published_or_final_version / Sports Science / Master / Master of Science in Sports Science

Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for HIV is a vital tool in HIV prevention and care, available information indicates low uptake among Nigerian adolescents despite effort at combating the scourge of HIV/AIDS. A cross sectional quantitative descriptive study was conducted to describe the knowledge, understand the attitudes and practices of VCT among adolescents of senior high school in Nigeria with the aim of informing VCT services and policies. A systematic random sampling of 100 adolescents was done and data collected by means of structured self-administered questionnaires. The study revealed inadequate knowledge on VCT among the study participants which is probably responsible for their poor VCT uptake. Free VCT services and availability of VCT services within the school are factors that could motivate VCT uptake among the students. There is need to enhance dissemination of VCT information among youth and create youth-friendly VCT services to increase VCT uptake among adolescents / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

D.Ed. / The overall objective of this research is the description of an educational psychological therapeutic approach for the use of educational psychologists in private practice in the treatment of adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems.Two research questions arose out of the need for the development of an integrated educational psychological therapeutic approach, namely: In what way can the educational psychological perspective, existentialphenomenological psychology, transpersonal psychology and Medical Hypnoanalitical approach be integrated in order to develop a holistic view of humanity through which conscious and subconscious meanings in a person's experience world (psychodynamic, perinatal and transpersonal experiences) could be described to reflect the personal, unique, unrepeatable and original qualities of the individual? Based on the description of a holistic view of human nature which serves as the foundation for the development of a therapeutic approach through which the client with emotional and behavioral problems could be understood within the referential framework of his own experiences, the researcher poses the question: What constitutes the therapeutic approach through which the therapist could gain insight into the conscious and subconscious meanings in the experience world (psychodynamic, perinatal and transpersonal experiences) of a person in order to address the true causes underlying the pro lematic symptoms?

Wilderness therapy, the practice of sending troubled young people into nature in order to re-socialize them, poses a paradox. Time spent in wilderness is imagined to produce civilizing effects on young people, rendering them better prepared to live responsible and productive lives in society. Study of wilderness therapy, therefore, provides insight into constructions of youth and nature in contemporary American society. This thesis emerges from ethnographic research conducted at Camp E-Wen-Akee, a therapeutic camping program for troubled youth, in Benson, Vermont, USA. In addition to living with the three groups of campers in their rustic camp sites and engaging in camp activities, I facilitated two camper-run research projects, and interviewed camp staff members, and the state social workers responsible for sending adjudicated youth to residential programs. I find that camp life is an achievement of many heterogeneous actors, some of whom are human and others nonhuman. The resulting work is an ethnography of a nature-culture, wherein I describe how the camp mobilizes various resources to create the conditions for therapeutic change. The differing nature narratives of campers and the adults indicated that expectations for nature are at least in part, outcomes of class processes. Close attention to camp life shows that therapy is a social strategy brought into being at a number of scales: the material body, built and temporal architectures, landscape, and 'public' wilderness outside of camp's borders. I find at each scale a tension between the ordering tactics deployed by camp staff members and resistance posed by campers and 'nature' alike. Campers' identities are meant to change as a result o f repeated performances of prosocial behavior, and the on-going circulation of success stories. Together these practices underscore that what one person does always has effects on others. The irony uncovered i n this research is that while troubled youth are sent to a nature imagined as separate from society, Camp E-Wen-Akee provides young people with an ecological model for social life. Wilderness therapy is the outcome not of a separation between nature and society, but of ongoing relations between the two. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of equine assisted group counseling as compared to in-school curriculum group guidance/counseling. Research examined externalizing, internalizing, maladaptive, and adaptive behaviors of elementary and middle school students who were considered at-risk of academic or social failure. Two types of behavior instruments, the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC)-Self-Rating, Parent-Rating, and Teacher-Rating Scales; and the Animal Assisted Therapy-Psychosocial Session Form (AAT-PSF), were used in a pretest-posttest comparison group quasi experimental design. Results of the paired sample t-test analysis of the BASC Self-Report indicated that the equine assisted counseling group showed statistically significant improvement in five behavior areas, and the in-school curriculum group guidance/counseling group showed statistically significant improvement in four areas, with only one behavior area the same as the equine assisted counseling group. Results of the paired sample t-test analysis of the BASC Parent-Report indicated that the equine assisted counseling group showed statistically significant improvement in twelve behavior areas, whereas the in-school curriculum group guidance/counseling showed statistically significant improvement in only one behavior area. Results of the paired sample t-test analysis of the BASC Teacher-Report indicated that the equine assisted counseling group showed no statistically significant improvement; however the in-school curriculum group guidance/counseling group showed statistically significant improvement in one area. An ANCOVA comparison of equine assisted counseling group verses in-school curriculum guidance/counseling group using the BASC Self, Parent, and Teacher-Reports indicated that the equine assisted counseling group showed statistically significant improvement in seven behavior areas that the in-school curriculum guidance/counseling group did not. Results of the repeated measures ANOVA of the AAT-PSF (equine assisted counseling group only) showed statistically significant improvement in all 3-scale scores: 1) overall total behaviors; 2) increased positive behaviors; and 3) decreased negative behaviors.

The main aim of this study was to attempt to determine which factors that contribute to resilience are absent in adolescents who are considered to be ”at risk”. The research was undertaken with white adolescent learners between Grades 8 and 12, in a former Model-C secondary school. Several definitions of resilience, a historical view of resilience, the characteristics of a resilient adolescent, several definitions of adolescence, the stages and tasks of adolescence and who the adolescent is in psycho-educational terms, were explored. In this qualitative study, the Vulnerability Questionnaire and the Resilience Questionnaire were given to twelve educators who were requested to select the participants for the study. A qualitative assessment, using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure, was used to determine why certain adolescents are more resilient than others. Each participant also completed a collage which was analysed. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

The global AIDS pandemic with more than 30 million people being infected, with the greatest impact in sub-Saharan Africa, remains an enormous challenge to all societies including the churches. Especially young Africans, aged 15 to 24, face a high risk of getting infected with HIV. However, multifaceted and contextual preventive measures for this age group have good chances of curbing the epidemic. This dissertation in Practical Theology attempts to explore the potential contribution of Christian curriculum-based AIDS prevention in the Ghanaian context. It does this by relating practical-theological insights to the lifeworld of young people in Ghana. Thus the specific opportunities and limitations of Christian prevention programmes are identified. Their relevance for religious education in Ghana is finally examined in three exemplary curricula with Christian and secular approaches. The findings result in practical recommendations for the design of Christian AIDS prevention programmes within the Ghanaian context. / Practical theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Close, personal relationships with adults are seen to contribute positively to the development of young people. Whilst mentoring has been established in other parts of the world, it is a relatively new concept in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to establish guidelines for the development of youth mentoring programmes. The literature study deals with the human development of youth during adolescence. Those factors, both within the family as well as in the environment, that affect the development of young people, are discussed. The phases of the mentoring process is also described. The Hearts of Men mentoring programme is used as an example of a youth mentoring programme that is based in the community. An exploratory and descriptive study was undertaken in order to describe the development of youth during adolescence. An empirical study was undertaken based on the literature review. A sample comprised of 18 young people participating in the Hearts of Men mentoring programme in the Strand was involved in the study. With the help of the empirical study the perception of the young people with regard to the mentor and mentee roles was examined. The findings of the study reveal that the young people in the Hearts of Men programme have a positive experience of the mentoring process and have an understanding of the mentor and mentee roles. In order to establish youth mentoring programmes, organisations must possess the knowledge of and skills in the mentoring process and must have an understanding of the human development of young people as well as of theories relating to their development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Persoonlike verhoudings met volwasse persone word beskou as 'n positiewe bydraende faktor tot die ontwikkeling van jongmense. Terwyl mentorprogramme redelik gevestig is in ander dele van die wêreld, is dit 'n relatiewe nuwe konsep in Suid Afrika. Die doel van hierdie studie is om riglyne daar te stel vir die ontwikkeling van jeug mentorprogramme. Die literatuurstudie het gehandel oor die menslike ontwikkeling van jongmense gedurende adolessensie. Faktore binne die gesin, sowel as die omgewing, wat 'n invloed het op die ontwikkeling van die adolessent is bespreek. Die fases van die mentorproses is ook beskryf. Die Hearts of Men program is gebruik as 'n voorbeeld van 'n gemeenskapsgebaseerde jeug mentorprogram. 'n Verkennende-beskrywende studie is onderneem om die ontwikkeling van die adolessent gedurende adolessensie te beskryf. 'n Empiriese studie gegrond op die literatuurstudie is gedoen. 'n Steekproef, bestaande uit agtien jong deelnemers aan die Hearts of Men mentorprogram in die Strand, is by die ondersoek betrek. Met behulp van die empiriese ondersoek is die persepsies van die jong persone rakende die rol van die mentor en mentee in die mentorprogram ondersoek. Die bevindinge van die ondersoek toon dat die deelnemers aan die Hearts of Men mentorprogram 'n positiewe ervaring van die mentorproses ondervind, en dat hulle begrip toon ten opsigte van die rol van die mentor en mentee in die mentorprogram. Ten einde jeug mentorprogramme te implementeer, moet organisasies oor die kennis en vaardighede beskik rakende die mentorproses. Organisasies moet ook begrip toon rakende menslike ontwikkeling van jongmense, en kennis hê oor teorieë wat op hulle ontwikkeling betrekking het.

The main aim of this study was to attempt to determine which factors that contribute to resilience are absent in adolescents who are considered to be ”at risk”. The research was undertaken with white adolescent learners between Grades 8 and 12, in a former Model-C secondary school. Several definitions of resilience, a historical view of resilience, the characteristics of a resilient adolescent, several definitions of adolescence, the stages and tasks of adolescence and who the adolescent is in psycho-educational terms, were explored. In this qualitative study, the Vulnerability Questionnaire and the Resilience Questionnaire were given to twelve educators who were requested to select the participants for the study. A qualitative assessment, using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure, was used to determine why certain adolescents are more resilient than others. Each participant also completed a collage which was analysed. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

The global AIDS pandemic with more than 30 million people being infected, with the greatest impact in sub-Saharan Africa, remains an enormous challenge to all societies including the churches. Especially young Africans, aged 15 to 24, face a high risk of getting infected with HIV. However, multifaceted and contextual preventive measures for this age group have good chances of curbing the epidemic. This dissertation in Practical Theology attempts to explore the potential contribution of Christian curriculum-based AIDS prevention in the Ghanaian context. It does this by relating practical-theological insights to the lifeworld of young people in Ghana. Thus the specific opportunities and limitations of Christian prevention programmes are identified. Their relevance for religious education in Ghana is finally examined in three exemplary curricula with Christian and secular approaches. The findings result in practical recommendations for the design of Christian AIDS prevention programmes within the Ghanaian context. / Practical theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)