Proefschr. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. / Met bibliogr., lit.opg.-Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Met lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigates the kinds of barriers experienced by teachers teaching in a special school in the processes of teaching and learning. This was done by launching an investigation to identify the barriers teachers experience during teaching and learning in a special school. In the process of doing so, emphasis was placed on barriers, which were identified for investigation purposes. The following barriers were identified for investigation: discipline, lifelong learning, collaboration between stakeholders, parent involvement, multicultural classes, handling of stress, support, development and the curriculum. In the end the people involved in the study identified more barriers. Some of these barriers were lack of finance, unsafe school environments and the weak infrastructure of the school where the study was done. The literature underlined the importance of the problem areas for success in a school or any organization, while the investigation clearly showed that everything was not in place for the school to be successful in the processes of teaching and learning. The investigation was successful in identifying the barriers teachers experienced and furthermore to make recommendations to rectify the situation. A total of nine teachers were part of the investigation, three from each section of the school, namely junior primary, the academic stream and the skills classes. All the participants gave their full support for the investigation and made valuable contributions to the success of the study. The participants were randomly selected and everyone had an equal opportunity to be part of the study. The study underlined the fear that teachers experience many barriers, which hamper them in their work . Something need to be done to help teachers in the system.

Paternal incest is the intimate sexual contact between biological, step or foster fathers and their children. These father-figures include the live-in partners of the non-offending mother. The actual incidence of paternal incest in South Africa is not known; however, the South African Police Services report the incidence of incest in the Western Cape for 2011/2012 to be the second highest in South Africa. When children reveal the incest to any person, this is called disclosure. After disclosure and with the removal of the paternal figure from the family unit, the mother or grandmother is responsible for the sole care of the child-victim and becomes the primary caregiver. However, in the South African context it is traditionally accepted that the grandmother assumes the role of primary caregiver of the child where the child’s mother and/or father are unable to fulfil their parental role adequately. Therefore in this study, “primary caregivers” refers to mothers and maternal grandmothers. In the South African context, limited studies have been done that explore the experiences of primary caregivers whose children or grandchildren were exposed to paternal incest. There is also a lack of information on how to support these primary caregivers in the abovementioned context. The aim of this study was firstly to explore the experiences of primary caregivers whose children or grandchildren were exposed to paternal incest and secondly to use these experiences to suggest guidelines that may be utilised by practitioners (such as social workers and registered counsellors) to develop support programmes for these caregivers. The research was conducted at a non-profit organisation in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, that provides psychosocial services and where cases of paternal incest are referred for intervention. A qualitative, phenomenological research design was applied in this study to obtain rich data. Six primary caregivers were chosen through purposive sampling, on the basis that their children or grandchildren were exposed to paternal incest within the last five years. Of these, four were mothers and two were maternal grandmothers who were responsible for the children. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and was analysed thematically. Two main themes emerged from the study. The first theme involved reactions to the disclosure and its aftermath, which encompassed emotional, cognitive and physiological reactions that are similar to secondary traumatisation. The second theme was coping strategies that emerged to deal with the disclosure and its aftermath, which encompassed effective coping strategies (behavioural coping strategies to actively solve problems and the presence of social support), unhealthy or negative coping strategies (behavioural coping strategies of avoidance) and threats to coping (a lack of social support). The contribution of this study lies in the suggestion of guidelines for the support of primary caregivers whose children or grandchildren were exposed to paternal incest. These guidelines include the provision of emotional support, multidisciplinary practitioner support and educational support programmes. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Paternal incest is the intimate sexual contact between biological, step or foster fathers and their children. These father-figures include the live-in partners of the non-offending mother. The actual incidence of paternal incest in South Africa is not known; however, the South African Police Services report the incidence of incest in the Western Cape for 2011/2012 to be the second highest in South Africa. When children reveal the incest to any person, this is called disclosure. After disclosure and with the removal of the paternal figure from the family unit, the mother or grandmother is responsible for the sole care of the child-victim and becomes the primary caregiver. However, in the South African context it is traditionally accepted that the grandmother assumes the role of primary caregiver of the child where the child’s mother and/or father are unable to fulfil their parental role adequately. Therefore in this study, “primary caregivers” refers to mothers and maternal grandmothers. In the South African context, limited studies have been done that explore the experiences of primary caregivers whose children or grandchildren were exposed to paternal incest. There is also a lack of information on how to support these primary caregivers in the abovementioned context. The aim of this study was firstly to explore the experiences of primary caregivers whose children or grandchildren were exposed to paternal incest and secondly to use these experiences to suggest guidelines that may be utilised by practitioners (such as social workers and registered counsellors) to develop support programmes for these caregivers. The research was conducted at a non-profit organisation in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, that provides psychosocial services and where cases of paternal incest are referred for intervention. A qualitative, phenomenological research design was applied in this study to obtain rich data. Six primary caregivers were chosen through purposive sampling, on the basis that their children or grandchildren were exposed to paternal incest within the last five years. Of these, four were mothers and two were maternal grandmothers who were responsible for the children. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and was analysed thematically. Two main themes emerged from the study. The first theme involved reactions to the disclosure and its aftermath, which encompassed emotional, cognitive and physiological reactions that are similar to secondary traumatisation. The second theme was coping strategies that emerged to deal with the disclosure and its aftermath, which encompassed effective coping strategies (behavioural coping strategies to actively solve problems and the presence of social support), unhealthy or negative coping strategies (behavioural coping strategies of avoidance) and threats to coping (a lack of social support). The contribution of this study lies in the suggestion of guidelines for the support of primary caregivers whose children or grandchildren were exposed to paternal incest. These guidelines include the provision of emotional support, multidisciplinary practitioner support and educational support programmes. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Continuous support during intrapartum is undeniably beneficial. It increases the mother‟s chance of giving spontaneous vaginal birth, which is not physically traumatic.This indicates the effectiveness of continuous support during intrapartum. According to a Cochrane review conducted such support has no identified adverse effects (Hodnett et al., 2009:2). It is important that implementation of continuous intrapartum support should be promoted by the midwives in order to improve the quality of care given to labouring women. The objective of the study is to explore and describe the challenges in implementing continuous intrapartum support in public hospitals in the North West Province. The findings of this study will contribute to the formulation of recommendations to promote continuous intrapartum support in public hospitals in the North West Province. Focus group interviews were conducted to collect data from 33 (thirty-three) registered midwives who have worked in labour rooms for 2 years or more who are able to give in-depth and rich expressions of opinion. The focus group interviews were conducted in a natural setting in the labour unit to avoid inconvenience. An explorative, descriptive and contextual qualitative approach using a non-experimental research design was used in order to reach the aim of the study, being to promote continuous support during intrapartum in public hospitals in the North West Province. The study revealed that midwives have an understanding of the benefits of continuous intrapartum support, but its implementation is hindered by challenges. Recommendations are made to inform the different stakeholders involved in curbing the challenges in order for the implementation of continuous intrapartum support to be a success. These recommendations are directed at the nursing practice, nursing (midwifery) education, nursing research and policy. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Higher education in a democratic South Africa faces huge challenges – primarily the need to achieve greater equity, efficiency and effectiveness in institutions and across the system. Universities had to open their doors to students of all races, transform curricula to become more locally relevant, and produce scholars able to address South Africa’s problems. When organisations face these changes, they still need to support their employees. They need to ensure that the employees feel secure in their employment to improve their commitment to the organisation. The objective of this study was to investigate the perceived organisational support and organisational commitment of academics in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A non-probability convenience sample was taken from a higher education institution in South Africa (N=388).The Survey of Perceived Organisational Support (SPOS) and Allen and Meyer’s Organisational Commitment Scale were administered.Cronbach alpha coefficients, Spearman product correlation coefficients, MANOVAs (to determine differences in demographic groups) and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. Principal component analysis resulted in a two-factor model for perceived organisational support, namely positive support and negative support. Regarding organisational commitment, a two-factor model was also extracted, namely affective commitment and continuance commitment. The results attained from the product-moment correlations indicated that positive support has a negative relationship with negative support. Positive support is also practically significantly related to affective commitment and continuance commitment. A MANOVA analysis was conducted to determine the differences in levels of POS experienced with regard to staff, ethnicity, language, faculty and gender. The results indicated that no significant differences were found in the levels of POS experienced with regard to staff and gender. Statistically significant differences were found between levels of negative support with regard to ethnicity, language and faculties. Statistically significant differences were found between levels of positive support of staff in different faculties. MANOVA was also used to determine differences between staff with regard to commitment levels. Statistically significant differences were found between levels of continuance commitment. Support staff experience higher levels of continuance commitment than academic staff do. Multiple regression analyses indicated that positive support predicted 9% of the variance in affective organisational commitment and 18% of the variance in continuance commitment. Recommendations were made for future research. / MCom (Human Resource Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Continuous support during intrapartum is undeniably beneficial. It increases the mother‟s chance of giving spontaneous vaginal birth, which is not physically traumatic.This indicates the effectiveness of continuous support during intrapartum. According to a Cochrane review conducted such support has no identified adverse effects (Hodnett et al., 2009:2). It is important that implementation of continuous intrapartum support should be promoted by the midwives in order to improve the quality of care given to labouring women. The objective of the study is to explore and describe the challenges in implementing continuous intrapartum support in public hospitals in the North West Province. The findings of this study will contribute to the formulation of recommendations to promote continuous intrapartum support in public hospitals in the North West Province. Focus group interviews were conducted to collect data from 33 (thirty-three) registered midwives who have worked in labour rooms for 2 years or more who are able to give in-depth and rich expressions of opinion. The focus group interviews were conducted in a natural setting in the labour unit to avoid inconvenience. An explorative, descriptive and contextual qualitative approach using a non-experimental research design was used in order to reach the aim of the study, being to promote continuous support during intrapartum in public hospitals in the North West Province. The study revealed that midwives have an understanding of the benefits of continuous intrapartum support, but its implementation is hindered by challenges. Recommendations are made to inform the different stakeholders involved in curbing the challenges in order for the implementation of continuous intrapartum support to be a success. These recommendations are directed at the nursing practice, nursing (midwifery) education, nursing research and policy. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Higher education in a democratic South Africa faces huge challenges – primarily the need to achieve greater equity, efficiency and effectiveness in institutions and across the system. Universities had to open their doors to students of all races, transform curricula to become more locally relevant, and produce scholars able to address South Africa’s problems. When organisations face these changes, they still need to support their employees. They need to ensure that the employees feel secure in their employment to improve their commitment to the organisation. The objective of this study was to investigate the perceived organisational support and organisational commitment of academics in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A non-probability convenience sample was taken from a higher education institution in South Africa (N=388).The Survey of Perceived Organisational Support (SPOS) and Allen and Meyer’s Organisational Commitment Scale were administered.Cronbach alpha coefficients, Spearman product correlation coefficients, MANOVAs (to determine differences in demographic groups) and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. Principal component analysis resulted in a two-factor model for perceived organisational support, namely positive support and negative support. Regarding organisational commitment, a two-factor model was also extracted, namely affective commitment and continuance commitment. The results attained from the product-moment correlations indicated that positive support has a negative relationship with negative support. Positive support is also practically significantly related to affective commitment and continuance commitment. A MANOVA analysis was conducted to determine the differences in levels of POS experienced with regard to staff, ethnicity, language, faculty and gender. The results indicated that no significant differences were found in the levels of POS experienced with regard to staff and gender. Statistically significant differences were found between levels of negative support with regard to ethnicity, language and faculties. Statistically significant differences were found between levels of positive support of staff in different faculties. MANOVA was also used to determine differences between staff with regard to commitment levels. Statistically significant differences were found between levels of continuance commitment. Support staff experience higher levels of continuance commitment than academic staff do. Multiple regression analyses indicated that positive support predicted 9% of the variance in affective organisational commitment and 18% of the variance in continuance commitment. Recommendations were made for future research. / MCom (Human Resource Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Since the introduction of the deinstitutionalisation policy in 1997 in South Africa, many families have agreed or have felt forced to take full responsibility of the care of their mentally ill family members. This impacted the lives of families because they were not well prepared for caring for their mentally ill family members. As a result of this, families were burdened, mentally ill family members defaulted treatment and ultimately revolving door admissions occurred. In spite of these concerns, some families do seem to cope with supporting their mentally ill family members. This makes it vital to explore and describe the strengths of families who take care of mentally ill family members in Potchefstroom, in the North West Province in order to formulate guidelines to support these families. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design was employed to understand what strengths families have to support their mentally ill family members. Purposive sampling was used to select potential participants. Unstructured individual interviews with an open-ended question were conducted with nine participants after ethical approval was granted under the RISE study (Strengthening the Resilience of Health Caregivers and Risk Groups), and the permission of the North-West Provincial Department of Health, the psychiatric hospital where the data was collected and the family members of the mentally ill family members were obtained. Data were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A consensus meeting was held between the researcher and the co-coder after they had analysed data independently to identify themes that emerged from the data. Twelve themes emerged from the data namely the strengths of getting the necessary treatment for the mentally ill family member, utilizing external resources, spirituality or faith, social support, supervising the mentally ill family member, finding ways to calm the mentally ill family member, explaining the importance of treatment to the mentally ill family member, finding ways to keep the mentally ill family member busy, trying to keep the mentally ill family member away from negative outside influences, trying creative ways to communicate with or understand the mentally ill family member, giving the mentally ill family member praise for doing something good or right and accepting the situation. From the findings, it is clear that the families do have strengths to support their mentally ill family members, although they seem to rely more on external than on internal strengths. From the findings, literature and conclusions of this study, recommendations were made for nursing practice, nursing research and nursing education, including guidelines to support families in their support of a mentally ill family member. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.