissertation had three aims: (1) to examine cognitive status as a predictor of lifestyle changes after ACS, (2) to examine whether caregiver support moderates the association of cognitive status and initiation of lifestyle changes, and (3) to assess the reliability of self-reported lifestyle changes in cognitively impaired patients through comparison of their reports of lifestyle change with those from their caregivers. Methods: For aims 1 and 2, Poisson regression with robust error variance was used to examine the association of cognitive status and caregiver support with patient-reported initiation of five lifestyle changes (improving diet, increasing exercise, quitting smoking, reducing stress, and attending cardiac rehabilitation) in 881 patients from TRACE-CORE, a prospective longitudinal observational study of outcomes in ACS. For aim 3, pilot data from 78 patient-caregiver dyads from TRACE-CARE, an ancillary substudy, were used to examine whether patient-caregiver congruence on reports of lifestyle changes varied according to patients’ cognitive function. Results: Patient-reported rates of lifestyle change did not vary according to cognitive status, except for participation in cardiac rehabilitation. Caregiver support improved patient-reported rates of lifestyle change among cognitively intact patients but not cognitively impaired patients. Patients’ cognitive function was positively associated with patient-caregiver congruence on reports of initiation of lifestyle changes and patients with decreased cognitive function tended to over-report initiation of lifestyle changes compared to reports by their caregivers. Conclusion: Although cognitive status was not associated with initiation of most lifestyle changes and the influence of caregiver support on initiation of lifestyle changes was only beneficial to cognitively intact patients in this cohort of ACS patients, these null findings may be explained by the questionable validity of self-report in cognitively impaired patients. This dissertation yields new knowledge about secondary prevention in ACS patients and provides insight into the challenges of conducting patient-reported outcomes research in cognitively compromised populations.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Consistent under-reporting of autism cases by Indiana physicians to the Indiana Birth Defects and Problems Registry (IBDPR) has made quality autism-related data very difficult to obtain (Indiana Birth Defects and Problems Registry [IBDPR], 2011). As a result, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) currently also utilizes data from billing information that it receives from hospital discharges. However, such cases must be investigated further because autism is often merely suspected as a possibility in the discharge data. A chart auditor must therefore review the child’s chart to determine if the condition is confirmed. Meanwhile, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) has a different diagnostic procedure from physicians for determining whether a student has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which qualifies him or her for special education. A physician diagnosis of autism does not guarantee that a child will receive special education from public schools. With all of these current complications surrounding autism, announced changes in the definition of autism by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) will likely have effects on both the special education field and the public health field. There is a possibility that children who had previously received special education could cease to maintain their eligibility and may find it difficult to obtain benefits. The IDOE may find it necessary to reevaluate their criteria for determining special education eligibility. Additionally, public health officials may see the definition changes affect the number of autism cases they perceive their populations to have, thus impacting community and policy decisions. This study was performed as an attempt to investigate and compare the sources used by the IBDPR to obtain autism data, and determine whether or not the resulting data creates an accurate depiction of the autistic population of Indiana. It was also performed to speculate whether a stricter definition of autism will result in a higher quality of data for the IBDPR and a more consistent view on the disorder between the ISDH and the IDOE. Perhaps from such consistency and simpler definitions, future recorded data will more closely resemble that of reality, enabling the ISDH to utilize the IBDPR to its full extent. Using current definitions for an exploratory analysis of data from the past five years, a discrepancy clearly exists between the IBDPR and the reality of the population of Indiana.

<p>Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a degenerative disease with progressive deterioration of neural networks in the brain. Fractal dimension analysis (FD) of resting state blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals acquired using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows us to quantify complex signalling in the brain and may offer a window into the network erosion. This novel approach can provide a sensitive tool to examine early stages of AD. As AD progresses, we expect to see a reduction in brain connectivity and signal complexity concurrent with biochemical changes (e.g. altered levels of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), myoinositol (mI) and glutamate as measured using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, MRS), volumetric changes and abnormally high levels of brain iron.</p> <p>Over a series of 4 studies we examined the relationship of BOLD signal complexity and functional connectivity with documented MRI markers of pathology in AD (n=38) as compared to normal controls (NC) (n=16). AD subjects were in early stage of illness (mild to moderate impairment on the mini mental state exam, MMSE). We validated the temporal (short term (within minutes) and longer term (over a number of months)) consistency of FD measurement and choice of BOLD acquisition method (spiral vs. EPI), provided MRI sequence repeat time (TR) was kept constant. FD reduction (decrease in signal complexity) correlated with worsening pathological values on MRS (­NAA decrease and mI increase) and with a decrease in functional connectivity. This demonstrates that FD (signal complexity) reduces in proportion to AD severity. FD reduction is connected to functional connectivity measured through resting state network (RSN) analysis suggesting the reduction in FD relates to neuronal loss rather than altered vascularity. The narrow range of cognitive impairment (such as scores on the MMSE or the clinical dementia rating scale, CDR) likely precluded correlation between these measures and FD or RSN. Functional connectivity (RSN) was also reduced when brain iron levels were increased within certain network nodes (posterior cingulate cortex and lateral parietal cortex). Therefore iron deposition may play a role in network disruption of AD brains.</p> <p>The overall conclusion of this thesis is that signal complexity of BOLD fMRI signals, as measured with FD, may detect early pathology in the progression of AD. FD can detect neuronal changes in deep brain structures before volume loss in these structures and before significant changes in MRS markers were detectable between the AD and NC groups. An FD change mirrors disruptions in functional connectivity but detection is not limited to RSN nodes in the brain. This novel approach could further our understanding of AD and may be applied to other pathologies of the brain.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

We introduce a novel integration of real-time, predictive eye-gaze tracking models into a multimodal dialogue system tailored for remote health assessments. This system is designed to be highly accessible requiring only a conventional webcam for video input along with minimal cursor interaction and utilizes engaging gaze-based tasks that can be performed directly in a web browser. We have crafted dynamic subsystems that capture high-quality data efficiently and maintain quality through instances of user attrition and incomplete calls. Additionally, these subsystems are designed with the foresight to allow for future re-analysis using improved predictive models, as well as enable the creation and training of new eye-gaze tracking datasets. As we explored gaze patterns for various user-performed tasks, we developed generalizable eye-gaze metrics that capture and reflect the distinct gaze trends among different cohorts. And through testing various feature extraction and classification methods, we have found promising results that have enabled us to effectively classify individuals with Mild Neurocognitive Disorder (MiNCD) / Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in a crowdsourced pilot study (N = 35) with an average accuracy of 0.94 (f1 = 0.83). Although just the beginning, this work represents the first step towards establishing predictive eye-gaze tracking as an accessible and important modality for healthcare applications moving forward, with the potential to significantly impact remote screening and monitoring of neurocognitive health.

OBJECTIF : Un fréquent recours aux services de l'urgence hospitalière (SU) pour des troubles mentaux (TM) est coûteux pour les finances publiques, il contribue à l'engorgement des urgences, et n’améliore pas toujours l’état de santé de l’usager de ces services. Ce mémoire porte sur les raisons évoquées pour le recours fréquent aux SU par les patients qualifiés de grands utilisateurs (≥3 visites/an) et ayant des TM courants (TMC) (par ex. troubles dépressifs, troubles anxieux, troubles de comportement), des troubles liés aux substances psychoactives (TLS) (par ex. intoxication, troubles induits par une substance, dépendance) ou des TMC-TLS concomitants. Leurs perspectives sont comparées et les aspects identifiés par les patients comme aidant à réduire leur recours aux SU sont examinés. MÉTHODOLOGIE : S’inscrivant dans un projet de recherche d’envergure financé par les Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada (IRSC), les données de 42 grands utilisateurs des SU avec TMC, TLS ou TMC-TLS concomitants ont été collectées, en 2021-2022, basées sur des entrevues semi-dirigées et un examen des dossiers médicaux des patients. Le recrutement des patients s’est effectué dans deux SU du Québec (Canada). Cette étude qualitative s’est fondée sur l’analyse de contenu. RÉSULTATS : Globalement, les principales raisons évoquées expliquant le grand recours aux SU étaient rattachées à des facteurs liés au système de santé mentale (par ex. l’adéquation, l’accessibilité et la continuité des soins), aux profils des patients (par ex. les problèmes biopsychosociaux urgents et récurrents, les systèmes de soutien et les capacités individuelles) et aux pratiques professionnelles des cliniciens (par ex. leur connaissance et leur aisance avec les TM, la qualité des échanges avec les patients et la collaboration entre les cliniciens). Des interactions complexes entre ces différents facteurs sont rapportées et celles-ci semblent entraver le processus de III rétablissement des patients et perpétuent des cycles menant à une fréquente utilisation des SU. Quelques différences significatives ont aussi émergé entre les trois groupes de patients. Les patients souffrant de TMC se sont distingués par d'importantes barrières d’accès aux soins ambulatoires et des besoins non satisfaits, alors que les patients souffrant de TLS se sont démarqués principalement par leur manque de confiance dans les services ambulatoires, ainsi qu’en eux-mêmes, tandis que ceux souffrant de TMC-TLS par des problèmes de coordination des soins. CONCLUSION : Les résultats mettent en relief la nécessité d’investir davantage dans le système de santé mentale du Québec afin d’améliorer l’accès aux services ambulatoires, la collaboration entre les prestataires de soins et la continuité de soins diversifiés auprès des patients après l’utilisation des SU, ainsi que plus de traitements intégrés pour les TM-TLS. Les pratiques en santé mentale, fondées sur les données probantes, ont besoin d’être encore plus consolidées dans les soins primaires et conformément au modèle de soins chroniques. Ce qui inclus de meilleurs outils de détection précoce des TM et TLS, des modèles de soins par étapes, ainsi que des formations orientées vers le patient, pour la gestion des symptômes. Les grands utilisateurs des SU bénéficieraient ainsi d’une surveillance accrue, de l’élargissement des plans individualisés de soins et des gestionnaires de cas, ainsi que des formations continues en santé mentale offertes aux cliniciens des soins primaires. / AIMS: High emergency department (ED) use for mental disorders is costly for public finances, contributes to ED overcrowding and does not always improve the health status of the ED user. This dissertation investigates the reasons given for the frequent use of ED by patients qualified as high users (≥3 visits/year) and having common mental disorders (CMD) (e.g., depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, behavioral disorders), substance-related disorders (SRD) (e.g., intoxication, substance-induced disorders, dependance) or co-occurring CMD-SRD. Their perspectives are compared, and aspects identified by patients as helpful to reduce their ED use are examined. METHODOLOGY: As part of a large research project funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), data from 42 high ED users with CMD, SRD or co-occurring CMD-SRD were collected, between 2021-2022, based on semi-structured interviews and examination of patients’ medical records. Patients were recruited from two large ED in Quebec (Canada). This qualitative study was based on content analysis. RESULTS: Overall, the main reasons reported for high ED use were linked to factors related to the mental healthcare system (e.g., adequacy, accessibility and continuity of care), patient profiles (e.g., urgent and recurrent biopsychosocial problems, support systems and individual disabilities) and clinicians’ professional practices (e.g., knowledge and comfort with mental disorders, quality of exchanges with patients and collaboration between clinicians). Complex interplay between these different factors is reported, hindering patient recovery process and perpetuating cycles leading to high ED use. Few notable differences also emerged between the three groups of patients. Patients with CMD were faced with important barriers to outpatient care and unmet needs, while patients with SRD mostly distinguished by their lower trust in outpatient services, as well as in their self-efficacy, and those V with MD-SRD struggled with care coordination issues. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight the need for greater investment in Quebec’s mental healthcare system to improve access to outpatient care, collaboration between care providers and continuity of diversified care after ED use, with more integrated MD-SRD treatment. Evidence-based mental health practices need to be further consolidated in primary care and according to the chronic care model. This includes better MD and SRD early detection, stepped-care model along with patient symptoms management training could help prevent ED use. High ED users would also benefit more extensive monitoring, the deployment of individual care plan and case management, as well as more continuous mental health training for primary care clinicians.

En empruntant une démarche prospective, l’objectif de cette contribution est de mettre en lumière l’existence d’une évolution de la condition juridique des personnes privées de liberté du fait d’une décision administrative. Si pendant longtemps l’obligation de préserver l’ordre public a été présentée comme conférant de nombreuses prérogatives à l’administration, elle doit désormais être décrite comme une mission de service public devant s’accomplir conformément à un modèle de comportement, sans toutefois que l’on puisse aujourd’hui évoquer l’existence de véritables sujétions à la charge de l’administration. Si cette évolution a été rendue possible, c’est en grande partie grâce à de «nouveaux contre-pouvoirs» qui ont contribué au renforcement de leur protection en participant plus ou moins directement à l’identification des obligations que toute administration qui prend en charge une personne privée de liberté devrait respecter et en concourant à leur défense. / By taking a prospective approach, the main of this work is to highlight the existence of an evolution of the legal status of persons deprived of their liberty for an administrative decision. Though the obligation to preserve public order has long been introduced as granting the administration many prerogatives, it must from now on to be equally described as a public-service mission that should be accomplished in accordance with a particular behavior model, without however, always mentioning the presence of actual constraints at the expense of the administration because of the numerous shortcomings currently affecting the protection system. Presumably, if this improvement has been made possible, it is in mainly due to “this new opposing-force concept” that has contributed to strengthening theirs protection especially by participating in the identification of the obligations that should be respected by all administrations which have to take care of a person deprived of liberty.

This study aimed to develop a framework for improved legislation, methods of practice and services used to meet the best interest of child offenders with psychiatric disorders within the South African child justice system. This aim was achieved via a qualitative study, which evaluated child justice and mental health legislation, methods of practice, role-players, and services in South Africa, and compared same to those in Namibia, Botswana, and Nigeria; to establish if the best interest of child offenders with psychiatric disorders are currently met from a South African perspective. Data collection occurred in two phases: a document analysis of legislation, policies, and procedures in the selected comparative jurisdictions; followed by semi-structured interviews with child justice and mental health experts. During phase one the researcher analysed child justice and mental health legislation, human rights protections, and policy related to child justice in Nigeria, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. In addition, she interrogated literature relating to child justice and mental health, in comparative jurisdictions. This phase formed the foundation for the semi-structured interview schedule. Purposive and theoretical sampling was used to conduct 24 semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed and interpreted using pure qualitative document and thematic analysis. The overarching findings indicate that the best interest of child offenders with psychiatric disorders, in the South African child justice system, are unprotected. This vulnerable group is not dealt with from an individualised, case-specific, multi-disciplinary perspective; informed by legislation, practice-policy, and a service-orientated approach. Further, certain domestic legislation and methods of practice are inadequate in holistically assessing a child who comes into conflict with the law in the jurisdictions of comparison. Further findings identified that biological, psychological, environmental, cultural, and social factors influence the development of psychiatric disorders in children, which may bring them into conflict with the law. This study further confirmed that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual Development Disorder, Learning Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Conduct Disorder are prevalent in children who iv come into conflict with the law. Further, substance abuse disorder, depression and attachment disorder were identified as predominant factors affecting children who come into conflict with the law. The influence of these factors, in conjunction with biological, psychological, environmental, cultural, and social factors, were found to predispose children to psychiatric disorders linked to criminal behaviour. Thus, to meet the best interest standard; children in conflict with the law must be dealt with using a multi-factorial approach which considers biological, environmental, social, cultural, and psychological factors. In this way, the behaviour of child offenders with psychiatric disorders will be addressed holistically in a manner that considers all factors influencing behaviour. The empirical data supported the recommendations used to develop a trans-disciplinary framework for child offenders with psychiatric disorders. / Olu phononongo lwesi sifundo lujolise ekuphuhliseni isakhelo somthetho ophuculiweyo, iindlela zokusebenza kunye neenkonzo ukwenzela ukunikezela ezona zilungileyo iimfuno zabantwana abangabaphuli-mthetho benengulo yesifo sengqondo kwinkqubo yobulungisa yabantwana eMzantsi Afrika. Le njongo yaphunyezwa ngokwenziwa kwezifundo ezisemgangathweni ezahlola umthetho wobulungisa kubantwana kunye nomthetho olawula ezempilo ngokwengqondo, iindlela zokusebenza, abathathi-nxaxheba kunye neenkonzo eMzantsi Afrika. Ezi zathi ngoko zathelekiswa nomthetho, umsebenzi abathathi-nxaxheba kunye neenkonzo eNamibia, eBotswana, kunye naseNigeria ukufumanisa ukuba iimfanelo ezizizo zabantwana abangabaphuli-mthetho abaneengxaki zengqondo bayanakekelwa ngoku eMzantsi Afrika. Ukuqokelelwa kweenkcukacha kwenzeka kumanqanaba amabini: uhlalutyo lwemiqulu yomthetho, umgaqo-nkqubo kunye nenkqubo; Ukucazululwa kwamaxwebhu/kwemiqulu omthetho, umgaqo-nkqubo kunye neenkqubo ezikhethiweyo zothelekiso kulawulo lwezobulungisa, lilandelwe ludliwano-ndlebe olungahlelwanga ngokupheleleyo neengcaphephe/neengcali zezobulungisa lwabantwana kunye nemilo yezengqondo. Kwinqanaba lokuqala umphandi ucazulule umthetho wobulungisa kubantwana kunye nempilo yezengqondo, ukhuseleko lwamalungelo oluntu.kunye nemigaqo-nkqubo ehambelana/ enxulumene nobulungisa kubantwana eNigeria, eBotswana, eNamibia naseMzantsi Afrika. Ukongezelela walugocagoca uncwadi olubhekisele kubulungisa babantwana nezempilo yezengqondo kulawulo lwezobulungisa Eli nqanaba libe sisiseko soludwe lwenkqubo yodliwano-ndlebe olungamiselwanga ngokupheleleyo. Isampulu enenjongo neyingcingane yasetyenziswa ukuze kuqhutywe udliwano-ndlebe olungama-24 olungahlelwanga ngokupheleleyo. Ulwazi (idata) lwacalulwa lwacaciswa kusetyenziswa uxwebhu olusemgangathweni kunye nocalulo (analysis) olusemxholweni. Iziphumo ezicacileyo/eziqaqambileyo eziluphahla zibonisa ukuba okukokona kulungele abantwana abangabaphuli-mthetho abaneengxaki zezengqondo, abakhuselekanga kwinkqubo yezobulungisa babantwana eMzantsi Afrika. Eli qela lingakhuselekanga alivelelwa ngokomntu neengxaki zakhe yedwa, ngokwengxaki yakhe ngokuthe ngqo kusetyenziswe indlela ezahlukileyo ezilawulwa ngumthetho, ngumgaqo-nkqubo osebenzayo nokuvelela ngendlela yokuziqhelanisa nemeko. Ukuya phambili, eminye yemithetho yasekhaya neendlela zokusebenza azonelanga ekuhloleni ngokupheleleyo kumntwana ohlangabezana nokuphikisana nomthetho kummandla wothelekiso. Kuphinde kwafunyaniswa ukuba iimeko zozalo, zengqondo, zendawo, zenkcubeko nezentlalo ziyaziphembelela iingxaki zezengqondo ezivelayo ebantwaneni, ezinokwenza baphikisane nomthetho. Olu phononongo luqhubeka lungqina ukuba ukunganiki ngqalelo kwingxaki yokuphaphazela, ingxaki yokukhula kwengqiqo, ingxaki yokufunda, ingxaki yenkcaso yokulungileyo/ ukudelela kunye nengxaki yokuziphatha zixhaphakile kubantwana (abonayo) abaphikisana nomthetho. Ingxaki yokusebenzisa iziyobisi, ingcinezelo kunye nokuxhomekeka ziye zaphawulwa njengeemeko ezixhaphakileyo ezikhathaza abantwana abalwa nomthetho (abonayo). Iimpembelelo zezi meko, zidibene neemeko zozalo, zezengqondo, zendawo, zenkcubeko nezentlalo, zifunyenwe zilungiselela kwangaphambili abantwana kwezi ngxaki zezengqondo zithungelene ekuziphatheni ngokolwaphulo-mthetho. Ngoko ke ukuhlangabezana nomgangatho ofanelekileyo nobalulekileyo, ebhekelela abantwana abaphikisana nomthetho (abonayo) makusetyenzwe ngabo kusetyenziswe indlela ejongene neemeko ezininzi ezibandakanya iimeko zozalo, zendawo, zentlalo, zenkcubeko kunye nezengqondo. Ngale ndlela abantwana abaphula umthetho abanengxaki yezengqondo baya kuncedwa ngokupheleleyo ngendlela ebandakanya zonke iimeko eziphembelela ukuziphatha. Idatha ekholose ngamava avela kumava nokuboniweyo ixhasa izindululo ezenziweyo zokumisa isakhelo esisebenza kulo lonke uqeqesho lomntwana ophikisana nomthetho (owonayo) onengxaki yezengqondo. / Patlisiso ena e reretswe ho hlahisa moralo wa molao o ntlafetseng, mekgwa ya tshebetso le ditshebeletso bakeng sa molemo wa batlodi ba molao bao e leng bana ba nang le mathata a kelello tshebeletsong ya toka ya bana Afrika Borwa. Morero ona o fihletswe ka boithuto ba boleng, bo lekantseng melao ya toka ya bana le ya bophelo bo botle ba kelello, mekgwa ya tshebetso, baamehi le ditshebeletso Afrika Borwa. Tsona di ile tsa bapiswa le melao, tshebetso, baamehi le ditshebeletso dinaheng tsa Namibia, Botswana le Nigeria ho fumana hore na melemo e loketseng ya batlodi ba molao bao e leng bana ba nang le mathata a kelello e ya fumaneha hajwale Afrika Borwa. Pokeletso ya dintlha e etsahetse ka mekgahlelo e mmedi: manollo ya ditokomane tsa molao, melawana le mekgwatshebetso dibakeng tse kgethilweng tsa papiso tsa semolao; ho latetswe ke di-inthavu tse sa hlophiswang le ditsebi tsa toka ya bana le tsa molao wa bophelo bo botle ba kelello. Mokgahlelong wa pele mofuputsi o ile a manolla molao wa toka ya bana le wa bophelo bo botle ba kelello, ditshireletso tsa ditokelo tsa botho le melawana e amanang le toka ya bana dinaheng tsa Nigeria, Botswana, Namibia le South Africa. Ho feta moo, o ile a batlisisa dingolwa tse mabapi le toka ya bana le bophelo bo botle ba kelello dibakeng tse ka bapiswang tsa semolao. Mokgahlelo ona o bile motheo wa lenane la di-inthavu tse sa hlophiswang. Ho sebedisitswe mokgwa wa disampole wa kgetho le wa theho ya thiori ho etsa di-inthavu tse 24 tse sa hlophiswang. Dintlha di manollotswe le ho tolokwa ka manollo e sa tswakwang ya boleng ba ditokomane le ditema. Diphetho tse akaretsang di supa hore melemo e nepahetseng ya batlodi ba molao bao e leng bana ba nang le mathata a kelello ha e ya sireletswa moralong wa toka ya bana wa Afrika Borwa. Sehlopha sena se kotsing ha se sebetswe ka tjhebo ya bo-motho ka mong, ya kgetsi e kgethehileng, ya mafapha a mangata e tshehedistsweng ke molao, molawana wa tshebetso le tjhebo ya tshebetso. Ho feta moo, melao e meng ya lehae le mekgwa ya tshebetso e ne e fokola bakeng sa ho lekola ngwana ka tsela e felletseng, ya iphumanang a le kgahlano le molao dibakeng tsa semolao tse neng di bapiswa. ix Ho boetse ha fumanwa hore dintlha tsa tlhaho, kelello, tikoloho, setso le botjhaba di susumetso tlhaho ya bokudi ba kelello baneng, e leng ho etsang hore ba iphumane ba le kgahlano le molao. Boithuto bona hape bo tiisitse hore bokudi ba tlholeho ya tsepamiso le ketso e fetang tekano, bokudi ba kgolo ya bohlale, bokudi ba ho ithuta, bokudi ba ho ba kgahlano le ba bang le bokudi ba boitshwaro bo bongata bakeng ba iphumanang ba le kgahlano le molao. Bokudi ba tshebediso e mpe ya tahi kapa dithethefatsi, tshithabelo ya maikutlo le bokudi ba kgokahano di fumanwe e le mabaka a mantlha a amang bana ba qwaketsanang le molao. Tshusumetso ya dintlha tsena, hammoho le dintlha tsa tlhaho, kelello, tikoloho, setso le botjhaba, di fumanwe e le hore di pepesa bana ho bokudi ba mafu a kelello a amanngwang le botlokotsebe. Kahoo, e le ho ka fihlella maemo a melemo e nepahetseng, bana ba kgahlano le molao ba lokela ho sebetswa ka mokgwa wa ditsela tse fapaneng tse ngata, o kenyeletsang dintlha tsa tlhaho, tikoloho, setso, botjhaba le kelello. Ka mokgwa ona, batlodi ba molao bao e leng bana ba nang le bokudi ba kelello ba tla shejwa le ho sebetswa ka mokgwa o phethahetseng o kenyelletsang dintlha tsohle tse susumetsang boitshwaro. Dintlha tse bokelleditsweng di tsheheditse ditlhahiso tse sebedisitsweng ho hlahisa moralo wa makala a fapaneng bakeng sa batlodi ba molao bao e leng bana ba nang le bokudi ba kelello. / Criminology and Security Science / D. Phil. (Criminal Justice)