Text in Afrikaans / The aim of this study was to design a therapeutic programme for families with a chronically ill parent(s). The literature study explored the nature of chronic disease and its effect on the family. Chronic disease affects every family member. The impeding effect of chronic disease detectable in maladjusted family role and in relational and communication problems between family members. A decrease in the general functioning of the family also became evident. An empirical investigation, in which twenty families with a chronically ill parent (or parents) were involved, was carried out. The empiric study confirms that family members need support and that chronic disease has a negative effect on the family system. It also verifies that these families do not make use of available support services. The possibility that one or more of the family members may be traumatised, should be a strong diagnostic consideration for the therapist. Based on the literature study and the results of the empirical investigation, a therapeutic programme was designed for a family. The programme empowers family members to deal with the disease more effectively and enables them to gain insight in dealing with its trauma.

Piaget and Freudenthal advocated thinking levels. In the 1950's the van Hieles developed a five level model of geometric thought. Judith Land adapted the model in 1990, utilising four levels to teach the concept of functions. These four levels have been considered here In the formation of concepts of sequences and series. The origin and relevance of sequences and series have been studied and the importance of visualisation, patterning and generalisation in the instructional process investigated. A series of lessons on these topics was taught to a group of six higher grade matriculation students of mixed ability and gender. Questionnaires related to student progress through the various levels were answered, categorised, graphed and analysed. Despite the small number of students, results seem to indicate that emphasising visualisation, exploring patterns and generalisation and teaching the topics as a reinvention had made a positive contribution towards progress through the various thought levels.

The study examined research writing. The aim was to establish the nature of the relation between the quality of article and report writing in occupational therapy and the density of hedges in such writing. The texts comprised undergraduate reports, which were divided into two achievement groups, namely high and low achievers, and journal articles by occupational therapists. Articles were included because it was assumed that they exemplify good writing, and accordingly, would be appropriately hedged, and would provide a reliable basis for comparing the student groups. Hyland's (1998b) analytical framework was used. While statistical tests revealed no differences between the student groups, overall, the tests revealed significant differences in the use of hedges between the professional and student writers. In light of these findings, it is suggested that hedging in research writing be studied and taught to students in order to assist them in their studies and careers.

Affirmative Action remains one of the most highly sensitive, emotive and hotly debated subjects in South Africa. It is nevertheless an important legislated program that needs to be fully researched and constructively debated to bring change to the lives of previously disadvantaged groups. The present study focused on the experiences of black middle managers. The goal being to describe how black middle managers experience Affirmative Action at the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Emphasis was placed on how black middle managers define Affirmative Action, whether they feel that others question their abilities because of Affirmative Action or not and the extent to which Affirmative Action policies affect their job satisfaction and work commitment. The phenomenological approach was used to study the experiences of five middle managers at the SABC. Results of the study revealed that participants experienced Affirmative Action positively as a corrective process that provides employment opportunities for advancement and actualisation of potentialities. These results seem to counter previous research studies (e.g., Gillis et al., 2001; Koekemoer, 1998) that propound a high stress level and demotivation among those who are supposed to benefit from Affirmative Action, the affirmed. The current findings are congruent with Skedsvold and Mann’s (1996) assertion that Affirmative Action policies increase job satisfaction and organisational commitment among beneficiaries. / Dissertation (MA (Research Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

This dissertation is an investigation into the type of language or discourse that is used in the policy process with the aim of giving a description of the characteristics of the language or discourse of public policy for public policy. This, therefore, includes a description of discourse and communication strategies by means of which stakeholders in the decision-making process (and ultimately also ordinary citizens) persuade or manipulate or are persuaded or manipulated to accept policy on issues directly affecting them. Newspaper articles which reported on the “Plastic Bag Policy” debate are analysed to discover which language or discourse strategies have been employed. / Dissertation (M (Political Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

Currently a need exists for an Afrikaans screening tool to timeously identify learners with insufficient pre-literacy skills and especially phonological awareness skills. The purpose of this study was achieved by developing an Afrikaans version of the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening- Kindergarten (PALS-K) (Invernizzi, Meier, Swank&Juel, 1998) through translating the existing screening tool and adapting the instrument linguistically and culturally. Grade R and Grade 1 teachers were approached to administer the preliminary translated instrument (Siftingstoets vir Fonologiese Bewustheid en Geletterdheid) (SFBG) on learners (n=28). Following the execution of this task the teachers had to evaluate the suitability of the translated instrument by completing a purpose developed questionnaire. Each separate division was evaluated by integrating the results of the questionnaire with the captured responses of the learners. The results indicated that the SFBG is an appropriate translation of the PALS-K (Invernizzi et al., 1998). Adaption or replacement of certain individual test items was suggested. Finally it is concluded that the current study may be viewed as the underpinnings for the development of an Afrikaans pre-literacy protocol with the emphasis on phonological awareness. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted

This study represents an examination of the impact of becoming a clinical psychologist on personal relationships from a social constructionist perspective. The research is qualitative as befits the epistemology. Unstructured interviews were conducted with five becoming-psychologists at the end of their internship year, and the resulting data were submitted to a process of thematic analysis. A study of relevant literature revealed very little information on the personal relationships of clinical psychologists per se. Available literature pertained to training of clinical psychologists and to intimate relationships in general. Themes emerged from the research that reflected themes present in the literature. There is a common theme of unacknowledged needs in relationships, the consequences of expressing those needs and the consequent renegotiation of roles in existing relationships. A theme of desire for greater emotional connection is present, connected to a feeling of no longer fitting into contexts where the becoming-psychologist used to be comfortable prior to training, and consequent feelings of isolation and loneliness become pertinent. Another common theme involves a feeling of being simultaneously observer and observed in interactions, which is evident in a tendency to watch oneself from a third-person perspective and is perceived to involve a concomitant loss of the spontaneous response. This study represents an examination of the impact of becoming a clinical psychologist on personal relationships from a social constructionist perspective. The research is qualitative as befits the epistemology. Unstructured interviews were conducted with five becoming-psychologists at the end of their internship year, and the resulting data were submitted to a process of thematic analysis. A study of relevant literature revealed very little information on the personal relationships of clinical psychologists per se. Available literature pertained to training of clinical psychologists and to intimate relationships in general. Themes emerged from the research that reflected themes present in the literature. There is a common theme of unacknowledged needs in relationships, the consequences of expressing those needs and the consequent renegotiation of roles in existing relationships. A theme of desire for greater emotional connection is present, connected to a feeling of no longer fitting into contexts where the becoming-psychologist used to be comfortable prior to training, and consequent feelings of isolation and loneliness become pertinent. Another common theme involves a feeling of being simultaneously observer and observed in interactions, which is evident in a tendency to watch oneself from a third-person perspective and is perceived to involve a concomitant loss of the spontaneous response. In addition to that which was suggested in the literature, the study suggested that psychologists language needs more readily; relationships with others outside psychology were more successful if the other person was able to language their own experiences and overtly negotiate roles. There seems to be a tendency in the psychologists interviewed to be involved in constant self-examination and examination of relationships, as well as a tendency to take responsibility in intimate relationships. They also demonstrate a conflict between responding with or without awareness (connected to the theme in the literature of constant awareness of process and consequent inability to react spontaneously), a feeling of being compelled to dialogue around that which was perceived in this state of awareness, and a sense of emotional overload during training that contributed to the sense of isolation alluded to above. Linked to these feelings of isolation there is a tendency to connect most readily with other psychologists. / Dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to discover and describe the structure and essence of the phenomenon of letting go. The meaning of the experience had to be revealed, explored and understood. The emphasis in contemporary psychology is on separation, a word often used synonymously with letting go, and, while a plethora of studies have been conducted in the area of separation, with separation-individuation the prevailing paradigm for developmental psychology, the meaning and experience of letting go has remained unexplored. The phenomenon of letting go was approached from a developmental perspective. Literature in the field regarding separation, separation-individuation and the related aspects of holding, attachment, transitional space and autonomy was reviewed. With the focus on an existential-phenomenological understanding of the lived meaning of the experience, a dialogue between the available psychological facts and the world of experience regarding letting go arises. The phenomenon was explored in a qualitative manner employing the phenomenological research method articulated by Amedeo Giorgi. The qualitative research interview, proposed by Kvale, was the method used to collect the data where, five participants were asked to describe a significant letting-go experience. The general psychological structure revealed that the experience of letting go cannot be contained in stasis. The experience is also relative to the contextual environment in which it occurs. Letting go is a transitional process of spiral mobility, as the past is returned to (and repeated), to meet with the challenge of change. In fear of entering the unknown, the familiar is held on to and as a façade evolves which conceals the truth, there is a deceptive belief regarding personal stability. In the push and pull experience of the polarised conflict, a struggle ensues, where unexpected outbursts can occur. Gradual awareness of the inevitability of change and the emerging negativity regarding the self gives rise to the threat of fragmentation, and there is a submission to the omnipotence of time and space. In an attempt to gain control, decisions are made, as the self partakes in the creative process. Successful resolution of the conflict gives rise to a sense of empowerment. While memories fill the gap of the past and new meaning is created regarding the future, a sense of continuity arises that is held on to. To let go is to relinquish control, to submit to, and partake in the process of creation. The vacillation and oscillation between positive and negative forces is the rhythmic process of life. Letting go is characteristic of human development, which though cyclic, is not only phase-related but unpredictable and an integral part of life. The dialectic of holding on and letting go is the dialectic of life and death. The implications of letting go are diverse in relation to microcosmic or macrocosmic change, whether personal, social, political or universal. The findings revealed can contribute to the fields of developmental psychology, social psychology, transpersonal psychology, psychotherapy, bereavement, forgiveness and other related fields. Letting go is the experience of the self in the process of change. / Thesis (PhD (Psychotherapy))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Psychology / unrestricted

Every preacher has a distinct personality type that determines the preparation, construction and presentation of a public worship. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® [MBTI®] proofs to be a most efficient instrument of personality traits. This dissertation express a qualitative and quantitative investigation of the distinct influence of the preacher’s MBTI® type on the liturgical preparation, construction and presentation of a public worship. In a literature study the history and core of the subjacent theory of the MBTI® is investigated and explained. Carl G. Jung, the father of analytical psychology distinguished two opposite orientations to the world, extraversion and introversion. Jung also described four mental processes, the two opposite ways of taking in information [sensing and intuition] and the two opposite ways of organizing that information [thinking and feeling]. In addition to this distinctions, Isabel Myers and Katharine Briggs [a mother and daughter] added two preferred opposite lifestyles, a planned definite lifestyle [judging] and a spontaneous flexible lifestyle [perceiving]. Out of these distinctions and combinations thereof the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® was born. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® consists out of sixteen unique and different personality types that are described in a four letter combination. This combination describes your preferred orientation to the world [extroversion or introversion], your preferred way of gathering information [sensing or intuition], your preferred way of decision making [thinking or feeling] and the preferred lifestyle you adopts [judging or perceiving]. This sixteen personality types and it’s combinations and dynamics are described in this dissertation. Thereafter each MBTI® personality type’s expected liturgical preparation, construction and presentation of a public worship were plotted and empirically tested. A random test, consisting out of one third of the population [the preachers of the Dutch Reformed Classis of Wonderboom] was used for the empirical study. A self report questionnaire was designed for this purpose. The results of this empirical investigation was connected with the outcome of the literature study and the expected responses verified. Out of this theoretical and empirical study, the hypothesis that the MBTI® type of the preacher’s has a significant influence on the liturgical preparation, construction and presentation of a public worship, was verified. It would benefit every preacher and congregation to use this superb psychometric instrument the MBTI® proved to be! It will certainly enhance the liturgical quality of preaching and preparation, and thus the whole ministry! / Dissertation (MA (Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

The motivation for this research is found in the presumption that music as an auschultation activity is used in many congregations but without the optimal benefit that could be arrived with proper implementation. The Proposition to the problem can be worded as follow: What is the criteria and manner for active music auschultation, to be part of the worship ceremony of the Dutch Reformed Church and will it contribute to the enrichment and renewal of the service. Various problems were identified, formulated in question form and studied by doing a LiLiterary research. The following aspects were researched, whereafter conclusions could be made for the practical implementation of active music auschultation during the service: -- The aim and function of music auschultation during the service. -- An interpretation of the Liturgical and Music-historical synopses regarding the function and meaning of music and song during the service. -- Criteria for active music auschultation during the service. -- Music auschultation as enrichment and renewal of the service of the Dutch Reformed Church. -- A methodology for music auschultation during the service. -- The responsibility of the minister in planning and presenting music auschultation during the service. -- Listening guides and - questionnaires as aids for music auschultation. -- Resources for the minister in the planning and presentation of music auschultation during the worship ceremony. The results of the investigation is precipitated in the following recommendations: -- Ministers should undergo training in music auschultation during their academic forming. Thereafter it should be a lifelong, self-imposed task to cultivate and understand the application of music auschultation during the service. -- The training of ministers must include the planning and presentation of active music auschultation during the service. -- The musical ability of ministers should expand to singing and playing of musical instruments. -- Theologians and Church musici can together contribute to music material, guides and aids for musical auschultation. / Dissertation (MA (Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Practical Theology / unrestricted