published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Although much research has examined the impact of life stress and the subsequent development of health symptoms, most of this research has been done with White middle class adults. Similar to the adult research, life stress research with children and adolescents has focused on White middle class individuals. The present study expands the knowledge about the stress process in ethnic/racial adolescents while controlling for the effects of SES. A sample population consisting of 103 Black students, 129 Hispanic students, and 105 White students was compared with respect to stressful events experienced, coping strategies, and social support. Students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds were included within each ethnic/racial group studied. After experimentally and statistically controlling for the effects of socioeconomic status, significant differences were observed. Black and Hispanic students reported receiving higher levels of Enacted Social Support (actual support) than White students. Contrary to what has been previous suggested, Black and Hispanic students reported having experienced fewer stressful life events than White students. Other ethnic/racial group differences that emerged included differences in ways in which specific patterns of moderator variables served to enhance the relationship between life stress and psychological symptomatology.

M.A. / All transitional stages have their moments of crises, but there is no stage so complicated and confusing as the adolescence. Not surprisingly, many researchers refer to this stage as a period of storm and stress. Many studies conducted on young people and violence have concentrated on their psychological, emotional, and physical development. Hence, the psychosocial development did not receive much attention from the psychological fraternity. Therefore, the aim of this study is three fold: (1) to investigate how political violence affects the psychosocial development of adolescents.(2) to investigate how political violence affects their outlook on life, and (3) how do they view the youth=s role in political struggle. The qualitative research method was used in this study. The process of inquiry involves interviews. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 30 research participants. The process of analysis involved thematic content analysis. Generally, the results of the study indicate that exposure to political violence has negative effects on the psychosocial development of the adolescents. Many of them experience psychosocial problems in some areas of their development, while very few show signs of psychosocial resilience in other areas and function well despite exposure to political adversity. In conclusion, these adolescents are neither shattered by exposure to political violence to be considered Apsychosocially dysfunctional@, nor they are resilient enough to be considered Auntouched@ by these experiences. Furthermore, the results of the study indicate that the effects of political violence are relative rather than absolute and are bound to change with circumstances.

Text in Afrikaans / Aangesien depressie en angs hedendaags so 'n ingrypende invloed het op mense se lewens en hulle lewenskwaliteit, is daar 'n dringende behoefte aan 'n dinamiese, korttermyn en gerigte terapie om so gou as moontlik by die werklike onderliggende oorsake van die depressie en angs uit te kern. Hierdie studie het ten doel om die gebruik van hipnoterapie in die hantering van depressie en angs by adolessente en volwassenes te ondersoek. Tydens die studie word aangetoon dat die mediese hipnoanalise model 'n geskikte benadering is om as diagnostiese tegniek en terapeutiese intervensie, die oorsprong van depressie en angs aan te spreek. Emosionele probleme soos depressie en angs se oorsprong lê dikwels by foutiewe persepsies wat ontstaan tydens insidente in die kindertyd. Aangesien die persoon se breinprosesse in daardie stadium nag nie goed genoeg ontwikkel is om te besef dat die bedreiging verby is nie, word sulke persepsies nie verwyder nie. Elke persoon analiseer 'n nuwe stresvolle situasie of bedreiging vanuit sy persepsies en verwysingsraamwerk uit die verlede. Tydens 'n stresvolle insident is die depressie- en angslyer in die gewoonte om vanuit 'n depressiewe en angsvolle verwysingsraamwerk te dink en op te tree. Hierdie wyse van dink en optree is volgens sy onbewuste beter vir sy oorlewing van die stresvolle situasie, as wat denke en optrede vanuit 'n verwysingsraamwerk van die werklike onderliggende probleem sou wees. Die mediese hipnoanalise model is in staat om, tydens regressie, die ou foutiewe gedagtepatrone te verander deur die onderliggende gedagte, wat probleme veroorsaak, bloot te lê en te verwyder. Sodoende word die werklike onderliggende probleem blootgelê en verwyder. Die persoon word vry van foutiewe persepsies van die verlede en in staat om te dink en in die toekoms op te tree volgens die nuwe, akkurate persepsies. Deur hierdie meganismes, bewys mediese hipnoanalise homself as 'n geskikte terapeutiese ingreep om depressie en angs suksesvol aan te spreek. / In the light of the far-reaching effects that depression and anxiety have on the lives and the quality of people's lives, there is a need for a dynamic, short term and directed therapy in order to determine the real underlying causes of depression and anxiety as soon as possible. This study aims to examine the use of hypnotherapy in the treatment of depression and anxiety with adolescents and adults. During the course of this study, it is shown that the medical hypnoanalysis model is well suited as a diagnostic technique and therapeutic intervention for treating the origins of depression and anxiety. The origin of emotional problems like depression and anxiety, often lies in the faulty perceptions that have been formulated during childhood incidents. Since the brain processes are not yet as developed as they will become in adult life, the conscious mind does not realize that the threat ceased to exist, and can therefore not remove such perceptions. Each person analyses new stressful situations from the perspective of his own perceptions and the frame of reference of the past. A person suffering from depression and anxiety is in the habit of generating depressive and anxious ways of thinking and acting when confronted with a new stressful situation. The subconscious mind considers these ways of thinking and acting as the best way of surviving the stressful situation, better than ways of thinking and acting from the frame of reference of the underlying problem. The medical hypnoanalysis model can detect and remove the real underlying problem by regressing the person to the time of the incident, thus correcting the old patterns of thinking and acting. The person is freed from past false perceptions, and can think and act according to his new, corrected perceptions. Through use of these mechanisms, medical hypnoanalysis has shown itself to be well suited to the treatment of depression and anxiety. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

D.Ed. / The overall objective of this research is the description of an educational psychological therapeutic approach for the use of educational psychologists in private practice in the treatment of adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems.Two research questions arose out of the need for the development of an integrated educational psychological therapeutic approach, namely: In what way can the educational psychological perspective, existentialphenomenological psychology, transpersonal psychology and Medical Hypnoanalitical approach be integrated in order to develop a holistic view of humanity through which conscious and subconscious meanings in a person's experience world (psychodynamic, perinatal and transpersonal experiences) could be described to reflect the personal, unique, unrepeatable and original qualities of the individual? Based on the description of a holistic view of human nature which serves as the foundation for the development of a therapeutic approach through which the client with emotional and behavioral problems could be understood within the referential framework of his own experiences, the researcher poses the question: What constitutes the therapeutic approach through which the therapist could gain insight into the conscious and subconscious meanings in the experience world (psychodynamic, perinatal and transpersonal experiences) of a person in order to address the true causes underlying the pro lematic symptoms?

The purpose of this study was to evaluate resiliency by examining the relationship between coping ability and stressful life events on delinquent behaviors in young adolescents.

M. Ed. (Psychology of Education) / This study investigated stress prevalence among high school adolescents in Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho. The aim was to suggest guidelines on how to deal with adolescents’ stress. A total of 300 respondents were purposively chosen from 5 high schools in Maseru. The subjects completed a self adopted instrument based on reviewed literature and Adolescence Stress Questionnaire (ASQ). The results showed that most adolescents in the sample experienced stress. There was no significant difference in the experience of stress between female and male adolescents. The adolescents in the higher grade reported more stress than those in the lower grade. Home problems were perceived as the most stressful factors while academic and other factors were seen as lesser concerns. Availability of money was considered as the least important source of stress. Most adolescents preferred to be alone when they were under stress and a few used drugs. Implications of the findings for adolescents, parents, teachers and educational psychologists are discussed. / Teacher Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

M. Ed. (Psychology of Education) / This study investigated stress prevalence among high school adolescents in Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho. The aim was to suggest guidelines on how to deal with adolescents’ stress. A total of 300 respondents were purposively chosen from 5 high schools in Maseru. The subjects completed a self adopted instrument based on reviewed literature and Adolescence Stress Questionnaire (ASQ). The results showed that most adolescents in the sample experienced stress. There was no significant difference in the experience of stress between female and male adolescents. The adolescents in the higher grade reported more stress than those in the lower grade. Home problems were perceived as the most stressful factors while academic and other factors were seen as lesser concerns. Availability of money was considered as the least important source of stress. Most adolescents preferred to be alone when they were under stress and a few used drugs. Implications of the findings for adolescents, parents, teachers and educational psychologists are discussed. / Teacher Education

Stress is a fact of life. There has been much research done since the early 1970's dealing with the various aspects and relationships of stress and life events for all stages of human development. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceived life-event stressors of 9th grade and 12th grade students in three Pacific Northwest rural schools. The study also sought to a) ascertain whether male students in the 9th grade and 12th grade perceive stressful life events differently than female students in the same grade, and b) explore if there was a difference in perceptions of students of "different" rural community populations and different age populations (9th & 12th graders).