The purpose of this study was to determine whether it has an effect on teachers’ resilience when they live according to their innate talents and strengths. The result of the Clifton StrengthsFinder® (CSF) assessment was used as the basis for this study. I linked Bandura’s social cognitive theory with the CSF and used it as a conceptual framework for the study. Bandura identified four core features of human agency, namely intentionality, forethought, self-reaction and self-reflection. The 34 talent themes identified by the CSF are divided into four domains, namely executional, thinking, influencing and relational. These four domains of talent themes can be partially linked with Bandura’s four core features of human agency. The domains of talent themes cannot be individually and rigidly linked with each of the features identified by Bandura, but there are clearly discernible points of contact between the talent themes and the core features of human agency. In this qualitative study I conducted conversational interviews with eight participants from a phenomenological perspective. Seven participants were female and one male. Five of the participants are educators at private schools; generally not well-resourced, but with small class groups. The other three participants are employed at former Model C schools with significantly more resources, but also much larger class groups. All the educators who participated in this study indicated that the outcome of the CSF assessment described them accurately. Most of the participants live and work according to their strengths and experience that it plays a significant role in their resilience at work. Participants who indicated that they do not live according to their strengths, or use it to a lesser extent, experience limited or no resilience professionally and personally. / Dissertation (Med)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / Psychological interventions can take place in a number of ways. The familiar one-to-one therapeutic approach is appropriate in most cases, but within certain contexts the following can be considered as disadvantages of such an approach: it is expensive; it can only involve a small number (one or two) people at any given time. The result is that only a few people can afford this type of service, as well as the under-utilization of professional people's ingenuity and expertise. This is especially the state of affairs pervasive within the South African context, where there exists a great need to involve more clients simultaneously. The latter can be achieved by using the model of the Psycho development process. As a result, Psycho-development programmes has become increasingly relevant in Psychology, Education and associated disciplines. Family Psychology is a field which presents a number of possibilities, concerning the social development of married couples. The development of psycho-social life-skills of married couples, is a specific area in which little research has been done to date - a fact which should be noted. The purpose of the present study was to devise a programme for the development of psycho-social life-skills for married couples. In addition, the results of the programme on an experimental group of married couples were ascertained. For evaluation of the effectiveness of the 'programme, a qualitative evaluation was done by conducting informal discussions with couples who participated. in the programme. 287 In conclusion, the general applicability of the programme for continued use, was assessed. The motivation for the present research was two-folded. Firstly, the author observed deficiencies in the psycho-social life-skills of couples. This observation was reinforced and confirmed through discussions with married couples, social workers and psychologists. Secondly, the assumption that the development of psycho-social life-skills should receive more attention, was confirmed through relevant literature. Most of the existing enrichment-programmes have limited attraction for potential couples. The programme that has been developed to address the problem of deficient psycho-social life-skills of couples, consists of the following sections, namely, "Getting acquainted and listing of strength "Why couples argue II j "Win-Win conflict negotiation" j "Understanding one another and communicating love to your parner"j "Sharing your feelings with your partner and assessing your sexual relationship". The assumption was that there would be a significant difference between couples that took part in a intervention programme (experimental group) and couples that did not take part in a intervention programme (control group). This was operationalised by involving 38 couples (sample) of which 18 couples (experimental group) took part in the intervention programme and 20 couples (control group) who did not take part in the intervention programme. During evaluation the fuctioning of couples was used as criteria, using the Dyadic Adjustment scale (Spanier, 1976) as the evaluation-instrument. The programme was implemented at the beginning of 1996 by applying it to an experimental group. Both the randomly selected experimental group and the control group (N = 76) were assessed by using the standardized measuring instrument. After pre-testing, the programme was implemented over a period of five weeks. Re-measurement (post-testing) occurred during the following two weeks and the follow-on measurement (post-posttesting), 17 weeks after the implementation of the program. Statistical analysis (quantitative investigation) after the implementation of the programme, indicated that the experimental group derived considerable benefit from the programme. This group obtained significantly better results than the control group in every section covered by the programme. These conclusions agree with the predominantly positive comments of the. participants about the quality and suitability of the programme. In conclusion it can be said that the main objectives of the research were accomplished, namely to devise a functional programme for the development of psycho-social life-skills for married couples, and that the validity of the programme has been established, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Some families in the Free State Province, specifically in Thabo-Mofutsanyana district, are families living with mentally ill family members. The families accompany the mentally ill family members to designated clinics which offer primary, secondary and tertiary mental health services, and all these levels of care provide care, treatment and rehabilitation of mentally ill persons (SA, 2002:2). Despite the care that these families give to their mentally ill family members, it seemed that they find it difficult to cope living with a mentally ill family member. This is supported by Zergaw, Hailemariam, Alem and Kebed (2008:191) who indicate the economic impact, disruption of daily life, work and family relationships experienced by families living with a mentally ill family member. This was also evident in a study by Du Plessis, Greeff and Koen (2004:4), that, because of a lack of a formal support system for families living with mentally ill family members, and lack of necessary skills to take on the responsibility of caring for mentally ill relatives, mentally ill family members relapse and are readmitted in the mental health care institutions. Adding to this, in most of the families living with mentally ill family members in the Thabo-Mofutsanyana district, it is not known how they cope and are supported. Once there is a clear understanding of how families experience living with mentally ill family members, health care practitioners can give better support to families living with mentally ill family members. The research objective of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of families living with a mentally ill family member in the Thabo-Mofutsanyana district, to explore and describe the strengths of families living with a mentally ill family member, and to formulate guidelines to support families living with mentally ill family members. A qualitative, phenomenological design was used which enabled the researcher to understand the way in which the families experience living with a mentally ill family member. The population studied in this research consisted of families living with mentally ill family members in the Thabo-Mofutsanyana district in South Africa. The purposive sampling was used to select participants with the assistance of a mediator. Permission to conduct research was negotiated with the district manager. Voluntary and informed consent in writing was obtained from all the participants. The sample size was determined by data saturation, which was reached after 14 interviews. Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with data collection. In consensus discussions, the researcher and the co-coder reached consensus on the main and sub themes. From the research findings, five main themes were identified. The first two themes are the positive and negative experiences of living with a mentally ill family member. The third theme is the concerns of family in staying with a mentally ill family member. The fourth theme is the strengths in coping with a mentally ill family member. The last theme is ways in which family members as families wanted to be supported. It could be concluded that the experience of families living with mentally ill family members in Thabo-Mofutsanyana district need to be supported. In order to address this support holistically and to enhance quality of life and to lessen the burden the families experience in living with a mentally ill family member, the support should firstly be addressed individually and then as a family. Following that, the collective support can be addressed by a support network system through involvement of the department of health, clinics, rehabilitation centres, community, mental health care workers, giving of medication and establishment support of groups of families living with mental health care users. From these findings the researcher proposed guidelines to support families living with mentally ill family members, and to increase knowledge in these families on how to handle a mentally ill family member. The researcher also compiled recommendations for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research in families living with mental health care users. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Some families in the Free State Province, specifically in Thabo-Mofutsanyana district, are families living with mentally ill family members. The families accompany the mentally ill family members to designated clinics which offer primary, secondary and tertiary mental health services, and all these levels of care provide care, treatment and rehabilitation of mentally ill persons (SA, 2002:2). Despite the care that these families give to their mentally ill family members, it seemed that they find it difficult to cope living with a mentally ill family member. This is supported by Zergaw, Hailemariam, Alem and Kebed (2008:191) who indicate the economic impact, disruption of daily life, work and family relationships experienced by families living with a mentally ill family member. This was also evident in a study by Du Plessis, Greeff and Koen (2004:4), that, because of a lack of a formal support system for families living with mentally ill family members, and lack of necessary skills to take on the responsibility of caring for mentally ill relatives, mentally ill family members relapse and are readmitted in the mental health care institutions. Adding to this, in most of the families living with mentally ill family members in the Thabo-Mofutsanyana district, it is not known how they cope and are supported. Once there is a clear understanding of how families experience living with mentally ill family members, health care practitioners can give better support to families living with mentally ill family members. The research objective of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of families living with a mentally ill family member in the Thabo-Mofutsanyana district, to explore and describe the strengths of families living with a mentally ill family member, and to formulate guidelines to support families living with mentally ill family members. A qualitative, phenomenological design was used which enabled the researcher to understand the way in which the families experience living with a mentally ill family member. The population studied in this research consisted of families living with mentally ill family members in the Thabo-Mofutsanyana district in South Africa. The purposive sampling was used to select participants with the assistance of a mediator. Permission to conduct research was negotiated with the district manager. Voluntary and informed consent in writing was obtained from all the participants. The sample size was determined by data saturation, which was reached after 14 interviews. Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with data collection. In consensus discussions, the researcher and the co-coder reached consensus on the main and sub themes. From the research findings, five main themes were identified. The first two themes are the positive and negative experiences of living with a mentally ill family member. The third theme is the concerns of family in staying with a mentally ill family member. The fourth theme is the strengths in coping with a mentally ill family member. The last theme is ways in which family members as families wanted to be supported. It could be concluded that the experience of families living with mentally ill family members in Thabo-Mofutsanyana district need to be supported. In order to address this support holistically and to enhance quality of life and to lessen the burden the families experience in living with a mentally ill family member, the support should firstly be addressed individually and then as a family. Following that, the collective support can be addressed by a support network system through involvement of the department of health, clinics, rehabilitation centres, community, mental health care workers, giving of medication and establishment support of groups of families living with mental health care users. From these findings the researcher proposed guidelines to support families living with mentally ill family members, and to increase knowledge in these families on how to handle a mentally ill family member. The researcher also compiled recommendations for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research in families living with mental health care users. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Education is essential in providing future human capital that is much needed to build a sustainable, competitive economy. However, the importance of a quality education is often underestimated. In order to enhance working conditions of educators, it seems essential to investigate the role of the positive psychology paradigm by means of developing teachers’ areas of deficiencies and capitalising on their strengths in order for them to reach their full potential and flourish. The current study aimed to adapt and validate the recently developed Strengths Use and Deficit Improvement Questionnaire (SUDIQ) in an attempt to make it suitable for educators. The general objective of this research study was to establish the psychometric properties of the SUDIQ by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), convergent, discriminant and empirical validity. A cross-sectional field survey design and a convenience sample of educators from several educational institutions in the Gauteng Province (N = 502) was utilised to gather the data. CFA was used to test the factorial validity of the adapted SUDIQ scale. In order to prove convergent and discriminant validity, the relationships between the SUDIQ dimensions and similar theoretical constructs (job resources, strengths use, psychological capital, proactive behaviour and person-job fit) as well as constructs postulated to be unrelated to the SUDIQ dimensions (age and education) were determined. Finally, the relationship between the SUDIQ dimensions with vigour, dedication, emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation was determined by using multiple regression analysis. The results confirmed that the SUDIQ comprised a four-factor structure. These four factors were perceived organisational support for strengths use, perceived organisational support for deficit improvement, proactive behaviour towards strengths use and proactive behaviour towards deficits improvement. These dimensions were positively related to the scales such as the strengths use scale, autonomy, supervisor and colleague support, psychological capital, proactive behaviour, and person-job fit. Anticipated perceived organisational support for deficit improvement and proactive behaviour towards strengths use and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement were unrelated to age. The scales were also relatively weakly related to education. Furthermore, the results revealed that perceived organisational support for strengths use, proactive behaviour towards strengths use and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement were significant predictors of both vigour and dedication. However, it was found that the only SUDIQ dimension that predicted emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation was proactive behaviour toward strengths use. Recommendations were made to be applied in practice, as well as for future research. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Education is essential in providing future human capital that is much needed to build a sustainable, competitive economy. However, the importance of a quality education is often underestimated. In order to enhance working conditions of educators, it seems essential to investigate the role of the positive psychology paradigm by means of developing teachers’ areas of deficiencies and capitalising on their strengths in order for them to reach their full potential and flourish. The current study aimed to adapt and validate the recently developed Strengths Use and Deficit Improvement Questionnaire (SUDIQ) in an attempt to make it suitable for educators. The general objective of this research study was to establish the psychometric properties of the SUDIQ by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), convergent, discriminant and empirical validity. A cross-sectional field survey design and a convenience sample of educators from several educational institutions in the Gauteng Province (N = 502) was utilised to gather the data. CFA was used to test the factorial validity of the adapted SUDIQ scale. In order to prove convergent and discriminant validity, the relationships between the SUDIQ dimensions and similar theoretical constructs (job resources, strengths use, psychological capital, proactive behaviour and person-job fit) as well as constructs postulated to be unrelated to the SUDIQ dimensions (age and education) were determined. Finally, the relationship between the SUDIQ dimensions with vigour, dedication, emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation was determined by using multiple regression analysis. The results confirmed that the SUDIQ comprised a four-factor structure. These four factors were perceived organisational support for strengths use, perceived organisational support for deficit improvement, proactive behaviour towards strengths use and proactive behaviour towards deficits improvement. These dimensions were positively related to the scales such as the strengths use scale, autonomy, supervisor and colleague support, psychological capital, proactive behaviour, and person-job fit. Anticipated perceived organisational support for deficit improvement and proactive behaviour towards strengths use and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement were unrelated to age. The scales were also relatively weakly related to education. Furthermore, the results revealed that perceived organisational support for strengths use, proactive behaviour towards strengths use and proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement were significant predictors of both vigour and dedication. However, it was found that the only SUDIQ dimension that predicted emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation was proactive behaviour toward strengths use. Recommendations were made to be applied in practice, as well as for future research. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014