The purpose of this research was to investigate the nature of the South African late adolescent’s adjustment whilst on a working holiday in the United Kingdom. In order to achieve this goal a thorough literature study was done with attention afforded to late adolescence, the developmental tasks of this life stage, culture and culture shock and the adjustment to the latter. An empirical study was conducted whereby semi-structured interviews were utilized as a data collection method. During these interviews questions were posed to the respondents to ascertain what they regarded as pleasant as well as unpleasant in relation to their working holiday in the United Kingdom, the perceived cultural differences between South Africans and Britons, problems experienced with the adjustment, homesickness, triggers thereof including ways in which to cope with it. Ten respondents were individually interviewed during this research. An exploratory research design was followed as the researcher explored the trend of late adolescents who embark on a working holiday in the United Kingdom. The researcher performed qualitative research to answer the research question. The research question that was formulated for the purpose of this study was: what is the nature of the adjustment of the late adolescent whilst living and working in the United Kingdom? The researcher applied the one-group posttest-only design as research procedure because interviews were conducted following a period of at least four months in which the respondents had lived in the United Kingdom. Empirical data was obtained by means of an interview schedule and the following themes were identified: -- Late adolescents experience culture shock upon arrival in the United Kingdom. -- Environmental differences are experienced. -- Cultural differences between South Africans and Britons are noted. -- Independency increases. -- Work experience is gained and money earned in order to meet needs. -- Cohesion and solidarity are experienced with fellow South Africans in London. -- Exposure is experienced. -- Homesickness is experienced. The researcher concludes that the late adolescent experiences initial culture shock that is absorbed by the support of fellow South Africans and results in increased independence. Homesickness is experienced and is dealt with in ways that had been tested. / Dissertation (MSD (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work / unrestricted

The research endeavoured to voice the told and untold stories of adolescents living with HIV undergoing continual disease management at the Kalafong Hospital Paediatric HIV Clinic. Through the telling of their stories the adolescents had the opportunity to make sense of their illness experiences. Some of the participating adolescents had limited opportunities to discuss their experiences with friends or family members. The research was completed within the qualitative social constructionist narrative approach. Six adolescents from the clinic participated voluntarily in the research. The participants attended the clinic regularly for disease management and were on ART. The study explored the experiences of the adolescents by means of two semi-structured individual interviews. Expressive art in the form of drawings and poetry were used to aid storytelling. Through collaborative exploration of the adolescents‟ stories, it became possible to co-construct the meanings that they attached to their experiences of HIV, which informs their identity. The interview transcripts were analysed, re-storied, and placed within a narrative framework of understanding, based on the three-dimensional space approach by Clandinin and Connelly (2000). The framework of understanding aided the researcher to look at the different contexts, identities, and social significant aspects found in the adolescents‟ stories. Multiple identities were constructed in their stories such as patient, scholar, friend, family, and athlete identities. These were constructed based on their experiences in the family and cultural, school and social, and medical contexts. The adolescents attributed different meanings to their stories of living with HIV such as that of normality, sameness, realism, and difference. The unique and similar aspects that were found in the adolescents‟ stories were identified and discussed with reference to various concepts such as disclosure, adherence, and ART. It was found that status disclosure was done by staff at the clinic and it occurred during young adolescence. All the adolescents, except one who was not aware of her status, showed insight into the chronic nature of their disease. Five adolescents‟ statuses have not been disclosed to anyone outside the families. In only one instance, the family was not aware of his status. Most adolescents assumed primary responsibility for ART. They expressed conflicting ideas about the role of ART. Some adolescents had to cope with side effects, the possibility of accidental status disclosure and non-adherence, and fears of rejection. The research, employing a narrative approach, endeavours to contribute to create a holistic understanding of HIV/AIDS in the context of health care. Lack of communication and impersonal staff interactions with patients were identified as barriers to disease management. The research recommends that the clinic should provide ongoing support to the adolescents with regards to disclosure of their status to friends, family, and partners, and adherence to medication. The social significant aspects found in the adolescents‟ stories will be disseminated to the staff at the clinic. This will assist the multi-disciplinary team to gain a better understanding of the reality of the adolescent and how these experiences inform their identity. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted

It has been determined who the adolescent in the Wolmer community is. An investigation into the adolescent’s relationship with the resources in this area was also done. It was determined that this community has a long history of poverty and that a large percentage of the families living here experience a variety of problems. We refer to them as multi-problem families. It has also been confirmed that social services by various organizations have been delivered on an ongoing base over the past eight years. From the literature we have learned that the use of resource’s aid programmes as means of social support, focusing on families, primary and secondary school learners, should have an impact on the future expectations of the children involved. The aim of this study was to determine what the perception of the grade seven learners of their future expectations was. From this it would then be possible to derive what recommendations should be made with regard to social work programmes for the parents and children in the Wolmer community. Socio-economic problems that are not addressed cause bad school performance and as a result of this children tend to leave school at an early age. Leaving school at an early age evidently leads to conflict with the police, imprisonment and alcohol and drug abuse. These aspects tend to be a part of the life in Wolmer and ultimately have an influence on the child attaining his or her goals as well as on his or her future expectations. These will have to be addressed by appropriate school programmes. The researcher’s knowledge of this community leads her to the conclusion that the absence of parenting by the parents of these children, their lack of involvement, lack of skill to equip their children adequately for life, their own lack of adequate knowledge as well as lack of a proper value system tends to play a huge part in the behaviour and perception of the adolescent of their own future expectation. In the Wolmer community children that are sometimes advised by their parents not to leave school at an early age, question this because of parents leaving school at an early age in order to co-provide for their families. In cases where children do not have the cognitive ability to change their surroundings, they tend to too fall back in the vicious circle known to them and the generations before them. The child must be motivated and idealistic and be able to make realistic decisions. Because of this it is of the utmost importance that children that do not have the ability with regard to the abovementioned are assisted in doing so. Also that aid programs in future be focused on this in order to empower the new generation. Parents have a huge influence on the choices made by their children. Regardless of social standing and ability adolescents usually have higher ideals for themselves when their parents motivate them as well as give recognition to good work. The researcher unfortunately came to realize that the assistance by their parents, are a very rare phenomenon in this community. Out of the two focus groups being held with the adolescents, it seemed a lack of interest by the parents, lack of information on higher education as well as little financial resources, have a huge impact and influence on the future expectation of the adolescent in Wolmer. It would be the ideal situation if adolescents chose a career that suited their abilities, interests and personality and that would promote a higher self-esteem. Because of their circumstances this is not always possible for the adolescents in this community. These happen in vary rare cases because the parent’s expectations for their children usually fit their expectations for themselves, which is usually very low. Peer group pressure and peer group acceptance have a huge impact on taking responsibility and on the making of choices. In order to have future success individuals can use their problem-solving abilities, mobilise their social support system and become involved in skills that will promote their social capability. The above mentioned should be actively addressed by social workers in the development of programs that focuses on social support, problem-solving skills, peer group acceptance, school involvement and socio-economic adaptation off adolescents in die Wolmer community. By determining the future expectations of the youth, programs for the empowerment of them can be implemented in order to assist the adolescents to break away from the vicious circle of poverty and to reach their ideals. The researcher is of the opinion that is has become of the utmost importance for the resources in this community, to assess their role presently in the promoting of future expectations and as an outcome of this the promotion of economic-self sustainability. / Dissertation (MSW) (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted