This qualitative study aimed to enhance our understanding of youth engagement experiences from the perspective of Aboriginal youth living in the Canadian North, as positive youth development programs can foster community engagement among youth and may have implications for Aboriginal youth involvement in community healing. With an asset-based orientation that recognizes that youths’ strengths co-exist with, and are understood in relation to, environmental challenges, narrative inquiry was used to explore the experiences of six Aboriginal youth who participated in a program that promotes community engagement. Rich participant accounts resulted in better understanding youth engagement as a profound culture-bound process rather than simple participation in a program, and illuminates the importance of positive relationships, adult support, and pre-program community involvement to building subsequent engagement. This study has implications specific to Aboriginal youth as having a role in promoting health and healing in their communities through their engagement.

This research project explores and evaluates the usefulness of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a methodological framework for Educational Psychology consultations with young people. A significant part of the role of an Educational Psychologist (EP) can be to hold consultations with young people in secondary schools who are perceived to be experiencing difficulties or challenges. These difficulties can often prevent young people from engaging positively in the learning opportunities available to them putting them at risk of under achievement and possible exclusion from school. AI is more commonly known as an organisational development methodology, however by drawing explicitly from the philosophical and theoretical paradigms of social constructionism and the social model of disability, this project’s unique contribution to knowledge is to reconfigured AI as a framework to engender the inclusion and participation of young people in identifying positive changes at school. AI is a change methodology that begins with the premise that within any system or organisation there already exist success, positive experiences, and strengths that are life giving and life affirming. The nature of the exploration is centred on uncovering narrative accounts of what is already working in order to inform any future change.The project was based within a secondary school and was designed specifically to run concurrently with an ‘in house’ programme of support run by the school’s Learning Mentor, so that data from the AI consultations could be used to inform and support the work of the Learning Mentor. The findings (both content and process) indicated that AI consultations with students can support their inclusion and participation. Students identified change through co-constructing alternative narratives that challenged the ‘authority’ view of the students’ difficulties. The process of using AI as a methodology in this way is described as a multidirectional cycle (differing from traditional AI cycles which are presented as unidirectional). Being fluid, flexible and emancipatory the AI consultation framework is considered both useful and appropriate in providing an epistemological basis for Educational Psychology practice.

M.A. / The aim of this study was to examine how the members of Agape came to construct themselves as a healing community. An ecosystemic epistemology and social constructionism were used as a lens by which to view the events unfolding at Agape Healing Community and to illuminate how meanings, expressed through language and ritual, are negotiated and shared. Discourse analysis was used as an analytical tool to infer meaning from the participants’ speaking and to locate these discourses in the fabric that constitutes South African society.

This study can be seen as an exploration of the contributions (or lack thereof) made from various schools of family therapy with regards to culture, and, as an augmentation to the current literature, through articulating a South African Indian Muslim family narrative. It commences with a review of the academic literature, comprising of the studies and general approaches taken towards the subject matter of culture and family therapy within this field. The study thereafter offers a description of the epistemological framework from which the author is operating which can be seen as a combination of second-order cybernetics and social constructionism. This serves to familiarize readers with the frame of reference that has guided the approach to this study as it impacts significantly on the manner in which research is conducted. A detailed discussion of the research approach adopted in this study thus ensues. The research approach assumes a postmodern flavour and can be regarded as alternate paradigm research. The study also engages in an examination of the various discourses or schools of thought that have provided the predominant epistemological orientations within the field of family therapy. These are the systemic, first and second order cybernetics, constructivist, social constructionist and narrative approaches. The core characteristics of these discourses are critically described and their associated ramifications for culture are explored. Finally, the study attempts to articulate a South African Indian Muslim family narrative. In doing so, it draws on a number of combined resources. The primary source of data is in the form of personal narratives that are extracted from the author's own experiences and observations of being a member of this specific cultural group. This data is supplemented with community narratives regarding the family. These narratives are extrapolated through participant observation in a community setting. The main themes that emerge from both sources are then utilized as areas of discussion. At the same time, these narratives reflect specific cultural and religious discourses as the latter is threaded into the fabric of the former. The main areas of discussion involve family structure, cohesion, role allocation, communication, hierarchy and life cycle. Those academic narratives which are considered to be applicable and relevant are applied to the data where necessary, thereby highlighting features of significance and illuminating points of convergence and contrast. The author also attempts to explore the systems of meaning that may inform the patterns in the family. / Thesis (MA (Clinical Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Psychology / unrestricted

This thesis examines if there is any differences in how gender is produced in the Administrative Court’s application of care of young persons (special provisions) act. To do that, we’ve studied 40 judgements that all has the requirement “social destructive behavior”. A social destructive behavior means that the young’s behavior is considered to differ from the basic norms in the society. The deviant behavior may be that the young person socialize in inappropriate environments or through the behavior exposes the young’s health and development. The judgements we’ve been studying are from 2017 and 1996, because we want to see if the discourse has possibly changed over the past twenty years. We’ve used a qualitative method, the critical discursive analyze, to visualize power structures regarding the construction of gender. The thesis is based on the theories social constructionism, discourse analysis and gender theory. By using these method, theories and data, we can note that differences are made between gender and sexuality.

The study explored the narratives of three adoptive couples. The participants were selected using criterion based convenience and snowball sampling. The adoptive couples’ data was captured through written narratives and/or individual or joint semi-structured interviews. The data was then analysed by means of thematic analysis conducted from the perspective of second order cybernetics. The results note the participants’ experiences of their infertility threatened their functioning as a couple. However, this threat to the couples’ functioning was limited by the adoptions through two means. First, the adoptions limited the couples’ communication about their infertility. Second, the adoptions allowed the couples to continue functioning as a couple dedicated to the goal of becoming parents. Differences between the participant couples’ experiences surrounded their interactions with social workers; their selection of support structures; their interaction with external systems; as well as their anxiety towards the individuation of the adopted child. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Opioid overdose deaths have impacted the lives of countless Canadians at unprecedented rates and have taken the lives of over 19,000 people since 2016, over 4,000 of those deaths occurred in 2017. The overdose crisis has been repeatedly represented in the media and how the issues are represented by key stakeholders is an area left primarily unresearched. Online news media articles stemming from International Overdose Awareness Day in 2017 were collected and methodologically reviewed via Critical discourse analysis to answer the following: What messages, and from which key stakeholders, how key stakeholders challenged or accepted constructions of substances and PWUD, and how messages converged and/or diverged amongst key stakeholders. Loved Ones most the most cited, then Frontline Providers, followed by Experiential People, Government Officials, and Indigenous People the least. Themes that emerged included the Stigma Experience, Sharing Experience of Grief, Loss, and Substance Use, and Problems and Solutions. Competing and divergent views also presented themselves through the stakeholder voices and often revolved around similar goals but different approaches. The voices in the media for International Overdose Awareness Day advocated and disrupted pre-conceived notions yet also contributed to constructions directly connected to the stigma and oppression PWUD face. / Graduate

This qualitative study explores the relationship between a childless married couple and their dog by looking at this phenomenon through a social constructionistic viewpoint. Human animal interaction has been studied in various different research scenarios, where this interaction was seen as enhancing health or well being in both the human and animal. This study focused on a more “human” role that an animal could play in the lives of people by becoming a family member and how this role affects the family as a whole. The research was conducted to determine whether a childless married couple could experience a fulfilling caring relationship with a dog within this formed family unit. Four elements that are commonly found in a caring relationship were identified and looked at as to whether they can also be found in the relationship that develops between a childless married couple and their dog. The four elements, love, attachment, need fulfilment and ritualisation also formed the broad predetermined themes investigated in this study. The participants were requested to complete an open-ended questionnaire in which the questions explored the relationship between the married couple and their dog. The data received from these questionnaires was then analysed through content analysis by using the predetermined themes as a framework but also allowing further themes and sub themes to develop from the research data. The participants indicated that they experienced the fulfilment of various needs in the relationship they have with their dog. This need fulfilment included the need for a family, the need for companionship, the need to be needed and the need for gratitude. Ritualisation occurred in the form of disciplinary methods and various set activities like fixed eating, sleeping and grooming times. The participants viewed their relationship with their dog as one that is formed out of mutual love and attachment. The feeling of love was expressed through companionship, trust and physical contact as well as the use of nicknames for their dog and by showing pride in their dog. A strong attachment also existed between the participants and their dogs. This attachment could be seen in the participants’ holiday arrangements that were usually made to accommodate the dog as well as the fact that they missed their dogs and believed their dogs to have also missed them when they were separated. They could become so attached to each other that they might experience separation anxiety and grief at the loss or the thought of losing their dogs. The four elements of caring were thus found in the relationship between a childless married couple and their dog. The existence of these elements suggests that a caring relationship can be formed between a childless married couple and their dog. This caring relationship can have positive emotional and physical influences on both the people and their dogs. / Dissertation (M (Research Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Psychology / unrestricted

In this study I qualitatively explore how women who choose not to have children account for this choice in the South African context. I consider the reasons for women to remain childfree and the changing discourses of femininity that enable women to make the choice not to have children. I am also concerned with the possible implications of this choice for women’s interpersonal relationships. This study is conducted from a feminist social constructionist framework. Dominant discourses of femininity revolve around motherhood, which is considered to be the most important role. Motherhood is believed to be a “natural” identity. Mothers are highly regarded in most societies; they are perceived to be devoted to the care of others and to be self-sacrificing. Although most societies consider motherhood to be an essential feature of femininity, it can also cause ambivalent feelings and not all women wish to take on the role of motherhood. The number of women who choose to remain childfree is growing in various societies. Women increasingly have the power to choose whether they want to remain childfree. Through resisting discourses that meld femininity with motherhood, childfree women create alternative discourses that have the potential to change constructions of femininity. I used feminist social constructionism to endeavour to understand the ways in which women’s realities inform their decision not to have children. I also explore how society serves to either problematise or promote this decision. Finally, I attempt to gain a deeper understanding of how being female and childfree impacts on women’s beliefs about themselves. Interview data from semi-structured interviews conducted with women who choose to remain childfree are analysed using thematic analysis. The women interviewed were white and middle class and were found via convenience and snowball sampling. The women participating in the study report various reasons for remaining childfree. Freedom from childcare responsibility and the resulting greater opportunity for self3 fulfilment is shown to be one of the strongest reasons for remaining childfree. Other important reasons include unequal labour division in the family, concerns about the physical aspects of childbirth and recovery, life partners’ acceptance of the choice to remain childfree as well as early socialising experiences. Other reasons cited less frequently include the negative impact of childrearing on women’s emotional well-being, concerns regarding the overpopulation of the planet and a general dislike of children. Two of the themes identified in the text are not evident in the existing literature. The first of these relates to the fact that the women participating in the study do not regard motherhood as the central feature of femininity. Instead, they tend to associate femininity with the act of nurturing, rather than with the act of mothering. These women are able to strongly identify with the female role, as they do not believe that choosing to remain childfree conflicts with their female gender role. The second theme relates to the belief that the world is an evil or unsafe place and that it is therefore better to remain childfree. This belief appears to be context dependent and is based on the women’s perceptions of the crime situation in South Africa. This study contributes to the expansion of the existing literature concerning childfree women, specifically within the South African context. The findings of the research support the findings of previous studies and offer a fresh perspective through the identification of new themes. By exploring reasons women cite for remaining childfree, I argue that some women refute motherhood. The challenging of the dominant discourse that “all women are mothers” is aimed at changing the dialogue about women and thus altering existing dominant discourses. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted

Stories about HIV are everywhere. They are told (i.e. constructed), heard (i.e. taken in) and then re-told (i.e. shared). It is when we start asking questions about such stories, that new story "versions" become available; to be told, heard and possibly retold. Given the methodological boundaries connected to HIV research, few research studies are able to utilize the research context to venture beyond the mere collection (i.e. hearing) and re-telling (i.e. sharing) of story experiences. As a result, the hidden, alternative story "versions" which are "awakened" during the research process, may remain untold. Over the course of 4 months, the researcher utilized the existing dialogical space of the therapy context, as a practical platform for researching the dominant, as well as the "absent but implicit" meaning of HIV. Through ongoing dialogical interaction, this research journey set out, to not only hear the dominant stories told about HIV, but also to explore the hidden, preferred alternative story "versions". An adolescent girl living with HIV acquired through mother-to-child transmission, collaborated with the researcher to engage in this journey of therapeutic co-research. With this narrative report, I invite you to become an audience member to this unfolding journey. Throughout this report, I used the word "journey" as a guiding metaphor, situating the act of meaning making as a collaborative ongoing process of co-research, rather than a collection of facts. This research report is a narrative in itself and is subdivided into three parts. Part I includes all chapters written before my journey with the adolescent as co-researcher; part II includes all aspects related to our journey as co-researchers; and part III involves the time period after our journey as co-researchers. In part I, chapter 1, I introduce you to my way of speaking (i.e. narrative language), grounded in my way of seeing (i.e. social constructionist paradigm). In chapter 2, I shared with you my own narrative in making sense of HIV through personal reflective journal entries. By doing so, I acknowledge that I, researcher and therapist also tell stories about HIV through my statements, questions and everyday actions and interactions. In chapter 3, I reviewed academic literature in an attempt to research how adolescent HIV is "authored" (narrated) to the public by various academic discourses. In chapter 4, I reviewed narrative research studies of illness stories, relevant to adolescent HIV. Hereafter I stated my research question, justification, aim, and objectives. In chapter 5, I provide an overview of the research process, as was undertaken for the purpose this journey. In part II, I introduce you to "Gabby" (pseudonym), my co-researcher and co-author of this narrative report. Gabby regularly received ART at the paediatric out-patient unit at Kalafong Tertiary Provincial Hospital at the time of our interaction. In chapter 6, I describe the project phase (chapter6), alongside Gabby's participation. The project phase was situated within a narrative social constructionist frame. It consisted of two sub-phases as a means to transform the therapeutic context to one of therapeutic co-research. The first sub-phase stretched over the course of 3 months as Gabby participated in the Collaborative Storybook Development (CSD) project. The CSD project was based on the narrative therapeutic work of Freedman and Combs (1996) on story construction and development. Each session was video recorded for the purpose of co-reflective discussion during the second sub-phase. Focussed co-reflection sessions formed the second sub-phase, which took place once a week and stretched across an additional 1 month period. The aim of this sub-phase was to collaboratively review how storytelling was employed to make sense of HIV throughout the CSD project. Over the course of four months, the project phase allowed for in-depth co-research into the meaning of HIV. Part III documents the time period following our journey as co-researchers. Chapter 7 is a reintegration (telling) of the new knowledge and practical wisdom constructed during the project phase. Such "telling" is done in the form of a storybook. Chapter 8 sheds some light on the narrative practice of reincorporation (sharing). This involved the sharing of new knowledge with audiences outside of the co-research dyad. In chapter 9, I discussed the ethical considerations undertaken in this research. This is followed by a discussion on the shortcomings and limitations of this journey. Based on the practical wisdom gained from this journey, recommendations are made for future endeavours. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted