M.A. (Sociology) / The increasing incidence of phenomena like cohabitation, extra-marital births and voluntary single parenthood in Western society, indicates a shift in the social definition of sexuality. This is particularly apparent when the current situation is compared to traditional Western societies where sexuality was, for instance, limited to the monogamous, heterosexual marriage and to reproduction within marriage. This change in the meaning of sexuality can be attributed to a change in attitudes towards the acceptability of premarital sexual and sexually-related behaviour. This attitude is referred to as premarital sexual permissiveness. This study investigates premarital sexual permissiveness among female university students as related to: (i) certain social factors namely mother-daughter communication about sexuality, religiosity, liberalism-conservatism and commitment to marital life and (ii) certain biographic factors namely age, area of study, academic study year, environment where the student grew up, home language, religious denomination, father's occupation, father's highest educational qualifications, mother's occupation, mother's highest educational qualification and the student's dating phase. In this study quantitative research was conducted in which a questionnaire was completed by a representative sample of 253 female students. The questionnaire consisted of questions on the biographical background of students as well as questions measuring premarital sexual permissiveness, mother-daughter communication about sexuality, religiosity, liberalism-conservatism and commitment to marital life. To measure the above-mentioned social factors, six scales were developed by means of factor analysis and item analysis. The scales are Premarital sexual permissiveness-with-affection, Premarital sexual permissiveness-without-affection, Mother-daughter communication about sexuality, Religiosity, Politicalliberalism-eonservatism and Commitment to marital life. Premarital sexual permissiveness-with-affection and Premarital sexual permissiveness-without-affection were analysed in terms of the biographic background of the student and the four other scales, making use of one-way analysis of variance and Scheffe's paired comparisons, Hotelling T2 and t-tests and Pearsons correlations. It was found that fourth year/honours students are more in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-with-affection than second- or third year students. Students that are in love with somebody or are engaged, are also more in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-with-affection than unattached students. English-speaking students are more in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-with-affection and Premarital sexual permissiveness-without-affection than Afrikaans-speaking students. It was also found that students from the Faculty of Science are more in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-without-affection than students from the Faculty of Arts. Regarding the interrelation between the different scales, it was found that the more students are in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-with-affection, the more they are in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-without-affection. Religiosity proved to be of significance in the sense that the more religious the students are, the less they are in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-with-affection and Premarital sexual permissiveness-without-affection. It was also found that the more often mother and daugther communicated about sexuality. the less the student would be in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-without-affection. With regard to Commitment to marital life as a dependant variable, it was found that the more students are in favour of Premarital sexual permissiveness-with-affection and Premarital sexual permissiveness-without-affection, the less they are committed to marital life. These findings pave the way for more research on premarital sexual permissiveness in South Africa, for example research on premarital sexual permissiveness among male students, among other races and among high school scholars.

The purpose of this study was to explore possible problems associated with pregnancy amongst student nurses in the Northern Province, and to determine whether their studies were adversely affected by their pregnancies. This study was designed as a quantitative, exploratory descriptive survey to look into the pregnancies of a specific group of students exploring their experiences in the classrooms and in the clinical areas. During 1998 data was collected by distributing questionnaires to ninety three pregnant . student nurses. Sixty-seven (71,0%) of student nurses fell pregnant because they lacked knowledge about contraceptives. Four-six (49,5%) of the respondents delayed seeking antenatal care, although they needed advice and support. Whilst fifty-eight (62,4%) of the respondents suffered from minor ailments such as tiredness, pre-eclampsia, early bleeding prior to three months pregnancy, and dizziness. Fifty-eight (62,4%) of the respondents encountered problems with their academic progress, as revealed by decreasing marks scored before, during, and after delivery. Student nurses would willingly avail themselves of guidance, advice and support during their pregnancies if they could access such services. / Advanced Nursing Science / M.A.(Nursing Science)

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the perceptions of adolescents about sexuality and sexually transmitted infections, which probably contribute towards the high incidence of sexually transmitted infections amongst this group.The study was designed as a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research. A focus group interview and unstructured observation were used to collect data, using a nonprobability snowball sample. The group consisted of 12 male and female adolescents residing in a specific geographical area in Pretoria and attending different high schools. Recommendations made focus on: the approach to sex education programmes factors that need to be addressed in order to improve adolescent sexual health empowerment strategies of teachers, parents and community leaders on adolescent sexuality and sexually transmitted infections so that in turn, they should be able to empower adolescents on their sexual roles and thus make informed choices The impact of implementing the recommendations will benefit individuals, families and communities. / Health Studies / M.A.(Health Studies)

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the perceptions of adolescents about sexuality and sexually transmitted infections, which probably contribute towards the high incidence of sexually transmitted infections amongst this group.The study was designed as a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research. A focus group interview and unstructured observation were used to collect data, using a nonprobability snowball sample. The group consisted of 12 male and female adolescents residing in a specific geographical area in Pretoria and attending different high schools. Recommendations made focus on: the approach to sex education programmes factors that need to be addressed in order to improve adolescent sexual health empowerment strategies of teachers, parents and community leaders on adolescent sexuality and sexually transmitted infections so that in turn, they should be able to empower adolescents on their sexual roles and thus make informed choices The impact of implementing the recommendations will benefit individuals, families and communities. / Health Studies / M.A.(Health Studies)

The purpose of this study was to explore possible problems associated with pregnancy amongst student nurses in the Northern Province, and to determine whether their studies were adversely affected by their pregnancies. This study was designed as a quantitative, exploratory descriptive survey to look into the pregnancies of a specific group of students exploring their experiences in the classrooms and in the clinical areas. During 1998 data was collected by distributing questionnaires to ninety three pregnant . student nurses. Sixty-seven (71,0%) of student nurses fell pregnant because they lacked knowledge about contraceptives. Four-six (49,5%) of the respondents delayed seeking antenatal care, although they needed advice and support. Whilst fifty-eight (62,4%) of the respondents suffered from minor ailments such as tiredness, pre-eclampsia, early bleeding prior to three months pregnancy, and dizziness. Fifty-eight (62,4%) of the respondents encountered problems with their academic progress, as revealed by decreasing marks scored before, during, and after delivery. Student nurses would willingly avail themselves of guidance, advice and support during their pregnancies if they could access such services. / Advanced Nursing Science / M.A.(Nursing Science)

This study identified pregnancy-related challenges encountered by student nurses at SAMHS Nursing College, with an aim of identify factors contributing to student nurses' pregnancies as well as finding ways to deal and minimize the rate of the pregnancies amongst the student nurses. Thirty (30) structured interviews were conducted with student nurses who were pregnant and those who delivered their babies during the period 2002 to 2007. It has been revealed that ignorance is the major contributing factor for student nurses' pregnancies, 63% of the pregnancies were not planned, 52% of the respondents related their pregnancies to risk taking as they engaged in unprotected sex without the use of contraceptives, and thus it was concluded that student nurses are engaging themselves in risk behaviours and also engaging in unsafe sexual practices. The study also found that student nurses face physical, social, emotional as well as academic problems during pregnancy and after the delivery of their babies. Student nurses should be encouraged to use condoms and other methods of contraception, coupled with educating them on life skills, provision of recreational facilities; provision of counseling and support services may be the tool to minimise the unplanned pregnancies. / Health Studies / (M.A.(Public Health ))

This study identified pregnancy-related challenges encountered by student nurses at SAMHS Nursing College, with an aim of identify factors contributing to student nurses' pregnancies as well as finding ways to deal and minimize the rate of the pregnancies amongst the student nurses. Thirty (30) structured interviews were conducted with student nurses who were pregnant and those who delivered their babies during the period 2002 to 2007. It has been revealed that ignorance is the major contributing factor for student nurses' pregnancies, 63% of the pregnancies were not planned, 52% of the respondents related their pregnancies to risk taking as they engaged in unprotected sex without the use of contraceptives, and thus it was concluded that student nurses are engaging themselves in risk behaviours and also engaging in unsafe sexual practices. The study also found that student nurses face physical, social, emotional as well as academic problems during pregnancy and after the delivery of their babies. Student nurses should be encouraged to use condoms and other methods of contraception, coupled with educating them on life skills, provision of recreational facilities; provision of counseling and support services may be the tool to minimise the unplanned pregnancies. / Health Studies / (M.A.(Public Health ))