A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, 2018 / This study investigated the resilience among Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in KwaZulu-Natal schools. It identified OVC challenges and developed a psychosocial model of intervention. The Social Ecological Model was adopted as a framework for the study. The study adopted the mixed method research design. The population for the study was the OVC, caregivers and teachers from Kwazulu-Natal schools, specifically Amajuba and Zululand Districts. Random selection was done for OVC from mainstream schools. Purposive sampling method was used to select OVC from special schools, schools near the orphanage, home of safety and a Full Service school. The sample which participated during quantitative data collection consisted of 303 OVC from 12 to 20 years old who were selected from 7 school in Amajuba and Zululand Districts.The sample which participated in qualitative data collection consisted of 4 focus groups and those were 6 caregivers, 6 teachers and 12 OVC. OVC were selected from 303 OVC who filled the questionnaires and CYRM-28. This made a total of 24 participants for focus groups. The total of participants for the whole study was 315. Three instruments were used to collect data for this study, namely; the Child and Youth Resilience Scale-28 (CYRM-28), the self-constructed psychosocial questionnaire and the interview schedule. The CYRM-28 was used to measure the extent of OVC resilience with the self-constructed questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse data. Frequencies were created for descriptive data and the Chi-Square statistical technique was used to test the null hypothesis. Then the thematic content analysis was used to identify themes from the focus group interviews. The results of descriptive statistics indicated that 79% of all participants reported high availability of resources that enabled resilience. Fewer resources were reported for children who had experienced abuse, followed by those with disabilities and more resources were reported for orphans. The main challenges of OVC identified were lack of support from teachers and neighbours/ communities. Other challenges included maltreatment by caregiver, OVC behavioural problems, unavailability of documents for social grant applications. Child Headed Household was identified as lacking all resources. The findings of inferential statistics indicated that there is a significant relationship between the age, gender and custody of OVC and their availability of resources. OVC and caregivers encountered various problems which were risk factors for the resilience of OVC. Availability of resources to a majority of OVC who participated in the study was a protective factor. Participants recommended that more resources which promote resilience of OVC be made available to communities, for examples, old age homes, and entrepreneurship skills, continuous counselling services for caregivers and OVC and recreational facilities for communities. Lastly, the psychosocial model of intervention was developed based on the literature and findings of the study. / Natonal Research Foundation National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS)

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Arts (Community work) in the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, 2018. / Recent studies indicate that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of school going HIV/AIDS orphans in South Africa. The study purpose was to explore the experiences of primary school educators supporting learners who are HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in the uMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal. KwaZulu-Natal has the highest number of orphans. The study targeted primary school educators in UMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal. A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study; due to using such an approach, the sample was selected through a non-probability sample technique with purposive sampling. Unstructured interviews were used to collect data from members of School Management Teams and focus groups were facilitated to gather data from class educators. Content analysis was used to analyse data. Three main themes emerged from the data analysis process: difficulties faced by educators; opportunities available for educators supporting OVC’s; and challenges educators face when supporting HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children. Findings of the study were that educators face challenges such as dealing with socially unacceptable behaviour of HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children. They indicated that it led to stress and depression. Opportunities for supporting orphans were limited since schools do not have policies and resources to provide support to HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children. Both educators and SMT revealed that they have limited knowledge of policies and skills to create school-based supportive environments. Challenges such as: a lack of resources, unresponsive guardians of orphans, poor attendance and performance of HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children were discovered. Recommendations were based on the training and development needed by educators. Educators unanimously agreed that outsourcing professionals, such as school social workers and psychologists, could help them cope with these predicaments they face. Secondly, involving community-based structures was another recommendation to ensure that everyone in the community plays a role in supporting educators. / UniZulu Foundation

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / The National Policy on Orphans and Vulnerable defines an orphan as a child, who has lost one, or both parents, and is under the age of 18, while a vulnerable child is one, who is in need of care and protection. The Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) are placed in residential childcare facilities (RCCFs), such as children’s homes, shelters, safe havens, or any other alternative form of care. They are provided with psychosocial support, depending on the facility, in which they are placed.Failure to provide proper and specialised care by the caregivers could prove harmful to the overall wellbeing of the child, resulting in children with developmental difficulties, poor interpersonal relationships, mental health difficulties, behavioural difficulties, and poor academic achievement.

No description available.

This dissertation examines a unique class of immigrants: foreign orphans adopted by American families. Those children accounted for 18,000 adoptions in 1984 and 1985, or 20 percent of non-relative adoptions in the United States. This rapidly increasing class of immigrants is subject to Federal regulation of immigration and to State regulation of adoption. Visa petitions for foreign orphans, filed by adopting American citizens, are the only immigration petitions for permanent residence that are subject to a State veto. Regulation of intercountry adoption in the United States exposes adopting citizen parents to significant variations in requirements, costs, time, etc., and even in the ultimate issue of Federal approval of their immigration petition - all based on the State in which they reside. This dissertation will make a case for changing the U.S. Code to eliminate the interjurisdictional confusion in which 50 systems of orphan immigration take the place of a unitary Federal system of immigration. The dissertation uses Supreme Court opinions with a more traditional policy analysis to show that the current system conflicts with fundamental constitutional values of individual rights and federalism. Conversely, the advocated change is shown to be on solid constitutional ground. The dissertation does not argue that the current system is "unconstitutional," but that the system fosters inequity and interjurisdictional confusion which Congress can and should correct. The dissertation examines the immigration and adoption elements involved, provides new data on American and intercountry adoption, and reviews American and foreign procedures. This establishes that intercountry adoption is a major alternative in American family building, that the system is safe, the children are healthy and that the system is closely regulated by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the State Department, and, in foreign countries, by national ministries, juvenile courts and other institutions. Problems often associated with intercountry adoption are shown to be based on misinformation and a lack of familiarity with the extent of Federal and foreign regulation. Conversely, the State role is shown to be duplicative and based on less than compelling constitutional grounds. The dissertation challenges the notion that State jurisdiction over family relations justifies a State role in intercountry adoption and shows that some State policies on foreign adoption are based on unrealistic assumptions about States' administrative and technical capacities. Similarly, the dissertation shows that mandating a role for American adoption agencies in intercountry adoption (as some States now require) is inappropriate, and that a pre-emptive State role does not add constructively to the regulatory system. The State role adds to delays and costs incurred by citizens, with no additional public benefit. / Ph. D.

D. Tech. Education / The HIV/AIDS pandemic is one of the greatest humanitarian and development challenges ever faced by the global community. It is alarmingly estimated that by 2015 more than 30 per cent of all children younger than 15 years of age will have lost their mothers to HIV. This means that, by 2015, a total of 5.7 million children in South Africa will have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Research has shown that children orphaned by the pandemic - if not cared for - are likely to engage in alternative actions that pose a risk to themselves and society. This implies that it becomes critical to raise orphaned and vulnerable children well to ensure that we don't have a society filled with people who pose a danger to themselves and others. The study is based on systems theory which unravels the multilayers of the government system to bring to bear the challenges regarding care-giving and education experienced at the level of national, provincial and local government. The purpose of the study was to investigate the care-giving process and education of orphaned and vulnerable children.

No description available.

HIV/AIDS epidemic has caused much devastation and has left many children destitute and in need of care and supervision. The present study investigated the psychological impact of caring on non-professional caregivers of HIV/AIDS orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS. General systems theory stands as the epistemological framework informing the study. The study made use of a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of eight non-professional caregivers who participated in the study .From the themes that were abstracted it was evident that caring for HIV/AIDS orphans is emotionally, physically and mentally strenuous for the caregivers. It was better recommended that caregivers be given recognition for their challenging work and be included in the planning and development of programmes that affect their caregiving role. Furthermore emotional, psycho-social, and income-generating skills support programmes including training and educational programmes should be implemented. This will alleviate the distress inherent to the caregiving role and to equip them with the necessary skills for handling the demands of their work. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Thesis (M Social Work (Social Work))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The goal of this study is to shed some light on the needs of children orphaned by AIDS as well as on the training and support that their foster parents will need, in order to provide guidelines for equipping foster parents to care for AIDS orphans. The motivation for this study was the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in the South Africa and the one million South African AIDS orphans left in its wake. Most of these children end up in substitute homes, and many of them in foster care. Researchers agree that AIDS orphans have special needs because of the circumstances surrounding their parents’ death. Foster parents will therefore need to be prepared to meet these needs. It is an internationally documented fact that foster parents have a need for training and support to meet the demands of foster care, and having an AIDS orphan as a foster child will increase, and focus this need. The study was also motivated by the current shortages and challenges in the foster care system in South Africa which makes it difficult for social workers to effectively train and support foster parents, and aims to contribute towards overcoming some of these problems so that foster parents can be properly prepared to see to the well-being of the AIDS orphans in their care. The research was done based on a literature study, which firstly made use of the Ecological Systems Perspective to explore the effects of parental death by AIDS on their children. Subsequently an overview of foster care within the South African context is given, with emphasis on foster care in general, foster care within the challenging South African context and foster care of AIDS orphans. The last part of the literature review discusses foster parent cell groups as a means of training and supporting the foster parents of AIDS orphans for the parenting process. The empirical investigation of the study investigated to what extent, and in what ways, social workers are training and supporting foster parents to care for AIDS orphans. This investigation confirmed some of the findings of the literature study, namely that AIDS orphans have needs that differ from those of other foster children and that social workers are too overburdened to be able to give the foster parents of these orphans the needed training and support. In light of the findings derived from the literature study and empirical research, conclusions and recommendations are made concerning the phenomena under investigation. The recommendations focus on guidelines that can be used by social workers to train and support the foster parents of AIDS orphans. The recommendations centre on the utilisation of resource-friendly methods to train and support foster parents; bringing structure into the foster care process and on social workers having to use research for guidance. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om lig te werp op die behoeftes van kinders wat deur VIGS wees gelaat is, sowel as op die opleiding en ondersteuning wat hul pleegouers nodig het, ten einde riglyne te verskaf vir die toerus van pleegouers om na VIGS-weeskinders om te sien. Die studie is gemotiveer deur die vinnige verspreiding van MIV/VIGS in Suid- Afrika en die een miljoen VIGS-weeskinders wat agtergelaat is. Die meeste van hierdie kinders word in plaasvervangende huise ingeneem, waarvan baie pleegsorgplasings is. Navorsers stem saam dat VIGS-weeskinders spesiale behoeftes het as gevolg van die omstandighede wat met hul ouers se dood gepaard gaan. Pleegouers sal dus voorberei moet word om in hierdie behoeftes te voorsien. Internasionale studies bewys dat pleegouers self ‘n behoefte aan opleiding en ondersteuning het om aan die vereistes van pleegsorg te voldoen. Hierdie behoefte verdiep en word meer gefokus vir ‘n pleegouer wat ‘n VIGS-weeskind in pleegsorg neem. Die studie is ook gemotiveer deur die huidige tekortkominge en uitdagings inherent aan die pleegsorgstelsel in Suid-Afrika wat dit vir maatskaplike werkers moeilik maak om pleegouers genoegsaam op te lei en te ondersteun. Die studie het dus ten doel gehad om ‘n bydrae te lewer tot die oorkoming van sommige van hierdie probleme sodat pleegouers voorbereid kan wees om na die welsyn van hierdie weeskinders in hulle sorg om te sien. Die navorsing is gebaseer op ‘n verreikende literatuurstudie. Die literatuurstudie het eerstens gefokus op die gebruik van die Ekologiese Sisteemperspektief om die effek van ouers se afsterwe weens MIV/VIGS op kinders te ondersoek. Daarna is ‘n oorsig gegee van pleegsorg binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Klem is geplaas op pleegsorg in die algemeen, pleegsorg binne die uitdagende Suid-Afrikaanse konteks, en pleegsorg spesifiek met VIGS-weeskinders. Die laaste deel van die literatuuroorsig bespreek die moontlikheid om pleegouer-selgroepe te benut om pleegouers die nodige opleiding en ondersteuning te gee vir die proses van ouerskap. Die empiriese studie ondersoek ook in watter mate en op watter manier, maatskaplike werkers besig is om die pleegouers van VIGS-weeskinders op te lei en te ondersteun. Hierdie ondersoek bevestig sommige van die bevindinge van die literatuurstudie; spesifiek dat VIGS-weeskinders unieke behoeftes het en dat maatskaplike werkers te oorlaai is om die pleegouers van hierdie weeskinders die nodige opleiding en ondersteuning te bied. In die lig van die bevindinge van die literatuurstudie en empiriese navorsing is gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings gemaak. Die aanbevelings het primêr gepoog om riglyne te verskaf wat deur maatskaplike werkers gebruik kan word om pleegouers op te lei en te ondersteun. Die aanbevelings het gesentreer rondom die gebruik van hulpbronvriendelike maniere om pleegouers op te lei en te ondersteun; die strukturering van die pleegsorgproses en die noodsaaklikheid vir maatskaplike werkers om daadwerklik van navorsing gebruik te maak vir leiding.

This thesis focuses on children who have lost both parents and are currently living on their own as child headed households (CHHs) in a rural community in Zimbabwe. Children heading households and taking care of siblings is a very “un-childlike” behaviour yet these are growing phenomena. Through an exploration of how CHHs are constituted and evolve the thesis aims to examine whether local constructions of childhood are being (re) conceptualised as a result of Zimbabwe’s escalating HIV/AIDS crisis. In particular it examines whether the socialisation of children within ‘child only’ units is leading to social transformation and/or whether children are in some way attempting to mimic ‘normal’ family/gender relations. It also looks at CHH’s interactions with adults and explores how these affect survival strategies, socialisation and conceptualisations of childhood. This thesis draws on an intensive ethnographic research project with five CHHs and their siblings in a rural community in Zimbabwe. Participant observation, narratives, drama, essays, focus groups, conversations and participatory techniques were employed to gain an in-depth insight into household evolution, the socialisation of family members, gender roles and survival strategies. The thesis shows that while children living in CHHs are vulnerable, they exhibited considerable competence and capabilities to sustain themselves. However, state and non-governmental organisations’ definition of childhood and orphanhood on the other hand, and cultural and local understanding of childhood and orphanhood produce new conceptual struggles of childhood that impacts negatively on the CHHs’ integration into society and their capacity to function fully. The ambivalent position of orphaned children in CHHs needs to be addressed if CHHs are to be recognised as an alternative orphan care arrangement.