ABSTRACT This study sought to explore the experiences of pregnant adolescent learners. It solicited information around challenges faced by pregnant adolescent girls, the impact of pregnancy on interpersonal relationships and psychological functioning, the support system that pregnant learners have, as well as their current feelings and perceptions about their experience. It is a qualitative study, and it employed thematic content analysis to analyse the results. The sample, comprising of five adolescent girls, was drawn purposively from Soweto High Schools. Adolescent pregnancy is generally perceived as a social problem because of the negative consequences often associated with it. Literature also suggests that low socio-economic circumstances and developmental factors predispose adolescents to a higher risk for unplanned pregnancy. The results of this study indicate that an experience of pregnancy during adolescence often results in challenges that may have a negative impact on normative development. Another finding is that most adolescent mothers receive very little or no financial and emotional support from families, partners or formal structures.

Inspired heavily by the Virginia Woolf's novel, The Waves, Dirty Girls tells the story of four girls coming of age in coastal Texas. Told through interior monologues, Dirty Girls explores themes of adolescent girlhood from the various perspectives of those who live it. Carmel has always been on the outside looking in, envious of the prettier, thinner, blonde girls who seem to own everything and everyone. Christina protects her, attempting to straddle the line between sexual awakening and childhood innocence. Lauren grapples with her lesbian sexuality in a time and place where such an identity is forbidden. And Taylor suffers the consequences of her grown-too-fast flashy ways. All four girls overlap and change, though through their interiority the reader comes to realize no girl is spared the struggle of the patriarchy.

WHAT’S THE 411 ON SEX IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH? A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN GIRLS’ EXPOSURE TO SEX COMMUNICATION IN THE CHURCH By: Brittany M. Berry, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017. Major Director: Dr. Faye Z. Belgrave, Professor, Psychology The purpose of this dissertation research was to explore sex communication with African American girls in the African American Church. This research was guided by two objectives: (1) to explore African American adolescent girls’ exposure to sex communication in African American Churches, and (2) to explore African American girls’ perceptions and feelings about these messages. In this qualitative study, 20 African American teen girls and eight Church youth leaders were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed and coded to determine themes for youth and youth leaders. A total of 32 themes emerged across youth and youth leader interviews. Twelve girls reported some discussion of sex in Church and 8 girls reported no discussion. Overall, participant responses indicated that sex messages in Church are typically abstinence-focused and based on religious principles, with mention of using condoms in some cases. Findings indicated that girls vary in their comfort level with discussions about sex depending on multiple factors, including their own sexual activity. The impact of sex communication in Church on girls’ sexual behavior may vary; however, the relationships youth have with youth leaders and fellow parishioners may aid in holding girls accountable to the information they gain and religious values they cultivate in Church. Recommendations for Church leaders, youth leaders, and researchers are provided.

A year after the mysterious death of Petra, her twin sister Dash convinces the scattered and estranged members of her Scout troop to re-form in order to return to Exploration Expedition, the site of her sisters passing. Though the troop have all been dealing with the loss of their defacto leader in different ways, their arrival at Expedition forces them to work together to confront their guilt in the events surrounding Petra’s death and its effect on their own lives and friendships.

The problem addressed in the study concerned the lack of attraction of girls into professional Mining Industry (MI) careers. The study had four main objectives. The first was to review the literature to determine the reasons why there were so few women currently in MI careers, and then to describe strategies that have been successfully used to increase their participation. It quickly became apparent that while little research could be located relating directly to MI, the broader fields of science, engineering and technology (SET) could be reviewed to include the subset of mining-related careers.The second objective was to determine the attitudes towards MI careers of a select group of Year 10 schoolgirls, with the ability to proceed to the tertiary prerequisites for MI courses. This was accomplished through the development, implementation and statistical analysis of an instrument, the Mining Industry Attitude Survey (MIAS), designed specifically to focus on MI-related careers, rather than SET generally.The third objective was to develop and implement appropriate intervention strategies aimed at enhancing the attitudes of the group of girls, as determined through analyses of MIAS and related research. Under the auspices of the Western Australian School of Mines Engineering and Technology Camp, conducted annually in Kalgoorlie, a program of strategies was adapted and implemented over a period of five days at the residential camp.The final objective of the study was to determine if the intervention program did, in fact, enhance participating girls' attitudes. Using quasi-experimental research methods, quantitative data were collected and analysed from girls attending the camp, as the experimental group, and from applicants that did not attend as the control group. In addition, qualitative data were collected from select girls in the experimental group, during the camp ++ / program.The outcomes of the study are set out in terms of the main objectives, culminating in a discussion of the implications which the stated findings pose for researchers, practitioners of equity programs and employers of future MI graduates.

"When we are unconscious of a thing which is constellated, we are identified with it, and it moves us or activates us as if we were marionettes. We can only escape that effect by making it conscious and objectifying it, putting it outside of ourselves, taking it out into the conscious." Carl Jung. Scheherazade is the story of Felicity who is in pursuit of a dream to become a solo violinist. As she ploughs into Year 12, she is so absorbed by her goals that she neglects her social environment: family; friends; relaxation. Sometimes she is barely conscious of their presence. At the Year 12 formal, she is forced to realise the consequences of the choices she is making. Writing Scheherazade, my first novel, was a lesson in dealing with and learning about mastering the writing process. The exegesis shows the journey of taking pieces of unconsciously/subconsciously created writing and turning them into pieces ofa deliberately crafted complex whole. Starting with a premise -If you don't pursue your dreams, you will live with regret -I found it easy to put together a character and give her a dream. Bringing in aspects of adolescent theory, I could contrast her with her friends and her parents. But all of the conflict was external and Felicity was unlikable. When I investigated other Young Adult and Junior fiction I found that I needed to bring the conflict more inside Felicity. Then I had a story.

This thesis examines how playful language functions in the friendship talk of preadolescent girls.By experimentation and manipulation of language, speakers negotiate turbulence to accomplish a variety of actions which highlight the talk-as-play function.The analytical focus is on speaker's negotation of talk in and out of play and non play. The methodology is synthesised from interactional sociolinguistics, ethnographic and Conversational Analysis approaches. Findings demonstrate that alliance building is accomplished in a diversity of forms which contribute to the overall game-like key of preadolescent girls' talk.Findings are relevant to applied linguistic and development psychology.The study offers new insights into the acquisition of gendered language practice. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis aimed to examine the functioning of families with a sufferer of Anorexia Nervosa (AN), using self-report measures and a direct observation family discussion task. Researchers and clinicians have long been interested in the interactional patterns of these sufferers within the family unit, although few have furthered our understanding of the interplay between family functioning, cohesion and emotional expression and issues such as control, by directly examining these interactions. The construct of control has been another area of interest in recent research, although how it is constructed and operates within this disorder remains unclear and ambiguous. Thus the purpose of this research was to expand the study of adolescents suffering Anorexia Nervosa who still resided within the family unit, from merely studying self-report measures and retrospective surveys of recovery, to include a direct examination of sufferers and their families at the time of the disorder. Participants included 16 female sufferers of Anorexia Nervosa and their parents, 17 drug and alcohol sufferers, and 18 non-clinic families. Both parents and their daughters completed self-report inventories assessing their clinical status as well as family functioning and marital happiness. In addition, family members participated in a series of family discussion tasks which were coded for the dimensions of autonomy, cohesiveness, avoidance and control. In Study 1 (Chapter 7), the self-report measures of the anorexic families were examined specifically in relation to the construct of control acting as a mediating variable between level of dysfunction and severity of the disorder. Consistent with previous research, levels of marital happiness and family cohesion influenced the severity level of the daughter's Anorexia Nervosa. This study also explored the construct of control within the family system and found that the more moral-religious emphasis in the family, the more concerned the daughter was with her weight. At the same time daughters were reporting higher levels of moral-religious emphasis, they were reporting higher levels of self-control. The daughters in this study appeared to be inconsistent in their behavioural responses. The daughters' weight concern increased with their own reported levels of moral-religious emphasis in the family. However, as this emphasis increased, so too did their control scores. It was supposed that conflict may be created in a family when strong religious and/or strong moral values are emphasized, particularly when one of the family members suffers AN. This issue is discussed in depth. Study 2 sought to examine these variables further by using a direct observation family discussion task to compare an independent observer's ratings to the family's ratings of the discussion, across the three groups. The study examined the daughters' and mothers' perceptions and compared significant results to the observer's ratings. This study highlighted that the mothers of sufferers appeared not to be concerned about their own bodies and weight, and not distressed when discussing with their daughters the issues of control in the areas of family, body, school and friends. Furthermore, the anorexic daughters presented as more sad and anxious than the two other groups and indicated that their parents had more control over their bodies than they did themselves. Finally, for the majority of participating families, the fathers were absent and this issue is explored.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-224). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ99146

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.