Reimagining constructions of gender dysphoria: a dual systematic review using analytical psychology’s concept of individuation
- Authors: Couch, Matthew
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Gender identity disorders , Gender identity , Individuation (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MScoSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95184 , vital:31125
- Description: The process of conceptualization has long served to capture and represent our perceptions of the social world. Conceptual categories help to make sense of subjective experiences, and through discursive practices may come to construct conventional frameworks of knowledge. Consequently, frameworks operating as natural and immutable run the risk of ignoring the dynamic and diverse experiences of many individuals. Today, conceptual frameworks for gender identity are found as inadequately representing progressive social views on the existence of gender identities manifesting outside of the prevailing male-female binary. Within this space of conceptual contention, the diagnostic category of gender dysphoria has received considerable inspection and critique. In particular, it has been criticised as fundamentally controversial by classifying issues of identity within a clinical framework and, consequently, as contributing to the pathologization of all gender diverse individuals. Thus, efforts to reconceptualise and reimagine gender dysphoria may be found. In this research the concept of individuation, as understood within a framework of analytical psychology, is discussed as a potential consideration in reimagining the concept of gender dysphoria. An overarching framework of social constructionism was adopted within this research in examining how constructions of conventional knowledge come about through regulatory discursive and performative practices. The theoretical orientation of analytical psychology was used to frame the concept of individuation and its application to gender dysphoria. This perspective consulted queer theory as a further critical orientation toward the construction of gender identity. The chosen methodology took form as a dual systematic review using critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) to construct representative frameworks. Psychological literature on gender dysphoria (review 1) and individuation (review 2) was reviewed and synthesised. Review 1 identified conceptual inferences within the literature and assessed their role toward problematic gender discourse, while review 2 served as a contributory tool to critically assess whether the conceptual space was accommodating of the concept of individuation. Findings in review 1 identified contemporary gender dysphoria literature as reinforcing of problematic gender discourse. The prevailing clinical framework on gender dysphoria and gender nonconformity was iterated through conceptual constructs emphasising an experience of pathological distress or life dissatisfaction. As such, a cyclical pathologization of gender diversity is reconstructed through current representations within the literature. However, it was deduced that there are signs of resistance in the literature to the clinical model which challenge and counter the impact of problematic gender discourse. In review 2, individuation was framed by the literature as an intrapsychic facilitator supporting the integration of all aspects particular to the individual personality so that conscious identity becomes congruent with internal nature. Resultantly, one may experience psychosocial maturation and contribute to collective societal progression. For some, individuation prompts a differentiation from collective expectations in integrating one‘s inherent nature into expressed identity. Thus, gender nonconformity may be viewed as an expression of this differentiation when individuation drives the realization of this feature to be intrinsic and natural for the individual. Individuation was determined as incompatible with the category of gender dysphoria, but of value within the conceptual space where efforts to reimagine gender dysphoria are in place.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Template ecological analsyis of the narratives of partner’s and family member’s of women who consumed alcohol in pregnancy
- Authors: Tsetse, Agrinette Nontozamo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Pregnant women -- Alcohol use -- Social aspects , Substance abuse in pregnancy , Fetus -- Effect of drugs on , Pregnancy -- Psychological aspects , Pregnant women -- Substance use , Substance abuse -- Social aspects , Ecological Systems Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/114905 , vital:34055
- Description: Although there is increasing research on alcohol in South Africa, most of this work has an epidemiological focus. Very little research has explored alcohol use during pregnancy specifically from the perspective of the woman’s partner or family member or focused on contextual risk factors beyond the pregnant woman. This information is important to ensure that interventions are formulated based on the social contexts within which drinking in pregnancy takes place and in guiding interventions that aim to prevent prenatal alcohol use, thereby preventing the occurrence of FASDs. This study was guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory to understand partners’ and family members’ perspectives of prenatal exposure within the actual environments in which alcohol use takes place. According to this theory, an individual exists within layers of social relationships: the family, intimate partners, friendships, and healthcare workers (microsystems), interactions among these microsystems, for example, interaction between healthcare workers and intimate partner and family and social workers (mesosystem), accessibility of alcohol in the neighbourhoods (exosystems), religion, culture and society (macro-systems) and changes of the individual and socio-historical context (chronosystem). The data were collected using a biographic narrative interpretive method of interviewing. Thirteen narratives interviews were conducted with partners and family members in a disadvantaged community in Buffalo City, Eastern Cape Province. The interviews were analysed using Template Analysis within the Ecological Systems Theory to interrogate the stories of partners and family members. According to participants, some of the reasons women consumed alcohol in pregnancy are: drinking habits before pregnancy that were difficult to break in pregnancy; women drank during the first trimester of their pregnancy because of unplanned pregnancy; women continued drinking throughout their pregnancies to cope with the emotional upset caused by the trauma of rape and losing loved ones, stress, receiving HIV-diagnosis in pregnancy, intimate partner violence, infidelity, rejection and denial of pregnancy from partners. After birth, some women continued drinking. Consequently, their children were taken away from them by social workers and family members because the parents were unable to care for the child due to alcohol use. There was lack of compliance of shebeens with liquor regulations, heavy drinking, high rates of alcohol use in pregnancy, and easy accessibility of alcohol within this study community. Pregnant women used religious coping beliefs to cope with their circumstances such as changes in their health, relationships and finances. Drinking during pregnancy is a complex problem that stems from multiple social and structural issues and interventions should therefore not only focus on the individual, but also on social networks and communities.
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- Date Issued: 2019
The effectiveness of sandplay therapy with a Xhosa child
- Authors: Snelgar, Orrin Glenn
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Sandplay -- Therapeutic use -- Case studies -- South Africa , Play therapy -- Case studies -- South Africa , Child psychotherapy -- Case studies -- South Africa , Children, Black -- Psychology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179168 , vital:39876
- Description: This case study sought to determine whether Kalffian Sandtray Therapy was effective with a Xhosa child. In the context of ongoing discussions surrounding evidence-based practice and culturally appropriate interventions, no published research has yet explored the effectiveness of this classical tool within this significant South African demographic. In an effort to address this omission, the research adopted a mixed methods approach where Kalffian analysis of the sandplay process was evaluated in conjunction with quantitative measures (the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Young Person’s Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation). The results of this triangulation revealed a complex picture of improved interpersonal functioning and stagnant (or worsened) emotional wellbeing after five sessions. Contextualised interpretations of these findings are discussed and recommendations made for future sandplay practice and research in the South African context.
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- Date Issued: 2019
The experiences of health service providers working with children with physical disabilities and their caregivers in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mathaba, Yollandah
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Children with disabilities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Caregivers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , Caregivers -- Psychology , Children with disabilities -- Care
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76299 , vital:30545
- Description: The prevalence of childhood disability in South Africa is significant. In an attempt to meet the constitutional rights of children with disabilities, there are a variety of services available for children with disabilities. These services are aimed at rehabilitating children with disabilities and integrating them in society. Amongst such services are health services. Due to the nature of some childhood disabilities, it is recommended that they should be seen by a multidisciplinary team. While the field of childhood disability has been researched extensively. Limited research has been conducted on the experiences of health service providers working with children with disabilities and their caregivers. The current study explored the experiences of health service providers working with children with disabilities and their caregivers in the Eastern Cape. To achieve this aim, the study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Five participants were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Semi-structured interviews were used to allow participants to freely share their experiences of working with children with disabilities and their caregivers. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed for analysis purpose. The analysis process generated five master themes namely: Positive experiences of their work; negative experiences of their work; perception of their role as changing over time; managing challenges in their work; and experiences of a service learning programme as complementary to their work. The findings of the study highlighted both the positive experiences and the negative experiences of their work. On the one hand, the participants reported positive affect and that they found their work meaningful. They also reported a sense of feeling supported by fellow colleagues and enjoying their work at the clinics. On the other hand, the participants reported negative affect in relation to their wok difficulties such as feelings of frustration, feelings of being unappreciated by management and finding the work distressing. The participants reported that professional and emotional growth in conjunction with perspective taking contributed to developing better coping mechanisms. A service learning programme offered in the community was experienced as a good contribution to the work done at the clinics and distinguished as addressing the emotional needs of the caregivers which cannot be addressed at the clinics. The findings of the study supports and expands the literature on the experiences of health service providers working with children with disabilities in South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2019
The implementation of a developmental-contextual framework for young adults’ career explorations
- Authors: Roberson, Natalie Georgia
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Vocational guidance -- South Africa , Focus groups , Action research , Youth -- South Africa -- Social conditions -- 1994- , Self-Directed Search Questionnaire , Occupational aptitude tests -- Evaluation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/114895 , vital:34053
- Description: Career development theory and counselling practices in South Africa, which have traditionally utilised imported theory, have long been and continue to be criticised as being unsuitable in contexts different to those in which they were developed. In light of this, the aim of this study is to customise and trial the Vondracek, Lerner, and Schulenberg (1986) Developmental-Contextual Framework of career development with a group of employment-seeking young adults at a local community-based setting, as the basis of a career development intervention. Research questions asked were ‘In what ways is the examination and discussion of developmental-contextual factors of the individual facilitative of career exploration, in addition to seeking to identify contextual factors that influence career thinking and associated decision making. In doing so, this study aims to contribute to the existing literature on the career development of South Africans. Focus group methodology, within an overarching framework of collaborative action research, was employed. The approach to career exploration here was that of peer learning through group discussion of developmental-contextual factors of the individual. Data were generated through pre-intervention questionnaires, collaborative action research cycles, participatory observation, focus group discussions, and post-interventionist semi-structured individual interviews. Template Analysis was used for the thematic organisation and analysis of the data. Findings were that the intervention facilitated increased self-knowledge in relation to career development, increased knowledge of work and careers, and enhanced career planning abilities. Findings further highlighted the limitations of imported career development theories and the importance of the utilisation and development of local career assessment instruments. The group setting was found to be of value in facilitating self-reflection, a source of motivation and a valuable source of career-related information.
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- Date Issued: 2019
The role of psychologists in the #FeesMustFall movement in South Africa: a thematic analysis
- Authors: Kramer, Briony
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Higher education and state -- South Africa , Psychologists -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , College students -- Psychology -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Student movements -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76287 , vital:30544
- Description: Since 2015, students across South Africa have protested for free tertiary education. This protest movement is known as #FeesMustFall. It was deemed important to understand what psychologists could do in this movement, as these protests have highlighted the existing inequality and lack of transformation in South African universities. Further, these protests have shown to cause psychological sequelae, and, at present, there is very little information regarding the role of psychologists in these types of protests. In response, this current qualitative study explores what four psychologists believe their role could be within the protests, specifically within Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and a Thematic Analysis methodology and Critical Psychology approach were used to analyse the findings. The results of the study revealed that these psychologists understood they could have varying roles within the protests. These varying roles linked to the broader concept of transformative versus ameliorative interventions. Ameliorative practices are usually more short-term in their effect to initiate change and are mainly aimed at the individual level, while transformative approaches are long-term and are mainly aimed at the societal level. Under the ameliorative approach, the psychologists’ roles included that they provide individual therapy to students who were affected by the protests. The transformative approach, on the other hand, included that the psychologists use their role to act as advocates, negotiators or advisors, and therefore take an active role in assisting the University with the protests. The findings also showed that some participants were ambivalent and uncertain about their role. This ambivalence led to these participants questioning the protests themselves. Results also showed limiting factors within the Psychology profession, which prevented psychologists from taking a more active stance in the protests. The limiting factors referred to phenomena which prevent psychologists from being able to take a role, not only in protests, but in society as a whole. These factors included the idea of the psychologist being a bystander and/or being limited by the professional scope of practice. The implications of these findings highlight the possible key roles that psychologists can play in protest situations. However, it shows that perceived limiting factors sometimes prevent these roles from being fully realised. The findings also then point to a broader issue within the Psychology discipline, specifically relating to its relevance in the South African context.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Training intervention for volunteers supporting victims of intimate partner violence in South Africa
- Authors: Thomas, Samantha
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Intimate partner violence -- Psychological aspects , Victims of family violence -- Services for -- South Africa , Marital violence , Victims of dating violence , Family violence -- Law and legislation , Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65079 , vital:28679
- Description: Intimate Partner Violence continues to be a significant social problem in South Africa, requiring a systematised and effective response at multiple levels. The organisation at the centre of this research offers crisis intervention to victims of intimate partner violence, providing basic psychological support, legal information and referrals. The volunteer crisis interventionists are exposed to numerous in-depth accounts of violent and distressing victimisation, making them more vulnerable to vicarious traumatisation. Through this work, their prior assumptions about personal safety, the trustworthiness of other people, and basic justice in the world, are challenged. The challenge to these assumptions increases the likelihood of countertransference victim blaming responses, as it is often easier to hold the client responsible for the tragic event than for the support worker to transform their own assumptions about safety and justice. This victim blaming response is supported by the dominant patriarchal ideology which frequently seeks to maintain the systems of oppression, excusing the perpetrator and placing responsibility on the victim. It was therefore clear that in order to do this work effectively, volunteers needed to be trained to identify their countertransference reactions and emotional responses, as well as undergo a critical re-assessment of their ideas relating to intimate partner violence and victimisation. Using an Intervention Research paradigm, this research designed and developed a training programme based on transformative learning theory, moving away from traditional information models of training to a focus on emotional skills and critical self-insight. The phases of the intervention refined the intervention in order to ensure that the research objectives were met and that the programme could be easily replicated. The evaluation of each phase showed an increased capacity for critical insight, and evidence for a transformative shift in the trainees understanding and approach to intimate partner violence.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Women’s narratives about alcohol use during pregnancy: a narrative-discursive study
- Authors: Matebese, Sibongile
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Social conditions , Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Alcohol use , Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95196 , vital:31126
- Description: While research has explored the risk factors that contribute to alcohol use during pregnancy among South African women, such studies have mostly been quantitative in nature. There is a growing body of research that contextualises and articulates the attitudes, beliefs, and underlying motivations that influence drinking during pregnancy. However, few qualitative studies explore the cultural, economic, familial, and social contexts within which drinking during pregnancy takes place. Studies which have explored these contexts have been conducted in other geographical regions such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States but their findings are not generalisable to South Africa. Drawing on a feminist poststructuralist as well as a narrative-discursive approach including Foucault’s (1978) theory of power, this study sought to explore women’s narratives of the personal and interpersonal circumstances under which drinking during pregnancy takes place in terms of the discourses used to construct these narratives and the subject positions made available within these discourses. This allowed for the practice of alcohol use during pregnancy to be understood within the social and cultural narratives, practices, and discourses around pregnancy as well as gendered and social relations. Using the narrative interview method set out by Wengraf (2001), thirteen, unemployed ‘Black’ women from an area in the Eastern Cape were recruited and interviewed. Seven discourses emerged from the narratives namely, a discourse of ‘stress and coping’ ‘hegemonic masculinities’, ‘peer pressure’, ‘disablement and developmental delay’, ‘good mothering/appropriate pregnancies’, ‘culture’, and ‘religion’. These discourses informed the five narrative categories which emerged: narratives about the pregnancy, narratives about the drinking, narratives that justify/explain drinking, narratives that condemn the drinking, and narratives about the women knowing the effects of drinking during pregnancy. Within these narratives, the women mainly positioned themselves as dependent on alcohol during their pregnancies in order to cope with stress caused by various circumstances which were mainly centred on a lack of support from their partners, paternity denial, infidelity and unreliableness. As such, the women in this study mainly justified their drinking during pregnancy and in constructing this narrative, the ‘stress and coping’ discourse as well as the ‘male/masculine provider’ discourse were mainly drawn upon. In reflecting on this analysis, this study argues that alcohol use during pregnancy should be understood within the broader environmental and social context that makes a pregnancy challenging and/or difficult and thus necessitates drinking during pregnancy. Recommendations for future research include expanding the diversity of participants as well as interviewing healthcare providers and women who are currently pregnant, drinking, and part of an intervention aimed at addressing alcohol use during pregnancy so as to obtain a holistic understanding of engaging in this practice. The study makes key recommendations for interventions in practice to help work towards ensuring that the practice of alcohol use during pregnancy is not individualised, decontextualized, and stigmatised.
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- Date Issued: 2019
“Like walking barefoot on the gravel road”: the experience of caring for a child with physical disabilities
- Authors: Ndlovu, Nokanyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: PhotoVoice , Photography in the social sciences , Action research , Children with disabilites -- Care -- South Africa , Children with disabilites -- Care -- South Africa -- Case studies , Caregivers -- South Africa -- Case studies , Caregivers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72479 , vital:30057
- Description: The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the experiences of caregivers of children with physical disabilities and to explore ways of improving this experience. Although there is a considerable amount of international research on the experiences of caring for children with disabilities, the focus of the methods of enquiry has mainly been on knowledge production and there is limited research conducted using an approach like participatory action research. Secondly, in South Africa, there is still inadequate information regarding the experiences of caregivers who are from low socio-economic backgrounds. It is for these reasons that the current study, which employed PhotoVoice, a participatory research data collection tool, to explore the lived experiences of caregivers of children with physical disabilities from low socio-economic backgrounds was embarked upon. The research methodology comprised two main parts: firstly, a study of relevant literature on the subject matter, in order to gain in-depth understanding of the field; and secondly, qualitative data collection, using PhotoVoice. A sample of six participants between the ages of 22-57 years was selected through purposive and convenience sampling. Cameras were distributed to participants and after processing of images narratives were shared around selected photographs and this was later followed by focused group discussions. This analysis process provided two master themes, which are supported by subordinate themes. The master themes are: 1) The challenges associated with the caregiving experience, 2) The positive side of the caregiving experience. Participants experienced a lack of resources, challenges of mobility, the hopelessness of the situation, loneliness of the experience and the financial burden of caring for a child with physical disabilities as challenges associated with the caregiving role. Whereas the joy brought about by support from family, the health service providers and the Association for People with Physical Disabilities personnel; precious moments shared with the child; and personal growth were associated with the positive side of the caregiving experience. These findings support and expand on the growing knowledge of caring for children with physical disabilities. This research culminated in a sharing of the narratives with stakeholders by caregivers themselves as a way of seeking to influence policy, enhance their well-being and engage in a discussion of exploring ways of improving their experience.
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- Date Issued: 2019
A psychobiographical study of Temple Grandin
- Authors: Wannenburg, Nicola
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Grandin, Temple , Psychology Biographical methods , Psychoanalysis , Autistic women United States Biography , Women animal specialists United States Biography , Developmental psychology , Erikson, Erik H (Erik Homburger), 1902-1994
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57358 , vital:26877
- Description: Psychobiographical researchers methodically formulate life histories and interpret them by means of psychological theories. The research typically focuses on exemplary and completed lives. The cases that are studied are usually of individuals who are of particular interest to society as a result of excelling in their particular fields, be they to benefit or detriment of society. Temple Grandin was chosen for this study using purposive sampling as she meets the psychobiographical requirement of being an extraordinary individual. As an individual with autism Grandin faced many challenges growing up. Despite a difficult and absent beginning, Grandin developed into a stable and scientifically creative adult who contributes to society. She excels as an animal scientist and designer of humane livestock handling facilities and has an international reputation for her contribution to the livestock industry and animal welfare. The primary aim of this study is to describe and interpret the life of Temple Grandin through Erikson’s (1950/1973) theory of psychosocial development. A mixed method approach (Yin, 2006) was employed for the conduction of this study. The overarching data processing and analysis guidelines for this study were provided by Miles and Huberman (1994, 2002a, 2002b). The conduction of the processing and analysis of data was aided by Alexander’s (1988, 1990) method of asking the data questions as well as an integration of Yin’s (2014) time series analysis with Erikson’s (1950/1973) triple bookkeeping approach. This study contributes to the development of psychobiographical research in South Africa as well as to personality and developmental theory.
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- Date Issued: 2018
A psychosocial reading of novice clinical psychologists’ talk about whiteness
- Authors: Kennedy, Brink
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Clinical psychology Practice South Africa , White people Race identity South Africa , White privilege (Social structure) South Africa , White people Race identity Psychological aspects , Intercultural communication , Psychoanalysis and racism South Africa , Mentalization Based Therapy
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60212 , vital:27751
- Description: This research presents a case study report of interview encounters with two novice white South African clinical psychologists. A psychosocial research methodology is employed to examine the discursive strategies that participants engage in when speaking about whiteness in the context of their professional identity and practice, as well as to examine the ways in which these discursive strategies support or constrain ‘mentalizing’ in relation to raced experience. One case study highlights an individualistic discourse of ‘racial innocence’, which constructs the speaker as being free of racial enculturation and consciousness, eliding a broader social context. I argue that this discourse closes down mentalizing in relation to more difficult, intractable aspects of raced experience in clinical work, relating to differences in positionality as well as issues of inequality. I also propose that this discourse may be understood in terms of a ‘pretend’ mode of thought, where aspects of the wider social context and of race in particular are experienced as being unrelated to intimate personal experience. The other case study highlights a discourse of ‘uneasy whiteness’ that involves awareness of white positionality, and that is grounded in a constructionist sensibility. This positions the speaker as being inevitably implicated in white privilege and racism in ways that she may be ignorant of. I argue that the discourse facilitates a particular type of mentalizing that is sensitive to the interpellation of intimate personal experience with a wider social context that encompasses a range of discourses and practices. It closes down mentalizing, however, in so far as it allows a reified construction of whiteness. I find the concept of psychic equivalence, which equates external (concrete, factual) reality and internal (subjective, symbolic) reality, useful in terms of understanding this reification. Overall the research highlights the tension between constructionist and individualistic modes of thinking within clinical psychology research and practice in the South African context. At the level of methodology, it presents an example of how these modes may be integrated within research. At the level of content, it explores differences between constructionist and individualistic talk in relation to race and psychological practice.
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- Date Issued: 2018
An interpretative phenomenological analysis of HIV positive individuals’ experiences of being in a support group
- Authors: Brink, Nicole
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: HIV-positive persons -- Social aspects Self-help groups AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- Counseling of AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62988 , vital:28351
- Description: People who have been diagnosed HIV positive often experience distress and anxiety due to uncertainties pertaining to the implications of an HIV positive status. Research has shown that support groups have always been a way for people to cope with the distress and stressful circumstances associated with health conditions such as HIV. This research investigated the role of face to face support groups in the lives of those living with HIV. The primary focus of this research project is to provide an in-depth exploration of HIV positive individuals‟ experiences of being in a support group. The study aims to explore the positive and negative experiences of being in an HIV support group and aims to gain an understanding of the role support plays in the lives of those living with HIV. A qualitative research design was used to explore the above mentioned aim. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five individuals, (three women and two men) who had experienced HIV support groups. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed according to the principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The findings of this study revealed five super-ordinate themes, which revealed not only the positive and negative experiences of being in a support group, but also the challenges that the participants‟ experienced before joining the group. Getting a sense of the participants‟ experience before joining the group allowed the researcher to get a better understanding of how useful or not the support group has been in helping them deal with the challenges of living with HIV. The themes included: „struggling to survive after diagnosis‟, „struggling to cope: adopting negative coping skills‟, „experiencing a turning-point: a will to survive‟, „attending support group: a sweet experience‟ and lastly, „attending support groups: a bitter experience‟. Findings suggest that for these participants, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages of being in a support group. Therefore this study suggests that face to face support groups are a viable and even necessary option for support. These findings support previous research and literature in regards to the importance of social support in the form of support groups in effectively assisting HIV positive people in their journey to adjust to the consequence of living with HIV.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Black university students’ experiences of negotiating their social identity in a historically white university
- Authors: Mogotsi, Opelo Petunia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Corporate culture -- South Africa , Social integration -- South Africa , Race discrimination -- South Africa , Segregation in higher education -- South Africa , Group identity -- South Africa , College students, Black -- South Africa , Biko, Steve, 1946-1977 , Fanon, Frantz, 1925-1961
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62416 , vital:28174
- Description: This thesis seeks to explore the social identity of black students in a historically white university. Since 1994, South African government has been promulgating pieces of legislation aimed at ensuring racial integration, and indirectly enforcing acculturation in historically white universities. Studies have proven that institutional cultures in historically white universities alienate and exclude black students’ identities. These students’ sense of social identity, which includes amongst others; culture, heritage, language and traditions, and consequently self-esteem and self-concept is altered in these institutions. Research has been scant regarding the shape and form that black students’ identity assume when they get to these spaces. Face to face interviews were used to collect data and thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The Social Identity and the Acculturation models were used to explore the experiences of black students in negotiating their social identities in a historically white university. Evoking Steve Biko’s analysis of ‘artificial integration’, it was illustrated how the ‘integration’ narrative sought to discard the identity of black students and psychologically enforce a simulation of black students into white established identities. The main themes discussed indicated that black students in this study had social identity and identity challenges in a historically white university. This study has implications for policy development as I hope to theoretically sensitize historically white universities to (apart from mere opening of spaces of learning) understand the social identity challenges of black students.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Exploring the adaptability and applicability of military mental skills training for South African paramedics
- Authors: Minnie, Chantel
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Allied health personnel -- South Africa , Allied health personnel -- Mental health -- South Africa , Post-traumatic stress disorder -- South Africa , Emergency medical services -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61580 , vital:28039
- Description: Paramedics in South Africa are among the best in the world (MacFarlane, van Loggerenberg, & Kloeck, 2005). However, the domain of pre-hospital emergency care is fraught with challenges and paramedics face numerous personal and professional difficulties. South Africa, with its diverse patient population and challenges, cannot afford to undermine the importance of supportive interventions for emergency medical technicians. Whilst there is a growing body of literature examining the effectiveness of mental skills training in the sporting domain (Gould, Dieffenbach, & Moffett, 2002; Landers & Boutcher, 1998), there is a lack of research on mental skills training as it pertains to paramedics. It is argued here, that the use of mental skills training derived from sporting science and adapted for the military, provides the most comparable context in relation to the paramedic industry. This study thus aims to explore the adaptability and applicability of military mental skills training techniques in the context of South African paramedics. This study made use of an exploratory, qualitative case study design, focusing on participatory research strategies. The analysis revealed that various aspects of existing military mental skills models can be adapted to be of relevance in the emergency medical services field as it related to three paramedic participants. A prominent emerging theme was that of PTSD among paramedics, and it was an area that the participants felt should receive much more attention, research and intervention.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Judging psycholegal reporting in civil court proceedings in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Marais, Claire Anne
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Court proceedings -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Evidence, Expert -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Forensic psychology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Quality Rating Scale (QRS) , Psycholegal reporting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62999 , vital:28352
- Description: Purpose: The primary purpose for this research was to evaluate the quality of psycholegal reports, and the qualification of the authors. Previous research had revealed generalised poor practices in psycholegal report writing and the authors seemed unqualified as expert witness. This negatively influenced the impression and usefulness of expert psychological opinion in South African courts. The secondary purpose was to compare the results to those determined by Ireland (2012), which was a useful benchmark study in the UK as her findings corresponded with the literature. Method: This archival research analysed a hand-search sample of 20 reports written by 20 psychologists based nationally. These reports were submitted as expert opinion in civil proceedings in the Grahamstown Division of the Eastern Cape High Court between 2011 and 2016. Ireland and Pinschof’s (2009) measure ‘Quality Rating Scale’ was adapted for a South African context and used to evaluate quantitatively the reports. Focus was on the reports’ contents (fact and opinion), methods, process and overall rating, and the qualification of the authors. Results: Overall, two-thirds of the reports were rated as ‘good’ and ‘very good’. The results were generally more positive than Ireland’s (2012) findings. However, there were practices in the report writing that were deemed detrimental to the quality of the expert’s opinion. This included vague referral questions and unclear basis for concluding opinions and diagnosis. There was also a lack of discussions surrounding the scientific trustworthiness of testing methods and absent ethical considerations. Lastly, the specialised expertise of the experts was not adequately documented. Conclusion: The findings painted a more positive picture of psycholegal reporting in South Africa than illustrated in previous research, which seemingly relied on anecdotes and subjective surveys. This study used a systematic and objective measure. The findings of this study, previous research and ethical Rules of Conduct were used to consider recommendations for psycholegal report writing, and the improvement of the field of psycholegal work. Lastly, the focus of future research was discussed.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Narrated experiences of the pre-termination of pregnancy counselling healthcare encounter in the Eastern Cape public health sector
- Authors: Mavuso, Jabulile Mary-Jane Jace
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Abortion counseling -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Abortion -- Psychological aspects , Abortion -- Social aspects , Pro-choice movement -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Reproductive rights -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Women -- Sexual behavior -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Women -- South Africa -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62928 , vital:28311
- Description: Research that has been conducted about experiences of pre-abortion counselling tends to investigate either womxn's1 or healthcare providers' experiences separately, with research on womxn's experiences of abortion and abortion counselling dominating this area of research. Although some of the studies on womxn's abortion experiences have explored womxn's experiences of interactions between themselves and healthcare providers, these aspects have been underreported. To my knowledge, research that also explores womxn's interactions among themselves in the waiting room has not been done. Furthermore, research that explores the pre-termination of pregnancy healthcare encounter, where womxn's and healthcare providers' experiences of waiting room interactions and of pre-abortion counselling practices are seen as interrelated, has not been conducted. Research that has been conducted among womxn's experiences show that womxn have varying experiences of pre-abortion counselling, with some finding it useful while other womxn have found it to be lacking in relevance to their specific situation or needs. Research conducted among healthcare providers also points to varying experiences, with some healthcare providers stratifying womxn's reasons for abortion according to the acceptability of the request. This study explores health service providers’ and womxn’s narrated experiences of the pre-termination of pregnancy healthcare encounter (waiting room interactions and pre-abortion counselling) in the Eastern Cape public health sector. An African feminist post-structural approach, which enables analysis of how discursive structures and power relations may underpin African womxn's experiences of oppression and resistance, was used. Fusing this approach with a narrative-discursive analysis, enabled an exploration of the discursive resources drawn upon and the power relations referred to by participants when constructing micro-narratives and accounts of their experiences of waiting room interactions and pre-abortion counselling practices. This fusion enabled an understanding of the micro (individual) and macro (social) and how they interact and come to bear on experiences of the pre-abortion counselling healthcare encounter. Womxn's micro-narratives and healthcare providers' accounts were compared for convergences and divergences in the pre-abortion counselling practices they described. The implications of these convergences and divergences and of the power relations referred to by participants for pre-abortion counselling service provision are discussed. The research referred to in this study were conducted in contexts where abortion is legal, although the conditions under which it may be accessed differ across and within contexts. This present study is contextualised by the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act No. 92 of 1996 which legalises abortion and stipulates that abortion counselling should be made available to womxn but should be non-mandatory and non-directive. Data were collected at three abortion facilities located in public hospitals in the Eastern Cape. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 womxn after they received pre-abortion counselling, and four healthcare providers involved in abortion service provision. Data were analysed using an extended narrative-discursive approach which entailed exploring patterns in and across participants' talk. These patterns took the form of discursive resources (discourses and the subject positions they made available, and canonical narratives), power relations, and micro-narratives and accounts of their experiences of pre-abortion counselling practices and waiting room interactions. Participants described the following pre-abortion counselling practices: information-giving practices, consent practices, administering of LARCs, a waiting period and third-party involvement. In describing these processes, participants drew on an awfulisation of abortion discourse, moralising discourses, pronatalist discourses, and liberal discourses to construct (micro-)narratives in which liberal, pastoral and authoritarian counselling practices and power relations were constructed and referred to. In their micro-narratives, most womxn described the counselling as informative, beneficial and healing whilst also describing shock, hurt, pain and distress at the various kinds of information they received. Healthcare providers drew on discourses and canonical narratives (such as the hero and personal testimony) to justify liberal, pastoral and authoritarian counselling practices which were underpinned by constructing abortion and unintended pregnancy as problematic. The pre-abortion counselling practices that were described were directive in two ways: the coercion of contraceptive uptake post-abortion, and information provision practices which effectively work to delegitimise and persuade womxn against abortion.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Participation in the anti-sexual violence silent protest: a sexual citizenship perspective
- Authors: Chitiki, Elizabeth
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Sex crimes Campus violence -- South Africa -- Prevention Rape victims -- Services for -- Political aspects -- South Africa Anti-rape movement Rape -- Case studies Sexual orientation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62917 , vital:28310
- Description: There is a growing body of research on sexual citizenship that focuses attention on gender and which bridges the gap between public and private life in order to rethink citizenship from a feminist perspective. This is in contrast to understandings of citizenship that promote policies of sexual regulation and a heteronormative ideal of citizenship. My research takes the form of a qualitative case study. Using data from two focus group discussions, fifteen personal diaries, as well as social media posts, I analyse participation in the Silent Protest, an annual anti-rape protest, through the lens of sexual citizenship. I look at how participation in the protest promotes or inhibits inclusive and process-based understandings of sexual violence and sexualities issues. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and the results of the analysis are presented into two parts. The first part of the analysis discusses the politics of affect and witnessing as two processes through which allies’ understandings of sexual violence are shaped. The second part of analysis shows that the Silent Protest contributes to people’s knowledge and understandings of sexual violence in relation to sexualities in a range of ways. Examples of inclusive understandings are: (1) insights about rape in relation to gender and heteronormative inequalities, culture and patriarchal dominance; (2) understanding of critical sexual citizenship in relation to sexual violence; and (3) understanding of politics of recognition (the need for recognition of the importance of safe spaces for formal and informal support for victim-survivors and recognition of victim-survivors’ identities). However, some of the understandings are limited to emotion and affect dynamics. In some ways, therefore, the Silent Protest fails to promote understandings significant to inclusive citizenship, including understandings of entitlements to non-discriminatory sexual health care services and legal services.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Policy responses to the sexual and reproductive health of queer youth in the global south: a systematic review
- Authors: Moore, Sarah-Ann
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Sexual minorities -- Africa , Sexual minorities -- Asia , Sexual minorities -- Caribbean Area , Sexual health -- Developing countries , Reproductive health -- Developing countries , Reproductive health services -- Developing countries , Communication in reproductive health -- Developing countries , Sexual minorities -- Youth -- Developing countries , Medical policy -- Developing countries , Homophobia -- Developing countries
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63021 , vital:28355
- Description: Concerns surrounding youth sexual and reproduction health (SRH) are deeply embedded within systems of heteronormativity and ciscentrism. Resultantly, youth SRH is filtered through a lens of heterosexual and cisgender experience, rendering invisible the SRH needs of queer youth. Importantly, a failure to recognise queer experiences of SRH has implications for normative subject positions, which enjoy stronger institutional support and constitute legitimate ways of being. As such, the failure to recognise queer youth as health care subjects within policy has far reaching consequences for their sexual and reproductive health. Within this research, a sexual and reproductive justice (SRJ) framework is adopted as a backdrop for exploring policy documents related to youth SRH within selected global South countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The final data set comprises of 1035 policy excerpts extracted from 152 policies across these three regions. Research takes the form of a systematic review utilising a deductive framing and positioning thematic analysis. Analysis identifies framings of youth SRH and explores the subject positions assigned to queer youth in relation to these identified framings, with the understanding that the manner in which youth SRH concerns are framed and queer youth are positioned within policies provides an important foundation for the implementation of SRH-related policy. Findings demonstrate that policy responses to youth SRH are most often framed in terms of a public health approach. As a result, dominant understandings of youth SRH serve to reduce youth sexuality to notions of infections and impact, which may speak to an overreliance on biomedical and population-level health models. Themes emerging within human rights framings demonstrate a presumption that rights are equally afforded to, and freely exercised by, all individuals once legally secured, failing to engage with the creation of enabling conditions to realise these rights. Although context and culture framings were by no means exhaustive examples of SRJ, they provide an interesting insight into how such SRJ concerns might be integrated into policy. Importantly, policy responses demonstrate a general pattern hypervisibility of men who have sex with men (MSM) standing in marked contrast to the invisibility of queer youth and other adult queer populations. Within policy extracts, both youth and „MSM‟ are positioned as particularly prone to poor SRH outcomes. By virtue of their inclusion within both populations, queer youth may be considered as especially at risk for, or vulnerable to, such outcomes. Relatedly, these populations (and by extension queer youth) are positioned as in need of correction, containment, and/or protection by those occupying „gatekeeping‟ positions (e.g. health care providers). The positioning of „MSM‟ solely within the context of HIV/AIDS serves to link same-sex sexualities (and at times gender non-conformity) with harmful consequences, suggesting that the positioning of queer youth could similarly serve to conflate their SRH needs with concerns around HIV/AIDS. Many of the subject positions deployed in policies serve to deny the potential for youth and „MSM‟ agency, strength, and resilience. Thus, queer youth subjects are unlikely to be positioned as empowered, autonomous, and agentic. Across both framing and positioning themes, a number of key shortcomings were observed. For the most part, policy responses fail to acknowledge the influence of social, economic, political, and cultural forces that may serve to hinder SRH outcomes according to particular contexts and the intersection of multiple and varied social identities. By obscuring these broader contextual factors and power relations, policy responses may serve to hold individual youth responsible for poor SRH outcomes. In failing to engage with the potential for diversity within youth populations, these populations are largely homogenised. Finally, the need for the creation of an enabling environment in order to secure sexual and reproductive health is largely unacknowledged within policy responses.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Pregnant women’s construction of social support from their intimate partners during pregnancy
- Authors: Bottoman, Phathiswa Esona
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Relations with men Pregnancy -- Psychological aspects Pregnant women -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62560 , vital:28207
- Description: There is a growing body of research aimed at understanding social support during pregnancy in South Africa. Pregnancy is constantly referred to as one of the challenging and stressful periods affecting women’s physical and psychological well-being. Various research studies on social support argue that social support is paramount at this stage. Research on social support indicates that having adequate and quality social support impacts on how pregnant women experience pregnancy. My interest in social support comes in the wake of absent fathers in South Africa and with the emerging trend of “new” fathers. Although there is a volume of research on social support, it tends to be realist. Using a social constructionist framework, I explore other ways of talking about social support in an attempt to expand the discourse around social support. I explore how pregnant women talk about social support during pregnancy from their intimate partners in the small rural municipality of Elundini, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Intimate partner support was limited to heterosexual partners regardless of their marital status. The sampling procedure followed a non-probability sampling method. Participants of the study were between 24 and 32 years old. Their gestational age ranged between five and eight months. Fourteen in-depth interviews using photo-elicitation were conducted with seven participants and were analysed using a social constructionist informed thematic analysis. The major theme that emerged from the analysis was partner involvement and absence during pregnancy. The analysis of results suggests that expectant father presence translates to social support. Participants constructed his presence as reassurance in the context of possible abandonment. Absence was constructed in different ways: participants constructed absence as unjust and unfair, absence and marriage, temporary absence in the form of cultural phenomenon of ukwaliswa/ukubukubazana, absence as normal but burdening to the pregnant women’s social network. Participants reported that social support from the expectant father affected pregnancy wantedness.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The development and implementation of a psychoeducational programme: a case study on mental toughness in a novice triathlete
- Authors: Coertzen, Marlé
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Sports -- Psychological aspects , Triathletes -- Mental health , Toughness (Personality trait) , Triathlon -- Psychological aspects , Achievement motivation , Mental discipline , Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63010 , vital:28354
- Description: As an academic and applied discipline, sport psychology is interested in identifying, understanding, measuring and developing the various mental constructs that interact with physical factors, aiming to produce optimum performance and enhance athletes’ experience of sport participation. The programmes developed within sport psychology are not only applicable to sport, but have applicability within other areas, such as the performing arts, business and professions that are considered high risk, such as the military. Using a mixed methods approach and a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques, the goal of this research was to document the process of developing and implementing a psychoeducational mental toughness programme and to evaluate the programme through exploring the participant’s subjective experience of such a programme. The aim of the research was to contribute to the existing literature on mental toughness programmes. This was attained through administering the Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ) and a semi-structured interview, which informed the development and implementation of a psychoeducational mental toughness programme relative to the idiosyncrasies of the participant and grounded in strengths-based approaches to mental toughness development. Results were obtained based on post-implementation data collected through a second administration of the SMTQ and a semi-structured interview. The participant experienced the programme as positive and results were indicative of changes in his experiences of self-confidence and control, related to the global themes of mindset, flexibility and mindfulness.
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- Date Issued: 2018