The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how a problem-determined system developed around a case of drug addiction within the context of a system of relatedness. The epistemological framework informing this qualitative study was constructivism. The six participants who took part in the study represent the most prominent role players in the particular context of living. The individual battling with drug addiction, his parents, older sister, maternal grandmother and maternal aunt were interviewed. The methods of data collection employed were semi-structured interviews, a family-chronological event chart, genograms, and an eco-map. The interviews were interpreted using the hermeneutic approach. The different themes that emerged from each participant’s story were integrated in relation to each other and with respect to the collaborative sources of data. The most dominant themes extracted within this study are the initial reactions to Andrew’s drug addiction, life changes experienced due to Andrew’s drug addiction, support, as well as the meanings attributed to Andrew’s drug addiction. Further research into problem-determined systems in different cultures is recommended. / Psychology / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) Psychology

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how a problem-determined system developed around a case of drug addiction within the context of a system of relatedness. The epistemological framework informing this qualitative study was constructivism. The six participants who took part in the study represent the most prominent role players in the particular context of living. The individual battling with drug addiction, his parents, older sister, maternal grandmother and maternal aunt were interviewed. The methods of data collection employed were semi-structured interviews, a family-chronological event chart, genograms, and an eco-map. The interviews were interpreted using the hermeneutic approach. The different themes that emerged from each participant’s story were integrated in relation to each other and with respect to the collaborative sources of data. The most dominant themes extracted within this study are the initial reactions to Andrew’s drug addiction, life changes experienced due to Andrew’s drug addiction, support, as well as the meanings attributed to Andrew’s drug addiction. Further research into problem-determined systems in different cultures is recommended. / Psychology / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) Psychology

The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between drugs of choice that family members abused and the non-addicted family member's levels of self-disclosure, self-disclosure avoidance, and trust.

The thesis argues that there is a need for Christian communal pastoral care and counselling practice beyond the individualistic Western pastoral care and counselling practices. The communal pastoral care model advocated by the author uses culturally gifted care-givers who follow spontaneous caring models. Several of the major books concerning communal pastoral care and counselling were reviewed. The author concludes that the church has been impoverished by ignoring the cultural gifts of the majority of members and the mutual communal care of the community. Pain and its healing in this thesis are understood in a culturally sensitive manner. Pastoral care must be done in context, in this case in the Vhavenda context. Hence the thesis looks systematically at the way in which the Vhavenda understand and heal pain from their cosmological perspective. The thesis engages in empirical research among the Vhavenda people using qualitative interview. The author selected five small communities to test for their understanding of pain and healing. He developed his own interview schedule. Themes encountered in interpreting the research results include pain as part of life. The thesis develops two sub-models of a Vhavenda-Christian culturally gifted model of communal care arguing the need of their incorporation into Christian communal care. They are “Kha ri vangulane” model which pictures pain as a thorn which people help to remove from a person; and the “khoro” or “dzulo” gathering which is family or community care-giving. A case study has illustrated how they are used.Finally, the author argues that the Bible is full of communal pictures which resonate well with the African people. Hence it is fairly easy to correlate the Vhavenda sense of community with the body of Christ model of Christian community as found in the Bible. The conclusion is that members of the Christian community need to reincorporate their culturally gifted care resources and integrate them with the biblical care. / Thesis (D. Th. (Practical Theology))

Women and young people who have experienced domestic violence view themselves through an abuse-dominated lens, causing thin descriptions of themselves. Research was undertaken with seven women and eleven young people to explore how they had experienced domestic violence and to co-author and co-construct new stories of identity. This research addressed how a narrative pastoral approach guides therapeutic conversations with people who have experienced domestic violence. A narrative approach has at its heart the notion of decentred practice and an ethic of care. Reflective letters after each group meeting played a central part of the research. The letters were structured to tell the alternative stories emerging during and between sessions. These stories were told and retold and in each telling the women artd young people experienced alternative views of self and joined others in this re-writing. Participants spontaneously continued to meet beyond the completion of the research / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

The thesis argues that there is a need for Christian communal pastoral care and counselling practice beyond the individualistic Western pastoral care and counselling practices. The communal pastoral care model advocated by the author uses culturally gifted care-givers who follow spontaneous caring models. Several of the major books concerning communal pastoral care and counselling were reviewed. The author concludes that the church has been impoverished by ignoring the cultural gifts of the majority of members and the mutual communal care of the community. Pain and its healing in this thesis are understood in a culturally sensitive manner. Pastoral care must be done in context, in this case in the Vhavenda context. Hence the thesis looks systematically at the way in which the Vhavenda understand and heal pain from their cosmological perspective. The thesis engages in empirical research among the Vhavenda people using qualitative interview. The author selected five small communities to test for their understanding of pain and healing. He developed his own interview schedule. Themes encountered in interpreting the research results include pain as part of life. The thesis develops two sub-models of a Vhavenda-Christian culturally gifted model of communal care arguing the need of their incorporation into Christian communal care. They are “Kha ri vangulane” model which pictures pain as a thorn which people help to remove from a person; and the “khoro” or “dzulo” gathering which is family or community care-giving. A case study has illustrated how they are used.Finally, the author argues that the Bible is full of communal pictures which resonate well with the African people. Hence it is fairly easy to correlate the Vhavenda sense of community with the body of Christ model of Christian community as found in the Bible. The conclusion is that members of the Christian community need to reincorporate their culturally gifted care resources and integrate them with the biblical care. / Thesis (D. Th. (Practical Theology))

Women and young people who have experienced domestic violence view themselves through an abuse-dominated lens, causing thin descriptions of themselves. Research was undertaken with seven women and eleven young people to explore how they had experienced domestic violence and to co-author and co-construct new stories of identity. This research addressed how a narrative pastoral approach guides therapeutic conversations with people who have experienced domestic violence. A narrative approach has at its heart the notion of decentred practice and an ethic of care. Reflective letters after each group meeting played a central part of the research. The letters were structured to tell the alternative stories emerging during and between sessions. These stories were told and retold and in each telling the women artd young people experienced alternative views of self and joined others in this re-writing. Participants spontaneously continued to meet beyond the completion of the research / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

This qualitative study explored the foster care emanicipation experience of adults who had "aged out" of the foster care system. This study found that foster care had negative impacts on participants' ability to form attachments while in foster care and in their adult relationships.

An investigation into the prevalence and causative factors of adolescent depression in the greater Johannesburg area was undertaken. Present-day South African socio-economic pressures together with the normal demands and difficulties of adolescence, led to an investigation into which factors were having a bearing on adolescent depression and whether more male than female adolescents were depressed. A literature study was done and major factors, which could potentially influence the development of depression, were identified. The results of the empirical investigation indicated that negative family relations and negative peer relations play a significant role in the development of adolescent depression. Other identified factors did not appear to have a statistically significant bearing on adolescent depression. No significant statistical difference was found between the prevalence or severity of male and female adolescent depression. Educational implications of the findings are discussed and guidelines are given to teachers and parents. / Teacher Education / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

This thesis focuses on the impact of domestic violence upon Zulu women, and the role that the Christian faith plays in both helping and hindering the survivors. Through an examination of the relationship between religion and power, the thesis notes how the Christian faith can work both to legitimize oppressive structures and practices, and to provide a form of resistance or survival in times of difficulty. The way in which the Bible and theology deal with domestic violence is examined from this perspective. The thesis builds upon earlier work on domestic violence and the church done in South Africa by a range of scholars, but provides new insights into the way that Zulu women deal with domestic violence and their relationship to the Christian faith. Research undertaken in Sweetwaters, outside Pietermaritzburg, identified the following eight concerns to be of importance for these women in terms of domestic violence: lobolo and women as property, unemployment and male frustration, alcohol, children and the wider family, the scandal of divorce in the Zulu community, lack of social support, the cycle of violence, and the impact upon women. In terms of their relationship to the church, they saw Christianity as a power that both hinders and helps. In terms of the former this had to do with abusers in church leadership, theologies of blame, theologies of forgiveness, disinterestedness and silence, and sanctity of marriage. In terms of the way that Christianity helps, this has to do with prayer, bible reading, manyano and izimvuselelo. In the final chapter the thesis suggests that if the church is to make a difference in the lives of the women who are facing the experiences of domestic violence, then it needs to both challenge the negative and strengthen the positive. This could involve working with young men, men and perpetrators, challenging culture where it abuses women, breaking the silence, legal education, affirming the spirituality of the women, counseling, networking, economic empowerment, and training manyano leadership. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu- Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.