Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1984. / Title from title page screen, viewed June 2, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Ned Lovell (chair), Ronald Halinksi, Rodney Riegle, Patricia Dearborn, Paul Baker. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 239-244) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-132).

Thesis (M.A.)--The Master's College, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-123).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 265-280).

Thesis (M.A.B.C.)--Master's College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-100).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-220). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

M. Tech. / My research, in support of my cultural practice approaches the notion of masquerade from the position of battered women who employ it socially as a vehicle that allows them to perform the traditionalist ‘happily-ever-after’ fantasy of marriage. I propose that their ‘masquerade’ functions as a performance of what they perceive they should be in the public domain, and as a defence against punishment in the private domain. Central to my research are interviews with battered women who masquerade socially, from a select group who have been battered for most of their married lives. In a response to these interviews, I refer to the prevalence of battery in South Africa and propose a psychological rationale for social masquerade in these particular battered women. As the masquerade of these women informs my art production I have included a discussion of alternative expressions of masquerade in the work of two artists, Tracey Rose and Cindy Sherman. This forms a counterpoint to the use of masquerade as explained in my own cultural practice, which highlights the importance of dress as an adjunct to communication and disguise.

M.Cur. / The objective of this research is to explore and describe how the wife of a husband who suffered job loss, experiences this situation. In a country like South-Africa, where the unemployment rate ( 41,8% according to the expanded definition ) is very high and there doesn’t seem to be a solution, the wife of a unemployed husband faces considerable stress and increasing demands on a physical and psychological level. The wife of a husband who has suffered job loss, experiences problems regarding all the dimensions of human being. Her life becomes a struggle for survival from day to day. All this can give rise to mental problems. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, contextual research study has been undertaken to describe how the wife experiences it when her husband lost his job and to describe guidelines for psychiatric nurse practitioners to support these women. All the participants were residents of Pretoria and Midrand and their husbands had suffered job loss during the past year. Data was gathered through one-on-one in-depth interviews and analysed according to Tesch’s method of open coding. A qualitative exploration of these interviews showed that these wives appear to experience severe reactions on their physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions. A majority of these wives took full emotional responsibility for the whole family and suppressed her own needs and emotions. It then happened that they were confronted by the question: why do I live? This is worsened by the fact that the husband’s functioning is usually inadequate because of this trauma. This situation may have a negative impact on the couple’s relationship and on the development of their children. Guidelines were developed to emphasize the characteristics that the psychiatric nurse practitioner needs to help these women find some meaning in life. Community-involvement, support-groups and marriage-counselling are part of the guidelines to facilitate these women’s mental health. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made in the hope that this study will be integrated into future research.

M.A. / Domestic abuse is a global and growing problem (World Health Organization WHO, 2002). The extent and magnitude, as well as effects of domestic abuse are, however, underreported especially within South Africa (Prinsloo, 2007). Awareness has been raised by initiatives such as Sixteen Days of Activism on Violence Against Women campaigns driven by POWA (People Opposed to Women Abuse), yet the rates of abuse stay alarming. In light of the occurrence of abuse as well as the limited resources available, some women kill an intimate partner after a prolonged period of abuse. The specific aim of the study was to uncover the psychological factors that contribute or are associated with the killing of an abusive partner by women. This was done by using multiple case studies and unstructured interviews. Participants were sourced from the Department of Correctional Service in the Western Cape Province. The participants utilised for the research included three women who killed their abusive intimate partner, and who were incarcerated at Pollsmoor Correctional Facility at the time of the interview. In-depth interviews were conducted and the data was analysed in order to derive themes. Once the themes were established, results were compared to relevant research in the field as a means to establish the psychological factors associated with women who kill an abusive intimate male partner. 5 The results indicated that certain primary psychological factors present in the sample group of interviewed women namely: development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, experiences of coercive control, interrelational conflict and substance abuse. Secondary themes or factors found included cultural perceptions and a lack of resources. From the results obtained, a conclusion was made that women who kill an abusive intimate male partner, are often compelled to do so due to underlying factors and as a means of survival. Furthermore, culture appears to have a prominent influence as it informs the manner and acceptable means to deal with domestic abuse. Although the research contributes to the pool of knowledge regarding women who kill an abusive intimate male partner in South Africa, more is needed especially in the development of intervention programs and support.

It is generally recognized that a serious illness with concurrent hospitalization in an ICU will have an impact on family members. Few researchers, however, have described the ways in which spouses are affected when their mates are hospitalized in an ICU. Therefore, this study aimed to describe and explain the spouses' experiences of having a mate in an ICU following coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Kleinman's conceptual framework guided the development of the research question and provided the focus for data collection and analysis. Kleinman proposes that an understanding of the client's perspective is necessary for the provision of effective health care. A qualitative research method based on the theoretical perspective of phenomenology was used to answer the research question. The spouses' viewpoints were elicited through unstructured interviews. The sample consisted of seven spouses, four women and three men. The spouses were interviewed on two occasions, once while their mate was still in the ICU and once shortly following their mate's discharge from the ICU. A total of 13 in-depth interviews were conducted over a 3 month period. Data were analyzed simultaneously with and following data collection. Responses that were similar were grouped together into categories. After the data were examined and sorted into categories, the researcher defined the theme that dominated each category. The themes that emerged from the data were clarified, validated, and/or rejected by the participants during subsequent interviews. As relationships between the categories were identified, the important aspects of the spouses' experiences became apparent. The findings revealed that the spouses located the ICU experience within the context of their experience with their mate's coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The spouses understood and made sense of the ICU experience by attaching meaning to specific events that related to the entire surgical experience. They perceived the surgical experience as consisting of three distinct but interrelated phases: pre-surgery; waiting during surgery; and post-surgery. During each phase, the spouses described and explained how they reacted to and coped with each new situation. These two themes, "reaction to the situation" and "coping with the situation," appeared as threads throughout the entire surgical experience. By organizing the data in relation to phases and themes, the researcher was able to meaningfully understand and communicate the spouses' entire surgical experience. In view of the study findings, implications for nursing practice, education and research are delineated. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate