An exploration of factors that impact on levels of employee satisfaction and organisational performance : an organisational diagnosis
- Authors: Foot, Kirsten Joan
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Employee motivation Job satisfaction Employees -- Rating of Psychology, Industrial Organizational change Hotels -- Employees -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3178 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007951
- Description: Organisations today, regardless of their function, exist in an environment that is characterised by change. In order to maintain a competitive advantage it is vital that organisations manage such change and are sensitive to their human resource. It is imperative for organisations to understand and explore the factors that impact on employee satisfaction and overall organisational performance. The hospitality industry is an industry that is notorious for low levels of pay and long working hours, and often dissatisfied employees. This research focused on a hotel, that is part of an international chain of hotels, which has recently undergone a rebranding process (a change from within). This research aimed to assess and explore factors that impact on levels of employee satisfaction and organisation/hotel performance, in other words it aimed to 'diagnose' the hotel's current status. The research was conducted in two phases. Phase one made use of a widely used measure of job satisfaction, the job descriptive index (JDI), that looked at five facets of job satisfaction namely: pay, opportunity for promotion, co-workers, supervision and the nature of work. Phase two further explored the results of the JDI (staff being very dissatisfied with pay and promotions opportunity) and further explored other areas of the organisation/hotel with the use of an organisational development model, Weisbord's Six-Box Model (1990). The 'boxes' included areas of purpose, structure, relationships, leadership, rewards and helpful mechanisms. These areas were explored with staff using focus groups. Heads of departments (management) and the deputy general manager of the hotel were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format, exploring similar issues to those researched with staff. Results indicated problems in the hotel with regard to purpose, a severe lack of communication and staff feeling they have little chance for promotion as well as pay structures being perceived as unfair. The overall leadership at the hotel was described as erratic, and relationships between management revealed high levels of mistrust. Due to limited research in the South African hospitality industry, much of the literature available is based on experiences in the United States of America or the United Kingdom. For this research, the researcher had few previous published findings and was unsure of the many issues that could possibly arise. However, the intervention was enjoyable and recommendations have been provided for the hotel to consider, so the hotel can go from "good to great".
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
An exploration of health professional's perceptions of the role of clinical psychologists
- Authors: Zitianellis, Marina Sophia
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Community health services -- South Africa , Community mental health services -- South Africa , Medical personnel -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Primary health care -- South Africa , Clinical psychologists
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3091 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002601 , Community health services -- South Africa , Community mental health services -- South Africa , Medical personnel -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Primary health care -- South Africa , Clinical psychologists
- Description: The South African government has initiated the transformation of health services in the country towards primary health care (PHC) in order to provide comprehensive care to individuals and families. The move to PHC involves an increased need for collaboration between health professionals. It is proposed that for effective team-work to take place, an understanding of the roles and functions of team members is imperative in providing quality mental health care. This study explored health professionals’ perceptions of the role and function of clinical psychologists working as part of a health care team in a community context. Three focus groups and three individual interviews were conducted with social workers, nurses and doctors. The data was then processed and analysed using a grounded theory method. The research highlighted the importance of knowledge, and how this affects referrals, perceptions, inter-professional relations and the perceived usefulness of clinical psychology and clinical psychologists. What is of significance is the potential power that the health professionals have as gatekeepers between the general public and clinical psychologists.
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- Date Issued: 2005
An exploration of high self control scores among South African university students
- Authors: Riordan, Janet Susan
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: College students -- South AFrica -- Psychology , Self-control , Self-control -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2902 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002066
- Description: The Rosenbaum Self Control Schedule is a self-report instrument developed to assess individual tendencies to apply self-control methods to the solution of behavioral problems. Tested on Hebrews and English-speaking Americans, it was found to transfer easily from one situation to the other. When administered in a battery of self-report questionnaires to South African university students it was found that while means of the total sample were similar to those reported overseas, the means of black and white students within the sample were significantly different from each other, with black students having higher self-control scores than the white students in the study and higher than those reported in previous studies. The study was repeated in this research project using a larger group of black students. The finding of significantly higher self-control scores was replicated. This finding was not due to response set, either acquiescence or social desirability, although black subjects were found to be more subject to social desirability response set. Distributions of the samples showed a group of low scoring white subjects for which there was no equal in the black sample. The findings suggest that black university students in South Africa have high levels of learned resoursefulness. This may be due to a selection process reflecting the relative difficulty with which black students reach university level - difficulties relating to student unrest, educational and financial limitations and economic and social drawbacks so that only those students with moderate to exceptional levels of problem solving stategy skills do succeed. Such individuals should be good candidates for cognitive therapies. Item and factor analyses showed the SCS to be psychometrically adequate for the white group but were much less conclusive for the black sample. In this group, a lower Cronbach's alpha was obtained and the factor analysis was less clear.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
An exploration of the impact of AIDS-related losses and role changes on grandmothers
- Authors: Burt, Mary
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: HIV infections -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape HIV infections -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- Care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Bereavement -- Psychological aspects -- Eastern Cape Foster parents -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Loss (Psychology) Grandmothers -- South Africa -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3131 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006487
- Description: The US Bureau of the Census (1999) projected that by 2004, 14 million people in sub-Saharan Africa will develop full blown AIDS, making this region by far the largest disease burden in the world (World Health Organization, 2002). The United Nations AIDS Programme judged South Africa to have the leading number of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2002). To date there has been extensive research conducted on the socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS on families in Africa. However an area of investigation that has remained largely underreported is the inquiry into the psychological impacts of HIV/AIDS on elderly caregivers. In African families older women increasingly have to provide care to their adult children with AIDS and their orphaned grandchildren. However few research studies have assessed the experience of parental caregiving and its psychological impacts on these women. This qualitative research study hypothesised that the role of primary parental caregiver in fact causes a range of psychologically distressing states, which serve to compromise the psychological well-being of these caregivers. To investigate this hypothesis three Xhosa speaking women living in informal settlements in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were selected for the study. The women were interviewed by means of semi-structured interviews, which consisted of questions related to their caregiving experiences, their experiences of loss, their choice of coping strategies, the role of support networks and their experiences of foster care responsibilities. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using a grounded hermeneutic approach. The research results confirmed the working hypothesis. The research revealed that although it was considered culturally appropriate for older women to care for their children and grandchildren, their caregiver roles caused significant psychological distress. Their distress was related to: emotional and physical exhaustion, complicated grief reactions and ongoing emotional and physical upheaval related to foster care responsibilities. Based on the results, the research recommendations emphasised the need for continual awareness of the psychological implications of caregiving for older African women with the aim to preserve their capacity to function as the primary caring resource to families struck by HIV/AIDS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
An exploration of the interaction between integration and discipline in a former model C school in East London
- Authors: Smulders, Heidi
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: School discipline -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , Multicultural education -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3061 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002570 , School discipline -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , Multicultural education -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Description: Educators work in dynamic contexts which reflect the social and political circumstances of the time. Since the African National Congress was elected to govern in 1994, educators working in former Model C schools have been particularly affected by changes in the law regarding education. The South African Schools Act of 1996 prohibited discriminating in any way against learners applying for admission to schools. This has resulted in cultural and racial integration occurring at all former Model C schools. The use of corporal punishment in schools was also prohibited in 1996. This study attempts to obtain an understanding of the interaction between integration and discipline which was identified at a particular Model C school in East London. It also aims to obtain educators' understandings of the challenges of integration and discipline at this school. Following an in-depth pilot study of the school's detention records for 1998, twenty-two out of sixty educators at the school participated in the research by responding to written questionnaires. It is argued that two different approaches to integration are presently used by educators. These are identified and discussed, namely assimilatory education and multicultural education. The need for consistency between educators in their approaches to integration and discipline is also addressed.
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- Date Issued: 2000
An exploration of the other and the disruption of self in schizophrenia
- Authors: Stopforth, Penny
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Self , Schizophrenia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3254 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016362
- Description: Hermans’ (2002) Dialogical model of Self advocates for a construction of Self that is fluid, diverse and dialogically constructed. He argues that development of ongoing dialogues from within and without the Self constitute the Self. These parts of Self that participate in this internal dialogue are referred to by Hermans (2002) as I-positions. Healthy, dynamic internal dialogue between I-positions is argued to contribute to maintaining a unified sense of Self. The Self is also argued to be socially constructed, in so far as Others outside the Self participate in these internal dialogues and are able to influence and occupy I-positions. Research has shown that people with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia experience a unique form of Self disruption. It has been postulated that this disruption is due to disruptions in this internal dialogue. To date, seminal research has primarily focussed on the internal mechanisms and phenomenological accounts of these disruptions. However, little research has focused on the role that Others outside the Self play in these disruptions. Since the Self is also constructed as a social entity, the aim of this research is to explore in what ways the Other contributes and/or minimises this disruption in people with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia. In order to achieve this, I made use of archival data which was made up of the transcripts from semi-structured interviews previously conducted with people with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia as part of a Self and Schizophrenia study. The interviews were analysed using deductive thematic analysis, and utilised Herman’s theory of the Dialogical Self as the theoretical lens for this study. The emergent themes were organised according to those that were present before a diagnosis of Schizophrenia was given and those themes that were present post-diagnosis. The themes reflected that the Other plays a significant role in the both the maintenance of healthy dialogue post diagnosis and well as in the disruption of dialogue. This disruption was primarily observed throughthecompromising of previous I-positions and in the development of new performative and deficit I-positions that contributed to the disruption in internal dialogue.
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- Date Issued: 2014
An exploration of the psychological significance of soap opera viewing
- Authors: Moodley, Prevan
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: Television -- Psychological aspects , Television soap operas -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3023 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002532 , Television -- Psychological aspects , Television soap operas -- Psychological aspects
- Description: In traditional research approaches, soap opera viewing has been studied quantitatively. Such studies ignore the subjectivities, the sociocultural contexts, and life contexts of individual viewers. To account for such shortcomings and to offer a qualitative research approach, an investigation was conducted into the engagement that viewers have with a particular soap opera, The bold and the beautiful. The collective case study research method was used. Three subjects were interviewed using in-depth phenomenological interviewing and the data obtained was subjected to.a hermeneutic method of investigation. This involved using a reading guide that extracted firstly, how pleasure is experienced in soap opera viewing, and secondly how the viewers' interpretations of the soap opera are linked to their everyday life contexts. Pleasure was found to be related to experiencing the soap opera world as real, the social context of the viewer, the openness of the text, selecting textual elements, identification and opening up the viewer's world. The viewers' interpretations were related to their life contexts in terms of the meanings that were constructed around emotions, identities, interpersonal relations and a cultural interface. Most notable for the South African context, is that viewing The bold and the beautiful provides a cultural interface because African identities are brought to this practice.
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- Date Issued: 1998
An explorative study into Faith healing as an African belief system and its influence on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa
- Authors: Tsotsi, Liso
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Spiritual healing -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Ethnopsychology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Mental illness -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Mental illness -- Alternative treatment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67753 , vital:29137
- Description: The present study specifically focussed on Faith healing as an indigenous healing system and its influence on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The study aimed to provide a descriptive overview of Faith healers’ perspectives on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses in the Eastern Cape, as well as to compare conclusions reached with other categories of indigenous healers. The inter-category comparisons on a broader level allowed for a further comparative discourse with the mainstream western medical psychiatric view of mental illness. Therefore, the scope of this study does not include in-depth analyses of findings, but rather the generation of themes for comparative discussions. While there exists vast literature on the diagnostic and treatment perspectives of the other two categories of indigenous healing systems (traditional healers and herbalists), a limited number of studies have been focussed on Faith healing as an indigenous mode of healing. The present study attempted to address this gap in the literature in an effort to promote future collaborative work across all viewpoints, in the management of mental illnesses. This study, grounded in qualitative research, utilized thematic analysis as its theoretical framework. Non probability judgmental sampling was used to secure self-identifying Faith healers, where conclusions from them were drawn from data collected, using in depth semi-structured interviews and observation. The main findings of the study indicated that Faith healers’ perspectives on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses are based mainly on indigenous cultural theories. Furthermore, that collaboration with other viewpoints is hampered by animosity, feelings of distrust and the fear of appearing inferior.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
An exploratory study of psychologists’ perceptions of the phenomenon currently understood as ‘borderline personality disorder’
- Authors: Daya, Lekha
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Borderline personality disorder , Psychologists -- Attitudes -- South Africa , Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/171139 , vital:42023
- Description: The phenomenon currently understood as ‘borderline personality disorder’ (BPD) has been complex and multifaceted since its inception. Previous studies have focused on the validity of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) conceptualisation of BPD, aetiologies of BPD, the psychologies of persons diagnosed with BPD, and the gendered nature of BPD. This study aimed to specifically explore South African practising psychologists’ perceptions of BPD. Through thematic analysis from a constructivist, post-modern paradigm, this study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of practising psychologists on BPD, as well as the usefulness of the DSM in working with BPD in a non-western society such as South Africa (SA). The study sampled two Counselling and two Clinical psychologists practising in the South African context, with exposure to and experience in working with BPD. Collectively, results in this study identified psychologists’ perceptions of shortcomings in the usefulness of the DSM’s approach to categorising phenomena associated with BPD, and brought attention to a need for further research and attention into the role of psychologists’ in the construction of BPD. This study seeks to represent psychologists’ practical experiences and perceptions, in an attempt to add contextually relevant findings on the DSM’s construction of BPD, and to contribute to challenging the stigma and misunderstanding associated with BPD. Specific practice implications and recommendations for future research are discussed within.
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- Date Issued: 2021
An exploratory study of responsible gambling behaviour
- Authors: Harris, Cheyne
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Gambling -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Gambling -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Gambling -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Gambling -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3187 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008442
- Description: In light of the findings of a pilot study by this researcher, entitled a study of the behaviour and strategies of responsible gamblers, it is vital that responsible gambling behaviour in the Eastern Cape be researched more thoroughly. The pilot study found that many ordinary gamblers experience cognitive distortions which may predispose them to varying levels of gambling problems, as well as specific biographical attributes that may determine such an outcome. The present study aims to address the limitations and recommendations put forward by the pilot study, namely its relatively small scale, and lack of generalisability as a result of sampling from a single gambling population. This project set out to assess gambling behaviour, and more so responsible gambling practices, to be able to conclude how, and in what form, responsible gambling takes place. The research was conducted USll1g a sample of one-hundred-and-thirty-seven gamblers from Hemingway's Casino in East London to develop data and establish norms on general gambling behaviour over a week, by administration of a survey questionnaire. The analysis of the data focussed on areas such as the link between gender and gambling behaviour, amount earned and amount spent on gambling, age and gambling trends as well as belief in luck and chances to win. Finally, the strategies (if any) used by gamblers to avoid problem gambling or overspending were assessed, and described by the gamblers themselves, and added to the results of the research. The results indicate that the majority of gamblers in the Eastern Cape are responsible, but many do still exhibit cognitive distortions and other behaviours that might put them at risk for problem gambling. With these results it is possible to provide basic data and information about the nature of gambling in the East London area that can be added to previous (as well as subsequent) studies, in order to build a clearer and more representative picture of the gambling situation in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
An exploratory study of Rhodes students' attitudes and perceptions towards HIV/Aids
- Authors: Weston, Robyn
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes Counseling in higher education AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention -- South Africa HIV infections -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching -- South Africa HIV infections -- Study and teaching -- South Africa HIV infections -- Diagnosis -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3095 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003294
- Description: The present study explores Rhodes students' perceptions and attitudes towards HIV/Aids issues. This study focuses on risk behaviour, stigmatisation, social perceptions and voluntary counselling and HIV testing (VCT). There is a lack of research on student attitudes, knowledge and behaviour at Rhodes University. It was therefore deemed pertinent to research this topic in that context. It was envisaged that the study would provide insights to be used in the formulation of improved strategies for HIV/Aids programs and education, ultimately impacting on the exponential increase of the pandemic in the Southern African region. A sample of six hundred and seventy five Rhodes University undergraduates completed a survey and its findings were interpreted in terms of relevant literature. A mixed methods approach using qualitative and quantitative methods was used. A focus group consisting of seven post-graduate students informed the development of the survey along with relevant literature. Four departments from the faculties of Commerce, Humanities, Science and Law were randomly sampled for the survey phase. Statistica was used to calculate descriptive statistics while the chi-square statistic was applied to examine the relationships between the variables. The findings show that the majority of students have high intention levels in planning to use preventative behaviour. However, in practise, this may not be the case. Many students feel that they belong to high or medium risk groups, as opposed to the low-risk groups. In terms of motivation levels, only sixty three percent of students are highly motivated to protect themselves from HIV/Aids and one third of respondents felt that they could not ask their partner to accompany them for an HIV/Aids test. In addition, students who had received VCT were more likely to be positive about the counselling process.
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- Date Issued: 2008
An ideographic study of bisexuality
- Authors: Parker, Peter Burns
- Date: 1977
- Subjects: Bisexuality -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3036 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002545 , Bisexuality -- Psychological aspects
- Description: This research can be seen as being a step towards an answer to the question "what is bisexuality?". Such an aim, however, appears to be a contradiction in terms. Surely we must be assuming an answer by asking the question. How can one ask a question such as “what is bisexuality?", if we have no conception of what the word bisexuality means? Owing to the lack of information in the literature with which to answer the question of this study, it was decided that an in-depth study of one individual would be a most suitable starting point to begin an illumination of the themes which lie in the depths of this complex phenomenon . An in-depth study would hopefully do this without lapsing into the stereo - typed ways of thinking and terminology that could eventuate from a more populous and necessarily more superficial approach (Kotze 1974). Arising out of the prevailing conception of human sexuality as comprising two modes of sexual existence - heterosexuality and homosexuality only, the idea of bisexuality is hardly to be found in the ordinary man's or, for that matter, the psychologist 's, conceptual frameworks. The only extensive work that has been undertaken to date which uncovers, to a certain extent, the nature of human sexuality, is that of Kingsley (1948 and 1953). Although it must be kept in mind that this research is dated, it certainly does indicate that perhaps it would not be unrealistic to begin to reconceptualise our views on man's sexual mode of existence . This thesis presents the case of a man, who, according to our present view, does not exist.
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- Date Issued: 1977
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
An interpretative phenomenological analysis of mothers’ experiences raising an autistic child
- Authors: Hewson, Aimee Jessica
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Autism spectrum disorders South Africa , Autism spectrum disorders in children South Africa , Mothers of children with disabilities South Africa , Phenomenological psychology , Qualitative research , Interpretative phenomenological analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190725 , vital:45022
- Description: There has been an increasing research focus on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the experiences of those affected by autism. Previous research has demonstrated that mothers experience difficulties in all spheres related to their autistic child. Mothers were focused on exclusively in this study as previous research found that it is mostly mothers who take on the primary caring role for their children. As a result, this research aimed to explore the perceptions and experience of six South African mothers raising their ASD child. This research used a qualitative research approach and an interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology. Two semi-structured interviews were held with each participant, with interviews being audio recorded. After analysis, five themes were found, namely: (1) learning their child has a condition or diagnosis, (2) learning and sharing about ASD, (3) the mothering experience, (4) interventions and cost and (5) supportive resources. Careful anonymisation choices were made in this research to ensure the anonymity of participants as best as possible, due to the recruitment through a gatekeeper organisation and snowball sampling. The main findings of this study were that mothers experienced difficulties and challenges as they navigated the medical world in search of a diagnosis for their child. Mothers also reported following their intuition when it came to their children’s care, interventions, and schooling. The passage of time was a significant issue to mothers, as they described several delays and waiting periods. Mothers also described their concerns regarding their children’s future and the fact that their child would be dependent on them and would not be able to form autonomous mature relationships with others. They also reported various thoughts on disclosing their child’s diagnosis to their children. This research, therefore, added to and expanded upon South African literature on the experiences of mothers raising their ASD child. Concurring with previous research, this project found that mothers experience many challenges in the raising of their ASD child. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of HIV-positive lay counsellors working in the voluntary counselling and testing settings
- Authors: Teng, James Wei Jie
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: HIV-positive persons Peer counseling Health counseling Health counselors -- Mental health Hiv-positive persons -- Counseling of HIV-positive persons -- Mental health HIV infections -- Psychological aspects Lay analysis (Psychoanalysis)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3070 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002579
- Description: The purpose of this study was to present and understand the experiences of HIV-positive lay counsellors working in Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) settings. Specifically exploring and understanding the utilisation of personal experiences within counselling encounters, the practice of peer counselling within VCT, and the challenges experienced by HIV-positive lay counsellors within VCT settings. This study, employing a qualitative interpretative phenomenological methodology required a small sample of practicing HIV-positive lay counsellors, who were selected and interviewed on their experiences utilising semi-structured interviewing. Data was analysed for meaning units, which were interpreted inductively and hermeneutically, and categorised into super-ordinate themes. Three superordinate themes within the participants’ experiences of providing VCT services were determined, namely: ‘diagnosis and disclosure experiences’, ‘peer counselling’, and ‘challenges’. This research found that the experiences of providing peer counselling depended upon identification with their client’s negative appraisal of their diagnosis experiences. Whether through empathic connections generated through the shared experience of discovering a seropositive status, or through countertransferential reactions induced through their client’s yearning for care and support. This required the counsellor to selfdisclose within counselling encounters in order to provide personal experiences of living with HIV/AIDS. Successful implementation of peer counselling provided recently diagnosed individuals with knowledge surrounding HIV/AIDS, coping skills to manage the daily physiological and psychological challenges, facilitation and adherence to treatment, social assistance, ongoing relationships, inspiring hope, and the creation of positive appraisals. However the informal utilisation of task-shifting within lay healthcare cadres, and the lack of governmental recognition for the emotional labour provided within VCT indicated that HIVpositive lay counsellors require ongoing training, support and remuneration to limit potential occupational stress, resignation, and burnout.
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- Date Issued: 2011
An interpretive analysis of the experiences of adults working as university support staff
- Authors: Zini, Thembela Nomonde
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Universities and colleges South Africa , Universities and colleges Employees , Universities and colleges Sociological aspects , Identity (Psychology) , Identity (Psychology) Social aspects , Work Psychological aspects , Work Social aspects , Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
- Language: English
- Type: Masters theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188888 , vital:44795
- Description: Work means different things to different people and the different meanings they make of their work has the unique ability of contributing to a sense of identity. Support staff have to negotiate their personal identities and social identities to develop a work identity in the complex South African context that has its unique challenges. Exploring how support staff make sense of their experiences, when it comes to their identities, reveals what identity work strategies they use. An interpretative phenomenological method of inquiry was employed as an initial research method to explore the aspects that impact on the identity formation of support staff at Rhodes University. The study aims to investigate how support staff have constructed a work identity through their constructions of their experiences. Six participants were recruited through a purposive sampling method and data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The study revealed that support staff use the following identity work strategies to negotiate their identities: Financial, Personality, Career mobility, Roles, Status and Esteem, Subjective wellbeing. These themes were derived from the narratives of the participants, using the emphases in the data and suggest that support staff use identity work strategies both outside and within the workplace, when constructing their work identities. The study illustrates that as people ascribe different meanings to work, they will define and negotiate their identities in the workplace based upon those meanings. Identity work is indeed challenging for support staff because they need to use identity strategies that are enhancing to their self-esteem. Identity work is a challenging task because of the many tensions and demands of modern society, as adults negotiate their needs to provide for families and to find ways to construct their job status in positive ways. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
An interpretive use of drawings to explore the lived experiences of orphaned children living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa
- Authors: Steenveld, Clint Michael
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa HIV infections -- South Africa HIV infections -- Social aspects -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) -- Psychological aspects HIV infections -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) in children -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3099 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004374
- Description: Against the backdrop of the growing problem of AIDS orphans in South Africa and greater sub-Saharan Africa, this qualitative enquiry examines the lives of three South African orphaned children living with HIV / AIDS in a children's home in Cape Town. It aims to generate rich, child-centred descriptions of some of the significant experiences of the children's lives. Drawings, dialogue and narrative were employed to generate the primary data. This was supplemented by collateral interviews and other relevant records, e.g. medical and biographical. Existential-phenomenological theory informed the approach to data collection and analysis. Each child produced a series often to twelve impromptu drawings over a period often weeks. These drawings and transcripts of the children's verbal descriptions of their drawings were extensively analysed. Significant themes for each participant as well as themes common to all three were identified. Some of the central themes emerging include loss, abandonment, death, disease awareness and coping. The children's ability to develop adaptive coping mechanisms and resilience in the face of traumatic loss and terminal illness was a particularly outstanding feature of the findings. Recommendations are made regarding future research to address the lack of qualitative, child-focused investigations as well as appropriate interventions for addressing the psychosocial needs of orphaned children living with HIV/AIDS.
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- Date Issued: 2004
An intersubjective perspective on the role of personal therapy in being a psychotherapist
- Authors: Haumann, Hester Johanna
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Psychodynamic psychotherapy Psychotherapy Clinical psychology Psychotherapists -- Psychology Psychoanalysis Countertransference(Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2988 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002497
- Description: The purpose of this study was to explore how personal therapy influences experienced psychodynamic psychotherapists’ ways of being clinicians, and, by implication, their professional development. A hermeneutic research method, which also drew upon aspects of grounded theory methodology, was therefore devised to explore and examine how personal therapy and professional practice relate to each other and to the therapist’s development, and to deepen this descriptive account into a more differentiated and theoretically viable understanding. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight psychodynamic psychotherapists who were working as clinicians and who were concurrently in therapy. Keeping the research objective in mind, a list of questions was developed from the interview material through which the data was re-read and edited. In accordance with the aims of the study, and as suggested by the results of the initial phase of the textual analysis, intersubjective theory, mainly that of Jessica Benjamin, was used to generate a conceptual framework through which the interview material was further interpreted. This foregrounded the shifting power distributions and the varying processes of identification between the treating therapists and the participants. The Jungian notion of the wounded healer was intersubjectively reconfigured as indicating a therapist whose (often unacknowledged) needs and vulnerabilities engender a proclivity to relate to patients as objects rather than subjects. The participants could all be described as having started out their professional lives as wounded healers. The effects of personal therapy on their clinical work were conceptualised in terms of increased abilities for subject-to-subject relating. These were linked to augmented capacities for reflective and symbolic thinking and an enhanced openness to the implicit, unformulated and opaque aspects of experiences in the therapeutic space. Finally an intersubjective model of personal therapy and development as a therapist was generated. It was concluded that because of the focus on the therapeutic relationship as the vehicle for change in psychodynamic psychotherapy, as well as the current increasing emphasis on the use of the therapist’s subjectivity, the therapist’s capacity to engage in and sustain subject-tosubject relating and, by implication, the therapist’s personal therapy, are of pivotal importance for all therapists doing the work of psychodynamic psychotherapy.
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- Date Issued: 2005
An intracategorical intersectional framework for understanding ‘supportability’ in womxn’s narratives of their pregnancy
- Authors: Kalyanaraman, Yamini
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Pregnancy -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa , Prenatal care -- South Africa , Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Psycology , Medical care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96647 , vital:31304
- Description: In South Africa, the current Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is 135 per 100,000 live births, with a long way to go before it can achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) global target of under 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030. This research project focuses on the narratives of pregnant womxn in the Eastern Cape Province, using an intracategorical intersectional framework and Macleod’s ‘supportability’ model as a base. The study aims to locate womxn’s pregnancies within the interweaving biological, psychological, social, economic, cultural and political contexts within which they occur, while focusing specifically on the aspect of ‘supportability’. Through purposive sampling and snowballing methods, the research team recruited participants who were 18 years and older, in or past the second trimester of their pregnancy, and able to access antenatal care. Research data were produced using photo-elicitation techniques on 92 photographs and narratives from 32 interviews. An intersectional thematic analysis was used to generate themes, which highlighted different aspects that enabled or hindered pregnancy ‘supportability’. In accordance with prior research, it was revealed that womxn found emotional and tangible support the most beneficial. Findings from this study reveal the interconnectedness between a womxn’s personal (emotional, physical and cognitive) experiences of pregnancy, the micro-interactions of support (un)available from partners, family, friends, healthcare workers, workplaces and community members, and the macrostructures of socioeconomic policies, religiosity, cultural practices and healthcare systems. For example, gendered perceptions (a macro-structure) influence the instrumental support provided by partners (a micro-interaction), which impacts the womxn’s well-being (personal). Certain themes that emerged from the different narratives were: the importance of making available pregnancy-related information to the womxn; a desire for non-judgement and acceptance of their pregnancies within their community; and the need for adequate communication in microinteractions. The findings of this research also indicate that, despite the financial tensions inherent in each womxn’s life, the participants were driven by overarching hopes for their child’s future.
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- Date Issued: 2019
An investigation into cultural differences in the conceptualization of and attributions about cognitive decline in the elderly
- Authors: Fair, David Alan
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Dementia , Older people , Dementia Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2974 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002483 , Dementia , Older people , Dementia Case studies
- Description: There is little data regarding the prevalence of dementia in South Africa. Estimating such prevalence is problematic as the most commonly used cognitive screening tests are inappropriate for use in non-western populations. For this reason researchers have explored the use of informant questionnaires where relatives provide information on cognitive functioning over the last year. In the South African context Lenger, de Villiers & Louw (1996) conducted a dementia case-ascertainment study in a Xhosa-speaking community near Cape Town using a well-known informant questionnaire, the DECO, and concurrent clinical assessment. Reflecting on the discrepancies between DECO scores and clinical diagnosis, the researchers conducted interviews to explore beliefs and expectations regarding the elderly and cognitive decline. The aims of the current research were to gather comparative data from Bothasig, an English-speaking community, in order to explore areas of commonality and difference in perceptions and attributions regarding cognitive decline in the elderly. The study found that a significant percentage of informants from both Bothasig and Langa consider forgetfulness to be normal in old age. Different discourses around illness in the elderly were identified incorporating a range of medicalised and folk attributions. The discussion showed that informant perceptions within the Langa community may increase the likelihood that observational data provided in informant questionnaires may be confounded by cultural perceptions regarding the elderly. In addition, certain items on the DECO were found to be unsuitable for use across groups and modifications were proposed. The data was analyzed using both quantitative methods and phenomenological discourse analysis. The discussion concluded with metatheoretical reflections on the tension between etic and emic perspectives in cross-cultural research.
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- Date Issued: 1999