This study was undertaken to determine whether a disrupted family life and school climate has an impact on the self-concept of the adolescent. This problem was tackled and investigated from different angles : factors within the home, factors outside the home, intrapsychic factors, interpersonal factors and school factors. An analysis of the above factors and their impact on the self-concept of the adolescent was done by means of measuring instruments in the form of a questionnaire. The results of the empirical research indicated that the more positive the family and school climate, the more positive the academic, social and emotional self-concept of the adolescent. The educational implications of the findings of the literature and the empirical study are discussed to assist teachers and parents to identify and eliminate factors that cause adolescents from disrupted families to underachieve and have negative self-concepts. / M.Ed. (Socio Education)

The present study examined the relationship between parenting styles and the socioemotional adjustment of children at school. A sample size of 90 research participants was selected and included black South African grade I school children aged between 6 and 7 years from single parent households in Pretoria Central. Factor analyses and Cronbach's alphas were determined in order to establish the validity and reliability (alpha= 0.89 and 0. 72 respectively) of the measurement instruments. In general, results were inconsistent with previous findings: The three parenting styles had no direct relationship with children's socio-emotional adjustment at school. Except for two links, non- significant relations between parenting styles and six subscales of socio-emotional adjustment were detected. However, maternal age, preschool attendance and gender of the child interacted in different combinations with four of the six subscales of socio-emotional adjustment. Future studies investigating parenting styles should take account of other areas of adjustment. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the efficacy of a short-term structured play therapy treatment program for latency-aged children of divorce between six and twelve years of age. Following parental divorce latency-aged children often manifest disturbed emotional and behavioural functioning in several areas of their lives including issues such as self-image problems and poor academic functioning. In many instances, problems are acute and necessitate effective help in a relatively short time. Several play therapy modalities exist for children with some focusing on problems stemming from divorce. However, due to their complex, unstructured and lengthy nature, most of the treatment programs reviewed were relatively ineffective for most social workers. Increasingly families have little time and/or limited financial resources to commit to long-term therapy. A literature review showed a clear need for a shorter, less complex treatment program to solve the problem of limited finances and time constraints of parents seeking help for their children. A seven-stage, short-term structured play therapy program was developed for this study, including a pre-and post-treatment assessment, which focused on the main areas of dysfunction prominent among latency-aged children of divorce. The program was implemented by treating a female latency-aged child from a divorced family. The findings showed that the short-term structured play therapy program developed for this study appears to be effective in dealing with necessary and important psychological tasks facing children of divorce. The treatment program worked effectively with a female latency-aged child and facilitated psychological and emotional movement in a relatively short period of time. For social workers specialising in child play therapy the treatment program will be easy to use since all activities are clearly structured and explained with materials utilised in the sessions easy to obtain. As such, it could be a necessary and effective addition to the social work profession. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

Text in Afrikaans with summaries in Afrikaans and English / The child in his middle childhood years are confronted with physical, emotional, psychological and intellectual demands. The support from his parents enables him to make changes by using them as male and female role models. With a physically absent father the child has to face his absence and learn to handle it. The aim of this study was to investigate the child in the middle childhood’s experience of a physically absent father. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen respondents within the middle childhood years with the aim to explore their perceptions, experiences and how they manage with a physically absent father. The data collected during the empirical study was analyzed and compared with existing literature as a control mechanism. The study was completed with conclusions and recommendations that could be of value during an intervention with children in the middle childhood years experiencing a physically absent father. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Spelterapie)

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the efficacy of a short-term structured play therapy treatment program for latency-aged children of divorce between six and twelve years of age. Following parental divorce latency-aged children often manifest disturbed emotional and behavioural functioning in several areas of their lives including issues such as self-image problems and poor academic functioning. In many instances, problems are acute and necessitate effective help in a relatively short time. Several play therapy modalities exist for children with some focusing on problems stemming from divorce. However, due to their complex, unstructured and lengthy nature, most of the treatment programs reviewed were relatively ineffective for most social workers. Increasingly families have little time and/or limited financial resources to commit to long-term therapy. A literature review showed a clear need for a shorter, less complex treatment program to solve the problem of limited finances and time constraints of parents seeking help for their children. A seven-stage, short-term structured play therapy program was developed for this study, including a pre-and post-treatment assessment, which focused on the main areas of dysfunction prominent among latency-aged children of divorce. The program was implemented by treating a female latency-aged child from a divorced family. The findings showed that the short-term structured play therapy program developed for this study appears to be effective in dealing with necessary and important psychological tasks facing children of divorce. The treatment program worked effectively with a female latency-aged child and facilitated psychological and emotional movement in a relatively short period of time. For social workers specialising in child play therapy the treatment program will be easy to use since all activities are clearly structured and explained with materials utilised in the sessions easy to obtain. As such, it could be a necessary and effective addition to the social work profession. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

With the quality of our South African public education system internationally in question we need to look into supplemental ways to improve the education of our country’s children. Numerous studies have shown that parental involvement has a positive effect on student academic achievement. This study aimed to quantitatively determine the current extent and types of parental involvement in the education of their school-going children, in single-parent/guardian and two-parent/guardian households in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. This included General Education and Training (GET) and Further Education and Training (FET) levels. The method of time-space sampling was used to administer a researcher-created questionnaire ‒ based on Epstein’s (2009) framework of six types of involvement ‒ pertaining to parents/guardians in the Durban CBD. The findings of the study resulted in recommendations pertaining to: the aspects of parental involvement that elicited low levels of involvement such as significant numbers of parents from single-parent households indicating that they would attend parent days at school if they were given a choice of possible attendance days; the need to identify and support parents that are unable to participate as much as they would like to by offering transportation for school meetings or activities, including school governing body and budget meetings; and the requests from parents/guardians regarding the use of technology in the form of sms communication in helping them to stay more informed regarding the progress etc. of their child at school. / ABET and Youth Development / M. Ed. (Adult Education)

The present study examined the relationship between parenting styles and the socioemotional adjustment of children at school. A sample size of 90 research participants was selected and included black South African grade I school children aged between 6 and 7 years from single parent households in Pretoria Central. Factor analyses and Cronbach's alphas were determined in order to establish the validity and reliability (alpha= 0.89 and 0. 72 respectively) of the measurement instruments. In general, results were inconsistent with previous findings: The three parenting styles had no direct relationship with children's socio-emotional adjustment at school. Except for two links, non- significant relations between parenting styles and six subscales of socio-emotional adjustment were detected. However, maternal age, preschool attendance and gender of the child interacted in different combinations with four of the six subscales of socio-emotional adjustment. Future studies investigating parenting styles should take account of other areas of adjustment. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Text in Afrikaans with summaries in Afrikaans and English / The child in his middle childhood years are confronted with physical, emotional, psychological and intellectual demands. The support from his parents enables him to make changes by using them as male and female role models. With a physically absent father the child has to face his absence and learn to handle it. The aim of this study was to investigate the child in the middle childhood’s experience of a physically absent father. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen respondents within the middle childhood years with the aim to explore their perceptions, experiences and how they manage with a physically absent father. The data collected during the empirical study was analyzed and compared with existing literature as a control mechanism. The study was completed with conclusions and recommendations that could be of value during an intervention with children in the middle childhood years experiencing a physically absent father. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Spelterapie)

The work examines the contemporary trend of raising a child with one parent, usually the mother. It deals with the various reasons that lead to this family arrangement, and highlights the problems with which a lone parent is struggling. It focuses namely on difficulties in reconciling work with caring for a child and a household, and on the resulting financial distress. The target group is introduced to readers through case studies of women living in a shelter for mothers and children in distress; the case studies are further evaluated, particularly in terms of the benefits of social services. Various types of assistance from the state are discussed, which single-parent families can benefit from; these are mainly financial support and social services. The next chapter describes alternative kinds of state aid. Attention is drawn to the pitfalls associated with the use of aid, such as dependence on social services and lack of motivation to activate one's own capabilities and to utilize one's own social environment. Possible solutions of the issue are outlined in the conclusion.

O recasamento tem ocorrido com bastante frequência, principalmente, como decorrência do número de separações e divórcios. A adaptação entre os diversos membros, nesta nova família, pode trazer-lhes muito sofrimento, dada a necessidade de conhecimento, tempo e flexibilidade que tal configuração demanda. Os filhos, especialmente, podem sentir solidão, abandono, conflitos de identidade e de lealdade, entre outros, e desenvolver sintomas ou dificuldades que precisam ser compreendidas e enfrentadas. Pela presente pesquisa buscamos compreender a percepção dos filhos ante as mudanças ocorridas em suas vidas devido ao processo de recasamento de um ou de ambos os genitores no âmbito da convivência familia. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, da qual participaram quatro adolescentes e jovens adultos, com idades entre 15 e 24 anos, solteiros, de camada média, que responderam a uma entrevista conduzida de forma semidirigida, composta por questões referentes aos objetivos do estudo e a dados sóciodemográficos dos participantes. As respostas à entrevista foram analisadas com base nos seguintes temas: relacionamento dos genitores antes e após o recasamento; convívio com o(a) padrasto/madrasta; organização do subsistema fraterno; peculiaridades do relacionamento fraterno; nova família, novas regras; expectativas dos filhos na família recasada. Pode-se concluir que, apesar das dificuldades iniciais devidas às alterações na estrutura física (perda de privacidade), na rotina (novos hábitos e regras) e na dinâmica da casa, com a introdução de novos personagens (padrasto/madrasta, meio-irmãos e irmãos políticos ou de convívio), os participantes relataram mais aspectos positivos do que negativos nesta configuração, exceto em um caso que apresenta dificuldades na interação e no convívio com a madrasta. Espera-se poder contribuir no sentido de ampliar a compreensão e a visibilidade dessa configuração familiar, como também proporcionar subsídios para o trabalho de profissionais que lidam com famílias, adolescentes e jovens, uma vez que pesquisas relacionadas ao tema são escassas na realidade nordestina / Remarriage is occurring with great frequency, mainly due to the number of separations and divorces. Adaptation between the several members, in this new family, can bring them a lot of suffering, due the need of knowledge, time and flexibility that such configuration demands. The children, especially, can suffer loneliness, abandonment, identity and loyalty conflicts, among others, and develop symptoms and difficulties that need to be understood and faced. The present research has investigated how children understood and experienced the changes that occurred in their lives in due to remarriage of one or both parents. It is a qualitative research attended by four adolescents and young adults, aged between 15 and 24 years, single, middle-class, who have answered a semi-directed interview, composed of questions referring to the study goals and socio-demographic data of the participants. The answers to the interview were analyzed based on the following themes: parent relationship before and after remarriage; living experience with the stepparent; organization of the fraternal subsystem; fraternal relationship peculiarities; new family, new rules; children expectations in the remarried family. It can be concluded that, besides initial troubles due to changes in the physical structure (loss of privacy), routine (new habits and rules), and house dynamics, with introduction of new characters (stepparent, stepbrothers and political or convivial brothers), the participants referred more positive than negative aspects in this configuration, except in one case that presents troubles in interaction and living with the stepmother. It is expected to contribute in a way to broaden the understanding and visibility of this family configuration, as well as provide subsidies for the work of professionals that deal with families, adolescents and young adults, since research related to this subject is scarce in the northeastern reality