M.A. / Community corrections or correctional supervision, which falls under the Department of Correctional Services and was established in 1991 in South Africa, serves as an alternative sentence and to cater for people who are on parole. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of a life skills programme at Johannesburg Community Corrections rendered to probationers by social workers. Probationers are people who have been given a sentence of correctional supervision by the court. The probationers are compelled to attend one of the established programmes, for example, life skills programmes, as one of the conditions of their sentence. Community corrections B-Order (1991: 34) states that programmes are directly focused on the typical problem area or behaviour of the probationer and shall be aimed at: • preventing further crime perpetration; • improving general sense of responsibility; • acquiring social skills; • improving family relations; and • preventing alcohol and drug abuse. The aim of this study was to evaluate a life skills workshop presented by Johannesburg Community Corrections to probationers in 2000. A representative sample of twenty respondents who attended a life skills programme from April to May 2000 was used for this study. The findings indicated that the programme addresses the above-mentioned problem areas for probationers. From the findings of the study, it can be concluded that most of the probationers, after being exposed to the programme, show great improvement when it comes to the acquisition of social skills, a general sense of family responsibility, attitude towards crime, and family relations. They are positive about their future and they perceive the wrongs they have done as a learning experience. The research design was both quantitative and qualitative in nature and an interview schedule was completed for the purpose of data collection. The results of this study indicated that the programme is effective. The majority of the respondents stated that after being exposed to the programme, their perception, attitude, thinking and life style had changed. The programme has to be modified, as it does not address entrepreneurial and business management skills. Furthermore, it does not include entrepreneurial skills training, which would ultimately help and assist probationers to gain employment or to be self-employed through training in terms of being self-reliant and self-employed. / Prof. J.B.S. Nel

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Background: Health risk behaviours can directly affect health outcomes. Healthy behaviours such as exercising and eating sensibly can lower the risk of conditions like heart disease and diabetes, while unhealthy behaviours such as smoking and excessive drinking raise the risk of conditions like lung cancer and liver disease. In a study using two large national data sets, the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey (YRBS) and Add Health, the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that teenagers who consume alcohol or take illicit drugs are more likely to engage in sex, to do so at a younger age, and to have several partners. For adolescents who are 14 years old and younger, consuming alcohol or using drugs doubles and quadruples, respectively, the likelihood that sexual intercourse has ever been experienced compared to adolescents who have never used these substances. A study reported that early onset of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, school problems, delinquency, and physical aggression are significantly associated with early onset of sexual behaviour. Alcohol use in adolescence has also been found to be related to more frequent sexual activity and less frequent use of condoms. Aim: To investigate and explore the effect of a youth development programme (YDP) of combatting health risk behaviours amongst 250 Grade 8 learners in a selected high school in the Paarl area.

The compulsory subject Life Orientation in the school curriculum serves a central role in the socialization of learners into the constitutional imperative of non-discriminatory and democratic values as evidenced by the specific subject aims contained in the CAPS statement. Given the dearth of knowledge in the area of sexuality and the formation of sexual identity through curriculum materials, and framed by the sociological view that sexuality and sexual identity is a social construction, the aim of this study was to investigate the representation/construction of sexualities and sexual identities in a sample of Grade 10 Life Orientation textbooks. The study is informed by critical discourse theory in conjunction with queer theory and examines the vocabulary, grammar and textual structures of language, to expose how representations of sexuality implicitly and explicitly function to a construct and transmit dominant form of sexual identity. A selection of the content of three Life Orientation textbooks was analysed in terms of coverage given to LGBT sexualities and heterosexualities, using a quantitative research approach. The context and quality of those representations was also interrogated using qualitative methods including thematic content analysis and a queer critical discourse analysis to examine the discursive construction of those representations. A standard hegemonic notion of heterosexuality appears to be the all-pervasive and unexamined norm in the Life Orientation textbooks whereas LGBT identities, as revealed by a content and thematic analysis, are virtually invisible. Generally it would appear that Life Orientation textbooks transmit a dominant notion of heterosexuality as the norm, arising out of a common-sense understanding of sexuality which naturalizes a form of heterosexuality that privileges male desire and subordinates women. These underlying ideological meanings are revealed through an examination of the experiential, relational and expressive value of the language such as the lexicalization (connotations and denotations), overlexicalization, classificatory schemes, euphemism and register. Grammatical features for instance active and passive voice, nominalization, modality and the use of logical connectors also serve to bolster a heterosexual sexuality in the Life Orientation textbooks. Frequently, the stated intention of the writers to challenge stereotypes and prejudice would appear to be contradicted or betrayed by the language used and illustrations which further reinforce heterosexuality as a universal norm. Where LGBT identities are mentioned it is usually in the context of human rights, abuse, violation, pathology and emotional disorder.

In this research I explore the attitudes and experiences of teachers and students towards Life Orientation. A case study method was employed based on a co-educational state school in Eldorado Park, South Johannesburg. The study sample was Grade 11 students and their Life Orientation teachers and the research was undertaken using semi-structured interviews of both the students and the teachers as well as classroom observations. The data were analysed using a Thematic Content Analysis. The research found that interactions in Life Orientation classes are influenced by the students’ gender, race and sexual experience which all contributed to a particular set of power relations. Despite this, many of the students found Life Orientation beneficial and the limitations of the classroom interactions could be circumvented if the students entered what Goffman terms the ‘backstage’ of the lesson and spoke to the teacher individually. The success of the backstage interactions depended on the willingness of the students to enter the backstage and the openness of the teacher to deal with their issues. The research found that Life Orientation can be a successful platform for the counselling of young adults, but not in the formal, established structures of the classroom. However, it also found that the teachers did not receive enough support to effectively deal with all the students’ issues. Furthermore, it found that Life Orientation was not able to instigate wider social change.

This study examined the use of an iPhone and List Recorder application to teach three adolescents with autism spectrum disorder to enhance their interpersonal daily living skills in a community setting. Participants were taught to use interpersonal skills to perform an ordering and purchasing task. A multiple probe design across participants was used to demonstrate the effects of the intervention on the participants’ performance. Results indicated an increase in interpersonal skills used in a community setting. Participants were able to generalize these skills to another community setting. Finally, participants were able to demonstrate these skills once the intervention was removed during follow-up. Implications for future research are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Student Number : 9801839H - MA research report - School of Human and Community Development - Faculty of Humanities / The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic has spread throughout the world and its prevalence in sport has received increasing attention. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes and relationship behaviour with respect to HIV and AIDS among athletes participating in contact sport. In addition, this study included a preliminary investigation into whether sport participation facilitates the development of life skills which would act as a buffer against the risky behaviours that increases vulnerability to infection. A self-report questionnaire was specifically constructed to address the aims of the study. The sample comprised of 38 male athletes between the ages of 18 and 30, from the following codes of contact sport: boxing, rugby, and taekwondo in Gauteng. Content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the participants’ responses. The findings indicated that the athletes had a good level of knowledge, but some misconceptions still remain. Attitudes of the athletes appeared to be in favour of mandatory testing and disclosure of one’s status. Positions on the participation of HIV-positive athletes in sport alternated between exclusion on the basis of safety and inclusion so as not to facilitate the proliferation of stigma. Few athletes reported continued involvement in high-risk behaviour, but it was encouraging that the largest part of participants declared exhibiting preventative behaviour. Sport participation was found to have some biopsychosocial impact on participants, which may extend to enhance health-seeking behaviour. Research findings may be fundamental in directing future AIDS prevention efforts within and beyond the sports arena.

This project describes a 12 week pilot program that was designed to offer further resources to the foster youth who are 'aged out' of the foster care system.

Psychological detachment from work during off-job time has great significance in the field of Occupational Health Psychology because it affects the process of work recovery. Recovery from work helps people to achieve a work-life balance that leads to psychological health and general well-being.

Overall, this thesis was designed to explore the nature of adolescent boys' body image, the effects of body image on body change strategies and psychological adjustment, and the factors that influence body image. The first study examined body image in 362 adolescent boys. Body image was considered in terms of attitudes to different body parts and attributes, including, lower, middle and upper body, as well as weight, shape and muscles. The relationships between Body Mass Index (BMI), body image, sociocultural messages, psychological adjustment and body change strategies, including strategies to decrease weight and increase muscles using food and exercise, drive for thinness, bulimic attitudes and behaviour, excessive exercise, food supplements to lose weight, increase muscles and steroids, were also investigated. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the role of body image, sociocultural messages and psychological adjustment to predict satisfaction with different body attributes and body change strategies. The findings from study one led to the development of a program aimed at preventing the development of unhealthy attitudes and behaviours among adolescent boys. Study two involved the implementation and evaluation of this prevention program. One hundred and twenty one boys participated in the program. The program was based on social-cognitive theory, and included a focus on accepting differences and the development of self-esteem. The boys who participated in the program indicated some change in existing attitudes and showed less development of risk behaviours relative to the control group. The implications of the findings from this thesis in relation to future research, as well as the prevention of adolescent boys' body image problems are discussed.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.