Infant mental health in South Africa has been receiving more attention in recent
years. Mothers appear to be the main caregivers of infants but they face many
psychosocial, economic and cultural challenges. There exists very little evidence
suggesting that mothers living in shelters or institutions have access to the
necessary support and education to help them to understand their circumstances
and how this may impact on the attachment with their infant. The New Beginnings
Programme, as an early intervention model, is aimed at improving attachment
between mother and infant so as to reduce the potential risk of mental health
problems later in life for the infants, the mothers and future generations. This
evidence based intervention focuses on the mother and her capacity for
mentalisation, which refers to the mother’s capacity to hold her infant in mind and
recognise and respond to the inner states of the infant. The pilot study of the New
Beginnings Programme within a South African context took place in two shelters in
the Greater Johannesburg area. This particular study formed part of this bigger
research effort. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of the mothers
who attended the New Beginnings programme. A secondary aim was to explore
these mothers’ experiences of the programme within the context of living in a shelter.
The adaptation of this programme to a South African context could contribute
significantly to bridging the gap in mother-infant attachment which could influence
the future mental health of the infant and their ability to foster ongoing healthy
attachments later in life. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews and a
narrative analysis from the theoretical perspective of psychoanalytic attachment
theory. Thirteen mothers from two shelters participated in this research study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/12605 |
| Date | 27 March 2013 |
| Creators | Hardudh-Dass, Hasmita |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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