This thesis examines how the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s influenced scholarship in the social sciences, and how the feminism growing out of this movement affected premenstrual syndrome (PMS) research. Since the 1980s social science paradigms guiding P M S research have begun to consider how biology and the environment mutually influence one another to produce premenstrual changes. The work examined in this thesis uses feminism to challenge traditional scientific approaches to PMS, including claims o f "objectivity," negative evaluations of menstrual changes in women, the claim that women experience natural cycles and men do not, and the belief that the expression of anger contradicts the feminine role. The research herein is based on all psychology research on PMS produced in the greater Vancouver area during the 1980s and 1990s. The knowledge that has been constructed about PMS through social sciences research also contributes to a common narrative about gender. This narrative holds that femininity and masculinity are not only linked to concepts of biological sex but also to concepts of culture that are heavily influenced by power relationships. The research examined here contributes to this narrative by challenging traditional theories about women's nature and by implementing research methods that add to our understanding of the way that cultural values influence research and knowledge production. The image of women as passive victims of "that time of the month" has been called into question by an image o f women that takes society and culture into account when explaining "women's nature."

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1983. / Bibliography: leaves 628-705. / Microfiche. / lMaster negative: Microfiche MS33210. / viii, 705 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Background: Carers of people with eating disorders (EDs) have heightened levels of distress, expressed emotion, burden and accommodation to the ED; factors implicated in maintenance of the ED. Although carers’ skills interventions are helpful, how they effect change, and the processes involved in hypothesised relationships between ED symptoms and carer distress, is unclear. Aims: To determine the processes involved in the beneficial carer and service-user outcomes from a carers’ skills randomised controlled trial (RCT), including by longitudinally examining relationships between ED symptoms and carer distress. Method: This study utilised archival data from a multi-site pragmatic carers’ skills RCT. Primary carers (159) of people presenting for Anorexia Nervosa hospital treatment were randomly allocated to the intervention or treatment as usual. Moderators and mediators of intervention outcomes, and of longitudinal relationships between ED symptoms and carer distress, were examined. Results: The positive association between intervention and reduction in expressed emotion was significant only when more than one carer was involved per service-user. Reductions in expressed emotion and burden statistically mediated positive relationships between intervention and reduction in carer and ED outcomes. Findings from longitudinal mediation models were consistent with positive indirect associations between ED symptoms (at discharge) and carer distress (at six-month follow-up), and between carer distress (at baseline) and ED symptoms (at 12-month follow-up), mediated by carer and service-user factors. Limitations & Implications: Missing data may have introduced bias. Accessing only primary carers of severely unwell service-users limited generalisability. Results support the importance of carers’ skills interventions in addressing ED-related service-user and carer difficulties.

M.A. / The present study explores the effect of social positioning, as manifested in relationship, in shaping personal narratives. Four homosexual men shared aspects of their personal narratives, particularly their experiences of self as a consequence of relationship. The narratives unfold in a setting of marginality, in that homosexuality is regarded as an illegitimate identity within the mainstream contexts of these men. One tape-recorded conversation of an hour and a half was held with each of the participants in the study. The conversation was guided by in-depth considerations of marginality, separation, belonging and the consequences of these. The narratives suggest that these men's sense of self is influenced by how they are addressed by others, demonstrating that relationship is the matrix from which people are socially positioned and from which their narratives of self emerge. Suggestions around alternative resources in accounting for the ontological within psychology include regarding relationship, language and social position as influencing what does manifest as a person's inner world. In order to counteract the tyranny of "normality" perpetuated within the social sciences, normality should be reformulated as a socially prescribed template of being. In terms of marginality, this study implies that marginality is a social process which emanates when a person interacts with people removed from his or her social context. It is a discourse which lacks expansion and focuses predominately on separation and belonging and nuances these. The discourse thereby suggests that marginality is not the function of an overtly disempowered identity vis-à-vis the mainstream, but a function of the discourses which emanate from interaction across dissimilar contexts.

D.Phil. / This study investigates the management of burnout among ministers of religion in the Dutch Reformed Church ("NG Kerk") Synod of Southern Transvaal. Burnout is a common metaphor for a state of mental exhaustion, usually work-related. The traditional, and most frequently used definition describes burnout as "a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who do 'people work' of some kind" (Maslach & Jackson, 1986: 1). Research literature describes the general symptomatology of the syndrome, its preconditions, and the domain in which it occurs. From the literature it becomes apparent that burnout is a persistent, negative, work-related state of mind in 'normal' individuals that is primarily characterised by exhaustion, which is accompanied by distress, a sense of reduced effectiveness, decreased motivation, and the development of dysfunctional attitudes and behaviours at work. This psychological condition develops gradually but may remain unnoticed for a long time by the individual involved. Often burnout is self-perpetuating because of inadequate coping strategies associated with the syndrome. The more recent multidimensional theory describes burnout as an individual's stress experience embedded in a context of social relationships involving the person's conception of both the self and others. According to this view burnout is a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion (stress component), depersonalization (otherevaluation component), and reduced personal accomplishment (self-evaluation component), the product of a major mismatch between the nature of the job and of the person who does the job, and the index of the dislocation between what people are and what they have to do. Six areas of organizational life are identified which can cause the imbalance, mismatch or misfit between the person and work: Workload, control, reward, sense of community, fairness and values. According to the multidimensional view burnout is also seen as a syndrome of exhaustion, negativity, hostility, cynicism and distance, and inefficiency on one side of a continuum, while the opposite and positive side of the continuum is represented by a state of engagement, characterised by energy, positive and supportive involvement and a sense of efficacy and accomplishment. Burnout is not a trivial problem but an important barometer of a major social dysfunction in the workplace that says more about the conditions of their job than it does about the workers. It is therefore not only a problem of the individual worker, but involves the complex interaction between organization and employees, on personal and interpersonal level, and also of specific working conditions and the context in which the work is being done. This interaction shapes the way people see and do their work, and impacts on the well-being of the workers and the organization. Burnout is therefore not only related to negative outcomes for the individual, including depression, a sense of failure, fatigue, and loss of motivation, but also to negative outcomes for the organization, including absenteeism, turnover rates, and lowered productivity.

D.Ed. / Humanity needs to survive both physically and emotionally in a rapidly changing postmodern world, which has numerous problems. Critical thinking, and particularly strong sense critical thinking, could be a powerful enabling factor when dealing with these challenges. Education has long recognised its responsibility of teaching learners to think, but it is doubtful whether this goal has been achieved. The paradigm shift from content-based to outcomes-based education, with critical thinking as one of the twelve essential outcomes, makes this time in the history of South African education a particularly positive period in which to teach critical thinking The problem is however that no research has been done regarding the teaching of critical thinking in History - a subject that can ideally promote critical thinking - in South African primary schools. Two subordinate research questions were posed, namely what repertoire of critical thinking skills grade seven students of multicultural primary schools commanded in the History class and whether grade seven teachers taught their History students critical thinking activities. These questions provided information that assisted in answering the main research question regarding the generation of a possible approach for the facilitation of critical thinking in the History class, that would enable the teachers of grade seven learners in multicultural primary schools in the N5 District to teach critical thinking, and that could be implemented by educational psychologists. The intermediate research objectives were to determine the presence and nature of the critical thinking skills of learners in a grade seven History class of a multicultural primary school in District N5 in Gauteng; and to explore whether the History teacher of the grade seven class in a multicultural school teaches critical thinking to his learners and if this did occur, to describe what methods the teacher follows to achieve it. These intermediate objectives were utilised to achieve the overall purpose of this study, namely to develop and describe an approach for the facilitation of critical thinking in grade seven History classes in District N5, that would enable teachers to teach critical thinking and could be implemented by the educational psychologist. This study comprised prolonged, in-depth observation by means of videorecordings, of the critical thinking activities of the learners in a grade seven History class and their teacher, for a period of ten months. It was found that very little critical thinking was demonstrated in the classroom. The results of this research, along with information gained from a literature study, formed the basis of principles which were developed for an educational psychological approach to critical thinking instruction. The initial group of principles alluded to the general aspects of a critical thinking instruction program; the school environment required for such a program to thrive; and the needs and circumstances of the teachers who are to implement it. The second group of principles referred to the program content and highlighted the importance of teaching for, of and about critical thinking; the need to include the three themes of critical thinking, namely affective critical thinking operations, macro critical thinking operations and micro critical thinking operations; as well as the need to facilitate metacognition, to teach critical thinking for transfer and to assess critical thinking. The third group of principles concerned the role of the teacher and were directed at classroom organisation and climate; the structure of the lessons; and the teaching methods to be considered. The final group of principles focused on the education of teachers, district officials, principals, school management teams and parents regarding critical thinking instruction. An educational psychological approach to critical thinking instruction, which was contextualised for a district based on the principles of project management, was described.

M.A. / Clayton (1996) cites studies of stress experienced by the elderly, such as rape (Frank et al. 1984) o catastrophic financial loss (Ganzini et al. 1990) (such as in burglary or hijacking) that have indicate( that these stresses may result in the onset of major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder response is depression. This study will attempt to compare elderly persons (Group 1) having been admitted to an old age facility less than two years prior, with a matched sample of same (Group 2) having been resident a the same facility for longer than that. This subdivision into Groups 1 and 2 will be the independen variable. The dependent variables will be various psychometric measures, being the Rotter Locus o Control Test, Beck Depression Test, Wallston Health Locus of Control Test and the Simmons Self. Image Scale. Respondents will also have an erythrocyte sedimentation test performed, which is simple non-specific blood test that is also an excellent measure of overall health and concomitarr stress levels. Manipulation of the results will support or refute the detailed hypotheses as set out it the Methodology chapter. The aim of this study is to build on studies such as those of Meyerson anc Haggerty (1962) (in Ader, 1981) and Heyman (1992) by introducing the differentiating factor 01 institutionalisation and locus of control as a factor to be considered in primary health care.

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that community based horticultural projects can be effective interventions for people experiencing mental health difficulties. Such programmes have been shown to provide a wide range of benefits, including increased confidence and self-esteem, improved mood, extended social networks as well as the development of new skills and a circadian rhythm. Whilst there is now considerable evidence demonstrating the beneficial outcomes of group gardening, there is a lack of understanding as to how psychological processes that contribute towards therapeutic outcomes might be affected by these interventions. This study explored experiences of community gardening programmes in order to better understand how attendance may affect the psychological health of people experiencing mental distress. In particular, it sought to understand the impact of nature on psychological experience during group attendance. Eleven people experiencing mental health difficulties were interviewed about their experiences of attending community gardening groups. The study adopted an ethnomethodological approach to constructionist grounded theory, in order to develop a framework within which participant experiences could be understood. Findings suggested that key processes of feeling safe, letting go, (re-)connecting and finding place provided mechanisms of positive psychological change. Fundamental to each process were changes in construal of, and relationships with, others, nature and importantly, the self, within the gardening group contexts. An increased sense of identification with other people and non-human nature, and the development of empathy and compassion, appeared to be key psychological processes which may account for the positive impact on participants’ mental health. Directions for future research and implications for future clinical interventions are suggested.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. / Ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church are also exposed to work stress, which can lead to burnout, as well as job dissatisfaction. The study (under consideration) was undertaken to examine the connection between Sense of Coherence, burnout, job satisfaction and intentions to resign from their positions as ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church. The participants were 91 ministers of the Synod of Southern Transvaal. Sense of Coherence was measured by using the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (Antonovsky, 1987); burnout by using the Aangepaste iltgaslach Burnout Inventory (Odendal, 1984); and job satisfaction by using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss, Dawes, England & Lofquist, 1967). The unique relationship between variables was clarified by doing a route analysis. The results indicate that: (a) ministers with a low Sense of Coherence are more inclined to suffer from burnout than those with a high Sense of Coherence; (b) when controlled for burnout there is no strong or statistically significant connection between Sense of Coherence and job satisfaction; (c) . burnout has a strong and statistically significant negative relationship with job satisfaction, and (d) burnout is a good predictor of pastors intension to resign. Because of its influence on burnout, Sense of Coherence indirectly has a mildly strong influence on ministers' intention to resign. According to this, pastors with a high Sense of Coherence are less prone to burnout and therefore also less inclined to resign. Similarly, Sense of Coherence (via its influence on burnout) has a mildly strong positive influence on job satisfaction. Accordingly ministers with a high Sense of Coherence have higher levels of job satisfaction because this high Sense of Coherence protects them from burnout.