Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Adolescence is a trying developmental stage and the high levels of violence that many adolescents are exposed to in South Africa could negatively influence their well-being. Self-efficacy is reported to be an important protective factor for adolescent well-being. Hence, the first aim of this study was to determine the nature of the relationship between perceived self-efficacy and self-reported aggression in an adolescent sample. The second aim was to explore whether there are differences in perceived self-efficacy and self-reported aggression pertaining to gender, age and residential area respectively. Three high schools in the peri-urban area of Worcester from mid to low socio-economic communities were selected and 344 (13 – 19 years) Afrikaans speaking high school learners were randomly sampled. The Self-efficacy Questionnaire for Children and the Aggression Questionnaire were used to measure self-efficacy and aggression. The findings from this research indicate that there was a significant negative relationship between self-efficacy and aggression. However, a positive correlation was found between emotional self-efficacy, verbal aggression and hostility for the total group. Females and peri-urban adolescents scored significantly higher in the total self-efficacy scale and subscales, namely, academic, social and emotional self-efficacy than the males and rural adolescents. Males also reported significantly higher physical aggression scores than females, whereas females reported significantly higher hostility scores.

Thesis (MA)- University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary aim of the study was to investigate cultural and sex differences on different dimensions of aggression as measured by the Expagg Questionnaire (Expagg) and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Both inventories were administered to a sample (N=910) of students from Spain, Japan and South Africa. The results indicated that culture is indeed more predictive of aggression than sex. As expected, the study also revealed that it's influence is not uniform on all the dimensions of aggression investigated. The South African sample revealed the only significant sex difference on the Expagg. The males showed more distinct instrumental representations of aggression than the females, where aggression is seen as a means to reach a desired goal and thus as an effort to gain control. Inter-culturally the main finding was that the South African males and females held predominantly more expressive representations of aggression compared with the other cultures. This indicates that aggression is viewed as an expression of negative feelings and thus as a loss of control. On the Aggression Questionnaire only the South African and Spanish males reported more physical aggression than the females. Cross-culturally the most distinct finding was the overall lower levels of self-reported aggression of the South African females. A discussion of these significant results addressed social, cultural and political factors which may account for the differences. The study provided the prospect of an enhanced cross-cultural understanding of aggression. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die primêre doel van die studie was om kulturele en geslagsverskille te bepaal ten opsigte van verskillende dimensies van aggressie soos gemeet deur die Expagg Questionnaire (Expagg) en die Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Die vraelyste is op 'n groep (N=910) studente van Spanje, Japan en Suid Afrika toegepas. Die resultate het getoon dat kultuur inderdaad 'n beter voorspeller van aggressie is as geslag. Die resultate het, soos verwag, aangedui dat die invloed van kultuur nie eenvormig inwerk op alle dimensies van aggressie nie. Die Suid-Afrikaanse groep het die enigste beduidende geslagsverskille getoon op die Expagg. Die mans se laer Espagg-tellings dui op instrumentele oortuigings ten opsigte van aggressie~ Aggressie word dus beskou as 'n poging om 'n verlangde doelwit te bereik en word ervaar as 'n poging om kontrole te verkry. Die vernaamste kruis-kulturele bevinding was dat die Suid-Afrikaanse groep beduidend hoër tellings as die ander kulture op die Expagg behaal het. Dit dui op ekspressiewe oortuigings ten opsigte van aggressie waar aggressie beskou word as die uitdrukking van negatiewe gevoelens en as 'n verlies van kontrole. Die Suid-Afrikaanse en Spaanse mans het hoër vlakke van fisiese aggressie as die vrouens op die Aggression Questionnaire behaal. Die mees uitstaande bevinding by die kruis-kulturele vergelyking was die algehele laer vlakke van selfgerapporteerde aggressie by die Suid-Afrikaanse vrouens. Die beduidende resultate is aan hand van sosiale, kulturele en politieke faktore bespreek. Die studie het In bydrae gelewer tot In beter kruis-kulturele begrip van aggressie.

Thesis (MEd(Psych) --Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Bullying seems to be a pervasive problem in most secondary schools and teachers have the daily task of dealing with it. Not only do teachers have to unravel the complex dynamics of bullying, they also often have to navigate a school climate and culture that is not conducive to addressing bullying. In South Africa, there are many unique contextual factors which impact on teachers’ management of bullying, such as community violence overflowing into the school, increased administrative load and limited support from school management, parents and education authorities. Therefore, teachers’ abilities to conceptualise bullying, recognise and respond to incidents of bullying, and their knowledge of the nature and extent of bullying behaviour impact greatly on anti-bullying strategies. The theoretical framework which informed this study is the social context perspective which drew on views from both social constructionism and the bio-ecological framework. The social context perspective emphasises the interactions between individuals and the systems as delineated in the bio-ecological model. Furthermore, this study did not aim to reveal the “truth” about school bullying. The intention has rather been to provide a comprehensive picture as was portrayed by the participants in this study. This picture included the nature and extent of bullying in their secondary school, the teachers’ perspectives and experiences of bullying, and proposed prevention and intervention strategies which they aim to implement at their school. In keeping with the constructionist nature of the process of inquiry, a qualitative, interpretivist research approach was used. Purposive sampling was used to identify potential participants who were then asked to volunteer to be part of the study. Data was generated through semi-structured interviews with individuals and focus groups. Furthermore, the constant comparative method was used to analyse the data. The research findings indicated that the teachers experience and perceive a wide variety of bullying behaviours which take place at various sites, both within and outside the school grounds and that involve a diverse range of individuals within the school community. Furthermore, the teachers conveyed several factors which they experienced as maintaining bullying and highlighted their perceived effects thereof. In addition to this, the participants shared knowledge about their teaching practices and suggested a few strategies on how to deal with bullying more effectively in their school community. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Afknouery word beskou as ‘n deurlopende probleem in hoërskole en onderwysers moet die gevolge daarvan daagliks hanteer. Onderwysers moet nie net die komplekse dinamiek van afknouery ontrafel nie, maar worstel ook met ‘n skoolklimaat en -kultuur wat nie toepaslik is om afknouery te bekamp nie. In Suid-Afrika is daar unieke kontekstuele faktore wat ‘n invloed het op hoe onderwysers afknouery hanteer. Dit sluit onder andere in die geweld wat oorvloei vanuit die gemeenskap na die skool, verhoogde administratiewe werklading asook beperkte ondersteuning van die skool se bestuurspan, ouers en die onderwysowerhede. Daarom speel onderwysers se vermoëns om afknouery te konseptualiseer, insidente van afknouery te herken en daarop te reageer, asook hulle kennis van afknougedrag ‘n groot impak op anti-afknouery strategieë. Hierdie studie word gekonseptualiseer vanuit ‘n sosiaal-konstruktiwistiese en bioekologiese perspektief. ‘n sosiale konteksperspektief beklemtoon die interaksies tussen individue en die sisteme wat uiteengesit is in die bio-ekologiese model. Die doel van hierdie studie was nie om die “waarheid” oor afknouery in die skool te openbaar nie. Dit was eerder om die deelnemers se perspektief in diepte te analiseer en beskryf. ‘n Kwalitatiewe, interpretivistiese navorsingsbenadering is daarom gevolg. ‘n Doelgerigte steekproef is gebruik om potensiële deelnemers te identifiseer en hulle is gevra om vrywillig deel te neem aan die studie. Data is gegenereer deur semi-gestruktureerde individuele en fokusgroeponderhoude. Verder is die konstante vergelykende metode gebruik om die data te analiseer. Die navorsingsbevindinge het aangedui dat die onderwysers ‘n wye verskeidenheid afknougedrag van diverse groepe en individue binne en buite die skoolterrein ervaar. Die onderwysers het verskeie faktore identifiseer wat afknouery moontlik instandhou en het die moontlike gevolge van afknouery uitgelig. Laastens het die deelnemers kennis oor hulle onderwyspraktyke gedeel en voorstelle gemaak oor hoe om afknouery meer effektief in hul skoolgemeenskap te hanteer.

Despite being the twelfth largest financial market in the world, approximately 90 per cent of the entire trading volume in the Taiwan stock market is accounted for by only a small, but widely dispersed, group of local investors actively participating in the local market during the 1995-1999 period (Barber, Lee, Liu and Odean, 2007); it is, however, also the case that these investors suffer from low levels of investor protection (La Porta, Lopez-de-Silances, Shleifer and Vishny, 1998). The discovery of a series of corporate scandals in Taiwan, between 16 June and 15 September 2004 (the event period), offers a unique opportunity to investigate the perceptions of investors on the value of corporate governance. The main line of reasoning in this study is that at times when news of scandals flows into the market, the perceptions of certain types of investors, particularly uniformed outsiders, will lead to a systematic change in their trading habits; thus, they may avoid trading in certain firms altogether, or their incentives to place aggressive orders may be considerably weakened, particularly where there is a likelihood of expropriation by controlling insiders. This dissertation undertakes a comprehensive analysis of trade and quote (TAQ) data for all investors on a sample of 94 firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE), and provides evidence of extreme variations in the investment behavior of different types of investors. It is clear that during the event period, a substantial proportion of investors did cease trading altogether, with such cessation of trading even affecting their original non-scandal portfolios. This response was particularly discernible amongst small and medium-sized individual investors, who may often incur losses in firms with high cash-flow rights leverage. It seems that even the better-performed small-sized individual investors, who had previously enjoyed larger positive excess returns, tended to discard their previous trading strategy involving firms with no clear deviation between control rights and cash-flow rights. An examination of this deviation in trading behavior shows that most investors, with the exceptions of foreign institutions and large-sized individual investors, began to enter the market more passively during the event period, particularly in firms in which the ultimate controllers had separate control and cash-flow ownership. However, throughout the event period, the trading strategies of foreign institutions and large-sized individual investors involved more aggressive submission of orders for stocks in firms with strong cash-flow rights leverage. Finally, a direct test of the informativeness of aggressive orders placed by each category of investors, under different ownership structure portfolios, regardless of any order strategy, reveals that small-sized individual investors invariably performed badly during both the pre-event and event periods examined in this dissertation. Each line of our analysis shows that only foreign institutions and large-sized individual investors maintained acceptable returns; in comparative terms, these two groups of investors performed relatively well in portfolios with higher cash-flow rights leverage.

Les écrits rapportent qu’entre 10% et 40% des personnes atteintes de troubles mentaux ont présenté des comportements agressifs depuis l’établissement du diagnostic, et qu’entre 50% et 65% de ces comportements sont perpétrés envers les membres de la famille (Estroff et al., 1998). Or, les aidants naturels se sentent fréquemment démunis devant le comportement impulsif et agressif de leur proche atteint d’un trouble de santé mentale (Bonin & Lavoie-Tremblay, 2010) et la majorité des proches aidants ne reçoivent pas de soutien professionnel (Doornbos, 2001). À cet effet, une équipe de chercheurs et d’organismes communautaires ont mis sur pied un projet de formation adaptée par et pour les familles relativement à la gestion des comportements agressifs de leur proche atteint d’un trouble de santé mentale s’appuyant sur l’approche OMEGA communautaire (Bonin et al., 2011). La présente recherche est inspirée du modèle de Fresan et ses collaborateurs (2007), qui inclut les familles et leur proche atteint dans la prévention de la rechute et le rétablissement de ce dernier. Cette étude avait donc pour but de décrire et analyser, par un devis mixte, les perceptions de l’agressivité, du fonctionnement familial ainsi que de l’observance au traitement médical de personnes atteintes de troubles mentaux, suite à une formation de gestion des comportements agressifs adaptée par et pour des membres de familles, et suivie par leur proche aidant. Des questionnaires auto-administrés ont été remis et complétés par 25 personnes atteintes et comprenaient trois instruments qui étaient : 1. un questionnaire sociodémographique; 2. le Basis-24 (Eisen, 2007) permettant d’évaluer la condition mentale de la personne atteinte; 3. l’Échelle de perception de l’agressivité permettant de mesurer la fréquence et le niveau des comportements agressifs (De Benedictis et al., 2011); et 4. l'Échelle du fonctionnement familial permettant de mesurer le fonctionnement familial (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983). Des questions supplémentaires au questionnaire portaient sur l’observance au traitement médical et sur les changements observés. Des analyses descriptives et corrélationnelles bivariées ont été réalisées pour analyser les données quantitatives. Par la suite, des entrevues individuelles ont été réalisées auprès de huit personnes atteintes de troubles mentaux dont le membre de famille avait suivi la formation de gestion des comportements agressifs. La méthode d’analyse classique de Miles et Huberman (2003) a été utilisée pour réaliser l’analyse des données. L’analyse des données a permis de dégager les perceptions des personnes atteintes de troubles mentaux au regard de la formation de gestion des comportements agressifs que leur membre de famille avait suivi. Ainsi, le programme de formation OMÉGA adaptée par et pour les familles permettrait d’une part de diminuer l’agressivité et, d’autre part, d’améliorer le climat familial. De plus, selon les personnes atteintes, leur membre de famille était plus à l’écoute et faisait moins preuve d’intrusion, ce qui diminuaient les conflits et favorisaient une meilleure dynamique familiale. Cette étude a mis en évidence qu’il est nécessaire d’impliquer les familles dans les programmes de prévention de la rechute de la maladie mentale dans les soins de première ligne. Cette étude contribue ainsi à l’amélioration des connaissances sur la dynamique famille-patient et sur le rétablissement des personnes atteintes de troubles mentaux. Aussi, cette recherche propose des recommandations pour la recherche, la pratique, la formation et la gestion en sciences infirmières. / Literature reports that between 10% and 40% of people with mental disorders showed aggressive behavior since establishing the diagnosis, and between 50% and 65% of these behaviors are perpetrated against members of the family (Estroff et al. 1998). However, caregivers often feel helpless in the face of impulsive and aggressive behavior of their loved one with a mental health disorder (Bonin & Lavoie-Tremblay, 2010) and the majority of caregivers do not receive professional support (Doornbos, 2001). For this purpose, a team of researchers and community organizations have established a training adapted by and for families in relation to the management of aggressive behavior of their loved one with a mental health disorder based on Community OMEGA approach (Bonin et al., 2011). This research was inspired by the Fresan and collaborators' model (2007), which includes families and their loved ones achieved in the prevention of relapse and recovery thereof. Using a mixed-design, the study aimed to describe and analyze, perceptions of aggression, family functioning and adherence to medical treatment of people with mental disorders, following a training about aggressive behavior management training adapted by and for family members and to which their caregiver attended. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed and completed by 25 people and included three instruments: 1. a sociodemographic questionnaire; 2) the Basis-24 (Eisen, 2007) to assess the mental condition of the person; 3. the perception of aggressiveness scale (POAS) to measure the frequency and the level of aggressive behavior (De Benedictis et al., 2011; and 4. the family assessment device (FAD) to measure family functioning (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983). Additional questions to the questionnaire focused on adherence to medical treatment and the observed changes. Descriptive correlative analyzes and T-test were performed to analyze quantitative data. Thereafter, individual interviews were held with eight persons with mental disorders whose family member was trained in management of aggressive behavior. The classical method of analysis of Miles and Huberman (2003) was used to perform data analysis. The data analysis allowed to identified the perceptions of people with mental disorders with regard to training in managing aggressive behavior that their family member had followed. Thus, the OMEGA training program adapted by and for family members would help on the one hand reducing aggression and on the other hand, improve family atmosphere. Moreover, according to the persons with mental disorders, their family member was more attentive and less intrusive, which decreased conflict and promoted better family dynamics. This study has highlighted the need to involve families in prevention programs about relapse of mental illness in primary care. This study contributes to the improvement of knowledge on the patient and family dynamics and on the recovery of people with mental disorders. Also, this research provides recommendations for research, practice, education and management in nursing.

Bakgrund: Vårdmiljön inom psykiatrisk heldygnsvård har beskrivits framkalla olika känslor och präglas av en hård miljö där patienter bland annat kan vårdas mot sin vilja och vara utsatta för tvångsåtgärder och restriktioner. Aggressivitet är vanligt förekommande på dessa avdelningar och bedöms vara ett problem. En kunskapslucka finns vad gäller vilka patienter och situationer som ökar risken för aggressivitet inom kontexten psykiatrisk heldygnsvård. Syfte: Att identifiera karaktäristiska drag hos patienter med aggressivt beteende och identifiera aspekter som påverkar situationer där hot- och våldsincidenter uppstått inom psykiatrisk heldygnsvård samt syntetisera en förklaringsmodell. Metod: En integrativ litteraturöversikt beståendes av både kvalitativa och kvantitativa artiklar. Materialet analyserades med hjälp av Whittemore och Knafls (2005) arbetsprocess. Resultat: Resultatet genererade i tre huvudteman och tio underteman. Följande tre huvudteman identifierades: patienten som en trigger, vårdmiljön som en trigger och personalen som en trigger. Diskussion: Metoden diskuteras utifrån begreppen: trovärdighet, pålitlighet, bekräftelsebarhet och överförbarhet. Resultatets huvudfynd diskuteras med stöd av tidigare forskning och i relation till Phil Barkers teori tidvattenmodellen. / Background: The care environment within psychiatric inpatient care has been described to create different emotions and is characterized as a hard environment where patients sometimes are treated against their will and can be exposed to coercive measures and restrictions. Aggressiveness is common at these wards and is considered a problem. There is a knowledge gap when it comes to patients and situations that increase the risk for aggressiveness in the context of psychiatric inpatient care. Aim: To identify characteristic features of aggressive patients and to identify aspects that effects situations where threats and violence has occurred in psychiatric inpatient care and to synthesise an explanatory model. Method: An integrative literature overview containing both qualitative and quantitative articles. The data were analysed using Whittemore and Knafl’s (2005) working procedure. Results: The result generated in three main themes and ten subthemes. Following three main themes were identified: the patient as a trigger, the care environment as a trigger and the staff as a trigger. Discussion: The method is discussed in relation to these concepts: trustworthiness, dependability, confirmability and transferability. The results are discussed with support of previous research and in relation to Phil Barker's theory the Tidal model.

While research highlights a number of risk factors for suicide, not all individuals displaying these characteristics will go on to attempt suicide. Depressed mood is a proximal indicator of suicide, with deterioration in already depressed mood increasing the likelihood of a suicide attempt. The overall aim of this thesis was to empirically test the Cognitive Model of Suicide by Wenzel and Beck (2008). This model proposes that each of the three components, dispositional vulnerabilities, mood disturbance and suicide related cognitions, may influence each other to enhance the propensity for a suicidal crisis. The thesis starts by examining the relationship between two personality characteristics (neuroticism and trait aggression) and current depressed mood, and then focuses on the relationship between suicidality and current depressed mood. Although autobiographical memories have been implied as a possible risk factor for suicidality, meta-analytical studies have highlighted discrepancies between sampling techniques which may limit interpretablity. Therefore, the first series of studies aimed to establish a protocol for assessing autobiographical memories. The second and third series of studies aimed to investigate whether the relationships between current depressed mood and specific personality factors (neuroticism and trait aggression) were indirectly influenced by other known risk factors that may affect cognitive processing of information (rumination, overgenerality, impulsivity). Moreover, these studies aimed to determine whether the same cognitive processing factors effected current depressed mood in non-suicidal and suicide attempt groups. The final series of studies aimed to determine whether these risk factors (neuroticism, trait aggression, brooding, impulsivity, and overgenerality) mediated the relationship between suicidality and current depressed mood. Findings indicated that compared to the non-suicidal group, individuals in the suicide attempt group was more likely to be influenced by the effects of trait aggression and brooding, and that the combination of these factors were positively associated with current depressed mood. In contrast, neuroticism and impulsivity appeared to influence individuals who had experienced suicidal ideation more than individuals who report never having suicidal thoughts or attempting suicide. Compared to the non-suicidal group, however, neuroticism and impulsivity did not show a significant association for current depressed mood in the suicidal ideation group. Findings supported the Interacting Sub-Systems model and are discussed in relation to the Cognitive Model of Suicide model.

The study of cognitive factors in sexual aggression has, for the most part, been limited to beliefs and attitudes. The present study sought to detect a rape-supportive schema of sexual relationships that organizes and guides information processing in several cognitive domains: cognitions arising in the context of a simulated sexual situation, memory, person perception, and social reasoning.

L’agressivité au volant est un phénomène déterminant de société, cependant trop peu étudié. En effet, un à deux accidents graves sur trois seraient attribuables à un comportement agressif en automobile (Deffenbacher, 2001). De ce fait, il paraît important d’étudier ce phénomène d’un point de vue psychologique et psychopathologique afin d’enrichir le champ des connaissances dans ce domaine. L’objectif général de cette thèse, se divisant en quatre études, est (1) d’examiner le rôle joué par les motivations, la colère, la forme d’agressivité et le parcours de vie dans l’étiologie du phénomène de conduite automobile agressive et transgressive, et (2) de nous interroger sur l’existence possibles de différents profils de conducteurs agressifs.Les résultats de ces quatre études attestent d’un intérêt à la fois théorique et pratique d’étudier l’étiologie de la conduite agressive et transgressive. Ils nous mettent sur la voie d’une double piste d’intervention : préventive et réadaptative. / Aggressive driving is of prime importance in our society, nevertheless there is a lack of research in the area. Indeed, 1 to 2 in 3 serious accidents would be due to aggressive driving (Deffenbacher, 2001). As a consequence, focusing on this issue in both psychological and psychopathological areas appears of prime importance. The general aim of the Ph.d dissertation, divided in 4 studies, was to (1) to examine the role of motivation, anger, type of assault and personal history in the etiology of both transgressive and aggressive driving (2) to examine the possible existence of different profiles of aggressive drivers.The results of the fourth studies highlight how interesting and useful theoretical and practical researches of the etiology of aggressive and transgressive driving are. A double intervention is then warranted: preventive and rehabilitative.

[pt] A dissertação consiste numa pesquisa teórica que propõe o argumento de os ataques ao enquadre, frequentemente empreendidos pelos casos-limite, constituírem a tentativa clínica de passagem para o campo do uso do objeto. A agressividade não bem manejada pelo ambiente prejudica o reconhecimento da externalidade, resultando numa tendência à destruição que se torna característica central da clínica com estes casos. O trabalho do negativo malsucedido impossibilita a construção do espaço da ausência no psiquismo, fundamental à construção de representações, à instauração das fronteiras intrapsíquicas e intersubjetivas e ao investimento em objetos substitutos. Os prejuízos relativos à agressividade e ao trabalho do negativo redundam na precariedade das fronteiras entre o eu e o outro, sugerindo a prevalência de uma relação pautada na vertente subjetiva do objeto, logo não reconhecido em sua natureza externa. As contribuições de Winnicott e Green fundamentam nossa hipótese de que a destrutividade – expressa na clínica dos casos-limite através dos ataques ao enquadre – consiste numa tentativa atuada de passagem para o campo do uso do objeto, que consolida a unidade do self ao mesmo tempo que possibilita o reconhecimento do objeto na realidade compartilhada. / [en] The dissertation consists of theoretical research proposing the argument that the attacks on the setting, often undertaken by borderline patients, consists on a clinical way of reaching the use of an object. The aggressiveness not well handled by the environment affects the recognition of the externality, resulting in a tendency towards destruction which becomes the central feature in the borderline clinic. The unsuccessful work of the negative precludes the construction of an absence space in the psyche, fundamental to the construction of representations, the introduction of intrapsychic and intersubjective borders, as the investment in substitute objects. Losses related to aggressiveness and the work of the negative result in precarious boundaries between self and other, suggesting the prevalence of a relationship based in the subjective aspect of the object, not just recognized in his external nature. The contributions of Winnicott and Green underlie our hypothesis that the destructiveness – expressed in borderline clinic through the attacks on the setting – consists in an actuated way to reach the use of the object, which consolidates the unity of self while enables the recognition of the object in shared reality.