Firefighters providing emergency services to the public are involved with some of the most tragic aspects of the boundary between life and death, often in a context over which they have little or no control. The outcome of this may be that stress at work and at home are without doubt the reason that highly qualified and loyal firefighters give themselves over to alcohol or drug abuse, extramarital relationships and suicidal thoughts. The general aim of the research is to evaluate job and family stress amongst firefighters in the South African context, and to use the results in developing a developmental/counselling programme for firefighters and their families. The research is quantitative and qualitative, consisting of a survey design and a phenomenological design. Three measuring instruments were used, namely the Biographical questionnaire, the Experience of Work and Life Circumstances questionnaire, and the Stress questionnaire. Task characteristics, organisational functioning, physical working conditions and job equipment, career and social matters, remuneration, fringe benefits and personnel policy were identified as causes of job stress originating within the work situation. Interviews were conducted to determine how these firefighters experience job and family stress. Marital dysfunction and divorce, limited time with the family, problems with children, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of exercise, suicide, anger aimed at family members, physical and emotional exhaustion, lonely marital partners, unavailability to help the family when needed and depression were identified as causes of family stress arising outside the work situation. The main recommendation is to implement a developmental/counselling job and family stress programme. The programme can be instituted to enhance the wellness and psychological health of firefighters and their families, or for counselling of firefighters and their families who are experiencing job and/or family stress. The multi-dimensionality and flexibility make this programme unique and one of its kind in the South African context. / Indust and Org Psychology / DLITT ET PHIL (IND & ORG PS)

The goal of this study was to determine the influence of sense of coherence on the experiences of participants in a developmental corporate adventure training programme. The corporate adventure training programme was described from an experiential learning paradigm, while sense of coherence was described from a salutogenic paradigm. The study was undertaken with 37 members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) from different seniority and position in the SAPS. In order to determine the participants' sense of coherence and their experiences in the corporate adventure training programme, one quantitative measuring instrument and one qualitative measuring instrument were used. The quantitative instrument used to determine the participants' sense of coherence, was the orientation to life questionnaire (OLQ). Five participants with the highest scores and five participants with the lowest scores on the orientation to life questionnaire were identified. These 10 participants were subjected to an interview, determining their experiences during the corporate adventure training programme. The results of this study have shown that people with a higher score on the orientation to life questionnaire approached and experienced the programme differently to those with a lower score on the orientation to life questionnaire. Various hypotheses were formulated from the results of the study. These hypotheses were based on the participants' feedback, and included the fact that all participants experienced the corporate adventure training programme as an opportunity to relax away from work, therefore enhancing their psychological well-being. Relationships between the participants' experiences in the corporate adventure training programme and their scores achieved on the orientation to life questionnaire, was found. The environment influenced the experiences of the participants to a large extend, a finding that differed from findings suggested by previous research. / Indust and Org Psychology / MCOM (IND AND ORG PSY)

This study applied the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and its extension, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to the design of a workplace HIV/AIDS health promotion programme. The purpose of the study was to determine if the variables of the TRA and TPB would predict intentions to change HIV/AIDS health behaviour, whether a theory-based intervention would result in health behaviour change over time and if there would be any significant health behaviour differences among participants who received a theory-based intervention and those who received an information-only intervention. In a longitudinal, quasi-experimental study, 170 government employees were divided into two groups. One group comprised 92 employees who participated in a HIV/AIDS health promotion workshop based on the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour. The other group comprised 78 employees who took part in an educational information session about HIV and AIDS. An elicitation study was conducted with a sample of 38 employees from the research population two months prior to the commencement of the study. The findings of the elicitation study informed the design of research questionnaires and an intervention workshop. Both groups of participants (theory-based workshop and information-only workshop) were measured on HIV/AIDS health behaviour intentions and HIV/AIDS health behaviour (condom use, seeking HIV testing and monogamy) across three measurement periods over a six month period. The results of the study showed that the combined theoretical variables predicted intentions to use condoms and to seek HIV testing, with attitudes having the main effect on intentions. There was, however, no significant health behaviour change across the three measurement periods. There were also no health behaviour differences between the two intervention conditions at one month and six months post-intervention. The study concludes that the intervention based on the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour did not produce health behaviour change. The study also identified barriers to AIDS health behaviour in the South African context that the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour cannot explain. Ways in which the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour can be adapted to HIV/AIDS education in collectivist cultures are proposed. / Psychology / Thesis (D. Phil. (Psychology))

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the management of the HIV and AIDS workplace policy at Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). This entailed an assessment of the levels of awareness amongst employees, and an assessment of employees’ knowledge of the policy and its implementation. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to randomly selected employees. It was found that the respondents’ level of awareness of the HIV and AIDS workplace policy at Stats SA was satisfactory. Although some differences were observed, overall it seems that Stats SA was successful in promoting general awareness of its policy and its contents. However, as far as the respondents’ attitudes and opinions relating to the implementation of the policy at Stats SA are concerned, several issues still need to be addressed. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

L’exploitation minière artisanale est une activité qui intervient dans un contexte de précarité et suscité plus interrogations sur le respect des règles de l’art minier, la protection de l’environnement ainsi que la préservation de la santé, de la sécurité et du bien-être au travail des personnes impliquées. Dans le cas particulier de la Province du Katanga, en République Démocratique du Congo, elle a connu un essor particulier suite à l’effondrement de la GECAMINES, société d'État qui exploite le cuivre et le cobalt et était le principal pourvoyeur des emplois directs et indirects dans cette partie du pays. Cet essor s’est également trouvé conforté par l’envolée des prix des produits miniers et a accentué l’ampleur des problèmes posés par l’artisanat minier.<p>Alors que la plus grande attention est tournée vers la gestion des problèmes environnementaux, nous avons voulu évaluer l’impact des conditions de travail dans ce secteur d’activité sur la santé et la sécurité des exploitants artisanaux. En matérialisant cet impact, notre ambition est d’identifier les facteurs-clé sur lesquels construire une politique de promotion, d’éducation et d’amélioration de la santé au travail dans ce milieu.<p><p>Matériel et méthodes<p>Notre étude repose sur deux enquêtes réalisées en vue de circonscrire les éléments caractéristiques de la situation de travail dans l’exploitation minière artisanale. Ces enquêtes se sont déroulées dans les mines artisanales de la Ruashi et de Lupoto. Elles nous ont permis également de procéder à une observation de cette activité, telle qu’elle se pratique sur le terrain et la première enquête a été couplée à une analyse d’exposition et d’imprégnation des mineurs artisanaux aux contaminants contenus dans la gangue minéralisée.<p>L’exploitation des résultats de ces enquêtes a donné lieu à plusieurs études descriptives à visée étiologiques dans lesquelles nous avons présenté, en plus des statistiques usuelles, les Odds Ratio et les tests d’association calculés grâce au logiciel SPSS version 17. Nous avons également procédé à des revues de la littérature, principalement pour circonscrire les pathologies liées aux risques toxicologiques spécifiques à cette activité ainsi que pour identifier les facteurs-clé de succès des expériences de réforme de la mine artisanale.<p><p>Résultats<p>Les résultats obtenus ont fait l’objet des publications compilées dans la présente thèse. Pour l’essentiel, ils consistent aux constatations suivantes :<p>\ / Doctorat en Sciences de la santé publique / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Text in Afrikaans, with abstract and title in Afrikaans and English / Organisasieverwante stres onder maatskaplike werkers is ‘n internasionale verskynsel (Shweta & Siebert, 2007). Maatskaplike dienslewering gaan gewoonlik gepaard met organisasieverwante eise wat ‘n negatiewe uitwerking op die maatskaplike werker sowel as die kwaliteit van dienslewering kan hê indien dit nie vroegtydig geïdentifiseer en voorkom word nie (Werner, 2007:320). Ten spyte van die feit dat maatskaplike werk as een van die mees stresvolle beroepe beskryf word, het organisasieverwante stres binne die maatskaplike diensveld eers in die laaste paar jaar aandag begin geniet (Dillenburger, 2004:213). In die literatuur word daar na drie vlakke van intervensie verwys, naamlik primêre, sekondêre en tersiêre intervensie (Departement van Arbeid, 2003:14; Cooper, Dewe & O’Driscoll, 2001:189). Sekondêre en tersiêre intervensies word as die mees algemene strategieë vir die bestuur van stres in ‘n organisasie geïdentifiseer (Cooper et al., 2001:190; Grobler, Wärnich, Carrell, Elbert & Hatfield, 2002:441). Kritiek op die genoemde vlakke van intervensie sluit in dat die verantwoordelikheid op die maatskaplike werker alleen geplaas word om sy/haar stres te hanteer. Primêre intervensie behels dat die oorsprong van die probleem voorkom word, in plaas daarvan dat die simptome behandel word nadat dit reeds voorgekom het (Satcher, 1999). Hierdie navorsingstudie plaas die fokus op die primêre-intervensiestrategie, nadat daar ‘n leemte in die literatuur in hierdie verband geïdentifseer was. Die doel van die navorsing was om die aard van voorkoming van organisasieverwante stres onder maatskaplike werkers, deur middel van primêre-intervensiestrategieë deur maatskaplikewerkbestuurders, te verken en te beskryf ten einde ‘n voorkomingsriglyn te ontwikkel. Ten einde die navorsingsdoel te kon bereik is die kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering in hierdie studie gebruik, aangesien dit die mees geskikte wyse sou wees om die verkennende en beskrywende aard van die studie te ondersteun (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007:12). Die populasies vir hierdie kwalitatiewe studie was: • Alle maatskaplikewerkbestuurders wat by regerings- of nie-regeringsorganisasies werksaam is. • Alle maatskaplike werkers wat by regerings- of nie-regeringsorganisasies werksaam is. Binne die raamwerk van die kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering is daar van ‘n nie-waarskynlikheidsteekproefmetode en die doelgerigte en sneeubal steekproeftegnieke gebruik gemaak. Die navorser wou gebruik maak van haar eie oordeel oor wie die navorsingsvraag die beste sou kon beantwoord. Die steekproefgrootte was bepaal deur data-versadiging wat waargeneem was na nege onderhoude met maatskaplike werkers en nege onderhoude met maatskaplikewerkbestuurders. Die navorser het by beide populasies semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude as die metode van data-insameling benut. Tesch soos aangehaal in Creswell (2009:186), se agt stappe vir kwalitatiewe data-analise het die navorser ondersteun om die data op ‘n sistematiese wyse tot temas en sub-temas te kodeer. Die data is na afloop van die identifisering van die temas en sub-temas beskryf en gekontroleer met bestaande literatuur. Guba het (in Krefting, 1991:214-222) ‘n model saamgestel om met die verifikasie van kwalitatiewe data te help. Hierdie model is op die volgende vier aspekte gegrond en in hierdie studie benut: geldigheid van die waarheid, toepasbaarheid, bestendigheid en neutraliteit. Die volgende etiese aspekte is tydens die beplanning en uitvoering van hierdie studie in ag geneem: Vermyding van skade; vrywillige deelname; ingeligte toestemming en anonimiteit en konfidensialiteit. Die benutting van bovermelde metodologie het die navorser in staat gestel om voorkomingsriglyne te ontwerp en om gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings te maak. / The goal of this research was to explore and describe the nature of prevention of organisation-related stress among social workers through primary intervention strategies by social work managers to develop a prevention guideline. The qualitative research approach, together with the case study, contextual, explorative and descriptive research designs were used in the study. The two populations included a) all social work managers and b) all social workers that work for government or non-government organisations. Samples from the populations were obtained through the non-probability sampling method and the purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Tesch’s framework for qualitative research analysis supported the researcher to identify themes and sub-themes, while Guba’s model was used to assist with the verification of qualitative data. The empirical findings provided the foundation for the development of a prevention guideline. / Department of Social Work / Ph. D. (Social Work)

This study investigated the education, training, and developmental support offered to employees with disabilities, the contribution thereof to their wellness, and the support needed to further improve their wellness. The Bio-psycho-social Model of Disability and the Six-dimensional Model of Wellness were used as the theoretical lenses to better understand disability and wellness. The aim was to answer the research question, “What kind of education, training, and developmental support is offered to employees with disabilities in organisations?” Within the interpretivist paradigm, the researcher used qualitative research to better understand the wellness experiences and developmental needs of employees with disabilities. Twelve participants were identified with the assistance of organisational representatives as part of snowball sampling, before the researcher conducted semistructured interviews with each. The researcher and an independent co-coder then analysed the data, using content analysis. The study revealed that participants described mostly positive experiences on all six wellness dimensions, but they considered the education, training, and developmental support provided insufficient on most of the dimensions. They indicated that, to improve their wellness, their employers need to offer disability-specific education, training, and developmental support to all stakeholders including colleagues, managers and community members. This stressed the need for a wellness framework that includes the education, training, and developmental needs unique to disability. The Wellness Framework for Employees with Disabilities proposed as a result of this study indicates the participants’ personal and work-related developmental needs, as well as the organisational and community development they feel will contribute to their wellness. This support should also empower employees with disabilities to become change champions for disability, to drive disability awareness, and, with organisational support, change and ensure the implementation of relevant public policies. The study was limited by the availability of research on disability, and further research to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed wellness framework and the disability-related public policy developed since 2014 is suggested. Future studies could also investigate other wellness variables, to holistically understand the wellness of persons, specifically those with disabilities. / Inclusive Education / D. Ed. (Inclusive education)

This study investigated the exposure of employees in the South African Police Service (SAPS) to the HIV/AIDS workplace programme, levels of knowledge of HIV/AIDS, perceptions of stigma and discrimination and of participation by stakeholders in programme implementation. The researcher subscribes to the view that stigma and discrimination are major obstacles to the successful implementation of the HIV/AIDS workplace programme as this notion has been substantiated by numerous studies. Self-administered questionnaire was used as means of data collection. Findings suggest that the employees of SAPS based at the National Head Office have high levels of knowledge on HIV/AIDS. However, the majority of the respondents indicated that they would not feel comfortable to disclose their HIV positive status, fearing the consequences thereof. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

This study is a need assessment for the establishment of an HIV and AIDS support group within the South African Police Services (SAPS), Head Office Divisions and the purpose was to explore the extent to which an HIV and AIDS support group was needed for HIV and AIDS-infected and affected personnel within the South African Police Services (SAPS). The SAPS employees as well as HIV and AIDS programme managers participated in the study. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data was used in the study. The former was obtained from a survey of 90 SAPS personnel based at the SAPS Head Office Divisions in Pretoria. The latter, on the other hand, was obtained from in-depth interviews with five SAPS HIV and AIDS programme managers, also based at Head Office Divisions in Pretoria.The overall results showed that an internal workplace HIV and AIDS support group for infected and affected employees was seen as necessary to deal with the psycho-social and emotional needs of the personnel. The study participants were generally of the view that such a support group would go a long way in addressing some of the challenges and obstacles – such as stigma, discrimination, judgement and so forth – faced by HIV and AIDS-infected and faced employees within the SAPS. In general, it was envisaged that a workplace support group would create a warm and caring environment that would enable employees to feel safe and supported by their colleagues – including commanders and managers – in dealing with their HIV and AIDS situations. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV and AIDS)

This study explores the world of human conflict in the workplace, the workplace (in this case) being a South African university. Using the academic tools of ethnography and autoethnography, I investigate the dimensions of human conflict management, which include intrapersonal, interpersonal and intra-group conflict management, from a psychological perspective. In this thesis I refer, in particular, to examples and extractions taken from case studies that focus on conflicts between employees. In doing so I used an eclectic, psychodynamic theoretical frame of reference. The data was collected and processed over a period of fourteen years. Another focus of this thesis is my reflections on my personal development as a counselling psychologist specialising in intrapersonal, interpersonal and intra-group conflict management within an institutional organisation. The participants‟ stories revealed intense emotional experiences and I have put forward suggestions on how these experiences could be explored and dealt with by means of psychologically orientated techniques and interventions within the boundaries of the ethical codes and values of counselling psychology. My eclectic choice of brief psychotherapy, strengths-based counselling, and psychodynamic-based intrapersonal, interpersonal and intra-group interventions are included in my personal narrative. This study serves only as a guideline to other counselling psychologists who deal with human conflicts in similar situations. I have not tried to present a generalised theory. In this study, I argue strongly that there is indeed a place for counselling psychologists and the application of psychological knowledge in the world of human resources departments in organisations. I believe that counselling psychologists can operate, alternatively, as individual counselling psychologists, workshop facilitators and co-facilitators, as consultants, and as members of multidisciplinary teams to address, among other, conflict management in a tertiary institution. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)