Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts or partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Psychology at the University of Zululand, 2003 / There has been an increasing recognition on the part of physicians and others involved in the welfare of individuals with epilepsy, that seizers may be less disabling than their psychosocial correlates. There exists a lay propensity to discriminate against people with epilepsy, which, in turn, is the paramount source of the psychological and social burden that individuals with epilepsy have to endure. The objective of this study is to ascetain the psychosocial perceptions of epiletics towards their affliction. In essence, it is a study on the impact of epilepsy as astigmatizing condition. The present investigation study on the impact of epilepsy as astigmatizing condition. The present investigation consists of four objectives.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Needs Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2015 / The family is a child‟s primary context for socialisation and may greatly affects a child‟s well-being negatively or positively. The family context might affect the child‟s entire life and also interferes with learning. Historically, families have been changing for ages due to social and economic factors, thus resulting in various family structures worldwide. It appears that a stable family structure is most conducive to a child‟s academic success whereas unstable family structure predicts academic problems. This situation seems to be a major obstacle to the quality of education. Thus, it was imperative for the researcher to undertake this study. The researcher reviewed different theories on how family structures may contribute to school-based problems. Over and above that, current study is underpinned by three theories, namely behaviouralism, system theory and Bandura‟s social learning theories. The objectives of the study were to ascertain the extent to which a relationship exists between selected family structures and school-based problems; to determine whether there was any association between school-based problems and the variables such as learners‟ age, learners‟ gender and learners‟ educational level, and to establish educators‟ recommendations so as to develop an intervention model. The mixed approach design was employed. A cluster sampling technique was used to randomly select 165 participants in six districts of KwaZulu-Natal province. The educators were requested to rate learners. A biographical questionnaire, the “Student Behaviour Survey” (SBS) and an open-ended questionnaire were used to collect data. The data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. This implies that the SBS manual, thematic approach, Person Chi squire and Log-Linear analysis techniques were utilized to analyse data. A computer package known as Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) was also employed. The findings of the present study revealed that learners from KwaZulu-Natal schools experienced various problems due to the influence of their family background or family structures and learners‟ characteristics such as age, gender and educational level. The study also revealed that family structure was influential on the following problems: academic habits, interpersonal relations and emotional distress. Learners‟ age was found to be associated to conduct problems, interpersonal relations, social withdrawal, emotional distress, as well as physical aggression. Gender was found to have an impact on learners‟ health and social interactions. The study focused on nuclear, extended, single parent, child-headed, grand parenting, polygamous and divorced families. Finally, the model of intervention was developed. This model also aimed at introducing a school-based approach that will empower both parents and teachers to handle and prevent school-based or psychological problems among learners in different grades. These problems were found in a sample which was constituted of predominately African learners. The present study also reflected that there is a need of contributions from different specialists, including parents. Educational psychologist and other mental health professions should assist educators to implement the developed model and also play their role in changing and minimising the various problems faced by learners in KwaZulu-Natal schools, more especially in rural areas. The Department of Education should support all stakeholders with the resources needed to implement the proposed intervention model to improve the entire physical environment of the school, as well the infrastructure.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Master in the Department of Social Work at the University of Zululand, 1995. / Teenage motherhood has always been an area of concern for social welfare workers. The welfare of the teenage mother herself and the offspring is always at stake especially when there are no supportive structures to deal with the problem. Observation indicates a growing phenomenon, that is, teenage motherhood in the rural communities. In a nutshell, the investigation focused on the social needs of teenage mothers and the circumstances of their life and the exploration of the alternative helping measures to assist these teenage mothers cope with the problem of teenage motherhood. Two hundred (200) teenage mothers in the Ongoye and Enseleni districts were involved in the study. These were purposively sampled from the population of the teenage mothers who patronise the ante-natal clinics for immunisation purposes. Data was gathered by means of interviews. The study advocates that the teenage mothers are a social population group with specific social needs. These social needs are the requirements necessary for the teenagers' survival, growth and fulfilment. It is concluded that there is a standard of quality of life to be maintained. Teenage mothers are young persons who have become victims of labelling by an inadequate service. Teenage motherhood is symptomatic to the disintegration of the traditional societal structures and consequently social values as a result of social change. The rural communities of Ongoye and Enseleni have fallen victim of such change. The societal function in assisting teenagers through their rites of passage has weakened and no social institution has assumed full responsibility for this. The study emphasises a need for a structured youth service. Both preventive and curative action is essential. There is a need for social work services that not only aims to bring comfort in a distressing situation but also to seek to prevent a deterioration that may lead to a young person being labelled as "a teenage mother". A clue to alternative strategies of alleviating the problem of teenage motherhood is given. These strategies are in the following areas: (i) Social work with the community in looking at teenage motherhood. (ii) Development of the therapeutic and the self development programmes for the teenage mothers. (iii) Youth care programmes in the rural areas as a focus of social work.

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This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of play therapy as a method of intervention for children with a variety of emotional and behavioral problems. Specifically, the study was aimed at determining the effectiveness of play therapy in: (a) improving self-concepts of children with adjustment difficulties; (b) reducing internalizing behavior problems, such as withdrawal, somatic complaints, anxiety, and depression; (c) reducing externalizing behavioral problems such as aggression and delinquent behaviors; (d) reducing overall behavior problems, social problems, thought problems, and attention problems of children with adjustment difficulties; and (e) reducing parenting stress of parents of children who were experiencing adjustment difficulties.The experimental group consisted of 15 children who were experiencing a variety of adjustment difficulties and received play therapy once per week for 7 to 10 weeks. The control group consisted of 14 children who were experiencing a variety of adjustment difficulties and who were on a waiting list to receive intervention, and therefore, did not receive any treatment during the time of data collection. Experimental and control group children were administered the Joseph Pre-School and Primary Self-Concept Screening Test and parents of all participants completed the Child Behavior Checklist and the Parenting Stress Index at pretest and posttest data collection times. A gain scores analysis revealed that children in the experimental group demonstrated a significant improvement on internalizing behavior problems. Also, a reduction in externalizing behavior problems and parenting stress was observed. No improvement in self-concept was demonstrated. This study provides evidence that play therapy is a viable intervention for treating a variety of emotional and behavioral difficulties in young children, particularly children who are experiencing internalizing behavior problems.

This study examined the link between interparental violence and children's functioning. The goal of the study was to examine an indirect pathway of the effect of interparental violence on children's internalizing and externalizing problems. The data for the study was drawn from The Women and Family Project and included 359 women and one of their children between the ages of 5 and 12-years-old. Sixty-four of these women resided in a battered women's shelter, 100 of these women resided in the community but had a history of interparental violence, and 195 of these women were recruited as a comparison sample. Interparental violence, maternal parenting practices, maternal depression, and children's internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed via interviews with mothers and their children. An indirect pathway hypothesis of the effects of interparental violence which posits that interparental violence leads to maternal depression, maternal depression leads to maternal use of maladaptive parenting practices, and maternal maladaptive parenting practices lead to children's internalizing and externalizing problems was tested using structural equation modeling. This new model of the indirect effects of interparental violence was supported by the results of the structural equation models when tested on the sample as a whole as well as separately for the battered and nonbattered sample. A second indirect pathway, though, was more strongly supported. This second model indicates that interparental violence affects children through maternal depression, which is directly related to children's internalizing and externalizing problems. The results of the present study support the importance of indirect pathways of the effects of interparental violence on children.