This study focuses on the strengths of early adolescents after losing a parent to
suicide. Strengths is a global phenomenon and yet little research has been
undertaken in South Africa pertaining to strengths in early adolescence. The goal of
the study was to determine how the early adolescent experiences the suicidal death
of a parent while simultaneously going through puberty, and what strengths were
present to help them make meaning out of what happened in their lives. The
research was conducted through a phenomenological design and followed a
qualitative research approach within an interpretivist paradigm. The research design
and approach allowed the participants to give meaning to the construct by sharing
their own experiences. A total of 6 early adolescent girls from the ages of twelve to
sixteen years were purposefully selected from the East Rand area, Gauteng. Five of
the girls were Afrikaans speaking and one was English speaking. Three of the girls
lost a mother to suicide and three of the girls lost a father to suicide. The qualitative
data was collected in the form of individual in-depth interviews with the early
adolescents. The interviews were voice recorded, transcribed and typed out by
online transcribers. The raw data was checked by the researcher for accuracy and
categorised to ascertain certain emerging themes. Thematic data analysis was used
to transform the transcribed data into meaningful information. Principles and
strategies to increase the trustworthiness of the data were done through a process of
crystallisation. The researcher's objective was to understand and interpret the
meanings the participants gave to their own experiences, to identify the strengths
that emerged and make findings available to professionals and parents. The
findings of the study revealed that early adolescents do present with certain
strengths of an intrapersonal nature that assisted and support them through the grief
and bereavement process after the suicide of a parent. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/11938 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Pienaar, Johanna Wilhelmina |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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