Text in Afrikaans / Practical research has shown that children experiencing learning restraints may suffer from high stress levels. These children encounter difficulty adapting to normal scholastic challenges and their performance often appear marginalised. The objective of this study is to explore the phenomenon of stress experienced by three eleven year old learners with learning restraints in the intermediate phase. The literature study on this topic has shown that learning restraints not only affect a child scholastically, but in his entire being. Based on this understanding, learning restraints may cause stress due to habitual underachievement in the learning environment. These learners might not necessarily have extremely poor cognitive abilities, but perceive themselves as incompetent or "dumb". In the empirical study, projection techniques were mainly utilised to determine stress levels experienced by learning restrained learners, from their internal frame of reference. From these findings, certain recommendations are proposed for psychotherapy. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counseling)

In die konteks van hierdie studie word daar deurlopend van die manlike vorm gebruik gemaak om na die kleuter te verwys, ten einde 'n lomp stelwyse te voorkom. Die vroulike vorm sou ook daarmee veronderstel en ingesluit kon word. Die vroulike vorm word gebruik wanneer daar na die moeder verwys word. / Merkbare verandering word soms in die kleuter se gedrag, emosies en verhoudings na die geboorte van `n baba waargeneem. Die doel van die kwalitatiewe studie was om die moeder se persepsie, belewenis en hantering van hierdie aanpassingsprobleme van die kleuter te verken. Semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude is met nege moeders gevoer. Uit die studie het dit duidelik geword dat onkunde ten opsigte van die ontwikkelingsfase van die kleuter, asook die aanpassingsprobleme aanleiding tot foutiewe persepsies by die moeder gegee het. Hierdie foutiewe persepsies het `n negatiewe invloed op die moeder se belewenis en hantering van die aanpassingsprobleme gehad. Die navorser het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat moeders betrek moet word vir ouerleiding wanneer aanpassingsprobleme by die kleuter aangemeld word. Verskeie aanbevelings wat van waarde kan wees tydens ouerleiding aan moeders van kleuters is deur die navorser gemaak. / The birth of a sibling often results in a toddler displaying changes in behaviour, emotions and relationships. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the mother's perception, experiences, as well as coping strategies of the toddler's adaptation problems, following the birth of a sibling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine mothers. The study revealed that the mother's lack of knowledge and understanding of the developmental phase of the toddler, as well as the adaptation problems, manifested in misconceptions. These misconceptions affected her experiences of the adaptation problems, as well as how she managed it. The researcher concluded that mothers should be referred for parental guidance when adaptation problems are reported. Various recommendations to be used within parental guidance have been made. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Spelterapie-Rigting)

A family is a basic unit of society. Among the many functions that are performed by a family, is the task of providing for its children's needs while simultaneously transmitting the society's way of life. The functioning of the family takes place through a parent-child relationship. It is therefore significant for the family to carry out parental tasks in order to give a sense of security, a sense of companion and belonging, a sense of responsibility, sense of purpose and direction to its members. Although there are many factors that pose a threat to family functioning, the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be underestimated. As the disease has advanced over time, it has negatively impinged on the children's lives. Children are losing their parents to HIV/AIDS opportunistic illnesses and this has resulted in the burgeoning of child-headed households. The phenomenon of a child-headed household presents a shift from a structural family since a significant subsystem of a family (i.e the parental subsystem) is non-existent. The study presents an in-depth investigation into the social functioning of a child-headed household. The aim was to come to a better understanding about issues that surround households that are headed by children. The social institutions with whom the household co-exists have been scrutinised in order to determine the ways in which these institutions impact upon the social functioning of child-headed households. The study highlights that child-headed households are a deviation from the norm and they create a situation where needs of children are unmet and their rights are eroded. The role of social work in mobilising resources to meet the unmet needs and championing for the rights of the children has been investigated. Case studies of ten families were conducted in the three districts of KwaZulu-Natal an area in South Africa that has widely been reported as hardest hit by the pandemic. A research team was constituted which designed a protocol for conducting case studies and collected data. Social workers also participated in the study with an aim of exploring guidelines for social service delivery with regard to a child-headed household. The study found that children are increasingly exposed to aspects of multiple care-giving through lack of parental care and a changing family structure. It was also revealed that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is shattering children's lives and reversing many hard won children's rights. In spite of the transition in the family life cycle, the family remains the central institution in the children's lives. The scourge of HIV/AIDS poses a great challenge to society. Children are left on their own without visible means of support. The problems of children develop into great magnitude in spite of policies that are in place. The findings of the study point to implications for a practice model that is aimed at co-ordinating services for effective service delivery. The researcher has presented suggested guidelines based on the findings of the study. These guidelines include the role of social work in ensuring that the social functioning of the children in child-headed households is enhanced and that social justice for these children is promoted. A protocol for intervention in child-headed households is provided. This would ensure that interventions in bringing about desired change in the lives of the children, produce sustainable results on a significant scale. / Social work / D. Phil.(Social Work)

Ethiopia faces large and growing numbers of child household heads, mainly due to AIDS-related parental deaths. Many of them are vulnerable to abuse and are forced to look after themselves and their siblings, drop out of school and find work. This exploratory study employed qualitative research methods using purposive sampling. The aim was to ascertain how child household heads affected by AIDS adapted to changed life circumstances. The study entailed fieldwork for five weeks in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where evidence was gathered from 10 selected households headed by children (aged 12 to18), their siblings and key informants. It was found that all the children in the study are in dismal living conditions although some reported feelings of satisfaction and happiness. The need to provide special recognition and support to child household heads and their siblings by policy makers and service providers in Ethiopia is highlighted. / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS) / Social Work

This research aimed to reflect upon the experiences of children in middle childhood regarding economically unstable circumstances within the family system. The theoretical underpinnings of this study were the ecological systems theory as proposed by Bronfenbrenner, the family systems theory as well as the field theory within the gestalt paradigm. Exploratory, qualitative research design with instrumental case studies was used during this research and data collection was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews with randomly sampled participants and their parents. The researcher interviewed 16 individual children, consisting of seven male and nine female participants. The focus group consisted of seven parents, consisting of two male and five female participants. The researcher arrived at a conclusion that children are indeed influenced by the world wide economic turmoil. The researcher found that children experience the impact of economic instability in various contexts within their field of existence. They experience the effects of economic instability within the household as changes to daily luxuries are visible, conflict between parents increase and they experience an escalation in peer pressure to keep up with the financial expectations of their peers. The researcher is therefore of the opinion that the extent to which the economic unstable circumstances influence and affect children can easily be overlooked. In the absence of voicing the experiences of children, they cannot be fully understood and the researcher recommends that significant role players, such as parents and teachers should be assisted and guided to understand and support their children in a changing world. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

This study examines stresses experienced by primary school learners with learning problems in inclusive classrooms in an Independent School. Literature suggests that learners with learning problems experience more academic, emotional and social difficulties at school than do their peers without learning problems. The Transactional Model of stress was used as a point of departure for the qualitative empirical study to understand stress as it is experienced by three Grade 4 learners. Several school stresses were identified which contributed to unmet emotional and social needs. The three central sources of stress were classified as S1 (Inability to meet perceived/anticipated demand), S2 (Overload – too much expected) and S3 (Selfexpectations not met). The learners’ own suggestions regarding the relief of these stresses were examined and contributed to guidelines to assist teachers in relieving these stresses experienced by learners with learning problems in the inclusive classroom. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Text in English / A modem "disease", stress is a universal and eternal problem in the pedagogic situation, where the child becomes an aduh, under adult supervision. Stress - a feeling of pressure or strain - is a problem for contemporary South African children, who automatically respond to stressors (causes of stress), in the same way as children of the past, since human beings have not changed psychobiologically over the millennia. Our bodies and minds should return to a calm state, after our initial stress reaction, but we often remain under stress, which results in emotional/ physical symptoms of distress. Yet history has shown that children can be helped to handle stress, making it a stimulus for growth. Although past societies were not directly conscious of the concept of stress, they taught coping mechanisms to their children. Some of these are generally valid, and provide us with solutions to the problem of stress in the pedagogic situation. / Die modeme "siekte", stres, is eintlik 'n universele en altyddurende probleem in die pedagogiese situasie - die· situasie waar die kind besig is om onder volwasse begeleiding 'n volwassene te word. Stres - 'n gevoel van druk en oorspanning - is 'n probleem vir hedendaagse Suid-Afrikaanse kinders wat maar, net soos die kinders in die verlede, outomaties reageer op "stressors" (faktore wat stres veroorsaak). Die afgelope millenniums het immers bewys dat die mens nie psigobiologies verander het nie. Ons liggaam en gees behoort mstig te word na 'n aanvanklike stres reaksie. Die probleem is dat ons meestal onder stres bly leef met emosionele/ psigiese simptome van angs as die resultaat daarvan. Tog het die geskiedenis bewys dat kinders gehe]p kan word om stres te hanteer en dit eerder as 'n stimulus vir ontwikkeling te benut. Ten spyte van die feit dat samelewings in die verlede nie so bewus was van die konsep van stres nie, het hulle tog sekere tegnieke aan hulle kinders oorgedra om hulle te he]p om hulle stres te hanteer. Sommige van hierdie tegnieke is algemeen geldig en voorsien ons dus van oplossings vir die probleem van stres in die pedagogiese situasie. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Studies)

A family is a basic unit of society. Among the many functions that are performed by a family, is the task of providing for its children's needs while simultaneously transmitting the society's way of life. The functioning of the family takes place through a parent-child relationship. It is therefore significant for the family to carry out parental tasks in order to give a sense of security, a sense of companion and belonging, a sense of responsibility, sense of purpose and direction to its members. Although there are many factors that pose a threat to family functioning, the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be underestimated. As the disease has advanced over time, it has negatively impinged on the children's lives. Children are losing their parents to HIV/AIDS opportunistic illnesses and this has resulted in the burgeoning of child-headed households. The phenomenon of a child-headed household presents a shift from a structural family since a significant subsystem of a family (i.e the parental subsystem) is non-existent. The study presents an in-depth investigation into the social functioning of a child-headed household. The aim was to come to a better understanding about issues that surround households that are headed by children. The social institutions with whom the household co-exists have been scrutinised in order to determine the ways in which these institutions impact upon the social functioning of child-headed households. The study highlights that child-headed households are a deviation from the norm and they create a situation where needs of children are unmet and their rights are eroded. The role of social work in mobilising resources to meet the unmet needs and championing for the rights of the children has been investigated. Case studies of ten families were conducted in the three districts of KwaZulu-Natal an area in South Africa that has widely been reported as hardest hit by the pandemic. A research team was constituted which designed a protocol for conducting case studies and collected data. Social workers also participated in the study with an aim of exploring guidelines for social service delivery with regard to a child-headed household. The study found that children are increasingly exposed to aspects of multiple care-giving through lack of parental care and a changing family structure. It was also revealed that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is shattering children's lives and reversing many hard won children's rights. In spite of the transition in the family life cycle, the family remains the central institution in the children's lives. The scourge of HIV/AIDS poses a great challenge to society. Children are left on their own without visible means of support. The problems of children develop into great magnitude in spite of policies that are in place. The findings of the study point to implications for a practice model that is aimed at co-ordinating services for effective service delivery. The researcher has presented suggested guidelines based on the findings of the study. These guidelines include the role of social work in ensuring that the social functioning of the children in child-headed households is enhanced and that social justice for these children is promoted. A protocol for intervention in child-headed households is provided. This would ensure that interventions in bringing about desired change in the lives of the children, produce sustainable results on a significant scale. / Social work / D. Phil.(Social Work)

Ethiopia faces large and growing numbers of child household heads, mainly due to AIDS-related parental deaths. Many of them are vulnerable to abuse and are forced to look after themselves and their siblings, drop out of school and find work. This exploratory study employed qualitative research methods using purposive sampling. The aim was to ascertain how child household heads affected by AIDS adapted to changed life circumstances. The study entailed fieldwork for five weeks in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where evidence was gathered from 10 selected households headed by children (aged 12 to18), their siblings and key informants. It was found that all the children in the study are in dismal living conditions although some reported feelings of satisfaction and happiness. The need to provide special recognition and support to child household heads and their siblings by policy makers and service providers in Ethiopia is highlighted. / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS) / Social Work

This research aimed to reflect upon the experiences of children in middle childhood regarding economically unstable circumstances within the family system. The theoretical underpinnings of this study were the ecological systems theory as proposed by Bronfenbrenner, the family systems theory as well as the field theory within the gestalt paradigm. Exploratory, qualitative research design with instrumental case studies was used during this research and data collection was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews with randomly sampled participants and their parents. The researcher interviewed 16 individual children, consisting of seven male and nine female participants. The focus group consisted of seven parents, consisting of two male and five female participants. The researcher arrived at a conclusion that children are indeed influenced by the world wide economic turmoil. The researcher found that children experience the impact of economic instability in various contexts within their field of existence. They experience the effects of economic instability within the household as changes to daily luxuries are visible, conflict between parents increase and they experience an escalation in peer pressure to keep up with the financial expectations of their peers. The researcher is therefore of the opinion that the extent to which the economic unstable circumstances influence and affect children can easily be overlooked. In the absence of voicing the experiences of children, they cannot be fully understood and the researcher recommends that significant role players, such as parents and teachers should be assisted and guided to understand and support their children in a changing world. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)