With the increasing number of women entering the labour force internationally, the role of women is changing. Consequently, researchers are pressed to investigate how females of all cultures balance their work and family responsibilities. Amongst Hindu couples, this issue can either be a source of tension or positive support. An overview of literature indicates that the psychological aspects of dual-career Hindu women have received little attention in South Africa. The current study aimed to explore and describe coping resources and the subjective well-being of full-time employed Hindu mothers. The study took the form of a non-experimental exploratory-descriptive design. Participants were selected through nonprobability convenience sampling. The sample of the study consisted of sixty full-time employed Hindu mothers between the ages of 25 and 45 years of age who had at least one dependent primary school child aged between 7 to 12 years. Various questionnaires were used to collect data for this study. These included a Biographical Questionnaire, The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI), The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and The Affectometer 2 (AFM2). Data was analysed by means of descriptive statistics. Cronbach’s coefficient alphas were utilised to calculate the reliability of the scores of each questionnaire. A multivariate technique was used to determine the amount of clusters formed. A non-hierarchical partitioning technique known as K-means cluster analysis was utilised in this study. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilised in order to compare the mean scores of the various clusters. A post-hoc analysis using the Scheffé test was computed to test for significant differences. Cohen’s d statistics was subsequently used to determine the practical significance of the differences found between the cluster means on each of the measures. The cluster analysis indicated three clusters that differed significantly from one another on all three measures. The results of the CRI indicated that the participants used cognitive and spiritual resources to assist them to cope with the transition from traditional to modern contemporary roles. It was also found that the participants with low coping resources had inferior subjective well-being compared to those who had average and high CRI scores. The findings indicated that the participants were generally satisfied with their lives and experienced high levels of positive affect and low levels of negative affect. However, as a group there was a trend for the participants to have experienced slightly lower levels of global happiness or slightly negative affect. The results of this study broadens the knowledge base of positive psychology with respect to the diverse cultures and gender roles within South Africa. Overall, this study highlighted the value and the need for South African research on the coping resources and subjective well-being of dual-career Hindu mothers.

M.A. / African family structures have not been systematically studied in South Africa. This is a pilot study of household structures in the Qumbu village at the Mhlontlo district in the Eastern Cape. I researched household arrangements in the area, whether migration of husbands to the cities has disrupted the traditional family unit, what the survival strategies are of these women, and whether survival strategies influence household structure. Fifteen households were surveyed. Questions asked included marital status, household size, ways of earning a living, alternative survival strategies to wage employment and government social grants, contributions to the household, government role to such families, any knowledge about self help groups and decision making skills, power relations, perception of future developments in their communities, fulfillment of essential needs and service rendering, etc. The study revealed that since traditional family units were disrupted by migration, and wives were left at home to take care for the children, the traditional “extended” African household, dependent on various survival strategies. The main categories are: Five women survived through receiving social grants from the Department of Social Development. Four were domestic workers, three were supported by their lovers whom are from extra marital affair, two from doing piece jobs in the community and 01 from community projects. The majority have no wage employment and make a living on the land where they dwell, but because of migration, rural food production has declined. However, the community survives also by supporting each other, for example, kin and community networks and neighborliness account for much of the survival strategies. Many men migrate to the cities, and as a result wives have different feelings towards male migrancy such as anger, regret, self blame, confusion and powerlessness. Dominantly in black societies grandmothers play a vital role in maintaining households and raising the children of migrants

This ethnographic study explored the social and cultural context of Maldivian women???s emotional, social and psychological well-being and the subjective meanings they assign to their distress. The central question for the study was: How is suffering and distress in Maldivian women explained, experienced, expressed and dealt with? In this study participant observation was enhanced by lengthy encounters with women and with both biomedical and traditional healers. The findings showed that the suffering and distress of women is embedded in the social and economic circumstances in which they live, the nature of gender relations and how culture shapes these relations, the cultural notions related to being a good woman; and how culture defines and structures women???s place within the family and society. Explanations for distress included mystical, magical and animistic causes as well as social, psychological and biological causes. Women???s experiences of distress were mainly expressed through body metaphors and somatization. The pathway to dealing with their distress was explained by women???s tendency to normalize their distress and what they perceived to be the causes of their distress. This study provides an empirical understanding of Maldivian women???s mental well-being. Based on the findings of this study, a multi dimensional model entitled the Mandala for Suffering and Distress is proposed. The data contributes a proposed foundation upon which mental health policy and mental health interventions, and curricula for training of health care providers in the Maldives may be built. The data also adds to the existing global body of evidence on social determinants of mental health and enhances current knowledge and developments in the area of cultural competency for health care. The model and the lessons learnt from this study have major implications for informing clinicians on culturally congruent ways of diagnosing and managing mental health problems and developing patient-centred mental health services.

This ethnographic study explored the social and cultural context of Maldivian women???s emotional, social and psychological well-being and the subjective meanings they assign to their distress. The central question for the study was: How is suffering and distress in Maldivian women explained, experienced, expressed and dealt with? In this study participant observation was enhanced by lengthy encounters with women and with both biomedical and traditional healers. The findings showed that the suffering and distress of women is embedded in the social and economic circumstances in which they live, the nature of gender relations and how culture shapes these relations, the cultural notions related to being a good woman; and how culture defines and structures women???s place within the family and society. Explanations for distress included mystical, magical and animistic causes as well as social, psychological and biological causes. Women???s experiences of distress were mainly expressed through body metaphors and somatization. The pathway to dealing with their distress was explained by women???s tendency to normalize their distress and what they perceived to be the causes of their distress. This study provides an empirical understanding of Maldivian women???s mental well-being. Based on the findings of this study, a multi dimensional model entitled the Mandala for Suffering and Distress is proposed. The data contributes a proposed foundation upon which mental health policy and mental health interventions, and curricula for training of health care providers in the Maldives may be built. The data also adds to the existing global body of evidence on social determinants of mental health and enhances current knowledge and developments in the area of cultural competency for health care. The model and the lessons learnt from this study have major implications for informing clinicians on culturally congruent ways of diagnosing and managing mental health problems and developing patient-centred mental health services.

No description available.

Master of Science

Thesis (MA (VA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis investigate the family narrative. While engaging specifically with my female family narrative, it essentially questions how and why we create and perpetuate this narrative of absence and presence. The acts of memory, autobiography, testimony and the subsequent creation of the archive are probed. Such probes attempt to enter the sphere of the unsayable and unsaid, partially lifting the female existence, identity and body from the silence surrounding the private and intimate realm she dwells in. The creation and recreation of meaning through the use and manipulation of time and language is examined through-out whilst continually reading absence as presence. This is done in order to locate and access the silent and forgotten. The thesis problematises the notion of the ‘I’ and the ‘initial’ through looking at the repercussions of the employing linearity. Ultimately, this writing process reveals the contradictions and dualities we both create and aim to obliterate within the individual and collective composition of the family narrative. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die familienarratief. Terwyl dit spesifiek die vroulike familienarratief bespreek bevraagteken dit hoe en hoekom ons die narratief van afwesigheid en teenwoordigheid skep en voortsit. Die dade van onthou, outobiografie, getuienis, en die daaropvolgende ontstaan van die argief, word gepeil. Hierdie ondersoeke poog om die sfeer van die ‘ongesêde’ en die ‘onsêbare’ binne te dring, en so die vroulike bestaan, identiteit en liggaam te bevry uit die stilte van die ‘private’ en die intieme terrein waarbinne sy woon. Die skep en herskep van betekenis deur die gebruik en manipulasie van taal en tyd word deurlopend ondersoek, terwyl afwesigheid as aanwesigheid gelees word. Dit word gedoen in orde om die stilte en vergete te vind en toegang daartoe te bewerkstellig. Die tesis problematiseer die begrip van die ‘ek’ en die ‘initiële’ deur na die reperkussies van die toepassing en gebruik van lineariteit te kyk. Uiteindelik onthul die skryfproses die kontradiksies en dualiteite wat ons beide skep asook poog om uit te wis binne die individuele en kollektiewe komposisie van die familie narratief.

Women prepare for childbirth in a variety ways. These preparations include visits to healthcare providers, seeking information from family, friends, and the media, and attendance at childbirth classes. Documentation of birth preparation comes primarily from studies of middle class white women. Few researchers have identified or included middle class black women in their samples. Instead, research with black women often highlights pregnancy problems in low income populations. Also unexamined, except tangentially, is how the social context impacts childbirth for black women. Therefore, nursing practice knowledge lacks an understanding of the processes black women use to prepare for birthing within their social context. The aim of this qualitative study was to identify a theory that described the processes used by urban black women to prepare for childbirth. Also explored was the social context within which these processes occurred. Women in the last four months of pregnancy were recruited through churches, hair salons, newspapers, radio and internet web sites. Data were collected from five focus groups and two individual interviews (n=22). More than half the women reported income adequate for daily needs, were partnered or married, were employed, had at least a high school education and were younger than 23 years. Data analysis followed the grounded theory methods advocated by Strauss and Corbin (1998). The theory describing the processes used by the participants was weighing the impact on me. These women actively engaged in determining the best course of action for themselves. They weighed and considered advice from others, what relationships were crucial, what information was most important to them, and many other issues. Woven throughout were the importance of relationships and the social context in which the women lived. The processes used for birth preparation were divided into four, discovering pregnancy, managing pregnancy, preparing for delivery, and experiencing personal change. These processes were not sequential but represented the dynamic and constant need to assess and decide the best choices in preparing for childbirth. Building on this theory, future research should identify ways in which black women can more readily access the quality healthcare and services they so desire. / text

No description available.

This project supports the contrary argument that Hemingway provided a voice for the post-Victorian woman, a woman exercising her strength within relationships, her sexuality, her femininity, and her freedom from oppression during the twentieth century women's movement.