Historically, any stigma surrounding sexuality places a burden on individuals who do
not self-identify as heterosexuals collectively referred to as "sexual minority". Sexual
minority university students possess multiple identities due to experiences of discrimination
and victimization on university campuses (Mays & Cochran, 2000). These minority groups
appear to have higher rates of anxiety, depression, substance use disorders and suicidal
behaviour when compared to heterosexual students. This stigrnatisation and victimisation has
led to the current study focusing on the psychological wellbeing, identity crisis and resilience
of sexual minority students in a South African University. The researcher followed a
narrative oriented design within the qualitative research approach. Data was collected through
a narrative oriented design that allowed the researcher to dig deeper into the life experiences
of the students from both individual and collective perspectives. Data was analysed
thematically and feelings, values and meanings were connected through ideas and personal
view points. Snowball sampling was used. The sample consisted of 11 African students, 4
gays and 7 lesbians with an age range between 19 and 24 years were recruited from different
faculties and levels of study. Three major themes were extracted during analysis and the
principal outcome of the study was that homosexuals have a major challenge in their future in
the work industry. The results also indicated a poor psychological wellbeing with the
students, some identity crisis and moderate resilience. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.(Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2014
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/15650 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Tshoele, Petunia |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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