This research study investigated the effectiveness of child-centered group play therapy with children experiencing adjustment difficulties. Specifically, this study determined the effectiveness of child-centered group play therapy in: (a) improving self-concept, (b) reducing externalizing, internalizing, and overall behavior problems, (c) enhancing emotional and behavioral adjustment to the school environment, and (d) increasing self-control of kindergarten children experiencing adjustment difficulties. Also investigated were child-centered group play therapy effects on reducing parenting stress of the parents of kindergarten children experiencing adjustment difficulties. The experimental group consisted of 15 kindergarten children who received one 40-minute child-centered group play therapy session per week, for twelve weeks. Group facilitators were play therapists who were doctoral students at the University of North Texas. The control group consisted of the 14 kindergarten students that had been assigned to the control group in Baggerly's (1999) study. Before the group play therapy sessions began and after termination of the sessions: the researchers administered the Joseph Pre-School and Primary Self-Concept Screening Test; parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist-Parent Report, Self-Control Rating Scale, Filial Problem Checklist, and Parenting Stress Index; and teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist-Teacher Report, Early Childhood Behavior Scale, and Self-Control Rating Scale. Although the general results of this study did not show statistically significant change due to child-centered group play therapy sessions, positive trends in the children's behavior, self-control, and self-concept were observed by the researcher, play therapists, and teachers. These trends and observations support the continued application of child-centered group play therapy with children experiencing adjustment difficulties. Several factors may have contributed to the lack of statistical significance demonstrated within this study. These factors include a) a small sample size; b) the sample was drawn from only one school; c) a minimum of interactions between therapists and teachers, and therapists and parents; d) two unforeseen and unfortunate events; and e) pre-existing strength and resilience of the children comprising the control group.

M.A. / The aim of this study was to ascertain the coping methods of women in long term follow-up of breast cancer treatment. Furthermore, personality traits that deal with the spectrum of positive affectivity were introduced to determine whether these impact on women's appraisal of their situation and their subsequent choice of coping mechanism. Thus, a process approach to exploring coping strategies and a goal-attainment conceptualization of hope were used to determine whether hope is associated with coping appraisal in the long term follow-up of breast cancer treatment. Furthermore, high hope women were expected to use more problem focused coping methods and low hope women were expected to use more emotion focused coping skills. Women in cancer remission who attend yearly or six-monthly check-ups at the Johannesburg hospital were approached to complete the questionnaire and brief interview. Although the study did not confirm that low hope and high hope women use different kinds of coping strategies, the predicted relationship between hope and challenge appraisals was supported by significant correlations. However, it was found that hope may be analogous to positive affect, thus indicating the need for further validation of the Hope Scale. Finally, it was concluded that breast cancer need not be seen as a devitalising disease and that there are a variety of coping strategies which can be utilized to enhance patient's positive emotional state. The women in this study use the emotion focused coping skill of positive reappraisal which concentrates on the possibilities for mastery and growth that inhere in their long term follow-up treatment. Moreover, women are extremely positive and hopeful in their daily outlook and while this personality trait seems to suggest that denial is at play, it is more likely that women in long term remission have a strong belief in their own personal qualities and future. Women in this study choose to distance themselves from the implicit trauma of the threat of recurrence in favour of an active belief in their personal resilience to overcome any stressful event or outcome.

M.Ed. / Internationally in countries such as the United States of America and Australia, there has been a shift in focus over recent years from essentially content based education curricula towards education curricula which offer the opportunity for all individuals to realize their potential, and that are capable of producing productive, contributing members of society. According to the United States Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's most recent regional needs assessment (www.nwrel.org/planning/rna2000.html), "helping students become self-directed learners who take responsibility for their own academic performance" was ranked near the top of identified priorities. The focus on developing responsible and selfdirected learners extends beyond application to learning as cultivating responsible and self-directed behaviours is clearly intended to equip learners with responsible and self-directed behaviours and skills that in time will translate to their emergence as responsible and self-directed adult members of society. This is significant when considering the South African educational context, which also forwards educational goals that reflect the values of the society and that encapsulate the type of member of society that the educational system envisages producing. Given the legislative framework of South Africa, the resulting educational policies, as well as the importance of preparing learners to participate and contribute to a democratic society, it becomes clear that the development of responsible and self-directed learners is relevant to the South African context. Self-directed learning encourages individuals to take control of the learning experience. This means that learners are given choices and encouraged to make decisions as well as accept responsibility for associated consequences. Various characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of self-directed and responsible learners have been forwarded by various researchers in the field. Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, and Rasumssen (1995) suggest that responsible learners exhibit behaviours such as setting goals and choosing tasks, and have the ability to plan effectively and think ahead. Responsible and self-directed learners have been identified by Long (in Hiemstra,1994 ) as having typical, common internal personality traits or characteristics as well as characteristic external behaviours, attitudes and responses. In addition to certain personality traits, specific kinds of cognitive skills are identified by Long (in Hiemstra, 1994) as being particularly important in successful self-directed learning. Self-directedness in learning is then a term recognizing both external factors that facilitate a learner taking primary responsibility, and internal factors that predispose an individual to accepting responsibility for learning-related thoughts and actions, which are characterised by particular traits, and skills that are demonstrated by responsible and self-directed behaviours.

The aim of this study is to analyse and describe how resilient adolescent learners in a township school cope with school violence in order to develop and recommend a model to promote resilience in coping with school violence. As basis for this study violence is described and explained in the theoretical framework of the ecosystemic theory, as well as the social learning and cognitive behavioural theories. Based on these theories violence is discussed as a reaction and as an action that occurs through reciprocal interaction between the systems and the social environment. Through this interaction adolescent learners could be exposed to individual, family, community and school related risk factors and external barriers, which could have psychological impact, and could lead to a path of violence and self-destruction. Thus, the view of the study is that some learners have the ability and skills to cope with school violence, whilst others are not capable of coping with school violence. However, both groups could learn coping skills. This study wishes to further show that in order for adolescent learners in a township school to cope with school violence certain intrapersonal characteristics and social interpersonal skills of resilience, as well as external protective factors should be present. Therefore, background to research into the theories of resilience and coping based on Salutogenesis is provided. Salutogenesis stresses the importance of how well-being (resilience and coping) is created and maintained. The specific research design selected for this study is a case study and is qualitative, explorative and descriptive in nature. This research design is also emergent and is logically constructed according to qualitative research methods to ensure credibility and validity if the study. The research design further provides clear direction for the way in which the fieldwork is undertaken. A two-pronged approach was followed with the data collection. First, a pilot study was done for refinement of questions and data collection formats as well as for understanding the realities of the fieldwork and research process. Secondly, the data were collected from participants in three different phases, including gathering of background information of the school; obtaining views about school violence, resilience and coping; as well as collecting data from resilient adolescent learners about their violent experiences and how they coped with school violence. The process of analysis that was followed was to describe the protocol for all phases; to identify and describe the themes that emerged from the data of all phases; and to present a clear profile of each resilient adolescent learner. The results were presented within a narrative that should provide the reader with enough information to determine whether the findings of the study could possibly apply to other people or settings. The findings of the study revealed that many adolescent learners in the township school experienced direct incidences of violence either at school or in the community. The most common types of violence reported by the participants, are bullying, fighting, swearing, gangsterism, carrying of weapons, stabbing and gambling. Other contributory factors are racism and substance abuse. Reportedly, the nature of violence changed over the years because of efforts, mainly from the educators, to develop a workable discipline system. It was also found that there were learners at this school who coped with school violence because of intrapersonal characteristics of resilience, social interpersonal skills, and external factors. The intrapersonal characteristics of resilience are an appealing temperament; sense of coherence; internal locus of control; positive self-concept; being future directed, and belief in a Higher Being. The social interpersonal skills are communication skills, cognitive skills, and conflict resolution skills. The external factors are family support and social support. Based on these findings this thesis develops and recommends a systemic-based model to promote resilience in adolescent learners in coping with school violence in a township school. / Prof. R.E Swart

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [157]-169). / It was the purpose of this study to test hypotheses concerning the relationship of the variables of self-esteem and stability of the self-concept to the relative level of personality adjustment, as well as to see how interactions of these variables in combination were related to adjustment. The study stemmed from an investigation by Brownfain which attempted to validate the stability of the self-concept as a predictor of personality adjustment . The variable of self-esteem was mentioned but not controlled in his study. The present study used a self-rating inventory devised by Brownfain in order to measure these independent variables, but examined them in relation to different adjustment criteria.

No description available.

Hui Chi Wing Josephine. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-97). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iv / List of Tables --- p.vii / List of Figures --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Hope in the Literature --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Hope and Adjustment --- p.19 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- The Proposed Study - Methodology --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Result I - The Construct of Hope --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Result II - Hope and Adjustment in Community Sample --- p.59 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Result III - Hope and Adjustment in Clinical Sample --- p.74 / Chapter Chapter 7: --- Conclusion --- p.87 / References --- p.91 / Appendices --- p.98 / Appendix A: Interview Form for the Thalassemic Children --- p.98 / Appendix B: Invitation Letters and Consent Forms for the Community Sample --- p.103 / Appendix C: Children Questionnaire for the Community Sample --- p.104 / Appendix D: Parent Questionnaire for the Community Sample --- p.110 / Appendix E: Consent Forms for the Clinical Sample --- p.116 / Appendix F: Children Questionnaire for the Clinical Sample --- p.118 / Appendix G: Parent Questionnaire for the Clinical Sample --- p.127 / Appendix H: Coding Protocol --- p.138

Many theories have been proposed that attempt to explain response and adaptation to loss. However, no one theory has been shown to be universally applicable to all individuals suffering a loss. This paper presents an overview of many of these theories, paying special attention to the relationship between the theories of loss and adaptation to disability. The theories include the psychoanalytic model of loss, stage models of adaptation to loss, the value change theory of acceptance of loss, chronic sorrow, the cognitive adaptation theory, the stress and coping model, developmental theory, and the existential perspective on loss and grief. The possible influence that factors such as age, gender, culture and variables specific to disability may have on loss are also discussed. A new conceptualization of loss is introduced that tries to integrate many of the key ideas of these theories. This integrated approach takes into account the unique situation of each person, emphasizing the interaction between environmental and personal factors in adapting to loss. The model contends that due to the uniqueness of the individual, to the many possible combinations of environmental and psychological factors, and to the nature of the loss itself, any one or combination of loss theories could be in effect for any single loss. The intent of this thesis is to encourage the reader to become familiar with different perspectives on the subject of loss and grief to help select the method that best fits the individual situation of the person seeking counseling.

No description available.

This thesis integrated the cognitive-contextual model of Grych and Fincham (1990) and the emotional security framework of Davies and Cummings (1994; Cummings & Davies, 1996) to investigate the role played by children's threat perceptions in the relationship between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Past research has emphasised the importance of children's appraisals of the threat posed by parent conflict for understanding links between interparental conflict and child outcomes. However, little is known about what it is that children actually find threatening about parent conflict, and what contributes to children's appraisals of threat in the context of parent conflict. In study 1, children (n = 236) aged 10 to 16 years were recruited to examine the relative contribution of four specific threat subtypes - fear of parent conflict escalating, fear of being drawn into parent conflict, fear of parent conflict resulting in family breakdown, and fear of parent conflict disrupting attachment relationships with parents - in explaining links between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Results showed that boys' fear of being drawn into parent conflict mediated the relationship between conflict severity and child internalising problems, while for girls it was a fear of parent conflict disrupting attachment relationships with parents that mediated this relationship. Threat was not found to mediate relationships between interparental conflict and child externalising problems. In study 2, families (n = 57) were recruited to investigate how aspects of parent conflict, and characteristics of the context in which the conflict occurs, shapes children's appraisals of the four specific threat subtypes in response to interparental conflict. The study adopted broader measures, including independent observations, of conflict, context, and child adjustment to further delineate the pathways linking interparental conflict, specific threat appraisals, and child adjustment. Results indicated that children perceived greater threat in the context of destructive parent conflict resolution behaviour, and lower threat in the context of positive family relationships (particularly the mother/child relationship). Specific aspects of conflict and context were differentially related to the four threat appraisals. Direct, gender-specific relationships were found between aspects of parent conflict resolution behaviour and family relationship security, and child outcomes. However, once these relationships were accounted for, specific threat perceptions were not found to predict child outcomes. Overall, the findings of this study suggested that positive parent/child relationships (in particular the mother/child relationship) modulated the stressfulness of parent conflict for children, making it more benign in terms of its impact on children's threat appraisals, and their longer-term adjustment in the context of conflict. Results of the thesis are discussed in terms of the importance of studying relationships between specific aspects of conflict, context, appraisals, and adjustment to further understand those situations in which children find interparental conflict stressful, and those in which they cope adaptively with interparental conflict.