In a study of psychological well-being, the researcher attempted to address the challenge of preventing mental illness and promoting mental health using an educational psychological perspective based on Unisa's Relations Theory. According to Relations Theory, humans are understood by the relationships they form. The intra-psychic interaction of the components of the intra-psychic structure (I/ego, self, identity and self-concept) is responsible for people's behaviour, with the essences (attachment of meaning, involvement, experience and self-actualising) and the prerequisites (the forming of relations , the life-world and climate) forming the basis of the structure. The researcher developed and administered a questionnaire on psychological well-being and conducted interviews, and on the basis of the findings reports that psychological well-being from an educational psychological perspective consists of a healthy and positive ego and self, clearly defined identities, positive thoughts and feelings, involvement in the life world, a positive and realistic self-concept and constructive self-talk, and self-realisation. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Those learners who generally struggle to relate to their teachers and peers, also appear to struggle with their parents. This research study is thus an investigation into the influence of the parent-child relationship on the self-concept of the Southern Sotho child. A literature study was done and the major dimensions of the self-concept were identified, namely, the physical self, the academic self, the social self, the value self, the family self and the psychic self. A questionnaire was developed to measure the self-concept of the child. Another questionnaire was used to measure the parent-child relationship. The results of the empirical investigation indicated that the parent-child relationship does have an influence on the self-concept of the Southern Sotho child, although certain contradictions to other research findings emerged. Problematic aspects of the research were discussed and recommendations for further research were made. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counseling)

The aim of this research was to determine how Gestalt Therapy could be utilised to re-write life script. Transactional Analysis terminology was translated into Gestalt Therapy, especially the terms life script, life position and re-writing in the literature study. Gestalt Therapy concepts of importance for the research were also discussed in the literature study. An empirical study was conducted, involving one respondent, for whom Gestalt Therapy sessions were provided with the aim of determining how life script could be re-written through such intervention. Gestalt Therapy concepts and life script concepts were identified during the therapy process. A re-written life script was formulated by the researcher corresponding with the level of functioning of the respondent during therapy and in relation to the respondent's life position. The researcher deducts from the entire study, but especially from the empirical study that life script can be re-written by means of utilising Gestalt Therapy. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

The purpose of this study was to develop guidelines to enable the members of acne sufferers' support networks to become better sources of practical, emotional and social support. A literature study and an empirical investigation were done to investigate which factors could enable members of the acne sufferer’s support network to become better sources of support. A questionnaire was developed as an aid to identify the perceptions and emotions of acne sufferers, which was published on a website, (www.acnediaries.co.za) specifically designed for this purpose. Two semi-structured interviews with acne sufferers were also done to enrich the findings. Results of the study identified several guidelines for parents, teachers, siblings, friends and boyfriends or girlfriends of acne sufferers to enable them to give support to teenagers suffering from acne. / Further Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The aim of this research was to explore career information learners with visual impairment acquire from school to enable them develop vocational self-concept and career decision-making self-efficacy. It explored role of guidance and counselling in preparing learners for world of work from primary to university levels of education. The study adopted Career Development and Self-efficacy Theories as bases of exploration. Two standardized tools were used to assess development of these aspects. Pilot study was conducted to validate instruments, testing reliability for applicability with subjects in Kenya. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences for quantitative and Atlas Ti to code qualitative data. The major finding indicated a linear relationship between aspects implying that learners experienced increased development as they progressed in education. Other findings are explained in text. The findings affirmed need for comprehensive career guidance and counselling for learners with disabilities, culminating to suggested vocational development model. / Furthur Teacher Education / D. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

How African individuals perceive the family life cycle, is the topic of this research. This qualitative study was facilitated with two individuals. Constructivism was used to explore how individuals create their reality. The Person-Centred Approach was studied to understand the importance of the Self- concept in the individual, and the role played by perceptions created in an ever-changing environment. Systems theory helped understand the interaction of family members as a system (family), especially the creation of stability after a state of disequilibrium – in this case, transitions between stages of the life cycle. Only with one respondent were some differences identified compared to the Western view of the life cycle. It was thus concluded that the family life cycle can be used as a guideline during therapy, regarding difficult transitions people (including African people) have to make, for therapists working from both the Person-Centred Approach and the systems perspective. / Social Work / (M.A. (Social Work (Mental Health))

Most adolescents place pressure on their parents. The pressure varies, so there must be factors that contribute to the variance. An important objective of the investigation was to determine such factors from the parent’s side and from the adolescent’s side. It was also important to determine the most important factors in family functioning, and in the wider social context that affect the placement of pressure on parents by adolescents. A sample of 177 high school adolescents and their parents was used. Variables such as age, gender, family structure, working circumstances of parents, birth order position of adolescents, peer pressure, the parent-adolescent relationship, self-concept and personality were included in the study. The results indicate that the pressure that parents experience is associated with parental variables rather than adolescent variables. Parental self-concept, personality, and the parent-adolescent relationship (from the parent’s side) explained almost 63% of the variance in the pressure that parents experience. The conclusion can be made that it is not adolescents who deliberately plan to place their parents under pressure, but rather parents who make themselves vulnerable to such a situation. Any remedy or guidance programme will have to focus primarily on the parent, and the success of such a programme will depend on the way in which it supports the self-concept of the parent. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

This study investigated the relationships between diverse variables and secondary school pupils' Mathematics achievement. It also dealt with the relative contribution of each variable to Mathematics achievement and the significance of differences in Mathematics achievements when pupils' gender and home background as well as teachers' experience, gender, education, in-service education, homework assignment and testing frequency are taken into account. A questionnaire was administered on 163 standard 8 pupils. I The most important findings of this study were: {1) There was a significant relationship between pupil variables and Mathematics achievement. (2) Pupil variables, particularly self-concept, contributed significantly towards the variance in Mathematics achievement. (3) Pupils who wrote tests often (more than once per term) achieved significantly less than students who wrote tests less often / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

This study investigated some of the causes of marital pathology of Zulu couples. Through a questionnaire, the study investigated factors which affect Zulu marriages. It was found, according to thi~ research, that communication and infidelity by Zulu husbands are serious causes of marital pathology. The research also revealed that the historical and cultural nature of the Zulu marriage contributes to marital pathology. The second aim of the research was to investigate the marital therapy of Zulu couples. The question was whether marital therapy works among the Zulus, given the unwillingness of Zulu husbands to be counselled. The researcher found that Zulu husbands are resistant to being counselled. A therapeutic model was designed and used with two case examples. In both cases divorces were averted. This seems to indicate that marriage counselling can restore most of the Zulu marriages if husbands could cooperate in being counselled with their wives. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed.

The interdependent relationship which exists between personality characteristics of adolescents and their achievements in oral examinations have been investigated. The following related aspects were studied in the literature: * * * The role of oral evaluation in English. Personality characteristics which are meaningful to achievement in oral work. Ways to measure personality with special reference to the High School Personality Questionnaire. An empirical study inter alia revealed the following: {i) Low oral achievers are emotionally less stable than high achievers. (ii) Verbal intelligence, emotional instability, anxiety experience and introvertedness play an influential role in achievement in oral work. (iii) Girls tend to achieve better in oral work in the secondary school than boys. The educational implications of the investigation relate to the adequate becoming-adult of the adolescent. The role of the educand's personality in oral examinations and the need of teachers to possess more information about this matter during evaluation, have been revealed in this study. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)