Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The current South African mental health context can be described as skewed in favour of the predominantly white, paying clientele in the private sector. The mental health needs of the predominantly poor, black population and people in rural areas are consequently left unmet. Community psychology is identified as a suitable approach to providing relevant psychological services to the South African population. However there are many structural barriers to the efficient practice of community psychology, which is further compounded by misconceptions and discouraging connotations attached to this field of practice. The overarching aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of registered psychologists regarding different aspects of community psychology. A further aim was to explore the current practice patterns of registered clinical, counselling, research and educational psychologists in the Cape Winelands district. A postal survey was undertaken, which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative components. A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to all psychologists in the Cape Winelands district who have been registered with the Professional Board of Psychology of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for at least three years. The data was analysed using frequencies and descriptive statistics as well as content analysis. In this study psychologists raised diverse opinions about community psychology, barriers to service delivery, service providers and users of such services. It appears that despite numerous calls for a more relevant psychology in the South African context, psychologists maintain a preference for the private practice setting. Suggestions were also made for changes so that the provision of community-based psychological services could be more attractive for mental health professionals in South Africa.

To study what stereotypes exist regarding psychologists by the general public and determine whether and how this affects hiring preferences, 114 undergraduate business and non-business students at a large southwestern university were asked to participate. The Gough Adjective Check List was administered to determine what stereotypes are held by persons regarding psychologists. A study of visual perception/stereotype and hiring preference as a function of attire was also conducted. Three dress styles were used as stimuli. It was hypothesized that the groups would differ in their stereotypes of psychologists both cognitively and visually. There were no significant differences between the groups as a function of college major. However, a main effect for dress style was found. Possible explanations of findings are discussed.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-05-22T12:03:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Reimy Solange Chagas.pdf: 17867617 bytes, checksum: 998506b0d0df979241cf1de88403888b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-22T12:03:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Reimy Solange Chagas.pdf: 17867617 bytes, checksum: 998506b0d0df979241cf1de88403888b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This research aims to reflect about the absence of multicultural knowledges in the psychologists training, having as an initial reference the history and development of brazilian psychology, where the predominance of professionals from the medical and human sciences delineated and instituted practices based on psychometric and clinical interventionist models. These, in turn, were consolidated as vigorously disseminated discourses, with the purpose of meeting demands aimed at adequacy and developmental social projects, outlining a panorama politically biased by disputes over scientific monopoly in their teaching. The brazilian historical and sociopolitical conjuncture between the 1960s and the 2000s marked indelibly the psychology training, requiring contextualization in the profession intrumentality, regarding their theoreticalmethodological, technical-operational and ethical-political aspects. However, the exponential development of higher education in accordance with neoliberalist commercial logic compromised the quality of this training, whose implications compose the theoretical-methodological framework included in the polysemic concept of the curriculum. Training and curriculum are imbricated concepts, since they concern the theoretical-methodological approaches of the teaching-learning process and his potency as a political-educational instrument, respectively. Therefore, the psycho-political issues underlying the precept of social commitment of psychology require that the curriculum of this formation be consonant and dialogical with the social reality, since isn’t neutral, enunciates speeches, reveals places and has relations of know-power. Nowadays, the post-critical curricular approach is representative of this perspective because it also guides multiculturalism. This refers to the policies of (re) knowledge of cultural diversity, as well as the asymmetries, hierarchies and inequalities that cover and derive from the concept of culture, intrinsic to the term. In the educational field it is related to the decoloniality of knowledge and as one of the elements of innovation in higher education. Because the concept of culture is relatively absent in the curriculum in a way articulated with praxis in psychology, we try to present ethnopsychiatry as an interdisciplinary approach that studies psychics phenomena and their vicissitudes due to the diverse ethnic-cultural groups to which the individuals belong and through the theoretical-methodological articulation between psychism and culture / A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo refletir sobre a ausência de conhecimentos multiculturais na formação de psicólogos (as), tendo como referência inicial a história e o desenvolvimento da psicologia brasileira, onde a predominância de profissionais das áreas médicas e ciências humanas delinearam e instituíram práticas baseadas em modelos intervencionistas psicométricos e clínicos. Estes, por sua vez, se consolidaram como discursos vigorosamente difundidos, com vistas a atender demandas voltadas à adequação e a projetos sociais desenvolvimentistas, delineando um panorama enviesado politicamente pelas disputas por monopólio científico em seu ensino. A conjuntura histórica e sociopolítica brasileira entre os anos de 1960 até os anos 2000 marcou indelevelmente a formação em psicologia, exigindo contextualização na instrumentalidade da profissão referente aos seus aspectos teóricometodológicos, técnico-operacionais e ético-políticos. Porém, o desenvolvimento exponencial do ensino superior em conformidade com lógicas mercantis neoliberalistas, comprometeu a qualidade desta formação, cujas implicações compõem o arcabouço teórico-metodológico presente na polissemia do conceito de currículo. Formação e currículo são conceitos imbricados, pois dizem respeito às abordagens teórico-metodológicas do processo de ensinoaprendizagem e à sua potência como instrumento político-educacional, respectivamente. Deste modo, as questões psicopolíticas subjacentes ao preceito de compromisso social da psicologia exigem que o currículo da sua formação seja consonante e dialógico com a realidade social, haja vista que não é neutro, enuncia discursos, revela lugares e dispõe relações de saber-poder. Na atualidade, a abordagem curricular pós-crítica é representativa desta perspectiva pelo fato de pautar, além disto, o multiculturalismo. Este se refere às políticas de (re) conhecimento da diversidade cultural, bem como das assimetrias, hierarquizações e desigualdades que abrangem e decorrem do conceito de cultura, intrínseco ao termo. No campo educacional se relaciona com a decolonialidade dos saberes e como um dos elementos de inovação no ensino superior. Pelo fato de o conceito de cultura estar relativamente ausente no currículo de maneira articulada com as práxis em psicologia, busca-se apresentar a etnopsiquiatria como uma abordagem interdisciplinar, que estuda fenômenos psíquicos e as suas vicissitudes em função dos diversos grupos étnico-culturais aos quais os indivíduos pertencem e através da articulação teóricometodológica entre psiquismo e cultura

The technology acceptance model (TAM) has been widely used to assess technology adoption in business, education, and health care. The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) launched a web-based Individualized Educational Program (IEP) system for school psychologists to use in conducting evaluations and reviews. This quantitative study examined the relationship between school psychologists' TAM factors associated with the web-based IEP system's perceived usability and usefulness measured by a TAM Instrument with individual job performance assessed by the Job Performance Ratings Measure. A random sample of 69 NYCDOE school psychologists participated in this study, and a regression analysis addressed the research questions. The results showed no positive effects of perceived ease of use in job performance. In addition, there were no positive effects of perceived usefulness in job performance. The results of this study might benefit administrators and districts to see the need to explore additional resources. As ease of use and usefulness are vital to technology acceptance, providing resources to school psychologists are key to the overall success of the IEP process. Future research should take a qualitative approach to illuminate why and how school psychologists accept technology, especially when it involves the IEP process.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2007. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 19, 2008). Thesis advisor: Schuyler Huck. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to determine school psychologists' current level of knowledge about Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), their training and comfort level with that training, their roles and practices in assessing, diagnosing, and treating children and adolescents with ADHD, and their attitudes toward the disorder and those with it. An original survey (see Appendix B) developed for this purpose was distributed to 700 systematically selected members of the National Association of School Psychology (NASP) who were currently practicing in the public schools. A total of 406 usable surveys were returned for a final response rate of 58%.Overall school psychologists are confident in their abilities to deliver services (consultation, assessment, and intervention) to students with ADHD. Respondents underestimated the rate of comorbidity of ADHD with other psychiatric disorders but overestimated the percentage of students with ADHD who also have a learning disability. Respondents most often mentioned diagnosis or identification of the disorder as their goal for assessment of possible ADHD. However, in their rankings of specific goals, respondents ranked the development of appropriate interventions as more important than the diagnosis of the disorder. The most often used standardized tests for ADHD referrals are questionnaires (for parents, teachers, and students) and drawings. Most (57%) school psychologists agreed that they do not determine the diagnosis of ADHD, but rather refer to a medical doctor. A Specific Learning Disability is the most often used special education category for students with ADHD who qualify, followed somewhat closely by Other Health Impaired, then by Emotionally Handicapped. Only 14 percent of the school psychologists surveyed stated that every student with ADHD who did not qualify for special education was considered for accommodations under Section 504. More respondents (83%) agreed that teachers often press to have their problem students diagnosed with ADHD than agreed that parents often press (55%). The majority of respondents (74%) agreed that ADHD is overdiagnosed. However, there was disagreement as to whether stimulant medications were used more often than necessary to treat ADHD. Implications of these findings for school psychologists and for future research are discussed. / Department of Educational Psychology

Increasing violence in the work environment created a need for an effective intervention to debrief traumatised workers. The aim of this study is to compile a profile of an effective trauma debriefer that can be used as a criterion for the selection of trauma debriefers. The task description of the trauma debriefer is based on the literature studied. The profile of the trauma debriefer was compiled using the characteristics of a self-actualised person, as described by the Humanism, as well as the skills based on Ivey's Microskills Hierarchy Model. Structured, non-directive interviews were conducted with five experts on the training of trauma debriefers. A qualitative analysis was made of the interviews, based on the personality characteristics and skills identified in the literature. A profile of an effective trauma debriefer that can be used as criterion during the selection of trauma debriefers, was compiled. Conclusions and recommendations were made and limitations were identified. / Toenemende geweld in die werksomgewing het gelei tot 'n behoefte aan 'n koste- effektiewe intervensie vir die ontlonting van getraumatiseerde vverkers. Die doei van die navorsing is die samestelling van 'n profiel van 'n effektiewe traumaontlonter, ten einde die profiel as kriterium vir die keuring van traumaontlonters te gebruik. Die taakbeskrywing van 'n traumaontlonter, gebaseer op relevante literatuur, is opgestel. Die profiel van 'n effektiewe traumaontlonter is aan die hand van die persoonlikheidskenmerke van die selfaktualiserende persoon, soos vervat in die Humanism©, en die vaardighede, gebaseer op Ivey se Mikrovaardighede Hierargiese Model, saamgestel. Gerigte, nie-direktiewe onderhoude is met vyf kundiges op die gebied van opleiding van traumaontlonters, gevoer. Die onderhoude is kwalitatief ontleed aan die hand van die persoonlikheidskenmerke en vaardighede vanuit die literatuur. 'n Profiel, wat as kriterium vir die keuring van effektiewe traumaontlonters gebruik kan word, is saamgestel. Gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings is gemaak en beperkinge is geidentifiseer. / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

M.A. / Professional identity development of counselling psychologists in South-Africa occurs through seven (and possibly eight) phases of professional development. Phases of professional development are necessary when one attempts to establish optimal levels of professional identity development for counselling psychologists in terms of their experience and training. Using these phases, counselling psychologists may be compared in each development phase to ascertain his/her development or the lack thereof. The phases also serve as guidelines for both the training personnel and the counselling psychologist, enabling them to affect certain changes or modifications in order to optimise professional development for the counselling psychologist. The benefits of optimised development should not be underestimated. The objective of this comparative research study was to ascertain the extent of similarities found in the professional development phases, as postulated by Skovholt and Ronnestad (1995) and the results of the current research study. The eight phases are the conventional phase, transition to professional training phase, imitation of experts phase, conditional autonomy phase, exploration phase, integration phase, individuation phase and the integrity phase. The research strategy consists of a qualitative analysis of responses obtained from a structured interview. Analysis is made possible by way of a replication strategy together with the use of a matrix. The matrix consists of eight categories used by Skovholt and Ronnestad (1995) to describe the relevant developmental phase and to regulate the responses. After describing and allocating the responses according to the categories of the matrix, a storyline is derived by use of an iteration process. Themes become apparent which outline the developmental path across the eight proposed professional developmental phases. Both the categories and the themes are compared to those proposed by Skovholt and Ronnestad (1995). Great similarity was found. The differences and themes derived from this study can also be used as hypotheses for further research.

Industrial and organisational (I-O) psychology is a profession which entails a broad spectrum of working activities. One of these activities is workplace counselling which forms a significant part of the internship programme. However, interns often lack the necessary skills to provide counselling. In order to function in a counselling role, the I-O psychologist should have the necessary training to be equipped with counselling skills. It is evident from previous studies that I-O psychology practitioners often feel they lack the ability to counsel individuals sufficiently. Therefore it is important for I-O psychology students to focus on their development to become effective counsellors by focussing on their inter- and intrapersonal skills as part of the skills package as a counsellor. Personal Growth Initiative (PGI) is one way of measuring a person’s intrapersonal skills in terms of the individual’s intention to change and grow. The main aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of PGI among I-O psychology students. Participation in this study was limited to I-O psychology students (N = 568). The students differed in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, and language. The results provided the researcher with an indication of what the students’ intention to grow and develop as an individual entails in order to provide a basis for further research, namely to develop a training programme for I-O psychology students as workplace counsellors.. The PGI of the students were measured by means of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS). This is a nine-item instrument with a six-point Likert type scale ranging from 0 (definitely disagree) to 6 (definitely agree). The results indicated that PGI is prevalent among the I-O psychology students. Furthermore, the study showed that PGI is relevant to all gender and ethnic groups amongst I-O psychology students. Significant differences were found for the different ages and languages. From the results it is recommended that higher education institutions adapt training programmes to foster personal growth initiative amongst I-O psychology students. Future research can also make use of the PGIS-II to measure PGI as this is the latest version of the construct. In terms of the organisation it is recommended that I-O practitioners should be more growth focussed. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Industrial and organisational (I-O) psychology is a profession which entails a broad spectrum of working activities. One of these activities is workplace counselling which forms a significant part of the internship programme. However, interns often lack the necessary skills to provide counselling. In order to function in a counselling role, the I-O psychologist should have the necessary training to be equipped with counselling skills. It is evident from previous studies that I-O psychology practitioners often feel they lack the ability to counsel individuals sufficiently. Therefore it is important for I-O psychology students to focus on their development to become effective counsellors by focussing on their inter- and intrapersonal skills as part of the skills package as a counsellor. Personal Growth Initiative (PGI) is one way of measuring a person’s intrapersonal skills in terms of the individual’s intention to change and grow. The main aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of PGI among I-O psychology students. Participation in this study was limited to I-O psychology students (N = 568). The students differed in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, and language. The results provided the researcher with an indication of what the students’ intention to grow and develop as an individual entails in order to provide a basis for further research, namely to develop a training programme for I-O psychology students as workplace counsellors.. The PGI of the students were measured by means of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS). This is a nine-item instrument with a six-point Likert type scale ranging from 0 (definitely disagree) to 6 (definitely agree). The results indicated that PGI is prevalent among the I-O psychology students. Furthermore, the study showed that PGI is relevant to all gender and ethnic groups amongst I-O psychology students. Significant differences were found for the different ages and languages. From the results it is recommended that higher education institutions adapt training programmes to foster personal growth initiative amongst I-O psychology students. Future research can also make use of the PGIS-II to measure PGI as this is the latest version of the construct. In terms of the organisation it is recommended that I-O practitioners should be more growth focussed. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015