This exploratory retrospective record review extending from 1975 – 2013 of the Pietermaritzburg Child and Family Centre (hereafter referred to as the “CFC”) aimed to create a database to electronically capture CFC records to generate descriptive statistics, and the create CFC user profiles utilising multiple data analysis methodologies in order to create baseline data to inform future program evaluations. To date, no formal program evaluation has been conducted by the CFC, resulting in programs being launched without the backing of systematic and empirical data used to inform decisions. Data driven decision making is imperative when deciding on resource allocation to ensure maximum derived benefits. The study sample totalled 1974 records from the past three decades since CFC inception in 1975. These records were captured electronically in a Microsoft Access database. SPSS and ArcGIS were used to analyse the data to create service user profiles, and gather baseline data to inform future Needs Assessments and Program Evaluations. The study found temporal changes in CFC user demographics, referral problems, socio-economic standing, and referral schools since inception in 1975. The study explored, using geographic information software, client distribution of demographics, residence, referral problem, and CFC service reach, and found that there are significant geographical variations in each of these constructs. The geographic variations, together with the statistical findings highlight the importance of establishing Monitoring and Evaluation systems in order to stay relevant to the needs of CFC users. Further, findings suggest a tailored approach to CFC program development and focus, depending on future CFC priorities. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This study explored a sample of clinical psychologists' preferred resolutions to a series of hypothetical ethical dilemmas and their primary reasons for these choices. The relationship of various professional characteristics to choices and reasons was assessed. Ethical dilemmas volunteered by respondents were analyzed. Results indicated a general lack of consistency in decision making among psychologists in both actions taken to resolve dilemmas and reasons chosen to justify these actions. On the whole, psychologists with different characteristics did not differ in their choice of response to ethical dilemmas or their reasons for these choices. It is argued that diversity in professional decision making, and the ethical dilemmas volunteered by the profession, may serve as useful indices of those ethical issues that pose difficulties for professionals. These results are discussed in the light of similar findings and in the context of current ethical regulations. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

The study was planned to investigate issues relating to the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. The aims were to investigate the influence of age, sex and socio-economic status on performance on the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. A sample of forty males and forty females, stratified according to age (25-40 year olds and 50-60 year olds) and socio-economic status was selected. The results suggested that age formed a significant effect on the total and individual scale scores of the battery. There were no significant sex differences on the total score and most of the scale scores of the battery. Sex formed a significant variable on the performance on the intellectual processes and visual scales. A significant negative correlation was found between total and scale scores of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery and socio-economic status. The implications of these findings are discussed. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, Durban, 1991.

The topic ofsubliminalperception (perception without awareness) is investigated in this thesis. A technique of masking by visual noise was developed for use with an IBM-type microcomputer and VGA screen. This technique was used to investigate whether subliminal mood priming influences subjects' resolution oflexical ambiguity in a homophone task designed by Halberstadt et al. (1995). Limited evidence was found for mood-congruent priming, but only for negative emotional priming, and with the most strongly negative items. Some non-specific effects were also found to be associated with negative mood priming. The mood-priming effect was correlated with the negative emotional ratings of these items obtained from a separate group ofsubjects. In a Follow-up study, a self-report mood scale was used to assess subjects' reaction to both negative and positive subliminal stimuli. A pattern oftrends was found which suggested that subjects experienced a paradoxical improvement in mood after exposure to the negative stimulus. No changes were observed in the group exposed to the positive stimuli. A theoretical explanation was entertained which suggested that subjects adaptively attributed their change in affective arousal in terms of experimental demands. of A number ofrelationships to recent research were suggested by these experiments, in particular the finding of a preattentive bias for negative information in subjects with anxiety and non-clinical depression by Bradley et al., (1994, 1995) and Mogg et al.,(1993). It is suggested that measures ofphysiological and cortical arousal should receive attention in future research in order to clarify the response to subliminal stimulation in terms of affective arousal. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

This endeavor emerges out of a context of widespread consultation around a clearer, internationally recognizable practice framework for psychology in South Africa, as well as the implications of programme design as demanded by current tertiary education restructuring. This climate of change has prompted the investigation of ideas for restructuring undergraduate psychology courses to meet the needs of the students, the profession and the society. A specially designed questionnaire and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory were administered to 508 psychology students at all levels of undergraduate study. Analysis focused on why students chose to study psychology at university, and situated this within career choice theory as well as the effects of personality, gender and population group membership. Results reflect two main student trends: students who are interested in a career in psychology, and those who see psychology as an adjunct to other career choices. The importance of broader national and global trends on the psychological discipline in a multicultural and diverse context is emphasized. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

While there is increasing emphasis in education on the learning of intellectual processes, relatively little attention has been given to the rigorous assessment of these processes. An attempt was made to construct a group test which measured both specific processes of thinking as well as the general level of thinking attained at adolescence. Test Hems were modelled on Piagetian tasks as described by Elkind (1961b), Lawson and Renner (1974) and Shayer et a1. (1976). The test as a whole was considered to have acceptable face and content validity." Most items, as well as the test as a whole, showed low, but acceptable construct · validity for a research instrument. The reliability of the test in its present form was unacceptably low. Further development of the test is discussed as well as the implications which were raised for education. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1980.

The present study sought to establish the justifications of preference offered by children when evaluating other children's drawings. The sample consisted of seventy children, divided into seven age groups, of 6 to 12 years, having ten subjects in each, with five females and five males. The five stimulus drawings were selected according to specified criteria, and had not been produced by any of the sample. The paired comparisons method was used for presentation, a content analysis undertaken on the transcript of the subjects tape-recorded verbal justifications, and appropriate analysis of variance and significance tests undertaken on this data. Findings show: (i) there to be predominant categories of response - subject matter and colour, with the subject matter taking precedence over colour and usually provocative of identification therewith (ii) that children had distinct preferences for certain pictures (iii) the age and sex of the child to have an influence upon both criteria of preference (for categories of preference age significant at 0,01 level, sex at 0,05), and the frequency of choice of particular drawings (for drawing choice age significant at 0,01 level, sex at 0,05). The study also presents an extensive review of the literature in the area and of the Clinical Method (Piaget 1973) as appropriate to the present study. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1983.

The spate of people with body piercings has drastically increased, yet research on this issue has been frugal. This research was undertaken to develop an understanding of the meanings that multiple body piercings has for women, specifically in terms of their experiences of piercing. Moreover, an emphasis was placed on attaining the participants' experiences of their (i)dentity(ies), and body image in terms of their piercings. A hermeneutic phenomenology methodology was used to develop this understanding premised upon the participants' experiences of multiple body piercings. The sample consisted of six women participants. Their ages ranged from twenty-one to twenty-eight. Interviews conducted, were transcribed verbatim. The interpretation of the data, was informed by a feminist psychoanalytic perspective. There were four themes overall. The over-arching theme that subsequently emerged, was that of Defence(s) against Loss, the second theme was that of (I)dentity, the third was Piercings and Femininity, and finally, the fourth theme was that of Control. Each of the themes were further broken down into significant sub-themes. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

Social Identity Theory’s (SIT) explanations of psychological and group phenomena have been endorsed repeatedly through numerous laboratory experiments (to cite a few Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel, 1982; Turner, & Oakes, 1997; Oakes, Haslam, & Turner, 1994; Ellmers, Spears & Doosje, 2002; Hogg & Cooper, 2007). However many studies applying the framework include only a small subset of the key SIT constructs that form an integral part of the overall model (Abrams & Brown, 1978; Turner & Brown, 1978). Consequently, there are only a few measures of these socio-structural variables that are widely available internationally and this problem is more pronounced in the local South African context. This research study thus aimed to construct a reliable and valid measure of fundamental SIT constructs and pilot them on naturally occurring groups within the tertiary education context. The SIT constructs included in the scale were: in-group/ out-group closeness; in-group/out-group identification; group permeability; stability; legitimacy; conflict; intergroup differentiation; and in-group/out-group homogeneity. A sample of n = 510 university students were recruited for participation in one of two study conditions. In condition one participants’ sex (male or female) was the salient social identity for intergroup comparison. In condition two participants’ student identity (undergraduates or postgraduates) was made salient. These study conditions were chosen because the groups that were used were naturally occurring groups, to elaborate, the two groups that were compared in condition one had impermeable boundaries and the status hierarchy was illegitimate; whilst in condition two the two groups had permeable boundaries and legitimate categories for comparison. A reliability analysis was then conducted in order to examine the reliability of the scale as well as to improve the scales by weeding out poor items. A confirmatory factor analysis was then performed in order to confirm the independence and statistical coherence / logic of the constructs included in the inventory. Finally four hypotheses based on SIT literature were tested to partially test the construct validity for a subset of the subscales. These procedures resulted in subscales that loaded independently and predictably on coherent factors and had an acceptable to good reliability as research instruments, but not for psychometric or testing purposes. Finally the hypothesis tests confirmed that, in accordance with theoretical predictions from SIT there were significant relationships between: (1) in-group identification and group status; (2) permeability, status and in-group identification; (3) in-group identification and in-group homogeneity. However, a fourth and more complex hypothesis, namely that low status group members in groups with low legitimacy would express more conflict than members of low status groups with high legitimacy, was not confirmed. The successful hypothesis tests indicate that the in-group/out-group identification, status, permeability, and in-group/out-group homogeneity sub-scales were able to correctly replicate the theoretical predictions that were drawn from Social Identity Theory. These findings are useful indicators of the construct and criterion validity of these subscales. Based on these results, one can conclude that the Social Identity Inventory has a reasonable reliability and there are some indications of validity. However additional research is needed to further explore the reliability and validity of the scale using a more representative sample of the general population and with the recommended final versions of the scales. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Adolescents engaging in sexual risk behaviours may experience negative psychological and social outcomes, and there can be consequent interference with the accomplishment of developmental tasks. Identified risk influences for sexual risk behaviour range from intrapersonal factors to social normative behaviours and contextual/environmental issues. This study focuses on two areas of intrapersonal factors namely, self-esteem and selfefficacy in understanding sexual behaviours in a sample of school going adolescents. The sample was made up of learners who were in grades nine, ten and eleven from a school in the Durban Metropolitan area (N=259). The results of the study indicated that adolescents who had never engaged in sexual intercourse (primary abstinence) have higher self-esteem and self-efficacy than those adolescents who had previously engaged in sexual intercourse. Also, the findings indicated that that there is no association between levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy, and sexual risk behaviours in relation to the dimensions of condom use, number of sexual partners and age of sexual debut of those who are sexually active. These findings are essentially supportive of the fact that involvement in the sexual domain is mediated by self-esteem and self-efficacy for adolescents who are not sexually active. Intervention programmes should be aimed at increasing self-esteem and self-efficacy at a primary school level, prior to sexual debut, to delay the age of sexual debut, thereby protecting against sexual risk behaviours. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.