A dissertation submitted to the faculty of arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts (clinical psychology) / The present research study, located in the field of social psychology and attribution theory investigated variations in causal attributions of abused women in relation to reported severity, duration and frequency of the abuse. The study aimed to expand current attributional research to incorporate global/specific attributional dimensions of blame. Although theories of learned helplessness have been linked to global attributions of blame, this relationship has been under-researched in the area of women abuse. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / AC2017

M.Cur. / With this research it was endeavoured to gain more knowledge about the experiences of women during the treatment of infertility. The midwife and other medical staff involved with the treatment of infertility can use this knowledge to have better insight into the total problem of these women and also care for and support them better. A study of the literature was done to determine what the experts have already ascertained of this phenomenon. An in-depth study of the phenomenon was undertaken in which the autobiographical method was mostly used. During April 1989 unstructured interviews were conducted with six selected infertile women living in the witwatersrand area. From the findings of this research it appears that infertile women have unique experiences of their infertility and the treatment of it. Universal experiences, ego pain and disappointment were identified, although the causes of these experiences sometimes differed. Recommendations were made on how the midwife can contribute by filling the gap (established during the research) in the care in this field. Suggestions were also made with regard to further research on this phenomenon.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary goal of this cross-cultural study was to determine how low-income female farm workers in the Western Cape of South Africa, describe their own coping mechanisms. Eight participants were asked to respond to an open-ended question on how they cope with life's difficulties. The current study formed part of a larger project entitled: "Forgotten women on farms". The psychological distress and resilience of female farm workers of colour in the Western Cape: exploring the possibilities for mental health support (Kruger, 1998). The coping interviews were analyzed by means of grounded theory. Analysis revealed that 28 coping mechanisms were identified by the participants themselves. A distinction was made between problem-focused coping mechanisms and emotion-focused coping mechanisms. Out of the 28 identified mechanisms, 8 were categorized as problem-focused coping mechanisms, while 20 were categorized as emotion-focused coping mechanisms, suggesting that the participants predominantly employ emotion-focused coping mechanisms. It was also found that the emotion-focused coping mechanisms employed by the participants often involved an avoidance of emotion. The findings were discussed by: (i) Critically discussing the way in which emotion-focused coping is traditionally defined within the coping literature. (ii) Comparing this to the conceptualization of the role of emotion by authors of trauma literature. Possible reasons for the prevalent use of emotion-focused coping mechanisms in this particular population were provided. The implications of these findings for assessment of coping strategies and for mental health care in this population were discussed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ole hoofdoeisteiling van hierdie kruis-kulturele studie was om vas te stel hoe laeinkomste vroueplaaswerkers in die Wes-Kaap van Suid-Afrika hulle eie streshanteringsmeganismes beskryf. Agt deelnemers is gevra om op "n oop vraag oor hoe hulle lewensmoeilikhede hanteer, te reageer. Hierdie studie vorm deel van "n groter projek getiteld "Forgotten women on farms". The psychological distress and resilience of female farm workers of colour in the Western Cape: exploring the possibilities for mental health support (Kruger, 1998). Hierdie onderhoude oor streshantering is ontleed m.b.v. "grounded theory". Analise het getoon dat 28 hanteringsmeganismes deur die deelnemers self ge"ldentifiseer is. Onderskeid is gemaak tussen probleem-gerigte hanteringsmeganismes en emosioneel-gerigte hanteringsmeganismes. Uit die 28 gerdentifiseerde meganismes, is 8 gekategoriseer as probleem-gerigte hanteringsmeganismes, terwyl 20 gekategoriseer is as emosioneel-gerigte hanteringsmeganismes, duidend daarop dat deelnemers grootliks van emosioneel-gerigte hanteringsmeganismes gebruik maak. Daar is ook gevind dat die emosioneel-gerigte hanteringmeganismes dikwels "n vermyding van emosie behels het. Hierdie bevindinge is bespreek deur: (i) Die manier waarop emosioneel-gerigte hanteringsmeganismes tradisioneel in die literatuur gedefinieer word krities te bespreek. (ii) "n Vergelyking te tref met die wyse waarop die rol van emosie deur die outeurs van trauma literatuur gekonseptualiseer word. Moontlike redes vir die groter gebruik van emosioneel-gerigte hanteringsmeganismes in hierdie spesifieke populasie is voorsien. Die implikasies van hierdie bevindinge vir die meting van hanteringsmeganismes en vir geestesgesondheidsdienste binne hierdie populasie is bespreek.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This review examines the medical model's conceptualisation of postnatal depression (pND) from a feminist perspective. The arguments are fourfold: Firstly, it argues that the fundamental problem underlying the concept of PND is its conception as existing on a continuum with psychosis at the most severe end and maternity blues at the least severe end. The link with psychosis implies that it is potentially pathological requiring medical and psychiatric intervention. On the other hand its link with maternity blues gives scientific credence to continued research on emotional sequelae of reproduction that are below the psychiatric threshold of urgency. Secondly, the medical model's construction of PND implies that women are predisposed to mental illness because of their ability to bear children and thus pathologises normal experiences of childbirth. Thirdly, the medical model's preoccupation with classification and categorisation has become little more than an exercise in labeling that has removed women from their own experiences. Focusing on birth as an activity that is separate from the rest of pregnancy objectify women and ignores the socio-political context within which they give birth and care for their infants. Fourthly, it is argued that a different way of researching postpartum mood disorders is necessary to overcome a reductionistic and pathological model of childbirth. This is important if healthcare delivery hopes to provide adequate treatment for all women in the postnatal period. Especially in South Africa, where the dominant culture has for many years defined the experiences of the 'other', it is important to generate research that should include the 'voices' of the 'other' to prevent hegemonic practice from assuming an expert understanding of PND. This review does not deny the contributions from the medical establishment, but argues that a critique of its underlying assumptions is important to prevent women from being further marginalised by ignoring the socio-political context in which their lives are embedded. The implications for research within South Africa are also addressed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie oorsig ondersoek die mediese model se konseptualisering van postnatale depressie vanuit 'n feministiese perspektief. Die argument is vierledig: Eerstens blyk die konseptualisering van postnatale depressie, naamlik dat dit op 'n kontinuum bestaan, met psigose aan die mees disfunksionele kant en 'maternity blues' aan die minder ernstige kant, 'n fundamentele, onderliggende probleem te wees. Die verband met psigose impliseer dat postnatale depressie potensieel patologies is en mediese en psigiatriese insette benodig. Die verband met 'maternity blues' aan die ander kant, bied wetenskaplike begronding vir volgehoue navorsing op die gebied van emosionele aspekte van kindergeboorte wat nie van psigiatriese belang is nie. Tweedens impliseer die mediese model se konstruksie van postnatale depressie dat vroue 'n predisposisie tot geestessiektes het bloot deur die feit dat hulle die vermoë het om kinders voort te bring. Sodoende word patologiese kenmerke gekoppel aan normale ervarings van kindergeboorte. Derdens het die mediese model se beheptheid met klassifikasie en kategorisering verval in etikettering wat vroue van hul eie ervarings vervreem. Deur te fokus op geboorte as 'n aktiwiteit wat verwyder is van die res van swangerskap maak van vroue objekte wat verwyderd is van die sosio-politieke konteks waarbinne hulle geboorte skenk en sorg vir hul babas. Vierdens word dit beredeneer dat 'n nuwe benadering tot navorsing oor postpartum gemoedsteurings daar gestel behoort te word om 'n reduksionistiese en patologiese model van kindergeboorte te voorkom. Dit is belangrik as gesondheidsorgdienste hoop om toereikende behandeling te bied vir alle vroue in die postnatale periode. Veral in Suid-Afrika, waar 'n dominante kultuurgroep vir so lank die ervarings van ander omskryf het, is dit belangrik om navorsing voort te bring wat die 'stemme' van die 'ander' insluit om sodoende te verhoed dat die heersende praktykvoeringe van die dag 'n eensydige deskundige-verstaan van postnatale depressie voorveronderstel. Hierdie oorsig ontken nie die bydraes van die mediese model nie, maar beredeneer die feit dat 'n kritiese beskouing van die onderliggende aannames belangrik is om sodoende te verhoed dat vroue verder gemarginaliseer word deurdat die sosio-politieke konteks waarin hul lewens gegrond is, buite rekening gelaat word. Die implikasies vir navorsing binne 'n Suid-Afrikaanse konteks word dus ook ondersoek.

Despite South Africa’s constitution being demonstrably one of the most progressive in the world, there remains a divide between legislation and women’s lived experiences of violence and inequality. In this context, marginalised women, in particular, are often wrongly perceived of as lacking in power and agency. In an attempt to understand how marginalised women articulate their agency under conditions of direct and structural violence, the aim of my study is to examine how women perform everyday resistance to violence at and between different sites, including the home, community and state-controlled institutions, and to examine the process of undertaking this research, using a critical reflexive approach. My research is structured around four studies. In Study I, I examine how a group of marginalised women perform everyday resistance in relation to state-controlled institutions. In Study II, I consider how a group of marginalised women do everyday resistance in relation to constructions of home. Study III offers an analysis of how the Thembelihle Women’s Forum functions as an invented space of resistance, and everyday resistance is a relational practice. Finally, in Study IV, I do a critical reflexive reading of psychosocial accompaniment as method, elucidating the complexities, tensions and trade-offs inherent to the method. When considered against my study’s broader theoretical framework (i.e., liberation psychology, feminist geopolitics and affective economies), the findings of these four studies present a complex examination of the enactment of everyday resistance. Each of the studies demonstrates a number of strategies for everyday resistance, including becoming a willful subject, refusal and withdrawal, quiet encroachment, collective storytelling, affective reimagining, collective conscientisation, de-ideologizing reality, social solidarity, coping mechanisms, tactics of survival and acts of reclamation. Methodologically, I demonstrate the messiness inherent to how power dynamics are reproduced and resisted during the research process. My research seeks to deepen our understandings of the flow of power within the research process, and the dynamic and shifting imperatives of our research practice. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

This thesis includes four studies investigating the experiences of abused women. According to ecological approaches different systems should be considered when conducting research into abused women and their experiences. The first study involved women who successfully left an abusive relationship. An ecological approach was used to investigate the experiences of the women in the different phases of their relationship, including the initial attraction to the partner, the development and sustaining of the abuse and her attempts to leave until her final decision to leave permanently. An important finding was the importance of considering and investigating all systems and levels when dealing with abused women, including those who have left and those who are contemplating leaving this relationship. The second study found that women who experienced physical abuse were often hurt in anatomical locations that were indicative of impulsive violence. The abuser used any object in the heat of the moment to attack the victim and no premeditated planning was evident in the type of injuries sustained. The women further reported that medical practitioners did not investigate the causes of injuries and that they were not referred to social services or organisations dealing with abused women, although they were recognised as suffering from abuse. The intersection of abuse of women and HIV was the topic of focus of the third study. A review of the records of abused women revealed that many abused women were subjected to risk factors for contracting HIV, with counsellors focussing only on abuse issues. Longitudinal case studies, of women exposed to both conditions, revealed that they lacked social support and were often secondarily victimised by the social welfare systems. An environmental scan found that social and health care services were not accessible to these women. The final study investigated intervention strategies to combat burnout in workers at an organisation dealing with abused women. The importance and effectiveness of creative exercises and art sessions were determined in combination with debriefing and supervision sessions. The studies all considered systems that are important in service delivery to abused women. A holistic and systemic investigation and treatment of abused women is shown to be essential, as is the importance of grass roots research. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

Emotional abuse is a problem experienced worldwide, crossing all economic, educational, social and ethnic segments of all societies. Overtime, many empirical researchers concentrated on studying the occurrence and impact of physical abuse on women but neglected to study the effects of emotional abuse on the woman's physical and mental health. But with time, researchers began to realise that emotional abuse also had a great impact on the lives of women. Therefore, a detailed exploration of emotional abuse between intimate adult partners has only recently emerged in the literature. Though it is difficult to separate emotional abuse from other forms of abuse, many women in our research who were provided with a definition of emotional abuse identified and confirmed that they have been emotionally abused in their past or are being abused in their current intimate relationships. This research project focused mainly on women who suffered and have survived the wounds of emotional abuse in intimate relationships. Group work is aimed at the growth and development of the individual. This study reports on an in-depth analysis of the arrangements and formulation of the structure of support groups, and the effectiveness of the functioning of these groups. Participants who joined the support groups in this research, were women who have undergone therapeutic intervention and are/or were engaged in a healing process that involved reintegration, implementation and maintenance of therapeutic goals. Support groups do provide a place where people can share their experiences in a safe environment, and where they can symbolise their experiences and consequently make them more acceptable to the self. It has been concluded in this research that support groups were effective in giving members the opportunity of helping each other to heal from the wounds of emotional abuse by being supportive, giving feedback, making helpful suggestions and providing useful information necessary for their growth and development. Therefore, participants who joined the support groups agreed that they have benefited by receiving the encouragement and support from one another, which contributed towards their process of healing emotionally, and in turn, caused them to change from being helpless victims to survivors of emotional abuse. / Sociology / D. Phil (Sociology)

This thesis includes four studies investigating the experiences of abused women. According to ecological approaches different systems should be considered when conducting research into abused women and their experiences. The first study involved women who successfully left an abusive relationship. An ecological approach was used to investigate the experiences of the women in the different phases of their relationship, including the initial attraction to the partner, the development and sustaining of the abuse and her attempts to leave until her final decision to leave permanently. An important finding was the importance of considering and investigating all systems and levels when dealing with abused women, including those who have left and those who are contemplating leaving this relationship. The second study found that women who experienced physical abuse were often hurt in anatomical locations that were indicative of impulsive violence. The abuser used any object in the heat of the moment to attack the victim and no premeditated planning was evident in the type of injuries sustained. The women further reported that medical practitioners did not investigate the causes of injuries and that they were not referred to social services or organisations dealing with abused women, although they were recognised as suffering from abuse. The intersection of abuse of women and HIV was the topic of focus of the third study. A review of the records of abused women revealed that many abused women were subjected to risk factors for contracting HIV, with counsellors focussing only on abuse issues. Longitudinal case studies, of women exposed to both conditions, revealed that they lacked social support and were often secondarily victimised by the social welfare systems. An environmental scan found that social and health care services were not accessible to these women. The final study investigated intervention strategies to combat burnout in workers at an organisation dealing with abused women. The importance and effectiveness of creative exercises and art sessions were determined in combination with debriefing and supervision sessions. The studies all considered systems that are important in service delivery to abused women. A holistic and systemic investigation and treatment of abused women is shown to be essential, as is the importance of grass roots research. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

Emotional abuse is a problem experienced worldwide, crossing all economic, educational, social and ethnic segments of all societies. Overtime, many empirical researchers concentrated on studying the occurrence and impact of physical abuse on women but neglected to study the effects of emotional abuse on the woman's physical and mental health. But with time, researchers began to realise that emotional abuse also had a great impact on the lives of women. Therefore, a detailed exploration of emotional abuse between intimate adult partners has only recently emerged in the literature. Though it is difficult to separate emotional abuse from other forms of abuse, many women in our research who were provided with a definition of emotional abuse identified and confirmed that they have been emotionally abused in their past or are being abused in their current intimate relationships. This research project focused mainly on women who suffered and have survived the wounds of emotional abuse in intimate relationships. Group work is aimed at the growth and development of the individual. This study reports on an in-depth analysis of the arrangements and formulation of the structure of support groups, and the effectiveness of the functioning of these groups. Participants who joined the support groups in this research, were women who have undergone therapeutic intervention and are/or were engaged in a healing process that involved reintegration, implementation and maintenance of therapeutic goals. Support groups do provide a place where people can share their experiences in a safe environment, and where they can symbolise their experiences and consequently make them more acceptable to the self. It has been concluded in this research that support groups were effective in giving members the opportunity of helping each other to heal from the wounds of emotional abuse by being supportive, giving feedback, making helpful suggestions and providing useful information necessary for their growth and development. Therefore, participants who joined the support groups agreed that they have benefited by receiving the encouragement and support from one another, which contributed towards their process of healing emotionally, and in turn, caused them to change from being helpless victims to survivors of emotional abuse. / Sociology / D. Phil (Sociology)