Thesis (M. A. (Sociology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / Contemporary moral panic about adolescents centres on their sexual behaviour, as being irresponsible, disrespectful to adults, easily addicted and indulging in unsafe sex. With this concern, parents are noted to play a vital role in supervising, monitoring, guiding, advising and addressing adolescents’ risky sexual behaviour. Adolescents are influenced by a variety of factors and institutions; hence the study explored one of the factors, ‘parents’ involvement’. The study sought to find out parents’ perceptions on involvement, what it means and how involvement can be effective. The aim of the study was to explore parents’ involvement in addressing adolescents’ sexual behaviour in Mankweng Township, Limpopo Province. The study comprised ten parents (five males and five females) who were purposely selected. Data was conducted over the course of three days, through semi-structured interviews. Thematic data analysis method was used to analyse data collected and to have final results. The findings revealed that parents are much aware of adolescents’ sexual behaviour, parents’ role and responsibility when it comes to protecting adolescents. However, a common trend was found from all parents, which was lack of understanding of parental involvement; where all participants only limited parental involvement to sexual communication and giving advice; with that they bear uncomforting belief that sexual communication will lead adolescents to sexual behaviour. Moreover, it was evident that parents have challenges to parental involvement such as peer pressure, media, fear and respect. Intervention such as parental programmes, health, religion and education; campaigns and community gatherings were noted as effective method that should the initiated to educate and improve parents’ involvement in addressing adolescents’ sexual behaviour. Keywords: Parent, adolescent, involvement, risky sexual behaviour.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The South African Department of Basic Education (DBE), in response to escalating HIV infection, teenage pregnancy and risky sexual behaviours among learners, introduced and implemented comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) within the Life Orientation (LO) curriculum using scripted lesson plans (SLP) in the year 2015. The implementation of CSE globally, and in Africa, though assessed to be successful, is not without its challenges. In South Africa, A five year DBE pilot programme (2015-2020) is being implemented and facilitated by Education Development Centre (EDC) in five provinces of South Africa. Life Orientation educators are responsible for the implementation of CSE lessons, utilising the newly developed DBE CSE scripted lessons plans in the five pilot provinces.

There is a concern that children are deprived of opportunities for responding to challenges and exploring risky situations in outdoor play. Children are not afforded the chance to be challenged by risky, yet safe situations. Exposing children to risky activities is valuable but one should be conscious about children’s safety and therefore find the balance between hazardous situations and healthy risky experiences (Eager & Little, 2011:s.p.). Discouraging risky play has detrimental effects on children’s development which may hinder their functioning in school and later in life. Risky play opportunities are therefore essential to develop children’s confidence, self-esteem, autonomy and independence, as well as their problem solving and risk management skills. Therefore, parents and teachers in this study must empower children to engage in risky play. For caregivers to create opportunities to develop such skills at early learning centres, they must know and be conscious of the advantages of risky play for children’s development. Positive attitudes towards the implementation of risky outdoor play and adequate support are required from parents. Hence, the purpose of this study was to gain knowledge of parents and teachers’ experiences and views about risky outdoor play; what prevents or supports teachers and parents from permitting risky outdoor play; and how the outdoor learning environment provides opportunities for risky play. This study was underpinned by Barbara Rogoff’s sociocultural theory, which lays emphasis on how children cultivate knowledge by interacting with the social environment (Rogoff, 2008). The primary research question that guided this study is: How do parents and teachers experience and view risky outdoor play in early learning centres? This study employed a qualitative approach and is positioned within the interpretivist paradigm. A multiple case study design was utilised and aligned with the researcher’s goal of exploring and describing the views of parents and teachers on risky outdoor play. The study consisted of eight preschool teachers and seven parents from three different early learning centres, who shared their experiences and views of risky play. Data were generated from teachers by means of semi-structured group interviews, observations of teachers and children during outdoor play and document analysis entailing teachers’ daily planning of outdoor activities. Online semi-structured individual interview schedules were utilised to generate data from parents. The findings of the study show that both parents and teachers perceive risky play as imperative for children’s development. Furthermore, the constraints affecting children’s opportunities to participate in risky activities and the concerns thereof were outlined. Finally, the study identifies challenges that parents and teachers experience when implementing risky play, although both parents and teachers support and permit risky outdoor play at the early learning centres, as well as in the home environment. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Barns lek kan innehålla riskfyllda moment då individens förmåga utmanas och ibland överstigs. Den riskfyllda leken fyller en viktig funktion för barnets utveckling men kan även vara problematisk för vuxna i barnets närhet. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur riskfylld lek upplevs av personal i svensk förskola samt vilka erfarenheter som finns av barns risktagande. Kvalitativa, semi-strukturerade intervjuer har genomförts i denna studie. Sex förskollärare och två rektorer har intervjuats kring sina upplevelser, erfarenheter och tankar kring barns risktagande i lek. Resultatet visar att förskolepersonal har en positiv attityd till barns riskfyllda lek och bland annat menar att utveckling kräver utmaning. Trygghet ses som en förutsättning för utforskande och i förlängningen risktagande samt att utmana sig och att våga. Pedagogens och förskolans förhållningssätt samt förutsättningar inom organisationen ses lägga grund för vilka valmöjligheter som barn ges i leken. Situationer som av vuxna upplevs vara allt för farliga kan uppstå i leken och strategier som pedagoger använder för att reglera risker i barns lek har identifierats i studien.

Exposure to violence and dysfunction in childhood is a major public health concern. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study demonstrated that childhood maltreatment and family dysfunction impact adult health, contributing to risk behaviors, infectious and chronic disease, and premature death. South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of violence and family dysfunction globally, and those living in townships are suspected to be disproportionately affected. Munsieville, the oldest undeveloped township in SA, has reported high rates of violence in the community. This study aimed evaluate the association between a history of childhood sexual abuse and various forms of risky sexual behavior. Data were collected by a team of researchers from the College of Public Health as part of a pilot study of ACEs in Munsieville. Self-report of sexual abuse before age 18 was used to compute the independent variable, which ranged from 0-1, with 0 implying the absence of any type of childhood sexual abuse and 1 implying one or more forms of childhood sexual abuse. Age and gender were deemed potential confounders. Two binary l outcomes representing forms of risky sexual behavior were considered, self-report of transactional sex and substance use before sexual activity. Descriptive analysis examined the frequency of childhood sexual abuse by each category of the study outcomes. Two multiple logistic regression models were individually constructed to examine the association between childhood sexual abuse and transactional sex, and substance use before sexual activity. Odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were reported. Findings of the descriptive analysis indicated that 8.83% (43) of the sample reported participating in transactional sex, 22.4% (101) reported using either drugs or alcohol before sex. Moreover, 21.6% (103) reported experiencing one or more forms of childhood sexual abuse. A positive statistically significant association between self-reported childhood sexual abuse and transactional sex was identified (OR: 3.45; 95% CI: 1.71 – 6.98), illustrating that those who experienced any type of child sexual abuse had a 3.5 times as likely to report transactional sex compared to those who did not experience sexual abuse during childhood. Childhood sexual abuse was also significantly associated with substance use before sexual activity (OR: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.11 – 3.34). The study findings suggests a need for further research to understand the long term effects of child sexual abuse. Further, future public health interventions aimed at reducing sexual abuse and violence inflicted on South African children should be employed as means to improve their wellbeing in adulthood.

Risky behaviors are behaviors which lead to insufficient decision, such as unprotected sexual behavior and drug use. Environmental factors around college students who are mostly late adolescent and young emerging adults could lead them to risky behaviors. Those factors can include movies they watch, radio stations they listen to, social media, and their peers who introduce social norms among peers. College students’ risky behaviors can be affected by those social norms of peers, often through peer pressure. In the current study, the dynamics among peer pressure, social media, and risky behaviors among college students will be studied by interviewing undergraduate students at one of main universities in southern region in the U.S.

This study sought to investigate the relationship between cell phone conversation type and dangerous driving behaviors. It was hypothesized that more emotional phone conversations engaged in while driving would produce greater frequencies of dangerous driving behaviors in a simulated environment than more mundane conversation or no phone conversation at all. Participants were semi-randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) no call, (2) mundane call, and, (3) emotional call. While driving in a simulated environment, participants in the experimental groups received a phone call from a research confederate who either engaged them in innocuous conversation (mundane call) or arguing the opposite position of a deeply held belief of the participant (emotional call). Participants in the no call and mundane call groups differed significantly only on percent time spent speeding and center line crossings, though the mundane call group consistently engaged in more of all dangerous driving behaviors than did the no call participants. Participants in the emotional call group engaged in significantly more dangerous driving behaviors than participants in both the no call and mundane call groups, with the exception of traffic light infractions, where there were no significant group differences. Though there is need for replication, the authors concluded that whereas talking on a cell phone while driving is risky to begin with, having emotionally intense conversations is considerably more dangerous.

Adolescent suicide is a serious and growing problem among adolescents. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to try and identify predictors of suicidal ideation. The first objective was to examine whether the level of engagement in risky behavior predicts an increase in total suicidal ideation above and beyond other well-known risk factors (i.e., family functioning, gender, and problem-solving skills). The second objective was to investigate whether different types of risky behaviors (i.e., internalizing versus externalizing) predict different forms of suicidal ideation (i.e., passive versus active) above and beyond perceived family functioning, gender, and problem-solving skills. The pre-test archival data of 358 students who participated in a weekly problem-solving group were analyzed. Using four questionnaires, their perceived family functioning, knowledge of the problem-solving process, number of risk-taking behaviors, and level of suicidal ideation were assessed during the first and last sessions. Gender and perceived family functioning uniquely and consistently contributed to the variance in active, passive and total suicidal ideation scores. The active, passive and total suicidal ideation scores of adolescent males were consistently lower than adolescent females. When compared to adolescents who described having no relationship with their families, those adolescents who reported having a good or great relationship with their families consistently reported lower passive, active, and total suicidal ideation scores. Having an okay relationship produced mixed results. Total risky behavior scores significantly predicted adolescents’ total suicidal ideation scores above and beyond perceived family functioning and gender. In addition, internalizing behaviors, but not externalizing behaviors, predicted an increase in passive, active, and total suicidal ideation scores above and beyond perceived family functioning and gender. Based on these findings, current screening, prevention and treatment programs would benefit from adding questions designed to determine an adolescent’s engagement in internalizing behaviors and how they perceive their family relationships. This may help in identifying at-risk adolescents earlier so that they can receive the help and support they require.

Emotion dysregulation (ED) is characterized by responding to emotions maladaptively, including lack of awareness/clarity about emotional responses, nonacceptance of emotions, inability to control impulses or pursue goals during emotional distress, and lack of access to emotion regulation strategies. ED has been associated with increased rates of high-risk behaviors, including criminal behaviors. For instance, Moore, Tull, and Gratz (2018) found that among people in residential substance use treatment, individuals with BPD symptoms who reported difficulty controlling impulses during times of emotional distress had more criminal charges; however, this relationship has not been explored in a non-clinical sample. Research does show that poor ER is associated with increased engagement in high-risk behaviors for college populations, including risky sex, deliberate self-harm, and occurrence of negative alcohol-related consequences (Dvorak et al., 2014; Weiss et al., 2015), but studies have yet to examine the link between ED and criminal behavior. This study examined whether ED was associated with criminal behavior and whether there were gender differences in this relationship. Participants (N=638) were college students aged 18-24 recruited from 8 universities within the United States. They completed a battery of self-report questionnaires online that examined psychological and social variables. ED was assessed using the 18-item Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-18) and criminal behavior was measured with two questions (i.e. Before you were 18 years old, did you ever do anything that you could have been arrested for, regardless of whether or not you were caught or arrested?; Since you were 18 years old, did you ever do anything that you could have been arrested for, regardless of whether or not you were caught or arrested?). Results showed that 19.4% of participants reported engaging in criminal behavior before age of 18 and 17.1% reported engaging in criminal behavior since age 18. Point biserial correlations showed that difficulty controlling impulses when distressed (r = .17, p < .001) and difficulty accessing emotion regulation strategies (r = .13, p < .001) were associated with engaging in criminal behavior before age of 18. Additionally, the difficulty controlling behaviors when distressed (r = .13, p < .001) was associated with criminal behavior since age 18. Analysis of gender differences showed that these relationships were significant and positive for females but nonsignificant for males. Understanding the facets of ED that predict risky behavior, in particular criminal behavior, is key for the development of interventions for individuals at risk of contact with the criminal justice system. Future research should examine the effectiveness of interventions meant to decrease ED within college populations.

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