The purpose of this study was to compare working women, career women, and homemakers on the variable of self-concept, locus of control, and attitudes toward women; to determine the relationship between group membership and age, marital status, education, income level, number of children, age of youngest child, maternal education, maternal training, and maternal work history; and to predict self-concept from a linear combination of locus of control, attitudes toward women, group membership, and all the other variables.

Universities in South Africa are currently undergoing mergers. Intended for commercial gain, mergers rarely accommodate the psychological milieu of staff. Similarly, the majority of studies conducted with respect to university mergers adopt a quantitative approach. This study adopts a qualitative approach and locates the researcher within the epicentre of the research, using a case study, with the researcher as unit of analysis. The lack of merger studies that focus on the experiences of minority groups, including women, prompted me, as researcher, to adopt a feminist approach to conduct this study in the context of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University merger. A Jungian gendered view, which endorses the personal experiences of minority groups, explored the connection between organisational change and concomitant opportunities for psychic growth. The primary purpose of this study was to explore the presence of the Wild Woman archetype during a university merger. The data that made up this study were contained in my field notes, research journal and a wall montage. An analysis of the qualitative data and a comparison of Jung’s archetypal theory and Pinkola Estés’ theory of the Wild Woman archetype, enabled the researcher to find evidence of the presence of the Wild Woman archetype during the university merger. The secondary purpose of the study was to document the findings which could act as a spoor which other women could follow on their journey towards connecting with their own Wild Woman archetype. The limitations of this study, and recommendations for future research are also offered.

This research was based on the premise that psychological research on risk-taking behaviour has emphasized a one-dimensional model of instrumentality and cognitive functioning derived from male experience. The central research question "How do women experience risk-taking?" was investigated by analyzing definitions and examples of personal risk described by 44 women, and by comparing relationships between subgroups assigned by occupation and by sex-role orientation. The findings indicated that women experienced risk-taking that spanned both dimensions of affiliation (connection to others) and instrumentality (attainment of personal goals). A new definition of risk-taking was proposed that incorporated elements of uncertainty, emotional involvement, loss, and a process of change. Women in traditional occupations described a similar number of affiliative and instrumental risks, while women in non-traditional occupations emphasized instrumental risks. It was observed that the opportunity and demand for risk-taking appeared related to social context and work activity. Significant differences were also found between women in traditional and non-traditional occupations with respect to sex-role orientation (from the Bern Sex-Role Inventory), employment status, income level, and number of children. No differences were found between sub-groups designated by occupation and by sex-role orientation with respect to estimates of risk-taking tendency from a self-estimate scale and the Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire. The results supported a critique of the Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire, citing an emphasis on instrumental and hypothetical risk-taking. Participants also reported that the CDQ was not relevant to their lives. The feminist approach encouraged active participation and evaluation by the women in the study. As a result, participants reported an increased understanding of themselves and of the process of risk-taking. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to explore the decision-making process of Indo-Canadian women in seeking counselling help. Little research regarding help-seeking behaviours and attitudes of minority groups has been done in the area of counselling psychology. Even less attention has been given to the Indo-Canadian community. The aim of this study was to contribute to existing research through a contextual understanding of the influences on an Indo-Canadian woman whe/n faced with the decision to pursue counselling help. It was further intended to provide mental health services with information on ways of encouraging this cultural group to utilize the available help resources. This study used narrative and multiple case study methodology. Seven Indo-Canadian women, all having previously used mental health services, were interviewed. Interviews were then transcribed, and 'straightened' into individual narratives based on the unique story of each participant. Factors of hindrance and facilitation with regard to help-seeking were extracted from the narratives and then analyzed for commonalities. The transcripts and narratives were validated by an external examiner to ensure freedom from distortion and bias. Five of the seven stories along with the factors of hindrance and facilitation were further validated by the respective participants. In addition, an abstract story was constructed from the individual accounts. Findings extended the research through the identification of facilitating factors in the decision-making process of Indo-Canadian women in seeking counselling. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This study explores the facilitation of preparation for breast cancer surgery. The aim of the study was to develop a reasonably comprehensive scheme of categories that would describe, from the perspective of women with breast cancer, what facilitates or hinders positive psychological preparation for breast cancer surgery and, therefore, identify and conceptually organize a broad array of these experiences. The research method involved interviews with 30 women who underwent an operation for breast cancer 6-12 months prior to their interviews. The Critical Incident Technique was used to collect and analyze the data. The women were interviewed and asked to recall incidents that were helpful or hindering in their preparation for a breast cancer surgery. A total of 362 incidents from 30 participants were collected, analyzed, and placed into categories. These incidents were organized into twenty-three categories: Receiving Educational Materials and/or Information; Obtaining an Explanation of Medical Procedures or Problems; Discussing Problems with Loved One; Getting Support and Encouragement from Others; Being Accompanied to a Medical Appointment; Helping Others; Engaging Oneself in Physical and Creative Activities; Developing Helpful Habits; Taking Action on Realizing Own Mortality; Experiencing Physical Closeness; Experiencing Deep Emotional Closeness; Realizing Shift in Relationship with Loved Ones; Healing Through Spiritual Experience and Visualization; Changing Perspective Through Comparison; Using Inspiring, Comforting Material; Getting Alternative Treatment; Establishing Professional Communication; Waiting for Medical Results; Sharing Experiences in Support Groups and Counseling; Perceiving Professional Manners; Experiencing Positive Medical Settings; Getting a Recommendation/Approval of Medical Personnel, Questioning Competence of Medical Care or Personnel. The data also included information about participants' decision-making process regarding the type of operation for breast cancer and some observations on them were drawn. Several procedures were used to examine validity, soundness and trustworthiness of the categories and subcategories. Three narrative accounts were analyzed in an effort to provide meaning and action to these categories. The findings of this study may serve as a basis for better understanding of the process of preparation for breast cancer surgery. Through further examination of the categories and narratives some suggestions and recommendation for research and practice were made. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

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Bibliography: pages 334-360. / There are difficulties with the ways in which childhood sexual abuse and its consequences have been conceptualised and studied. This thesis takes a critical and reflexive approach in examining conventional, dominant ideas about psychological trauma following the sexual abuse or molestation of girls. The empirical and clinical literature in this area is reviewed, to contextualize two studies in the first part of the thesis. Case studies of three women who disclosed childhood sexual abuse as a major problem area in psychotherapy are presented within a psychodynamic framework; the therapeutic issues which emerge are ones common among women. A prevalence study of child sexual abuse experiences among a sample of university women students is then presented and compared with North American studies; the prevalence figure of 44% is discussed in relation to the methodology used, which was informed by feminist conventions of a supportive, non-intrusive group setting, providing educational input as a therapeutic intervention. Given that childhood sexual abuse is a common experience for girls, a conceptual analysis of psychological trauma is developed. In Part II of the thesis the methodology is informed by the importance of linking current ideas about ideology with language and social practices, in an investigation of themes of power/knowledge in relation to the issues raised in Part I. Verbal and written texts gathered from a group of women were subjected to discourse analyses. In the third study presented it is shown that the professional discourse concerning the traumatic effects of child sexual abuse is pervasive in discursive themes elicited from lay women. This is interpreted as an example of the production and reproduction of knowledge which perpetuates existing power structures (lay /professional; female/male; child/adult); anomalous themes are understood as agentic strategies of resistance. In the fourth study presented, discourse analysis of spoken and written texts collected from women showed the extent to which fears and anxieties about childhood sexual abuse affects the lives of girls and women in a South African sample, and the forms these fears take. Interpreted as discourses of female control, every girl is placed and has to place herself in relation to these discourses, in which she invests in various ways. The conclusion is that the individualization of specific events of sexual abuse obscures the everyday discourses and discursive practices which govern the lives of girls and women, against which they may struggle. These constitute aspects of the interpellation of female gendered subjectivity. The conflict areas and problems which bring women to therapy are related to being female in a particular socio-historical context, rather than to experiences of childhood sexual abuse.

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