Thesis (MPhil (Industrial Psychology. Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The study was about assessing the dropout rate of children who are heads of households at Mandela Village in Tshwane Municipality, Gauteng Province. Given the number of orphans who are escalating in each year as a result of HIV/AIDS pandemic especially in the Sub Saharan region, the author’s intention was to analyse what are the causes for these children to drop out from school, and what can be done to minimize the dropout rate of these children. All the participants were the children who are heads of households and residents of Mandela Village, East of Mamelodi Township, and Pretoria. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with thirty-one children who are heads of households, as well as with two educators in schools where these children are attending school or were attending school. This was followed by two focus groups with the same children. The intention of using the focus group was to investigate the issues raised during the interviews and to establish an understanding of how the children who are heads of households want to improve their own circumstances. The study findings observed that there were no strong linkages in assisting children who are heads of households between the Department of Social Development and Department of Education in the North Rand Region, Gauteng. Other findings were that the schools have no support programmes or teachers assigned to assist these children to cope with schoolwork. Due to multiplicity of responsibilities they are faced with, they are not copying with their studies.

This exploratory study investigated the psychosocial impact on rural grandmothers of Gutu, Zimbabwe, caring for their grandchildren orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The participants included 12 paternal and maternal grandmother-caregivers from four districts of Gutu, whose ages ranged from 56 to 76 years with orphans in their care ranging from infants to 18 years. The present study made use of Erikson's psychosocial theory of development on late adulthood. Data were gathered using semi-structured open-ended interviews in the participants' homes. Interpretive analysis was used to analyse the audio-taped data. Findings reveal that most grandmothers are experiencing a personal toll in dealing with the late adult crisis of integrity versus despair, including finding it difficult to resolve the grief of losing children while engaging in full time grandparenting in a stigmatising society. Participants reported a need for support and interventions tailored to their unique needs. Counselling, social support, financial assistance, and skills and knowledge about HIV/AIDS are therefore recommended. / Psychology / M.Sc. (Psychology)

The family as the basic unit of society plays an important role in the lives of individuals especially children. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has devastated the family structure which is already strained by other detrimental factors such as urbanisation and poverty. The increased death rate of young parents due to AIDS-related diseases has led to an escalating number of orphaned children growing in child headed households (CHH) without adult care. A qualitative study was undertaken to develop an understanding of the barriers that hinder the integration of orphaned children into extended family folds and to obtain suggestions on how to overcome these barriers. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, with a sample of children heading CHH, relatives of these children and social workers who were rendering social work services to these client-systems. The study revealed that the level of suffering faced by CHH began with the illness of the parents. This was further exacerbated by the death of the parents as these children were not absorbed by their extended families. Barriers that hindered the integration of orphaned children into extended family folds go beyond the extended families’ economic capacity to absorb the children. There is an interplay of barriers that are poverty related, relational and family related, culturally related, circumstances that are related to the orphaned children as well as limitations in social work service delivery. The findings indicate that CHH is not a good option to care and protect orphaned children as it exposes them to pervasive adversities with little resources and support. The integration of orphaned children is embraced as a good option to care for the children because of its potential value, amongst others, of enabling the extended families to relieve the CHH from the burden of care. From the findings of this study, practice guidelines were developed to enhance the efficacy of integrating orphaned children into extended families to prevent the CHH phenomenon.

Text in English / Background: Children living in child-headed households have health needs that require treatment and care. Matsanjeni is one of the poorest socio-economic areas of Swaziland with the high number of children orphaned by HIV and AIDS who are often living without adequate family and social supports. These conditions are known for increasing people vulnerability to diseases and hindering access and utilization of health services. However, children living in child-headed households in Matsajeni community do attend the primary health care (PHC) services on regular basis. What influence the utilization of the above services by children living in child-headed households in the Matsanjeni community is not clear and well documented. Aim of the study: To explore and describe the views of children living in child-headed households in a rural community of Swaziland regarding factors influencing their utilization of PHC services. Design: A qualitative descriptive design was used to guide the study. Purposive sampling was used to select the most senior child from child-headed households in a rural community. Semi-structured individual face-to-face interviews were used to generate data. Data saturation was reached after twenty interviews. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse data. The researcher used Andersen behavioural model was to identify and organised the emerged themes. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Ethics Committees of the University of South Africa and the Ministry of Health of Swaziland. Results: Fear to develop a deadly disease, perceived seriousness of the condition, desire for compliance to medical treatment, and community support emerged as enablers of primary health care services utilisation among children living in child-headed households. While lack of money, ignorance, shortage of healthcare personnel, negative behaviour and attitude of health professionals, long waiting hours, unreliable transportation system, and long distance emerged as inhibitors of primary health care services utilisation among children living in child-headed households. Conclusion and recommendation: The results of this study add to our understanding factors that positively and negatively influence the utilisation of primary health care services among children living in child-headed households in rural communities. The findings suggest that the utilisation of primary health care services among children living in child-headed households is influenced by need for care-enabling resources-experience of care triad. Behavioural and social welfare interventions are needed to enhance the utilisation of primary health care services among this vulnerable section of the community in Swaziland. Recommendation for further research is also articulated. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

Text in English / Zimbabwe‘s economic and political instability has resulted in the migration of over four million of its people. Many of those who join the Diaspora leave their children behind in the home country, a phenomenon known as ―Diaspora orphans‖. Little is known of the experiences of these Zimbabwean adolescents affected by parental out-migration. A Pilot Study in 2011 highlighted emergent themes and explored the use of defence and coping mechanisms, by thematically analysing in-depth interviews carried out with these youngsters. This study re-examined these interviews and carried out follow-up ones, with a view to establish whether longitudinal changes take place. Resilience levels of participants were also measured, using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure ‒ 28, in individual, relational and contextual areas, to establish whether high resilience results in better coping and adjustment to parental absence. Findings confirm this and evidence that multiple stressors result in lower resilience levels and seem to indicate that a reciprocal relationship exists between resilience levels and optimal coping. Recommendations on how best to help these youngsters to cope with their altered circumstances, with special emphasis on the role of educational establishments, and suggestions for further research in this field conclude this study. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Dissertation thesis - "The use of elements of alternative education system of Maria Montessori for street children in Zambia" - is dedicated to the education of vulnerable children and "street children" in Zambia. In the introduction to the theoretical part of the thesis, the author describes Zambia itself and thereafter in following chapters, she outlines the main issues on which a detailed analysis of poverty, HIV / AIDS and its impact especially on children is presented. She gives more detailed information concerning the questions of the Zambian education; she introduces its main characters and to summarise this chapter, she deals with the particular division of the Zambian education. Given that the author in her work in Zambia found out that the reason of inefficiency in education is caused by lack of financial resources and inefficiency in educational system itself, she focused exactly on this issue. Furthermore, she treats the area devoted to volunteering and its regularities. The problem of vulnerable children and "street children" can be understood as one of the many consequences of poverty in Zambia. Street children are divided into two groups Children in the Street and Children of the Street. The difference in these two groups is essential; and that the first group spends the free time on the street and the second group lives on the street. In conclusion of the theoretical part, the author introduces the alternative pedagogy of Maria Montessori and she indicates the most important and the most basic principles, elements and specific areas of learning. The research section presents results in relation to the objectives of the dissertation thesis, which she set at the beginning and then got in the research effectuated in the years 2006 - 2009 in Zambia where she focused on the implementation of education and leisure time activities for vulnerable children (OVC / Orphans and vulnerable children) and "street children" of preventive social project of educational and leisure time activities in compaundu (slum) Kalingalinga. The author chose four goals to complete her research. The first objective was to determine whether is possible to use some elements of the pedagogy of Maria Montessori for the education and leisure time activities of vulnerable children (OVC / Orphans and vulnerable children), and "street children"; the second aim was to develop methodological tools and handouts, which will be adapted according the internal culture of the country and social status of children. The third goal was to create a suitable leisure time activities for children of the street, which will again correspond to the nature of children. The fourth goal was to improve cooperation, coordination among the trainees who go to Zambia effectuate the social project. Methodical handouts and instructions, worked out by the author, for working with these children are also a part of this chapter. All the goals of the work had been fulfilled and the author proved that the elements of alternative education of Maria Montessori in education and creation of leisure time activities can be used for vulnerable children and "street children".

Power, and how it is exercised within social relations is pivotal in explaining policy change. Hence, this dissertation explores policy change in Kenya by examining the transfer and subsequent adoption of social protection policies in the form of cash transfer schemes. Instead of the current analytical frameworks drawing from political settlements, political institutions, and ideational approaches in explaining policy uptake, the research studies policy making from a policy transfer and power nexus. The study examines power relations among multiple actors in the national context to explain the adoption of social protection policies. Hence this dissertation articulates power dynamics and asymmetries inherent in policy-making involving national and transnational actors as underpinning policy transfer processes. The thesis is premised on the following interrelated arguments; firstly, I show how transnational actors created and manipulated interests and incentives based on their resource base in three significant ways: controlling the policy agenda, constraining the agency of other actors and influencing the preferences of actors in the policy space. The interaction of interests and resources – financial, and ideas and knowledge – converged to bring about policy change. Secondly, I focus on the role of ideas and knowledge within policy space to show how the creation of a discursive hegemony and a structure of knowledge, social construction and policy narratives played a significant role in shaping learning and influencing national actors. Thirdly, I argue that transnational actors used structural mechanisms based on financing and coerced government to adopt social protection policies through a catalysing mechanism and imposition of conditionalities. The study depicts how transnational actors conditioned and manipulated national context and institutions to align with the idea of cash transfers. This thesis employs a qualitative approach to study policy transfer and subsequent adoption of two cases of transfer schemes in Kenya, the Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC) and the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP). / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)

Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have many devastating impacts, including the growing number of AIDS-orphans left without care. In the study, semi-structured interviews, incomplete sentences and Kinetic family drawings were used to explore the life-experiences and perceptions of AIDS-orphans living in kinship foster care, from a Gestalt perspective. The study revealed that the majority of the AIDS-orphans included were making good contact at the contact boundary and all the respondents were not familiar with the term 'foster care'. The researcher therefore recommended that children are educated about foster care at school, thus possibly increasing the awareness of foster care in South Africa, thus possibly increasing the provision of homes for the vastly growing numbers of AIDS-orphans in our country and perhaps make a difference in society. / Sociology / M. Diac. (Play therapy)

Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have many devastating impacts, including the growing number of AIDS-orphans left without care. In the study, semi-structured interviews, incomplete sentences and Kinetic family drawings were used to explore the life-experiences and perceptions of AIDS-orphans living in kinship foster care, from a Gestalt perspective. The study revealed that the majority of the AIDS-orphans included were making good contact at the contact boundary and all the respondents were not familiar with the term 'foster care'. The researcher therefore recommended that children are educated about foster care at school, thus possibly increasing the awareness of foster care in South Africa, thus possibly increasing the provision of homes for the vastly growing numbers of AIDS-orphans in our country and perhaps make a difference in society. / Sociology / M. Diac. (Play therapy)

A family is a basic unit of society. Among the many functions that are performed by a family, is the task of providing for its children's needs while simultaneously transmitting the society's way of life. The functioning of the family takes place through a parent-child relationship. It is therefore significant for the family to carry out parental tasks in order to give a sense of security, a sense of companion and belonging, a sense of responsibility, sense of purpose and direction to its members. Although there are many factors that pose a threat to family functioning, the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be underestimated. As the disease has advanced over time, it has negatively impinged on the children's lives. Children are losing their parents to HIV/AIDS opportunistic illnesses and this has resulted in the burgeoning of child-headed households. The phenomenon of a child-headed household presents a shift from a structural family since a significant subsystem of a family (i.e the parental subsystem) is non-existent. The study presents an in-depth investigation into the social functioning of a child-headed household. The aim was to come to a better understanding about issues that surround households that are headed by children. The social institutions with whom the household co-exists have been scrutinised in order to determine the ways in which these institutions impact upon the social functioning of child-headed households. The study highlights that child-headed households are a deviation from the norm and they create a situation where needs of children are unmet and their rights are eroded. The role of social work in mobilising resources to meet the unmet needs and championing for the rights of the children has been investigated. Case studies of ten families were conducted in the three districts of KwaZulu-Natal an area in South Africa that has widely been reported as hardest hit by the pandemic. A research team was constituted which designed a protocol for conducting case studies and collected data. Social workers also participated in the study with an aim of exploring guidelines for social service delivery with regard to a child-headed household. The study found that children are increasingly exposed to aspects of multiple care-giving through lack of parental care and a changing family structure. It was also revealed that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is shattering children's lives and reversing many hard won children's rights. In spite of the transition in the family life cycle, the family remains the central institution in the children's lives. The scourge of HIV/AIDS poses a great challenge to society. Children are left on their own without visible means of support. The problems of children develop into great magnitude in spite of policies that are in place. The findings of the study point to implications for a practice model that is aimed at co-ordinating services for effective service delivery. The researcher has presented suggested guidelines based on the findings of the study. These guidelines include the role of social work in ensuring that the social functioning of the children in child-headed households is enhanced and that social justice for these children is promoted. A protocol for intervention in child-headed households is provided. This would ensure that interventions in bringing about desired change in the lives of the children, produce sustainable results on a significant scale. / Social work / D. Phil.(Social Work)