The purpose of this study was to develop an empowerment model for families of mentally handicapped children in Moletši district in Limpopo Province. To achieve this purpose, the study consisted of four steps, namely exploring the meaning of empowerment in the context of families with mentally handicapped children; developing and describing a model for empowerment of such families; formulating guidelines for the implementation of the model, and evaluating the implementation of the model. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual theory-generative design was used. The population of the study was all families who had mentally handicapped children in Moletši district of the Polokwane and Aganang municipalities. Semi-structured interviews, assessment guides and case studies were conducted with the families to evaluate the effectiveness of the model and whether the families reached self-efficacy in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of their mentally handicapped children. Non-probability, purposive sampling was used in order to obtain relevant information from the correct participants. Concepts were identified and analysed, which led to the development of the model for empowerment of families with mentally handicapped children. The model was applied in practice, where the families’ problems were identified and planned for, and the plans were put into action by means of case studies, and monitoring and evaluation was done through observation, interviews, discussion and meetings.The results revealed that the families proved to be independent and reached self-efficacy in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of their mentally handicapped children. The model is a unique contribution to nursing education, research, administration and practice and sets guidelines for a new field in the practice of psychiatric nursing. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil.

The purpose of this study was to develop an empowerment model for families of mentally handicapped children in Moletši district in Limpopo Province. To achieve this purpose, the study consisted of four steps, namely exploring the meaning of empowerment in the context of families with mentally handicapped children; developing and describing a model for empowerment of such families; formulating guidelines for the implementation of the model, and evaluating the implementation of the model. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual theory-generative design was used. The population of the study was all families who had mentally handicapped children in Moletši district of the Polokwane and Aganang municipalities. Semi-structured interviews, assessment guides and case studies were conducted with the families to evaluate the effectiveness of the model and whether the families reached self-efficacy in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of their mentally handicapped children. Non-probability, purposive sampling was used in order to obtain relevant information from the correct participants. Concepts were identified and analysed, which led to the development of the model for empowerment of families with mentally handicapped children. The model was applied in practice, where the families’ problems were identified and planned for, and the plans were put into action by means of case studies, and monitoring and evaluation was done through observation, interviews, discussion and meetings.The results revealed that the families proved to be independent and reached self-efficacy in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of their mentally handicapped children. The model is a unique contribution to nursing education, research, administration and practice and sets guidelines for a new field in the practice of psychiatric nursing. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil.

Text in Afrikaans / Approximately 50 percent of all marriages end up in divorce according to estimates. Thirty percent of divorcees enter into wedlock again within one year from being divorced, thereby creating a reconstructed family. The child in the late middle childhood years experiences some unique challenges during the reconstruction of the family due to influences such as the parent-child relationship, parenting styles and the start of puberty. The purpose of this qualitative study is to determine the child's psychological experience within the reconstructed family and to provide guidelines to parents (and co-therapists) on how to deal with children during the reconstruction process. The qualitative method of research was applied as it is a more informal research procedure and the boundaries of the study subject are reasonably wide and undefined. The method provides an adaptable strategy regarding problem formulation and data collection, which allow semi-structured interviews, observations and field notes, and enable the researcher to obtain first hand knowledge and understanding of the problem. / Social Work / M. Diac.(Play Therapy)

The aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate a psycho-educational programme to enhance the efficacy of parents of adolescents. Thus, the research project can be identified as formative, evaluative research. To this end, an investigation was undertaken to determine how the efficacy of parents of adolescents could be enhanced through an understanding of: * the life phase of adolescence; * the life phase of parents of adolescents; * the role of parents of adolescents; * factors influencing the parenting of adolescents (e.g., generational effects and the influence of family structure on parenting); * the challenges facing adolescents and their parents which may hamper parenting efficacy; * factors which assist parents of adolescents to overcome challenges and improve their parenting efficacy; * parenting skills which foster parenting efficacy; and * the nature of a psycho-educational programme which could enhance the efficacy of parents of adolescents. A literature study provided the theoretical background to the development of the above mentioned programme. In the next phase of the study, a psycho-educational programme was developed based on the literature review, a study of similar programmes and a pilot study conducted with parents. The programme aimed at helping parents to become aware of their parenting practices, to encourage them to increase knowledge and understanding of themselves and of their adolescent children and to develop personal strategies and skills to cope with parenting challenges. The programme was implemented with a group of 21 parents of adolescents (five fathers and sixteen mothers) living in George, South Africa during sessions held once per week over a period of six weeks. Participants were divided into three groups: six single parents; eight parents of nuclear families; and seven parents from blended-extended families. Data was collected qualitatively during each meeting. In addition, focus groups were conducted at the end of the six weeks. The findings indicated that the programme enhanced the efficacy of the participating parents in supporting the development of their adolescent children. / Educational Studies / D.Ed (Psychology of Education)

Text in Afrikaans / Approximately 50 percent of all marriages end up in divorce according to estimates. Thirty percent of divorcees enter into wedlock again within one year from being divorced, thereby creating a reconstructed family. The child in the late middle childhood years experiences some unique challenges during the reconstruction of the family due to influences such as the parent-child relationship, parenting styles and the start of puberty. The purpose of this qualitative study is to determine the child's psychological experience within the reconstructed family and to provide guidelines to parents (and co-therapists) on how to deal with children during the reconstruction process. The qualitative method of research was applied as it is a more informal research procedure and the boundaries of the study subject are reasonably wide and undefined. The method provides an adaptable strategy regarding problem formulation and data collection, which allow semi-structured interviews, observations and field notes, and enable the researcher to obtain first hand knowledge and understanding of the problem. / Social Work / M. Diac.(Play Therapy)

The aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate a psycho-educational programme to enhance the efficacy of parents of adolescents. Thus, the research project can be identified as formative, evaluative research. To this end, an investigation was undertaken to determine how the efficacy of parents of adolescents could be enhanced through an understanding of: * the life phase of adolescence; * the life phase of parents of adolescents; * the role of parents of adolescents; * factors influencing the parenting of adolescents (e.g., generational effects and the influence of family structure on parenting); * the challenges facing adolescents and their parents which may hamper parenting efficacy; * factors which assist parents of adolescents to overcome challenges and improve their parenting efficacy; * parenting skills which foster parenting efficacy; and * the nature of a psycho-educational programme which could enhance the efficacy of parents of adolescents. A literature study provided the theoretical background to the development of the above mentioned programme. In the next phase of the study, a psycho-educational programme was developed based on the literature review, a study of similar programmes and a pilot study conducted with parents. The programme aimed at helping parents to become aware of their parenting practices, to encourage them to increase knowledge and understanding of themselves and of their adolescent children and to develop personal strategies and skills to cope with parenting challenges. The programme was implemented with a group of 21 parents of adolescents (five fathers and sixteen mothers) living in George, South Africa during sessions held once per week over a period of six weeks. Participants were divided into three groups: six single parents; eight parents of nuclear families; and seven parents from blended-extended families. Data was collected qualitatively during each meeting. In addition, focus groups were conducted at the end of the six weeks. The findings indicated that the programme enhanced the efficacy of the participating parents in supporting the development of their adolescent children. / Educational Studies / D.Ed (Psychology of Education)

DCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / See the attached abstract below

Mixed race and African South African parents of children coming out as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Intersex, Queer, Questioning and A-Sexual+ have a unique set of challenges within their cultural, religious and social contexts. The problem statement for the study entails that parents have to deal with familial and societal perceptions and reactions to their child coming out, face their own challenges and fears concerning their child’s sexual orientation or identity, and find coping strategies to deal with their coming out as LGBTIQA+. During my research in the UNISA library and online I found that there is a paucity of literature on this subject matter, especially within the South African context. The aim of this study was to obtain an in-depth understanding of these mixed race and African parents’ experiences, challenges and coping strategies in relation to a child coming out as LGBTIQA+. The Resiliency Theory of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, as linked to Hill’s Stress Theory and the Strength-based approach, were adopted as related theories within the theoretical framework of this study. A qualitative approach was employed, as I intended to gain insight into the lived experiences, challenges and coping strategies of mixed race and African South African parents in relation to a child coming out as LGBTIQA+, as well as to gain advice on social work support. A phenomenological and collective instrumental case study design, together with an explorative, descriptive and contextual strategy of inquiry, were used to explore, describe and contextualise how mixed race and African parents of LGBTIQA+ children experienced their children’s coming out, what their challenges were, and the coping strategies they employed to manage the challenges experienced. The sample of participants was selected by utilising purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews, contained in an interview guide, were used to collect the data that was analysed using Tesch’s method of analysis (in Creswell, 2014:198). The data were collected by means of individual interviews and presented in a cross-person manner using selected narratives from the participants. Guba’s model, as espoused in Krefting (1991) and Lietz and Zayas (2010), was used and the four aspects of trustworthiness, namely credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability, were applied. Ethical considerations were observed. The findings led the researcher to make recommendations regarding social work practice, education and further research into the phenomenon of parental experiences, challenges and coping strategies in relation to a child coming out as LGBTIQA+. In terms of parental experiences of their child coming out as LGBTIQA+, I found that parents were surprised and unhappy, disappointed, pained and shocked, and fearful for their child’s safety when they realised he or she was LGBTIQA+. When it came to their challenges and fears, the parents openly admitted that what the community, church and external family would make of their child being LGBTIQA+ caused stress for them. Lastly, the parents made recommendations to social workers based on their experiences, challenges and coping strategies, indicating that social workers should focus on sharing information and guiding parents; but firstly, social workers must have self-awareness and understand their own attitudes toward LGBTIQA+ matters. / Social Work / MA (Social Work)

The effort of this research was focused on the assessment of the implementation process of the Hands off our Children parental guidance programme by social workers in the Western Cape during 2005. This could be seen as an evaluation of the programme in order to adjust it for future implementation. The objective of this research was to explore the application, experience and implementation of the programme by social workers in the Western Cape. The universe in this study was all social workers that did the training in the HOOC parental guidance programme in the Western Cape. In this study the population was social workers that implemented the HOOC parental guidance programme training in the work place. Participants were selected until saturation of data was reached. The method used in selecting the participants was non-probability sampling. With-in non-probability sampling purposive sampling was used. Conclusions and recommendations on the programme were made in order to empower the Department of Community safety to implement a more effective and streamline project in the future. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Practical research has shown that children with learning disabilities often experience psychosocial problems. These problems not only have an influence on the parent-child relationship, but also impact negatively on the psychological development of the child. The objective of this study is to explore these psychosocial problems by investigating the personal experiences of the learning disabled child within his immediate family. The literature study on learning disabilities shows that it is a complex condition that not only manifests in learning problems, but which can also adversely affect the child in totality. The Relation theory, an educational psychological perspective, functions as a theoretical framework for exploration, and is discussed with reference to psychosocial problems of the learning disabled child. In the empirical study, the researcher has primarily employed projection techniques to investigate the child's experiences of himself and his relationships with family members, from his internal frame of reference. From these findings, recommendations are proposed for psychotherapy. / Uit die praktyk blyk dit dat leergestremdheid by kinders dikwels met psigososiale probleme gepaard gaan. Nie alleen beinvloed hlerdie problema die ouer~kindverhouding nie, maar dit het ook 'n negatiewe invloed op die psigiese ontwikkeling van die kind. Die doel van die studie is om die persoonlike belewenisse van die leergestremde kind binne die gesin te verken. Die meratuurstudie wat oor die verskynsel van leergestremdheid gedoen is, het getoon dat dit 'n kompleksa toestand is wat nie aileen met leerprobleme gepaard gaan nie, maar ook die kind in sy totallteit nadelig bei'nvloed. Die Relasieteorie, 'n opvoedkundig-sielkundige perspektief, wat as teoretiese raamwerk vir verkenning dien, is bespreek en waar toepaslik is na die psigososiale problema van die leergestremde kind verwys. In die empiriese ondersoek is hoofsaaklik van projeksietegnieke gebruik gemaak om vanuit die leergestremde kind se interne verwysingsraamwerk sy persepsies en belewenisse ten opsigte van homself en sy verhoud!ngs in die gesin te verken. Na aanleiding hiervan is aanbevelings vir terapeutiese hulpverlening gemaak. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counseling)