A Dissertation Submitted to the School of Psychology, University of the
Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master
of Arts in Clinical Psychology, / The idea of psycho-immunity stands as a relatively new field of inquiry focusing
on resilience and coping instead of breakdown and pathology. In line with this
shift in the literature, the present research has attempted to explore the
relationship between the quality of mothering experienced by the child and
subsequent patterns of perceived competence revealed by that same child. Black
township children were selected as subjects as they are deemed to be a population
"at risk" due to the cumulative political and socio-economic exigencies that have
affected this community for many years.
A total of 72 township children between the ages of 12 -17 were assessed. Both
structured and supplementary unstructured instruments were employed in order
to measure the quality of the maternal relationship on the one hand, and the
child's perception of his/her own competence (or resilience) on the other.
Results converged to indicate that for the sample investigated, it was the specific
"holding" capacity, availability and involvement of the affectively engaged mother-figure
that was most highly correlated with competence of a scholastic nature in
early adolescence. Conversely, the intrusive mother who wields power as a
parenting style was shown to be more likely to raise a child with a poor sense of
social acceptance and competence.
These findings provide penetrating insights regarding the potency of the maternal dyad
in fostering resilience and competence in off-spring. They offer further
understanding of the role of black parenting styles in either promoting or
demoting the development of psychologically healthy youths who have the
potential to become active participants in a new and more just South Africa. / Andrew Chakane 2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/26077 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Kaplan, Serenne Gina |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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