The purpose of the study was to investigate the possibility ofusingJlelational Theory as
a basis for the design of a support group programme for divorced single-parent families.
This programme aimed at improving their interpersonal relationships and then to form
new identities realistically, thus helping them to self-actualise. The categories of
involvement, experience and meaningful attribution as well as the stages of awareness,
exploration, personalisation and change initiation formed the basis of the programme. The
effects of marital disruption on the interpersonal relationships and identities of singleparent
families were also examined through a literature review.
Pre and posttest interviews were conducted individually with single parents and their
children to evaluate the effectiveness of the support group programme. The pretest
interviews were administered a month before the implementation of the programme and
the posttest interviews done two months after to gauge the longitudinal effect of the
programme.
The interviews and the progranune included the following aspects : awareness, exploration
and evaluation of relationships (including aspects such as parental and spousal conflicts,
parent alignment and parent availability, sibling rivalry and parent-child interaction);
awareness, exploration and evaluation of identities (including identity conflicts stemming
from role strain, role reversals and parent alignment); self-evaluation and selfactualisation.
The conclusions from the literature study, the outcome of the support group progranune
and the results of the interviews confirmed that marital disruption does adversely affect
the interpersonal relationships of single-parent families and their formation of new,
realistic identities. Single-parent families attribute unrealistic meaning to relationships and
identities causing problematic relationships and identity conflicts. The nature and quality
of the relationships also affect the formation of realistic identities resulting in a failure to
self-actualise.
In conclusion, the support group programme helped the single-parent families to attribute
realistic meaning to their relationships and identities, resulting in improved relationships
and the formation of realistic identities / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/17604 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Reddy, Thainaigie |
| Contributors | Kokot, S. J. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xvii, 585 leaves) |
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