The researcher observed a high incidence of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and abortions, including illegal abortions among adolescents in the Maluti Sub-District in the Eastern Cape Province. The researcher noted when speaking to the adolescents about contraceptives that they appeared to have a lack of knowledge as well as some misconceptions about contraceptives. The study therefore explores the knowledge, attitudes and practices of adolescents regarding contraceptives. To achieve the purpose of this study, a quantitative, explorative and descriptive survey was used to conduct this study. The research population in this study comprised all Grade 11 and 12 female adolescents enrolled at the selected senior secondary schools in the Maluti Sub-District. Simple random sampling was used to select the research sample. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used with the help of a statistician to analyse the data. A pilot study was conducted prior to the actual study being conducted, using the same design and research methods. The study findings revealed that participants had a low level of knowledge about contraceptive methods and there were some misconceptions regarding contraceptives prevailing among the participants. More than half (54%) of the participants are currently sexually active and less than a third of the participants indicated that they were using contraceptives The study concludes with recommendations for nursing practice, education and research. Ethical principles have been maintained throughout the study.

M.Cur. / The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the role of significantothers in sex education of the Vha-Venda youth and to describe principles of managing sex education of the youth by community nurses. The researcher's view was that if sexuality education of the youth was done effectively, the youth might acquire the necessary knowledge of sex that would help them to deal with the social, physical and emotional demands of sexuality as they occur. This could reduce the high level of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among the youth. An exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was followed to achieve the aim of this study. Data was obtained from the youth, parents, guardians community nurses through focus group interviews. The main categories that emerged from the process of data analysis are as follows: The content of sex information given to the youth, the role of significant others in sex education of the youth, strategies that are used in providing sex education to the youth and obstacles in providing sex education to the youth. The results of this study show that the content of sexuality information given to the youth is not adequate. The role of significant others in sexuality education of the youth was found to be educating, guiding, advising and listening to the youth when talking about sexuality issues. Mothers and teachers were identified to be the people mostly involved in sexuality education of the youth. The study also revealed that sexuality' education of the Vha-Venda Youth is started very late in a child's life. Non effective strategies of providing sexuality information are used by parents and guardians. All three groups of respondents identified common obstacles in providing sexuality education of the youth. The results of this study and literature control were used as the basis for description of principles of managing sexuality education of the youth effectively by the community nurses . Recommendations ensuing from this study are that community nurses should involve themselves in assessment of need for help and assist the youth and parents, particularly mothers and teachers according to their needs. Nursing curricula should include guidelines on sexuality education and facilitation of parent's role as primary sexuality educators of their own children. The findings of this study can be considered for designing in-service education programs for community nurses and the curriculum for the training of community nurses in under and post graduate level. Further research needs to be done to assess if the principles described in this study are effective in managing sexuality education of the youths.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Technology: Public Management (Peace Building), Durban University of Technology, 2017. / Mindfulness meditation has been receiving attention as a potential therapeutic tool to help those who have been traumatized or who are distressed. Anecdotal evidence reflects its potential healing abilities across varied populations with different problems. Despite this there has been very little attention to spirituality and more so mindfulness meditation in South African within the context of SA research and the literature. More importantly research within the field of child and youth care is sparse. This prompted the need for the current study which explored the nature and impact of abuse on the adolescents in the sample, the support provided at child care institutions, and the spiritual activities used by adolescents. More importantly however the study’s aim was to explore the benefits of a mindfulness meditation programme with a group of abused adolescents. In order to achieve this, a qualitative research design was used. Data was collected using in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion following the implementation of the mindfulness meditation workshop. Reflections written by the adolescent after each session was also analysed with the data from the focus group discussion. A purposive sample of eight adolescents was used. These adolescents were at a child care facility in the Ethekwini region of Kwa-Zulu Natal. They were purposively selected by the Director of the facility to participate due to their experience of abuse. Deeply traumatized adolescents who still needed one to one support were not considered. The data collected was recorded and then transcribed. After it was transcribed a process of thematic analysis was used. Main themes and sub-themes were derived from the data in its totality. The main themes drawn from the study was the types of abuse; the psycho-social effects of abuse, support received at the child care facility, spiritual interventions used by the adolescents, increased group bonding, benefits of meditation; mindfulness meditation as an ongoing practice. This study unearthed rich information pertaining to the traumatic experience of abuse. Rich descriptive reflected anxiety, depression, poor social relationships and poor academic performance as some of the effects of the experience. The study further found that institutionalization provided a safe space and both the adolescents and child care workers had used spiritual activities to enable healing. Of most importance however that is the meditation sessions demonstrated multiple positive benefits. These included feeling a sense of peace and equanimity, improved self-confidence, re-ordering of negative and dysfunctional thoughts into more positive ones, enhanced emotional states and forgiveness. The entire sample indicated that they would use this intervention, in the future again and felt that it was beneficial to other adolescents. Based on this it was recommended that child and youth care education give consideration to the inclusion of spirituality, moreover mindfulness meditation in child and youth care work. / M

A. The Aims The modern adolescent is frequently accused of being morally lax; his judgement of moral issues is held in question; and parents, church and school are accused of having lost their influence on present-day youth. The writer wes lnterested in finding out whether these accusations could in fact be substantiated amongst a sample of adolescent school-children in a selected urban area. The aims of the research, therefore, were as follows :- (i) to investigate the judgement of these adolescents in certain given areas of moral behaviour, (ii) to determine whether there were any appreciable differences between the Afrikaans-speaking and English-speaking adolescents of the sample in their judgements of these moral issues, (iii) to determine whether there were any appreciable differences between adolescent boys and girls of the sample in their judgement of these moral issues, (iv) to explore the influences which caused the tested adolescents to re-act as they did.

In this thesis, I focus on adolescent teens at Kingswood College High School, where I am currently employed as a student assistant in Grahamstown. I form part of a networked hierarchy at Kingswood College whereby I am expected to perform duties which require me to uphold discipline, forge respect and act as a mentor to students. Within this complex role I am mindful of the power dynamics within the school and my focus is on how the students at Kingswood College in some instances challenge them. Regulations in regard to uniforms and in regard to the arrangement of each learner’s belongings insist on the sublimation/sacrificing of an individual identity in favour of an institutional one. Thus tiny departures from those norms, slight transgressions, might be understood as small rebellions which the boarder stages against disciplinary structures and the conformity demanded of him or her. I am particularly interested in these transgressions. In this thesis I attempt to unravel the complexities associated with such idiosyncrasies and how they play out amongst adolescent teens.

MPH / Department of Public Health / See the attached abstract below

MAAS / Department of African Studies / The aim of the study was to rethink the role of mahundwane as an educational game for Vhavenda speaking youth. Since time-immemorial, mahundwane has been an integral part in empowering the Vhavenda youth for marriage, sexuality education, moral behaviour and other African values. It has been noted that with the advent of modernisation and lack of documentation, mahundwane has been abandoned by the majority of Vhavenda youth resulting in many social-ills like teenage pregnancy and others. The overall objectives were to explore the nature and the process of mahundwane as an educational game for Vhavenda youth, to identify the teaching acquired during mahundwane game and to examine the educational value of mahundwane in Vhavenda youth. The study was founded on the socio-cultural theory and modernisation theory to attain its findings. This study utilised the qualitative research design. Data collection methods included face-to-face semi-structured interviews, observations and focus group discussions. The study participants were selected using purposive and snow-balling sampling. To effectively document the nature, processes and the role of mahundwane in educating the youth, community elders and other knowledge holders were engaged. This study was of importance in reviving some indigenous games that are almost extinct. The study recommends an introduction and intensive expansion of social media technologies, inclusion of the indigenous games into the education curriculum and introducing copyright and intellectual property rights to effectively address the extinction of indigenous games and practices. / NRF

Bibliography: pages 108-115. / The aim of the proposed study is to evaluate demographic factors and treatment characteristics contained in the historical records of those treated as in-patients at the Sonstraal Adolescent unit of Lentegeur Hospital, during the period 1986 to 1990. This demographic study details the following aspects of the adolescent in-patients: size, that is, numbers of those admitted to the unit; composition, including age, sex and area. Treatment characteristics such as reasons for admission, diagnosis of psychopathology, referral agent on admission and discharge and length of stay in the unit are considered. The data for the study have been extracted from the clinical records contained at Sonstraal, namely , the 'Clinical Summary on Discharge' form. This form is completed by the therapist of each adolescent attending the unit. The EpiInfo computer programmes have been utilised to create a database and to select the appropriate procedures and statistics which form the basis for data analysis and interpretation. Data interpretation includes an analysis of the emerging trends and details the implications for policy issues, unit staffing and treatment options. Analysis of the trends and comparisons with literature findings have facilitated the generation of hypotheses which could be tested in future studies. This study therefore provides a working document for future prioritising and planning of in-patient, out-patient and community mental health services to adolescents, their families and communities. This involves recommendations for intervention and community involvement. In addition, the study provides a basis for future research into adolescent mental health care.

Ten spyte daarvan dat die meeste skoolgaande jongmense in die Ned Geref Kerk kategese deurloop, en self in die finale jaar van kategese, word daar nie veel aandag aan lewenstories van die katkisante geskenk nie. Hierdie studie oor geloofsontwikkeling by `n groep katkisante word gedoen vanuit pastoraal teologiese perspektief en `n sosiale konstruksieteorie diskoers. Oor `n tydperk van `n jaar is daar deur middel van kwalitatiewe navorsing `n proses gevolg met `n finalejaarsgroep van nege-en-twintig katkisante met die doel om geloofsontwikkeling te laat plaasvind, deur aandag aan hulle geloofsverhale te gee met die oog op die skryf van `n eie geloofsbelydenis. Na die tyd is oor die proses gereflekteer. Drie aspekte het die studie gerig. Die konteks waarbinne die studie plaasgevind het, wat bestaan uit die gemeente, breër samelewing, paradigmas, verbande en verhoudinge waarbinne die proses plaasgevind het. Die inhoud van die kategese, wat deelnemend gekonstrueer was. Die groep van nege-en-twintig jongmense wat met finalejaarkategese besig was, word binne konteks betrek by deelnemende pastorale kategese. My metode was om binne die gemeente, in die kategese, `n ruimte te skep waarbinne die katkisante deelnemend die kategetiese proses gekonstrueer het. Sodoende sou die klem op deelname val wat die hooffokus van die studie is. Die aandag wat daar aan die katkisante se lewensverhale gegee word maak die narratiewe diskoers relevant vir hierdie studie. Kategese binne hierdie studie het 'n deelnemende karakter. Die volgende benaderings het die deelnemende karakter ondersteun. Die kategesepraktyk skuif na `n pastorale benadering. Die leerinhoude se klem verskuif na verhoudings. Die kategetiese inhoud word sosiaal gekonstrueer. Despite the fact that most youth from the Dutch Reformed Church are of school going age during their final year of catechism, insufficient attention is given to the life stories of these young people. My research project on faith development with a group of young people involved in catechism was shaped by a pastoral theological perspective and a social constructionist discourse. Over a period of a year a process of qualitative research was conducted with a group of twenty-nine young conformants. The aim was to encourage faith development by given attention to their faith stories with the intention for them to write their own confessions of faith. Afterwards the process was reflected on. The study was guided by three themes. The context in which the study was conducted, consisted of the congregation, society at large, paradigms and relationships in which the process took place. The context of the catechism was conducted is a participatory manner. The third theme was the group of twenty-nine young people that participated in their final year of catechism in which the context of participatory pastoral catechism was focused on. The approach that was followed, was create space within the congregation for catechism to be conducted in a participatory manner with the twenty-nine young participants. In this way participation which is the main focus of this study is accentuated. The attention to the life stories of these young people makes the narrative discourse relevant to the study. Catechism according to this study has a participatory character that is supported by the following approaches. The practice of catechism shifts to a pastoral approach. The content of the catechism shifts to relationships. The content of the catechism becomes socially constructed. / Practial Theology / D. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

The impact of adolescent human trafficking for sexual exploitation is of such a nature that it interferes with the attainment of adolescent developmental tasks that would lead to the ability to become independent adults. This interference offers specific challenges to service providers. The goal of this study was therefore to develop an in-depth understanding of service providers’ perceptions of the experiences of adolescents trafficked for sexual exploitation with a view to inform social work services. The research methodology entailed the use of the contextual, explorative and descriptive research designs within a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Data analysis led to the identification of themes, sub-themes and categories that addressed the goal of the study. A literature control was conducted to verify the data and to draw conclusions and make recommendations for social work service delivery. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Science)