M.Ed. / The world today is filled with instability and uncertainty. This is especially true to South Africa. Many experience difficult circumstances, and sometimes struggle to work through these negative and destructive motions. The meaning in life is something that most people start to explore at a young age (Kinnier, Kernes, Tribbensee & Puymbroeck 2006:7). People have searched for the answers in many places and in doing so, have sometimes experienced more harm than good. Ultimately, not finding meaning in life can be detrimental to a person's mental health. Much earlier, researchers such as Bollnow (1950), Garbers (1957), and others have researched this phenomenon in Europe, especially after the Second World War. However, not much research has been done in the field of late adolescents in the South African context. The purpose of this research study was to provide psycho-educational guidelines for late adolescents, to clarify what their meaning in life is. This can sometimes be a difficult concept to explore, as not all people have certainty of what gives them meaning. This is why a purposive selection of participants was chosen. These participants were between the ages of 18 and 24 years. All of them should have undergone an existential crisis at least 6 months prior to the study. This, in theory, ensures that the participants were in a place in their lives where they had questioned the meaning in life, and had time to process their findings, if any. One open ended question was asked: "What gives you meaning in your life?" The findings can be summed up as follows: Meaning in life equals relationship.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:8722 |
| Date | 07 June 2012 |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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