On t.p.: Magister in Lettere en Wysbegeerte (Voorligtingsielkunde) / Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on the identification and comparison of resilience factors in Belgian and South African single parent families. The participants (parents and children in single parent families) from the two countries were identified on the basis of the nature of the crisis and the stage of development of the families. Self-reporting questionnaires were completed separately by the parent and a child, as representatives of the family. The questionnaires comprised a biographical questionnaire (which also included an open-ended question), the Relative and Friend Support Index, the Social Support Index, Family Crises Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales, the Family Sense of Coherence Scale, and the Family Hardiness Index. The responses from parents and children were analysed separately, therefore dealing with them as four groups (Belgian parents, South African parents, Belgian children and South African children). Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated to determine which factors were most strongly related to family coherence (Family Sense of Coherence). Family coherence is a quality that provides an indication of the measure of success achieved with adaptation following a crisis (divorce). This was followed with regression analyses for identifying a group of resilience factors that would, in combination, provide the best predictor for successful family adjustment. The results of this study confirm that of previous research, namely in the findings that the different populations reveal similarities as well as differences with regard to qualities and resources utilized for successful adaptation after a crisis. Results reveal that the inherent strength of the family in all four groups (parents and children from both countries) is seen as one of the most important resilience factors (as measured by the Family Hardiness Index). Aspects that show strong correlation with family coherence are: a sense of control (the perception of how well the family is able to deal with a crisis) over the outcomes of life experiences; the family's orientation with regard to challenges that have to be faced; as well as an active orientation (tendency to do something about the situation) with regard to adaptation in a stressful situation (as measured by the Family Hardiness Index). The importance of redefining the problem (crisis) in terms of its significance for the family (positive, negative or neutral) was also identified as a core resilience factor. Results from the parents in both countries revealed that the number of years of separation/number of years that had elapsed since the divorce was a significant resilience factor. The longer the time period after the divorce, the better the adjustment. A significant difference was found between the results obtained for Belgian and South African children with regard to the duration of the parents' marriage and the duration of the period since the parents' divorce, and the relevance of this for the family's adaptation. The children from both countries revealed similarities with regard to the importance of the utilization and the support of members of the immediate family, the extended family and friends to overcome the crisis. The results obtained for parents in both countries did not confirm this aspect, i.e. the value of support from family and friends. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie fokus op die identifisering en vergelyking van veerkragtigheidsfaktore van Belgiese en Suid-Afrikaanse enkelouergesinne. Die deelnemers (ouers en kinders in enkelouergesinne) wat in beide lande geïdentifiseer is, is op grond van die aard van die krisis en die ontwikkelingstadium van die gesinne geïdentifiseer. Selfrapporteringsvraelyste is afsonderlik deur die ouer en 'n kind, as verteenwoordigers van die gesin, voltooi. Die vraelyste het bestaan uit 'n biografiese vraelys (wat ook 'n oop-einde vraag ingesluit het), die Relative and Friend Support Index, die Social Support Index, Family Crises Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales, die Family Sense of Coherence Scale, en die Family Hardiness Index. Die ouers en kinders se response is afsonderlik ontleed, dus was daar vier groepe (Belgiese ouers, Suid-Afrikaanse ouers, Belgiese kinders en Suid-Afrikaanse kinders). Pearson produk-moment korrelasies is bereken om vas te stel watter faktore die sterkste verband toon met gesinskoherensie (Family Sense of Coherence). Gesinskoherensie is 'n eienskap wat 'n aanduiding gee van die mate van suksesvolle aanpassing ná 'n krisis (egskeiding). Daama is regressie-ontledings gedoen om 'n groepering van veerkragtigheidsfaktore te identifiseer wat gekombineerd die beste voorspellers vir suksesvolle gesinsaanpassing is. Die resultate van hierdie studie bevestig dié van vorige navorsing, naamlik dat die verskillende populasies ooreenkomste, maar ook verskille, toon ten opsigte van kenmerke en hulpbronne wat hulle vir suksesvolle aanpassing na 'n krisis benut. Uit die resultate blyk dit dat inteme sterkte in die gesin in al vier groepe (beide lande se ouers en kinders) as een van die belangrikste veerkragtigheidsfaktore beskou word (soos met die Family Hardiness Index gemeet). Die volgende aspekte, te wete: sin vir kontrole (die persepsie van hoe goed die gesin 'n krisis sal kan hanteer) oor die uitkomste van lewenservaringe, die oriëntering van die gesin ten opsigte van uitdagings wat aan die gesin gestel word, asook 'n aktiewe oriëntering (geneigdheid om iets aan die situasie te doen) wat betref die aanpassing in 'n stressituasie (soos gemeet met die Family Hardiness Index) toon 'n sterk korrelasie met gesinskoherensie. Die belangrikheid om die probleem (krisis) in terme van die betekenis wat dit vir die gesin het, te herdefinieer (positief, negatief of neutraal) is as nog 'n kem-veerkragtigheidsfaktor geïdentifiseer. Beide lande se ouers se resultate het getoon dat die aantal jare wat die ouers geskei was 'n beduidende veerkragtigheidsfaktor is. Hoe langer die tyd na die egskeiding hoe beter die aanpassing. 'n Beduidende verskil is gevind tussen die Belgiese kinders en Suid-Afrikaanse kinders se resultate ten opsigte van die tydsduur van die ouers se huwelik en die tyd sedert die ouers geskei is, en die verband wat dit met gesinsaanpassing het. Die kinders van beide lande het ooreengestem ten opsigte van die die belangrikheid van die gebruik van, en die ondersteuning van gesinslede, familie asook vriende om 'n krisis te bowe te kom. Die resultate van beide lande se ouers het nie die voorafgaande aspek, naamlik die waarde van ondersteuning deur gesins-, familielede en vriende, bevestig nie.

M.A. / According to the Report on Marriage and Divorce (Department of Internal Affairs 1981: report no. 07/02/15), 17 065 cases of divorce were recorded among the white population of South Africa in the above mentioned year. A total of 22 167 minor children were involved. Statistics therefore indicate that many children today find themselves in broken homes, where the full responsibility of child rearing rests on single parents. Single parents who, because of internal and external factors are not always fully capable of accepting and answering to this responsibility. Problems are usually vaguely associated with single parent families. This study was intended to clarify the specific educational problems of the single parent family. With the aid of six socio-pedagogic categories a deeper perspective into the single parent situation was gained. The research covered a theoretical study of the relevant literature and the formulation of a number of criteria to evaluate the quality of educative support rendered to the toddler in the home, as primary educational situation. From these criteria a structured questionnaire was formulated, by means of which the views of 21 single parent mothers residing in Alberton, Boksburg and Germiston were ascertained ...

The purpose of the study was to investigate the possibility ofusingJlelational Theory as a basis for the design of a support group programme for divorced single-parent families. This programme aimed at improving their interpersonal relationships and then to form new identities realistically, thus helping them to self-actualise. The categories of involvement, experience and meaningful attribution as well as the stages of awareness, exploration, personalisation and change initiation formed the basis of the programme. The effects of marital disruption on the interpersonal relationships and identities of singleparent families were also examined through a literature review. Pre and posttest interviews were conducted individually with single parents and their children to evaluate the effectiveness of the support group programme. The pretest interviews were administered a month before the implementation of the programme and the posttest interviews done two months after to gauge the longitudinal effect of the programme. The interviews and the progranune included the following aspects : awareness, exploration and evaluation of relationships (including aspects such as parental and spousal conflicts, parent alignment and parent availability, sibling rivalry and parent-child interaction); awareness, exploration and evaluation of identities (including identity conflicts stemming from role strain, role reversals and parent alignment); self-evaluation and selfactualisation. The conclusions from the literature study, the outcome of the support group progranune and the results of the interviews confirmed that marital disruption does adversely affect the interpersonal relationships of single-parent families and their formation of new, realistic identities. Single-parent families attribute unrealistic meaning to relationships and identities causing problematic relationships and identity conflicts. The nature and quality of the relationships also affect the formation of realistic identities resulting in a failure to self-actualise. In conclusion, the support group programme helped the single-parent families to attribute realistic meaning to their relationships and identities, resulting in improved relationships and the formation of realistic identities / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Family resilience refers to the ability of families to return to normal family functioning or even to reach higher levels of functioning after experiencing adversity. The focus of the present study was to identify resiliency factors in single parent families with an adult HIV infected child. The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation (McCubbin & Thompson, 1991) served as the theoretical framework in the design and the execution of the research. Both qualitative and quantitative measures were used in this cross-sectional survey research design. Twenty five single parents and their HIV Positive children ...

The purpose of the study was to investigate the possibility ofusingJlelational Theory as a basis for the design of a support group programme for divorced single-parent families. This programme aimed at improving their interpersonal relationships and then to form new identities realistically, thus helping them to self-actualise. The categories of involvement, experience and meaningful attribution as well as the stages of awareness, exploration, personalisation and change initiation formed the basis of the programme. The effects of marital disruption on the interpersonal relationships and identities of singleparent families were also examined through a literature review. Pre and posttest interviews were conducted individually with single parents and their children to evaluate the effectiveness of the support group programme. The pretest interviews were administered a month before the implementation of the programme and the posttest interviews done two months after to gauge the longitudinal effect of the programme. The interviews and the progranune included the following aspects : awareness, exploration and evaluation of relationships (including aspects such as parental and spousal conflicts, parent alignment and parent availability, sibling rivalry and parent-child interaction); awareness, exploration and evaluation of identities (including identity conflicts stemming from role strain, role reversals and parent alignment); self-evaluation and selfactualisation. The conclusions from the literature study, the outcome of the support group progranune and the results of the interviews confirmed that marital disruption does adversely affect the interpersonal relationships of single-parent families and their formation of new, realistic identities. Single-parent families attribute unrealistic meaning to relationships and identities causing problematic relationships and identity conflicts. The nature and quality of the relationships also affect the formation of realistic identities resulting in a failure to self-actualise. In conclusion, the support group programme helped the single-parent families to attribute realistic meaning to their relationships and identities, resulting in improved relationships and the formation of realistic identities / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Families with a transracially adopted child are confronted with normal family crises, crises due to the adoption as well as challenges specific to a transracial family. When this transracial family is a single-parent family, it could be assumed that the challenges the family faces will be even more. Consequently, the need developed to investigate characteristics and family patterns which contribute to family adaptation in crises in the single-parent family where a child from a different race than the parent has been adopted. The research question in this study was: “What are resilience factors in single-parent transracial families?” The strength perspective formed the basis of this study and the theories of Walsh (2003) and McCubbin and McCubbin (1996) provided the theoretical grounding. An explorative research design was used to address the research question. Data were collected by means of semistructured interviews and conventional content analysis was performed to analyse the data by using the Atlas.ti. computer program. Interviews were conducted with six white women who adopted a child or children from a different race than themselves. These women were all single parents living in the Western Cape, South Africa. At the time of the study, the ages of these transracially adopted children ranged from three to 10 years. A biographical questionnaire and an in-depth interview with each participant were used to collect the data. The results indicated that an important resilience factor in the transracially adopted family is equipping the adopted child with specific skills to cope with crises that may result due to his/her unique situation. Effective preparation of the adoptive mother before adoption, social contact and the support of the extended family were also found to be important resilience factors. Family routines, openness about the adoption and the utilisation of external resources were identified as important sources of resilience for the single-parent transracial family. The results of this study provide important information to the potential transracially adopting parent to prepare him/herself for transracial adoption. The results of this study also provide important information to everyone involved in transracial adoption (for example the social worker) in South-Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gesinne met ʼn aangenome kind van ʼn ander ras as die ouer(s) word gekonfronteer met alle normale gesinskrisisse, krisisse wat ontstaan weens die aanneming, sowel as uitdagings wat spesifiek aan ʼn transrasgesin gestel word. Indien die transrasgesin ʼn enkelouergesin is, kan daar verwag word dat verdere uitdagings aan hierdie gesin gestel sal word. Gevolglik het die vraag ontstaan watter gesinskenmerke en -patrone ʼn bydrae lewer tot gesinsaanpassing in krisissituasies in enkelouergesinne waar ʼn kind van ʼn ander ras as die ouer aangeneem is. Gevolglik was die navorsingsvraag in hierdie ondersoek: “Wat is veerkragtigheidskenmerke van enkelouer-transrasgesinne?” Die sterkteperspektief het as uitgangspunt vir hierdie studie gedien en die teorieë van Walsh (2003) en McCubbin en McCubbin (1996) is as teoretiese grondslag benut. ʼn Eksploratiewe navorsingsontwerp is gebruik om die navorsingsvraag te ondersoek. Data is deur middel van semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude ingesamel en konvensionele inhoudsontleding is gedoen om ingesamelde data met behulp van die Atlas.tirekenaarprogram te ontleed. Onderhoude is met ses wit vroue wat ʼn kind of kinders van ʼn ander ras as hulself aangeneem het, gevoer. Hierdie vroue is almal enkelouers en woonagtig in die Wes-Kaap, Suid-Afrika. Tydens die ondersoek het die ouderdomme van die transrasaangenome kinders gewissel tussen drie en 10 jaar. ʼn Biografiese vraelys en ʼn diepgaande onderhoud met elke deelnemer is gebruik om data in te samel. Daar is bevind dat ʼn belangrike veerkragtigheidsfaktor in die transrasaangenome gesin is om die transrasaangenome kind toe te rus met vaardighede om potensiële krisisse rakende sy/haar transrasaangenome status effektief te hanteer. Die effektiewe voorbereiding van die moeder voor aanneming, sosiale kontak en die ondersteuning van die uitgebreide familie is ook as belangrike veerkragtigheidsfaktore in die transrasgesin geïdentifiseer. Spesifieke gesinspatrone, openlikheid oor die aanneming en die benutting van eksterne hulpbronne help ook die transrasgesin om krisissituasies effektief te hanteer. Hierdie inligting is ʼn belangrike hulpbron vir potensiële aanneemouers ten einde hulle effektief voor te berei vir die aanneming van ʼn kind van ʼn ander ras as hulself. Die resultate van hierdie studie verskaf ook belangrike inligting aan die ondersteuningspartye (byvoorbeeld die maatskaplike werker) wat betrokke is by transrasaanneming in Suid-Afrika.

The South African population is highly populated by single mothered families. Fatherlessness has emerged as one of the greatest social problems, especially as children who grow up in families with absent-fathers suffer lasting damage. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of fathers’ imprisonment on the functioning of the family and social work interventions to mitigate the effect. The study used mixed method research design. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires and in-depth interviews. This study employed three sampling strategies; namely multi-stage sampling and purposive sampling as well as snow-ball sampling. The sample was made up of 65 members of families whose father is in prison or had been to prision and 15 social work officials. Qalitative data was analyised using themes and parrtens that emerged during interviews with participants, quantitative data was analysed using SPSS computer softerwere. Findings revealed that father’s imprisonment has negative impact that causes dysfunctional families. The negative effect is due to the loss of a father figure and a provider of the family. Inequality and stigmatisation among family members were also found to cause dysfunctional families after the father’s imprisonment. Findings from social work officials revealed social service interventions to mollify the family dysfunctions. However, majority of families are provided services through offender re-integration, others lack unawareness regarding social work interventions for families with fathers in prison. Findings further reveal that resources are limited to enhance the provision of adequate and better psychosocial support for affected families in order to alleviate the undesirable impact of father’s imprisonment. There is therefore a compelling need for implementing policies that will enable dysfunctional families with fathers imprison to access adequate psychosocial support services. The study also recommended that, social welfare system should be strengthened by embarking on enlightenment programmes that create awareness about family based interventions for dysfunction families with fathers in prison.

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 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)