Academic distress & disordered eating in students during the Covid-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study at a South African university
- Authors: Du Toit, Mae
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Influence , Eating disorders , College students Attitudes , College students Mental health , Stress (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192626 , vital:45244
- Description: University students are at risk for reduced mental wellbeing, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, and among the most common problems experienced are academic distress and eating concerns. Through a stress-coping model lens, a link between academic distress and disordered eating in student populations appears possible but has not previously been explored. The present study examines this relationship in a South African undergraduate sample. Data were collected during the Covid-19 pandemic using a cross-sectional, correlational survey design and the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS). The results of a multiple regression analysis indicate that academic distress most strongly predicts eating concerns, followed by the demographic variables of female gender and black racial identification. This novel finding suggests that academic institutions should consider the broader academic environment as point of intervention for the prevention and treatment of disordered eating in students. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Du Toit, Mae
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Influence , Eating disorders , College students Attitudes , College students Mental health , Stress (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192626 , vital:45244
- Description: University students are at risk for reduced mental wellbeing, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, and among the most common problems experienced are academic distress and eating concerns. Through a stress-coping model lens, a link between academic distress and disordered eating in student populations appears possible but has not previously been explored. The present study examines this relationship in a South African undergraduate sample. Data were collected during the Covid-19 pandemic using a cross-sectional, correlational survey design and the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS). The results of a multiple regression analysis indicate that academic distress most strongly predicts eating concerns, followed by the demographic variables of female gender and black racial identification. This novel finding suggests that academic institutions should consider the broader academic environment as point of intervention for the prevention and treatment of disordered eating in students. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
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
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- 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
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
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
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- 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
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Educating learners with special educational needs in special schools: an interpretative phenomenological study of teachers’ experiences
- Authors: Matebese, Sibongile
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Children with disabilities Education South Africa , South Africa. Department of Education , Inclusive education South Africa , Special education teachers South Africa , Special education teachers South Africa Interviews , Phenomenological psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192270 , vital:45211
- Description: In 2001, the Department of Education introduced a policy known as White Paper 6: Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. This policy was a response to the worldwide call for inclusive education. It aimed to ensure that all learners with special educational needs (LSEN) and who experience barriers to learning are accommodated and taught in mainstream schooling contexts. Implementation of this policy in South Africa has been a challenge, and special schools continue to exist. While research has explored the experiences of teachers who teach LSEN, such studies have focused on teacher experiences in mainstream schools. A few international and South African studies have explored teacher experiences of teaching LSEN in special schools; however, these explore specific aspects of teacher experiences and are outdated. Based on this premise and drawing on a phenomenological approach, this study sought to explore and understand the experiences of teachers who teach LSEN in special schools. Using the semi-structured interview, eight teachers teaching in special schools in a city in the Eastern Cape were recruited and interviewed. Five superordinate themes emerged from the shared experiences, namely, ‘personal commitment and the need for a balance’, ‘recognising the learner at the centre’, ‘the importance of a holistic approach’, ‘the ups and downs of teaching LSEN’, and ‘support is available but limited’. Within these themes, the teachers experienced teaching LSEN as involving more than teaching, as a role guided by the learner, as collaborative, associated with positive experiences and challenges, including an endeavour that they are adequately supported in but simultaneously require more support for. In reflecting on this analysis, this study argues that special schools are necessary; teaching LSEN in special schools is important to teachers, and they feel a responsibility for it. Recommendations for future research include repeating the present study with a different population and methodology, interviewing parents of LSEN and LSEN themselves to gain further insights into special schooling. The study makes key recommendations for special needs education to help ensure that such an educational system is sustained as inclusion is a long way from being realised. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Matebese, Sibongile
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Children with disabilities Education South Africa , South Africa. Department of Education , Inclusive education South Africa , Special education teachers South Africa , Special education teachers South Africa Interviews , Phenomenological psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192270 , vital:45211
- Description: In 2001, the Department of Education introduced a policy known as White Paper 6: Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. This policy was a response to the worldwide call for inclusive education. It aimed to ensure that all learners with special educational needs (LSEN) and who experience barriers to learning are accommodated and taught in mainstream schooling contexts. Implementation of this policy in South Africa has been a challenge, and special schools continue to exist. While research has explored the experiences of teachers who teach LSEN, such studies have focused on teacher experiences in mainstream schools. A few international and South African studies have explored teacher experiences of teaching LSEN in special schools; however, these explore specific aspects of teacher experiences and are outdated. Based on this premise and drawing on a phenomenological approach, this study sought to explore and understand the experiences of teachers who teach LSEN in special schools. Using the semi-structured interview, eight teachers teaching in special schools in a city in the Eastern Cape were recruited and interviewed. Five superordinate themes emerged from the shared experiences, namely, ‘personal commitment and the need for a balance’, ‘recognising the learner at the centre’, ‘the importance of a holistic approach’, ‘the ups and downs of teaching LSEN’, and ‘support is available but limited’. Within these themes, the teachers experienced teaching LSEN as involving more than teaching, as a role guided by the learner, as collaborative, associated with positive experiences and challenges, including an endeavour that they are adequately supported in but simultaneously require more support for. In reflecting on this analysis, this study argues that special schools are necessary; teaching LSEN in special schools is important to teachers, and they feel a responsibility for it. Recommendations for future research include repeating the present study with a different population and methodology, interviewing parents of LSEN and LSEN themselves to gain further insights into special schooling. The study makes key recommendations for special needs education to help ensure that such an educational system is sustained as inclusion is a long way from being realised. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Harry Potter: a discourse analytic approach to ‘the boy who lived’ and his attachments
- Authors: Nel, Derryn Joy
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192641 , vital:45245
- Description: Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Nel, Derryn Joy
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192641 , vital:45245
- Description: Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Mental Health Professionals’ Gender-Sensitivity and Responsiveness to the Genderqueer population in Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Systematic Review
- Authors: Maseko, Moosa Lorenzo
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Gender nonconformity , Substance abuse , Mental health personnel , Gender-nonconforming people Counseling of , Discrimination in mental health services , Joanna Briggs Institute’s systematic review method
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190133 , vital:44966
- Description: Background: The prevalence of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) amongst the genderqueer population is a huge concern in the public mental health system. The genderqueer population’s help-seeking barriers have been attributed to SUD treatment centre’s questionable ability to be responsive to the unique mental health needs of genderqueer individuals. Aim: The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review on mental healthcare workers‟ responsiveness and gender-sensitivity towards the genderqueer population in SUD treatment centres. Methods: Employing the Joanna Briggs Institute’s (JBIs) systematic review method, 25 qualitative articles were included in this study. A thematic analysis was used to examine the data. Results: The analysis revealed that SUD treatment centres are experienced as discriminatory and unreceptive by the genderqueer population due to several barriers. The barriers identified were structural, financial, personal, cultural and the use of a heterosexual framework to treat SUD which led to abuse, isolation, and stigma. Mental healthcare providers lack skills in working with genderqueer individuals as well as a lack of knowledge on genderqueer related needs. Lack of gender sensitivity affects genderqueer individuals in accessing SUD treatment centres and the progress they make. This magnified the need and importance of specialised gender-responsive and gender-sensitive training in working with genderqueer individuals. Twelve interventions to address the areas of difficulty were identified. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Maseko, Moosa Lorenzo
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Gender nonconformity , Substance abuse , Mental health personnel , Gender-nonconforming people Counseling of , Discrimination in mental health services , Joanna Briggs Institute’s systematic review method
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190133 , vital:44966
- Description: Background: The prevalence of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) amongst the genderqueer population is a huge concern in the public mental health system. The genderqueer population’s help-seeking barriers have been attributed to SUD treatment centre’s questionable ability to be responsive to the unique mental health needs of genderqueer individuals. Aim: The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review on mental healthcare workers‟ responsiveness and gender-sensitivity towards the genderqueer population in SUD treatment centres. Methods: Employing the Joanna Briggs Institute’s (JBIs) systematic review method, 25 qualitative articles were included in this study. A thematic analysis was used to examine the data. Results: The analysis revealed that SUD treatment centres are experienced as discriminatory and unreceptive by the genderqueer population due to several barriers. The barriers identified were structural, financial, personal, cultural and the use of a heterosexual framework to treat SUD which led to abuse, isolation, and stigma. Mental healthcare providers lack skills in working with genderqueer individuals as well as a lack of knowledge on genderqueer related needs. Lack of gender sensitivity affects genderqueer individuals in accessing SUD treatment centres and the progress they make. This magnified the need and importance of specialised gender-responsive and gender-sensitive training in working with genderqueer individuals. Twelve interventions to address the areas of difficulty were identified. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Power in periods: a Foucauldian-feminist exploration of menstruation in an all-girls’ secondary school in South Africa
- Authors: Parkinson, Catherine Anne
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Menstruation South Africa , Menstruation Social aspects South Africa , High school girls Health and hygiene South Africa , Communication in reproductive health South Africa , Sexual health South Africa , Sex differences (Psychology) in adolescence South Africa , Male domination (Social structure) South Africa , Feminist theory , Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984. Surveiller et punir. English , Discourse analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190930 , vital:45042
- Description: Absenteeism from school among girls due to a lack of menstrual health management (MHM) products has increasingly attracted attention from researchers and activists in recent years. Having highlighted the challenges caused by a lack of MHM products, the focus has been on the available facilities at schools to ensure MHM. Many schools in South Africa lack water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to ensure hygiene standards for the removal of bodily excre-ment, which further causes distress to girls needing MHM while at school. To investigate fur-ther the MHM challenges girls face, apart from access to products and WASH, this qualita-tive study purposively selected an all-girls’ school with access to good sanitation facilities. This research uses Foucauldian Discourse Analysis and Feminist Theory to explore the forms of discipline and control that girls experience at school to contain their bodily functioning and fluids, and the forms of resistance and support that girls encounter with MHM at school. I will argue that the ambivalent meanings girls acquire about menstruation at home and in soci-ety persist at school despite their own views that menstruation is normal. While MHM prod-ucts and WASH facilities need to be freely available, the problematic social response to men-struation is what needs to be addressed in order to emancipate women from the social patriar-chal power that informs their understanding that menstruation is shameful. MHM cannot only encompass products and facilities but needs to encompass a change in societal views of sex-ual and reproductive health. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Parkinson, Catherine Anne
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Menstruation South Africa , Menstruation Social aspects South Africa , High school girls Health and hygiene South Africa , Communication in reproductive health South Africa , Sexual health South Africa , Sex differences (Psychology) in adolescence South Africa , Male domination (Social structure) South Africa , Feminist theory , Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984. Surveiller et punir. English , Discourse analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190930 , vital:45042
- Description: Absenteeism from school among girls due to a lack of menstrual health management (MHM) products has increasingly attracted attention from researchers and activists in recent years. Having highlighted the challenges caused by a lack of MHM products, the focus has been on the available facilities at schools to ensure MHM. Many schools in South Africa lack water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to ensure hygiene standards for the removal of bodily excre-ment, which further causes distress to girls needing MHM while at school. To investigate fur-ther the MHM challenges girls face, apart from access to products and WASH, this qualita-tive study purposively selected an all-girls’ school with access to good sanitation facilities. This research uses Foucauldian Discourse Analysis and Feminist Theory to explore the forms of discipline and control that girls experience at school to contain their bodily functioning and fluids, and the forms of resistance and support that girls encounter with MHM at school. I will argue that the ambivalent meanings girls acquire about menstruation at home and in soci-ety persist at school despite their own views that menstruation is normal. While MHM prod-ucts and WASH facilities need to be freely available, the problematic social response to men-struation is what needs to be addressed in order to emancipate women from the social patriar-chal power that informs their understanding that menstruation is shameful. MHM cannot only encompass products and facilities but needs to encompass a change in societal views of sex-ual and reproductive health. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Schema modes in eating disorders: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
- Authors: Bowker, Chantal Ann
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Eating disorders , Anorexia nervosa , Bulimia , Compulsive eating , Schema-focused cognitive therapy , Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/196072 , vital:45723 , DOI 10.21504/10962/196072
- Description: The DSM-5 prevalence rate of anorexia nervosa is 0.4%, bulimia nervosa is 1% to 1.5%, and binge eating disorder is 1.6% (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Although treatment approaches for eating disorders have high drop-out rates and low rates of recovery, treatment modalities that address childhood factors contributing to the eating disorder, as well as the eating disorder behaviours, have better outcomes. Schema therapy is an integrative approach that has been used for the treatment of eating disorders for more than a decade. Central features in schema therapy include the identification of early maladaptive schemas arising from unmet needs and schema modes. Schema modes, composed of schemas and coping mechanisms, are active for an individual at a particular time in response to triggers in the environment (Brown et al., 2016). Identifying an individual’s modes is a crucial aspect that reflects the underlying structure of the individual’s creation of reality. A phenomenological understanding of the modes is essential for developing a case conceptualisation and treatment plan. Differences exist in the naming and description of modes in the current schema therapy literature, which suggests the need for a phenomenological investigation of these structures. This research study used a mostly qualitative approach, in the form of clinical interviews, substantiated by questionnaires, to examine schema modes. Case presentations using the schema therapy model are provided for five women with either anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder. Then, through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis, specific modes are examined as to how they are experienced by the participants and influence their behaviour. The features of schema modes in these clinical cases are compared to the existing literature to extend the understanding of schema modes in eating disorders. The participants’ experiences revealed that they had schema modes in common, regardless of the eating disorder presentation, but that the features of the individual modes varied. Modes found in the current literature such as the Detached Self-Soother and Perfectionist Overcontroller coping mode, were found in all the participants. Four of the five participants had an Eating Disordered Overcontroller mode. Features consistent with the existing descriptions of the Perfectionist Overcontroller, Eating Disordered Overcontroller and Detached Self-Soother modes were noted, and new features were identified. The Perfectionist Overcontroller and Eating Disordered Overcontroller have been presented here as complex composite modes with sub-modes that work together in a coherent way in the service of the same project (Edwards, 2020b). Twenty-three features are identified in the parent modes. Blended parent modes, with multiple features active in a situation, were described. The blended parent modes expand on the existing literature on parent modes. The findings in this research support and extend the mode structure identified in the schema therapy theory, and highlight the idiosyncratic nature of the modes. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Bowker, Chantal Ann
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Eating disorders , Anorexia nervosa , Bulimia , Compulsive eating , Schema-focused cognitive therapy , Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/196072 , vital:45723 , DOI 10.21504/10962/196072
- Description: The DSM-5 prevalence rate of anorexia nervosa is 0.4%, bulimia nervosa is 1% to 1.5%, and binge eating disorder is 1.6% (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Although treatment approaches for eating disorders have high drop-out rates and low rates of recovery, treatment modalities that address childhood factors contributing to the eating disorder, as well as the eating disorder behaviours, have better outcomes. Schema therapy is an integrative approach that has been used for the treatment of eating disorders for more than a decade. Central features in schema therapy include the identification of early maladaptive schemas arising from unmet needs and schema modes. Schema modes, composed of schemas and coping mechanisms, are active for an individual at a particular time in response to triggers in the environment (Brown et al., 2016). Identifying an individual’s modes is a crucial aspect that reflects the underlying structure of the individual’s creation of reality. A phenomenological understanding of the modes is essential for developing a case conceptualisation and treatment plan. Differences exist in the naming and description of modes in the current schema therapy literature, which suggests the need for a phenomenological investigation of these structures. This research study used a mostly qualitative approach, in the form of clinical interviews, substantiated by questionnaires, to examine schema modes. Case presentations using the schema therapy model are provided for five women with either anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder. Then, through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis, specific modes are examined as to how they are experienced by the participants and influence their behaviour. The features of schema modes in these clinical cases are compared to the existing literature to extend the understanding of schema modes in eating disorders. The participants’ experiences revealed that they had schema modes in common, regardless of the eating disorder presentation, but that the features of the individual modes varied. Modes found in the current literature such as the Detached Self-Soother and Perfectionist Overcontroller coping mode, were found in all the participants. Four of the five participants had an Eating Disordered Overcontroller mode. Features consistent with the existing descriptions of the Perfectionist Overcontroller, Eating Disordered Overcontroller and Detached Self-Soother modes were noted, and new features were identified. The Perfectionist Overcontroller and Eating Disordered Overcontroller have been presented here as complex composite modes with sub-modes that work together in a coherent way in the service of the same project (Edwards, 2020b). Twenty-three features are identified in the parent modes. Blended parent modes, with multiple features active in a situation, were described. The blended parent modes expand on the existing literature on parent modes. The findings in this research support and extend the mode structure identified in the schema therapy theory, and highlight the idiosyncratic nature of the modes. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Schema therapy for anorexia nervosa: an intensive systematic individual case study
- Authors: Alexander, Graham
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Eating disorders , Anorexia nervosa , Anorexia nervosa Treatment , Anorexia nervosa Case studies , Schema-focused cognitive therapy , Anorexic overcontroller , Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/196082 , vital:45724 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/196082
- Description: Developed more than three decades ago, schema therapy (ST) was born out of a need for a more effective way of working with difficult and challenging cases where patients were clearly unresponsive to the existing short-term cognitive therapies. While anchored in the primary theoretical orientation of cognitive therapy, ST has carefully integrated techniques and principles from attachment and object-relations therapies, as well as humanistic, gestalt and experiential therapies. The mode model emphasises the concept of “multiplicity” in terms of which the self is functionally divided into parts or schema modes. For a little more than a decade there has been growing interest amongst researcher-clinicians in the application of ST for the treatment of eating disorders (EDs) (Waller, et al., 2007; Simpson, 2012; Edwards, 2015; Munro et al., 2016; Simpson, 2016; Munro et al., 2016). While multivariate studies can provide quantifiable evidence for the efficacy of ST for treating EDs, systematic case-based research offers a means of engaging in an intensive analysis and description of the complex and subtle processes that unfold over time in a real-life therapeutic environment (Edwards et al., 2004; Yin, 1994). This research method also provides an opportunity for the refining of the clinical treatment model as well as its testing. Ten participants were assessed and treated with schema therapy. However, because of the large amount of data gathered, a decision was made to write up only one as an intensive systematic individual case study. Alison, an elderly woman with a longstanding history of AN who had been largely unresponsive to considerable previous therapies, received 100 ST sessions over a two-year period and showed a very positive response. The many challenges that arose and the way these were addressed within the ST framework provide an in-depth account of the application of the ST mode model for the treatment of AN. This is presented in a detailed therapy narrative. After results of the quantitative measures are provided, the next three chapters address three interpretative questions pertaining to the Healthy Adult/Vulnerable Child dyadic relationship, the processes of working with the Angry Child mode, and the conceptualising of an AN-specific coping mode. Several conclusions are drawn about the strengths of the schema therapy model and its particular application to AN. Amongst these is the importance of having a comprehensive case conceptualisation that serves as a collaborative “road map” with which to negotiate the unfolding collaborative therapeutic process. Another is the identifying of the “Anorexic Overcontroller” as a stand-alone coping mode that clarifies the functions of AN to hinder schema-based emotional injury, but paradoxically, still denies the individual’s basic core needs being met. Such a conceptualisation significantly assisted in the suspension of anorexic behaviour. A further significant observation is how emotion-focused work (especially within the context of chair work and imagery) brought therapy to life and was particularly effective in mobilising the conflict between internal voices. Another outstanding feature is how the building of a strong Healthy Adult mode proved vital in the healing process and the development of patient autonomy. Finally, therapy revealed how central the establishment of a sturdy, warm and loving therapeutic relationship is, and how influential the resonance between the therapist and patient is in the outcome of treatment. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Alexander, Graham
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Eating disorders , Anorexia nervosa , Anorexia nervosa Treatment , Anorexia nervosa Case studies , Schema-focused cognitive therapy , Anorexic overcontroller , Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/196082 , vital:45724 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/196082
- Description: Developed more than three decades ago, schema therapy (ST) was born out of a need for a more effective way of working with difficult and challenging cases where patients were clearly unresponsive to the existing short-term cognitive therapies. While anchored in the primary theoretical orientation of cognitive therapy, ST has carefully integrated techniques and principles from attachment and object-relations therapies, as well as humanistic, gestalt and experiential therapies. The mode model emphasises the concept of “multiplicity” in terms of which the self is functionally divided into parts or schema modes. For a little more than a decade there has been growing interest amongst researcher-clinicians in the application of ST for the treatment of eating disorders (EDs) (Waller, et al., 2007; Simpson, 2012; Edwards, 2015; Munro et al., 2016; Simpson, 2016; Munro et al., 2016). While multivariate studies can provide quantifiable evidence for the efficacy of ST for treating EDs, systematic case-based research offers a means of engaging in an intensive analysis and description of the complex and subtle processes that unfold over time in a real-life therapeutic environment (Edwards et al., 2004; Yin, 1994). This research method also provides an opportunity for the refining of the clinical treatment model as well as its testing. Ten participants were assessed and treated with schema therapy. However, because of the large amount of data gathered, a decision was made to write up only one as an intensive systematic individual case study. Alison, an elderly woman with a longstanding history of AN who had been largely unresponsive to considerable previous therapies, received 100 ST sessions over a two-year period and showed a very positive response. The many challenges that arose and the way these were addressed within the ST framework provide an in-depth account of the application of the ST mode model for the treatment of AN. This is presented in a detailed therapy narrative. After results of the quantitative measures are provided, the next three chapters address three interpretative questions pertaining to the Healthy Adult/Vulnerable Child dyadic relationship, the processes of working with the Angry Child mode, and the conceptualising of an AN-specific coping mode. Several conclusions are drawn about the strengths of the schema therapy model and its particular application to AN. Amongst these is the importance of having a comprehensive case conceptualisation that serves as a collaborative “road map” with which to negotiate the unfolding collaborative therapeutic process. Another is the identifying of the “Anorexic Overcontroller” as a stand-alone coping mode that clarifies the functions of AN to hinder schema-based emotional injury, but paradoxically, still denies the individual’s basic core needs being met. Such a conceptualisation significantly assisted in the suspension of anorexic behaviour. A further significant observation is how emotion-focused work (especially within the context of chair work and imagery) brought therapy to life and was particularly effective in mobilising the conflict between internal voices. Another outstanding feature is how the building of a strong Healthy Adult mode proved vital in the healing process and the development of patient autonomy. Finally, therapy revealed how central the establishment of a sturdy, warm and loving therapeutic relationship is, and how influential the resonance between the therapist and patient is in the outcome of treatment. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
The experiences of clinical psychologists in treating traumatic stress at a tertiary psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape: A qualitative research study
- Authors: Munishvaran, Kuriesha
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder Treatment South Africa Eastern Cape , Secondary traumatic stress Treatment South Africa Eastern Cape , Phenomenological psychology , Clinical psychologists Mental health South Africa Eastern Cape , Psychiatric hospitals South Africa Eastern Cape , Psychiatric hospital patients South Africa Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190271 , vital:44979
- Description: Traumatic encounters are highly prevalent within the South African population. Clinical psychologists working with these trauma narratives, within a psychiatric context, are therefore at risk of experiencing vicarious trauma, Post Traumatic Stress-Disorder (PTSD), and secondary traumatic stress. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of clinical psychologists who treat patients that are either trauma survivors or perpetrators in a psychiatric hospital. Individual semi-structured interviews and follow-up interviews were conducted with three clinical psychologists based at a psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape. Data was analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. All participants reported experiencing symptoms of vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress while treating both victims and perpetrators. The findings also discovered an element of danger, as well as socio-political factors that clinical psychologists experience. Participants also reported experiencing vicarious post-traumatic growth, enhanced by their coping strategies, while providing psychological services to traumatised patients. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Munishvaran, Kuriesha
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder Treatment South Africa Eastern Cape , Secondary traumatic stress Treatment South Africa Eastern Cape , Phenomenological psychology , Clinical psychologists Mental health South Africa Eastern Cape , Psychiatric hospitals South Africa Eastern Cape , Psychiatric hospital patients South Africa Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190271 , vital:44979
- Description: Traumatic encounters are highly prevalent within the South African population. Clinical psychologists working with these trauma narratives, within a psychiatric context, are therefore at risk of experiencing vicarious trauma, Post Traumatic Stress-Disorder (PTSD), and secondary traumatic stress. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of clinical psychologists who treat patients that are either trauma survivors or perpetrators in a psychiatric hospital. Individual semi-structured interviews and follow-up interviews were conducted with three clinical psychologists based at a psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape. Data was analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. All participants reported experiencing symptoms of vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress while treating both victims and perpetrators. The findings also discovered an element of danger, as well as socio-political factors that clinical psychologists experience. Participants also reported experiencing vicarious post-traumatic growth, enhanced by their coping strategies, while providing psychological services to traumatised patients. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
“It’s just like a waiting room”: The experiences of psychology Honours students who are not accepted into any professional training programme for psychology in South Africa
- Authors: Duiker, Adeline
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Psychology Study and teaching (Higher) South Africa , Psychology students Employment South Africa , Psychology students Attitudes , Psychology Practice South Africa , Professional associations South Africa , Professional education South Africa , Career development South Africa , Universities and colleges Honors courses South Africa , Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191170 , vital:45067
- Description: Objective: This study explored the lived experiences of currently enrolled psychology Honours students, who are not in a professional training programme for psychology in South Africa. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight psychology Honours students at a South African university and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings: Findings revealed that participants perceived an Honours in psychology qualification as significant in personal capacity and insignificant in professional capacity. Additionally, findings showed that participants perceive the difficulty gaining entrance into a professional training programme and lack of employment in the field for Honours psychology graduates, as a contributing factor to several graduates being placed in a state of uncertainty, lacking professional progression in the field of psychology. Furthermore, findings revealed that several Honours psychology students battled to find employment in the field. Conclusions: I critically reflect on the implications of the findings in relation to psychology as a profession in South Africa. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Duiker, Adeline
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Psychology Study and teaching (Higher) South Africa , Psychology students Employment South Africa , Psychology students Attitudes , Psychology Practice South Africa , Professional associations South Africa , Professional education South Africa , Career development South Africa , Universities and colleges Honors courses South Africa , Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191170 , vital:45067
- Description: Objective: This study explored the lived experiences of currently enrolled psychology Honours students, who are not in a professional training programme for psychology in South Africa. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight psychology Honours students at a South African university and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings: Findings revealed that participants perceived an Honours in psychology qualification as significant in personal capacity and insignificant in professional capacity. Additionally, findings showed that participants perceive the difficulty gaining entrance into a professional training programme and lack of employment in the field for Honours psychology graduates, as a contributing factor to several graduates being placed in a state of uncertainty, lacking professional progression in the field of psychology. Furthermore, findings revealed that several Honours psychology students battled to find employment in the field. Conclusions: I critically reflect on the implications of the findings in relation to psychology as a profession in South Africa. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
A reflective multiple case study approach to understanding partner relationships within the context of community engagement at Rhodes University
- Authors: Bobo, Azola Benita Dorothea
- Date: 2021-05-06
- Subjects: Community development South Africa Makhanda , Community and college South Africa Makhanda , Community psychology South Africa Makhanda , Decolonization South Africa , Social action South Africa Makhanda , Transformative learning South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes University , Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/253854 , vital:52406 , DOI 10.21504/10962/253854
- Description: Using a social constructivist approach, within the social action model of community psychology, this research interrogates the features of successful community engagement partnerships that exist within the context of higher education. It draws on the co-management model that the Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE) division proposes, where partnerships are seen to be mutually beneficial. This research further interrogates whether the principles of community engagement that RUCE propose play out in reality, and whether systems of power are deconstructed, in working towards more equitable engagements. Drawing on the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Residence Programme for case studies, this research used a reflective multiple case study design in attempting to answer the research question. Four partner groups (i.e., 4 community partners and 4 community engagement representatives) were selected for this research. Each participant was interviewed twice (with a 6-month time gap) and also participated in two focus group discussions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the findings. In taking a social justice approach, it can be argued that RUCE has made strides towards forming collaborative partnerships based on the ethics of ubuntu and aspects of transformative learning, which may lead to the decolonisation of higher education. However, critical engagement with the research findings suggests that in many cases the principles that RUCE propose are aspirational. More work needs to be done with both students and community partners to develop the kinds of partnerships that RUCE aspires to. This research provides valuable insight into how carefully managed community engagement partnerships in higher education have the potential to contribute to the transformation agenda of higher education institutions, while promoting equitable societies. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-05-06
- Authors: Bobo, Azola Benita Dorothea
- Date: 2021-05-06
- Subjects: Community development South Africa Makhanda , Community and college South Africa Makhanda , Community psychology South Africa Makhanda , Decolonization South Africa , Social action South Africa Makhanda , Transformative learning South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes University , Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/253854 , vital:52406 , DOI 10.21504/10962/253854
- Description: Using a social constructivist approach, within the social action model of community psychology, this research interrogates the features of successful community engagement partnerships that exist within the context of higher education. It draws on the co-management model that the Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE) division proposes, where partnerships are seen to be mutually beneficial. This research further interrogates whether the principles of community engagement that RUCE propose play out in reality, and whether systems of power are deconstructed, in working towards more equitable engagements. Drawing on the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Residence Programme for case studies, this research used a reflective multiple case study design in attempting to answer the research question. Four partner groups (i.e., 4 community partners and 4 community engagement representatives) were selected for this research. Each participant was interviewed twice (with a 6-month time gap) and also participated in two focus group discussions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the findings. In taking a social justice approach, it can be argued that RUCE has made strides towards forming collaborative partnerships based on the ethics of ubuntu and aspects of transformative learning, which may lead to the decolonisation of higher education. However, critical engagement with the research findings suggests that in many cases the principles that RUCE propose are aspirational. More work needs to be done with both students and community partners to develop the kinds of partnerships that RUCE aspires to. This research provides valuable insight into how carefully managed community engagement partnerships in higher education have the potential to contribute to the transformation agenda of higher education institutions, while promoting equitable societies. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-05-06
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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Defended subjectivity in service-learning:a psychosocial analysis of students’ talk about service-learning in psychology
- Authors: Haselau, Tracey Laura
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Service learning -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes , Psychology students -- Attitudes -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/170810 , vital:41962 , 10.21504/10962/170810
- Description: The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyse students’ talk about their service-learning experiences in psychology, in South Africa, from a psychosocial perspective. The research aims to identify dominant and subjugated discourses about service-learning in psychology, and to explore why students invest in particular discourses over others. Furthermore, the research aims to explore the intersubjective contexts that mediate students’ talk about their service-learning and their emotional investments in the discourses employed in their talk, drawing on the concept of mentalization. Eight psychology students were interviewed toward the end of their participation in a service-learning psychology honours course. Transcripts from the interviews as well as entries from students’ reflective journals were analysed using a psychosocial methodology. The key findings from this research point to the ways in which students oscillate between employing two competing sets of discourses about their service learning. At times, students drew on what I have referred to as a ‘discourse of rapture’, characterised by fascination with the ‘other’ and the maintenance of power imbalances. This discourse draws on a liberal traditional discourse of learning and a charity discourse of service-learning. In other parts of their talk, students draw on what I have called a ‘discourse of ruptura’, characterised by an inward curiosity about the outward fascination with the ‘other’. This discourse draws on constructivist accounts of service-learning. Findings suggest that students’ emotional investments in discourses of service-learning are mediated by defensive positions caused by the anxieties incurred in service-learning contexts. An important consideration to take forward from this research is the way in which anxieties in service-learning experiences may be contained (or not), and to be aware of the problematic outcomes that may arise from not containing anxieties, such as the perpetuation of prejudicial attitudes and othering. The intersectionality of ‘race’ and disability in the specific service-learning programme under investigation in this study is an important consideration in implementing careful supervision of programmes such as this one, so that students’ rapture with the ‘other’ is not compounded and reinforced by the service-learning experience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Haselau, Tracey Laura
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Service learning -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes , Psychology students -- Attitudes -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/170810 , vital:41962 , 10.21504/10962/170810
- Description: The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyse students’ talk about their service-learning experiences in psychology, in South Africa, from a psychosocial perspective. The research aims to identify dominant and subjugated discourses about service-learning in psychology, and to explore why students invest in particular discourses over others. Furthermore, the research aims to explore the intersubjective contexts that mediate students’ talk about their service-learning and their emotional investments in the discourses employed in their talk, drawing on the concept of mentalization. Eight psychology students were interviewed toward the end of their participation in a service-learning psychology honours course. Transcripts from the interviews as well as entries from students’ reflective journals were analysed using a psychosocial methodology. The key findings from this research point to the ways in which students oscillate between employing two competing sets of discourses about their service learning. At times, students drew on what I have referred to as a ‘discourse of rapture’, characterised by fascination with the ‘other’ and the maintenance of power imbalances. This discourse draws on a liberal traditional discourse of learning and a charity discourse of service-learning. In other parts of their talk, students draw on what I have called a ‘discourse of ruptura’, characterised by an inward curiosity about the outward fascination with the ‘other’. This discourse draws on constructivist accounts of service-learning. Findings suggest that students’ emotional investments in discourses of service-learning are mediated by defensive positions caused by the anxieties incurred in service-learning contexts. An important consideration to take forward from this research is the way in which anxieties in service-learning experiences may be contained (or not), and to be aware of the problematic outcomes that may arise from not containing anxieties, such as the perpetuation of prejudicial attitudes and othering. The intersectionality of ‘race’ and disability in the specific service-learning programme under investigation in this study is an important consideration in implementing careful supervision of programmes such as this one, so that students’ rapture with the ‘other’ is not compounded and reinforced by the service-learning experience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Development and calidation of the psychometric properties underpinning the Kwaito Music Attitude and Perception Scale (KMP)
- Authors: Williams, Akhona
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Kwaito-music Attitude and Perception , Chronbach's alpha , Kwaito (Music) , Psychotherapy and music -- South Africa , Problem youth -- Rehabilitation -- South Africa , Attitude (Psychology) -- Testing -- South Africa , Perception -- Testing -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/172478 , vital:42208
- Description: Music holds a privileged position in enhancing therapeutic well-being, supporting life skills development in youth and adolescents, and shaping cultural identities. As such, music has been closely related to youth culture, especially as it pertains to youth rehabilitation and identity formation. Studies (e.g., Duffy and Fuller, 2000; Miranda et al, 2013; Strayhorn, 2011; Tomasello, 2016) highlight the value of utilising music in youth rehabilitation, and acknowledge the intrinsic value of music to facilitate psychological and social change for individuals who would not otherwise benefit from psycho-education, or other didactic modes of youth rehabilitation. That said, Tyson (2005) developed the RAP music scale to psychometrically validate the underlying constructs of youth’ attitudes and perception of rap music in the United States of America, in order to use the instrument for music-based youth rehabilitation programs. The development of the RAP music scale informed the creation and validation of the Kwaito-music Attitude and Perception (KMP) Scale, the subject of my Masters thesis. Following suggestions from Morrison (2014), my study sought to psychometrically validate the properties of the Kwaito-music Attitude and Perception (KMP) Scale. The KMP was found to be a reliable measure of kwaito music attitudes and perception amongst a sample of South African youth who listen to this genre of music. The internal consistency of the questionnaire revealed a Cronbach’s α (Alpha) value of 0.820. Limitations of the project including reduced factor extraction and sample size constrains are discussed. It is envisioned that results from this study will find resonance with youth-community programs, and rehabilitation projects utilising music as a medium of healing amongst South African youth.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Williams, Akhona
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Kwaito-music Attitude and Perception , Chronbach's alpha , Kwaito (Music) , Psychotherapy and music -- South Africa , Problem youth -- Rehabilitation -- South Africa , Attitude (Psychology) -- Testing -- South Africa , Perception -- Testing -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/172478 , vital:42208
- Description: Music holds a privileged position in enhancing therapeutic well-being, supporting life skills development in youth and adolescents, and shaping cultural identities. As such, music has been closely related to youth culture, especially as it pertains to youth rehabilitation and identity formation. Studies (e.g., Duffy and Fuller, 2000; Miranda et al, 2013; Strayhorn, 2011; Tomasello, 2016) highlight the value of utilising music in youth rehabilitation, and acknowledge the intrinsic value of music to facilitate psychological and social change for individuals who would not otherwise benefit from psycho-education, or other didactic modes of youth rehabilitation. That said, Tyson (2005) developed the RAP music scale to psychometrically validate the underlying constructs of youth’ attitudes and perception of rap music in the United States of America, in order to use the instrument for music-based youth rehabilitation programs. The development of the RAP music scale informed the creation and validation of the Kwaito-music Attitude and Perception (KMP) Scale, the subject of my Masters thesis. Following suggestions from Morrison (2014), my study sought to psychometrically validate the properties of the Kwaito-music Attitude and Perception (KMP) Scale. The KMP was found to be a reliable measure of kwaito music attitudes and perception amongst a sample of South African youth who listen to this genre of music. The internal consistency of the questionnaire revealed a Cronbach’s α (Alpha) value of 0.820. Limitations of the project including reduced factor extraction and sample size constrains are discussed. It is envisioned that results from this study will find resonance with youth-community programs, and rehabilitation projects utilising music as a medium of healing amongst South African youth.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Exploring domestic workers’ subjectivities through stories of their personal childcare arrangements
- Authors: Michaeu, Nisha
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Women household employees, Black -- Social conditions -- South Africa , Women household employees, Black -- Social conditions -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women household employees, Black -- Psychology -- South Africa , Day care aides -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/172029 , vital:42150
- Description: Domestic service has long been a major sector of the South African labour market, for black women particularly, who must support their family and children. Existing research has stressed the way in which race, class and gender has shaped the oppressive character of domestic service in South Africa. In this narrative study a new slant is provided on this existing theoretical discussion of domestic labour, one that is focused on exploring the agentic human being beyond ‘the servant question’. This study uses narrative interviews with domestic workers in Makhanda/Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa to show how we can expand on potentially limited or constricted passive ‘domestic worker identities’ and ideas/beliefs about women who do domestic work. A performative and positioning narrative analysis is used to explore the subject positions of domestic workers in their stories about their childcare arrangements. This analysis examines multiple shifting identities and positions that are used by domestic workers in relation to their maternal subjectivity and their audience (here, a white trainee-psychologist esearcher), while highlighting the significance of narrative methodology in making these positions visible. The areas of focus were their history, experience of domestic work, life outside of domestic work, family network/dynamics and personal childcare arrangements. Under these areas of focus the following was analysed: the ways in which the storyteller positioned herself in her narrative, how she compared/contrasted or located herself in relation to the other, claims of identity that were made, what she incorporated or purposefully left out, words and phrases that were chosen, which sections of talk were embellished or elaborated on and appeals that were made to the interviewer (Riessman, 2002). Through exploring the micro-practices of domestic workers’ lives the study found that there were various subject positions constructed and used by this group of women. Findings showed that domestic workers positioned themselves actively as breadwinners, good mothers who give their children opportunities that they were not given, nurturers and crafty mothers who secure good care for their children. In contrast to these active subject positions, positions of sacrifice were performed when domestic workers spoke about leaving their young children in the care of another while they worked. The study also found that participants managed complex positions of disappointment and unmet expectations for a better life in the new South Africa by using narratives of resistance and agency. In certain instances, identity appeals were made to the interviewer that they, and other women who do domestic work, are entrepreneurial and creative with their income and possess skills outside of their day-to-day household cleaning jobs. This was interpreted as an attempt to extend the domestic worker identity positioning beyond the traditionally accepted notions of unskilled/uneducated women who do domestic work. In the study this allowed for more subject positions to be taken up in terms of identities and selves, beyond just being a “domestic worker”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Michaeu, Nisha
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Women household employees, Black -- Social conditions -- South Africa , Women household employees, Black -- Social conditions -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women household employees, Black -- Psychology -- South Africa , Day care aides -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/172029 , vital:42150
- Description: Domestic service has long been a major sector of the South African labour market, for black women particularly, who must support their family and children. Existing research has stressed the way in which race, class and gender has shaped the oppressive character of domestic service in South Africa. In this narrative study a new slant is provided on this existing theoretical discussion of domestic labour, one that is focused on exploring the agentic human being beyond ‘the servant question’. This study uses narrative interviews with domestic workers in Makhanda/Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa to show how we can expand on potentially limited or constricted passive ‘domestic worker identities’ and ideas/beliefs about women who do domestic work. A performative and positioning narrative analysis is used to explore the subject positions of domestic workers in their stories about their childcare arrangements. This analysis examines multiple shifting identities and positions that are used by domestic workers in relation to their maternal subjectivity and their audience (here, a white trainee-psychologist esearcher), while highlighting the significance of narrative methodology in making these positions visible. The areas of focus were their history, experience of domestic work, life outside of domestic work, family network/dynamics and personal childcare arrangements. Under these areas of focus the following was analysed: the ways in which the storyteller positioned herself in her narrative, how she compared/contrasted or located herself in relation to the other, claims of identity that were made, what she incorporated or purposefully left out, words and phrases that were chosen, which sections of talk were embellished or elaborated on and appeals that were made to the interviewer (Riessman, 2002). Through exploring the micro-practices of domestic workers’ lives the study found that there were various subject positions constructed and used by this group of women. Findings showed that domestic workers positioned themselves actively as breadwinners, good mothers who give their children opportunities that they were not given, nurturers and crafty mothers who secure good care for their children. In contrast to these active subject positions, positions of sacrifice were performed when domestic workers spoke about leaving their young children in the care of another while they worked. The study also found that participants managed complex positions of disappointment and unmet expectations for a better life in the new South Africa by using narratives of resistance and agency. In certain instances, identity appeals were made to the interviewer that they, and other women who do domestic work, are entrepreneurial and creative with their income and possess skills outside of their day-to-day household cleaning jobs. This was interpreted as an attempt to extend the domestic worker identity positioning beyond the traditionally accepted notions of unskilled/uneducated women who do domestic work. In the study this allowed for more subject positions to be taken up in terms of identities and selves, beyond just being a “domestic worker”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
How art-as-therapy supports participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia : a phenomenological investigation
- Authors: Mitchell, Julia L G
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Schizophrenia -- Treatment , Schizophrenia -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Case studies , Art Therapy , Art Therapy -- South Africa -- Case studies , Stormberg Hospital (Eastern Cape, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/172157 , vital:42171 , 10.21504/10962/172157
- Description: Although art therapy is recommended in management programmes for individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, calls have been made for more detailed explanations as to how artmaking is working. This study responds to those calls by considering the artmaking experiences of 15 mental health users with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, resident at a forensic, mental health facility in South Africa. A phenomenological approach was chosen because of its focus on lived experiences, suited to explore the embodied and pre-reflective experience of studio-based artmaking. Dialogical and narrative understandings were subsequently incorporated to account for more reflective aspects of the artmaking experience. Two main participant descriptions of artmaking, centring on feeling at home and on doing something meaningful, guided the phenomenological lifeworld method in analysing the data (interviews, artworks and field observations in art groups and exhibitions), along selected dimensions of lived experience, namely embodiment, temporality, spatiality, sociality and selfhood. These findings lend support to new phenomenological research which suggests that artmaking intersects with disrupted abilities for perceptual engagement underlying manifestations of schizophrenia symptomology. This research supports assertions that artmaking has the potential to support the minimal sense of self and expand possibilities for renewed embodied and more reflective meaning-making. Explanations of findings centred around the distinct artistic style of each participant, as well as their artworks which revealed individual lifeworlds including a variety of self-positions. The inherent properties of the completed artworks also provided possibilities for renewed experiences of sociality. Additional support for the findings is drawn from recent research in the fields of early neurodevelopmental trauma, and trauma research findings within the art therapy field.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Mitchell, Julia L G
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Schizophrenia -- Treatment , Schizophrenia -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Case studies , Art Therapy , Art Therapy -- South Africa -- Case studies , Stormberg Hospital (Eastern Cape, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/172157 , vital:42171 , 10.21504/10962/172157
- Description: Although art therapy is recommended in management programmes for individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, calls have been made for more detailed explanations as to how artmaking is working. This study responds to those calls by considering the artmaking experiences of 15 mental health users with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, resident at a forensic, mental health facility in South Africa. A phenomenological approach was chosen because of its focus on lived experiences, suited to explore the embodied and pre-reflective experience of studio-based artmaking. Dialogical and narrative understandings were subsequently incorporated to account for more reflective aspects of the artmaking experience. Two main participant descriptions of artmaking, centring on feeling at home and on doing something meaningful, guided the phenomenological lifeworld method in analysing the data (interviews, artworks and field observations in art groups and exhibitions), along selected dimensions of lived experience, namely embodiment, temporality, spatiality, sociality and selfhood. These findings lend support to new phenomenological research which suggests that artmaking intersects with disrupted abilities for perceptual engagement underlying manifestations of schizophrenia symptomology. This research supports assertions that artmaking has the potential to support the minimal sense of self and expand possibilities for renewed embodied and more reflective meaning-making. Explanations of findings centred around the distinct artistic style of each participant, as well as their artworks which revealed individual lifeworlds including a variety of self-positions. The inherent properties of the completed artworks also provided possibilities for renewed experiences of sociality. Additional support for the findings is drawn from recent research in the fields of early neurodevelopmental trauma, and trauma research findings within the art therapy field.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
A five year comparative analysis of annual baseline neurocognitive test scores for South African high school athletes
- Reichling, Marcelle Antoinette
- Authors: Reichling, Marcelle Antoinette
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: High school athletes -- Intelligence testing , Sports -- Psychological aspects , Neuropsychological tests , Brain -- Wounds and injuries -- Psychology , Sports injuries -- Psychological aspects , Brain -- Concussion , Head -- Wounds and injuries
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145863 , vital:38473
- Description: The primary objective of this study was to assess the pattern of change in neurocognitive performance for adolescent athletes on baseline measures of the Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) test, over five consecutive years, with a view to providing an indication of the optimal interval for repeat baseline testing of high school athletes. Participants were non-clinical, predominantly South African high school athletes in the overall age range 13 to 18 years (N = 108), divided into five groups (Grades 8,9, 10, 11 and 12), and tested at five test intervals. Repeated-measures ANOVA analyses examined differences in score performance across the test intervals for each of the five composite scores of the ImPACT test (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed, Reaction Time, Impulse Control). For the Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed and Reaction Time composites there were significant neurocognitive score changes between several test intervals. Taking these results into account, in conjunction with substantial variability in performance, it is concluded that there is a need for annual baseline testing throughout the high school years. The secondary objective was to generate normative tables (Means and Standard Deviations) on the ImPACT test for the five participant groups at each of the five test intervals, including data for: the five composite scores (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed, Reaction Time, Impulse Control); for the twelve subtest scores test that go to make up the composite scores; and for four additional memory subcomponent scores (Word Memory immediate recall, Word Memory delayed recall, Design Memory immediate recall, Design Memory delayed recall). The results provide a clinical and heuristic normative platform for future use with brain injured individuals, which can be used to facilitate clinical interpretations of postconcussion assessments.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Reichling, Marcelle Antoinette
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: High school athletes -- Intelligence testing , Sports -- Psychological aspects , Neuropsychological tests , Brain -- Wounds and injuries -- Psychology , Sports injuries -- Psychological aspects , Brain -- Concussion , Head -- Wounds and injuries
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145863 , vital:38473
- Description: The primary objective of this study was to assess the pattern of change in neurocognitive performance for adolescent athletes on baseline measures of the Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) test, over five consecutive years, with a view to providing an indication of the optimal interval for repeat baseline testing of high school athletes. Participants were non-clinical, predominantly South African high school athletes in the overall age range 13 to 18 years (N = 108), divided into five groups (Grades 8,9, 10, 11 and 12), and tested at five test intervals. Repeated-measures ANOVA analyses examined differences in score performance across the test intervals for each of the five composite scores of the ImPACT test (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed, Reaction Time, Impulse Control). For the Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed and Reaction Time composites there were significant neurocognitive score changes between several test intervals. Taking these results into account, in conjunction with substantial variability in performance, it is concluded that there is a need for annual baseline testing throughout the high school years. The secondary objective was to generate normative tables (Means and Standard Deviations) on the ImPACT test for the five participant groups at each of the five test intervals, including data for: the five composite scores (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed, Reaction Time, Impulse Control); for the twelve subtest scores test that go to make up the composite scores; and for four additional memory subcomponent scores (Word Memory immediate recall, Word Memory delayed recall, Design Memory immediate recall, Design Memory delayed recall). The results provide a clinical and heuristic normative platform for future use with brain injured individuals, which can be used to facilitate clinical interpretations of postconcussion assessments.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A mixed methods investigation of students’ attitudes towards statistics and quantitative research methods: a focus on postgraduate psychology students at a South African university
- Authors: Ngantweni, Xolelwa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders -- South Africa , Statistics , Psychology -- Research , College students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Psychology -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140490 , vital:37894
- Description: Many University programs offer a course in either basic or intermediate statistics as part of the degree requirements prior to graduation (McGrath, Ferns, Greiner, Wanamaker and Brown, 2015). These statistics or quantitative research methods courses are integral in helping students gain vital skills in analysing quantitative data. Research (Schau, Stevens, Dauphinee, and Del Vecchio, 1995) does however indicate that most students have a perfunctory disposition towards these courses. My study sought to particularly investigate attitudes towards statistics and quantitative research methods amongst a sample of 61 postgraduate Psychology students at Rhodes University undertaking a ‘Quantitative Research Methods’ course as part of their degree offering. A mixed methods approach was used to investigate students’ attitudes towards statistics and quantitative research methods. The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS-36) (Schau, 2003) captured student’s attitudes towards statistics using a Likert Scale instrument; whereas detailed qualitative interviews accentuated findings from the SATS-36. Key quantitative findings from the SATS-36 including students’ perceptions of statistics being a difficult course as well as students having a low affect towards statistics are detailed. Key qualitative findings related to why students experience statistics anxiety such as students’ (1) fear of failing statistics, (2) The late introduction of statistics in the Psychology curriculum, and (3) The role of educator/s in alleviating or promoting feelings of statistics anxiety are noted. The significance of these findings as well as the contributions of the study to the teaching and learning of statistics and quantitative research methods courses at Rhodes University are explored, in light of other studies on the topic of statistics anxiety and attitudes towards statistics/ quantitative research methods.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Ngantweni, Xolelwa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders -- South Africa , Statistics , Psychology -- Research , College students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Psychology -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140490 , vital:37894
- Description: Many University programs offer a course in either basic or intermediate statistics as part of the degree requirements prior to graduation (McGrath, Ferns, Greiner, Wanamaker and Brown, 2015). These statistics or quantitative research methods courses are integral in helping students gain vital skills in analysing quantitative data. Research (Schau, Stevens, Dauphinee, and Del Vecchio, 1995) does however indicate that most students have a perfunctory disposition towards these courses. My study sought to particularly investigate attitudes towards statistics and quantitative research methods amongst a sample of 61 postgraduate Psychology students at Rhodes University undertaking a ‘Quantitative Research Methods’ course as part of their degree offering. A mixed methods approach was used to investigate students’ attitudes towards statistics and quantitative research methods. The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS-36) (Schau, 2003) captured student’s attitudes towards statistics using a Likert Scale instrument; whereas detailed qualitative interviews accentuated findings from the SATS-36. Key quantitative findings from the SATS-36 including students’ perceptions of statistics being a difficult course as well as students having a low affect towards statistics are detailed. Key qualitative findings related to why students experience statistics anxiety such as students’ (1) fear of failing statistics, (2) The late introduction of statistics in the Psychology curriculum, and (3) The role of educator/s in alleviating or promoting feelings of statistics anxiety are noted. The significance of these findings as well as the contributions of the study to the teaching and learning of statistics and quantitative research methods courses at Rhodes University are explored, in light of other studies on the topic of statistics anxiety and attitudes towards statistics/ quantitative research methods.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A q-metholological approach to audience reception of public awareness messages on sexual violence
- Authors: Bennie, Rachel
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Psychology -- Research -- Methodology , Psychology -- Research , Communication in social action -- South Africa , Psychology -- Research -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140805 , vital:37920
- Description: Public awareness poster campaigns are an often-used method for raising awareness about, and engaging audiences on the topic of rape and other forms of sexual violence (Potter, 2012). However, poster campaigns, as social artefacts, operate in a public arena in which numerous discourses about a phenomenon are produced, reproduced and interact with each other, with sometimes unintended/unanticipated discursive consequences (Böhmke, Bennie, Minnie, Moore, Pilusa & Pollock, 2015). How messages aimed at raising awareness of sexual violence are framed has the potential to reproduce dominant social narratives and gendered subject positions in ways that reinforce notions of men as active sexual agents and potential perpetrators, and women as sexually passive and potential victims (Gavey, 2005). Other approaches, such as bystander intervention, seek to move away from a focus on victims and perpetrators to emphasise the role that community members can play in risk detection, safety promotion and the prevention of sexual violence (McMahon & Banyard, 2012). Since a range of possible messages about sexual violence can be communicated through poster campaigns, it is important to critically examine the content and orientation of campaign material. This study focused on intended audience views regarding messages about sexual violence contained in anti-sexual violence poster materials. The purpose was to collaborate with a selected audience to better understand which messages are effective and which strategies of communication are perceived to be less so. Through the use of Q-methodology, volunteer participants were invited to express their opinions in relation to messages about sexual violence from a range of posters from several international campaigns. The analysis focused on uncovering the discursive subject positions that participants’ express in their attitudinal responses to the poster messages, providing not only a description of these positions, but also illustrating the level of resonance that the poster messages may find with intended audiences. The aim of the study is to potentially inform the development of more focused campaign material, tailored to the specific context from which participants were drawn. Analysis shows clear patterns of audience resistance towards stereotypical representations of sexual violence and messages that are geared towards the simple prohibition of behaviours. The findings highlight the need for the development of alternative strategies of engagement that focus on specific engagement with understandings of sexual violence in the context of intimate and/or acquaintance relationships and which are aimed at inviting audiences to take up a position in relation to sexual violence phenomena that troubles the reproduction of received notions of gendered subjectivities and (hetero) sexuality
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Bennie, Rachel
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Psychology -- Research -- Methodology , Psychology -- Research , Communication in social action -- South Africa , Psychology -- Research -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140805 , vital:37920
- Description: Public awareness poster campaigns are an often-used method for raising awareness about, and engaging audiences on the topic of rape and other forms of sexual violence (Potter, 2012). However, poster campaigns, as social artefacts, operate in a public arena in which numerous discourses about a phenomenon are produced, reproduced and interact with each other, with sometimes unintended/unanticipated discursive consequences (Böhmke, Bennie, Minnie, Moore, Pilusa & Pollock, 2015). How messages aimed at raising awareness of sexual violence are framed has the potential to reproduce dominant social narratives and gendered subject positions in ways that reinforce notions of men as active sexual agents and potential perpetrators, and women as sexually passive and potential victims (Gavey, 2005). Other approaches, such as bystander intervention, seek to move away from a focus on victims and perpetrators to emphasise the role that community members can play in risk detection, safety promotion and the prevention of sexual violence (McMahon & Banyard, 2012). Since a range of possible messages about sexual violence can be communicated through poster campaigns, it is important to critically examine the content and orientation of campaign material. This study focused on intended audience views regarding messages about sexual violence contained in anti-sexual violence poster materials. The purpose was to collaborate with a selected audience to better understand which messages are effective and which strategies of communication are perceived to be less so. Through the use of Q-methodology, volunteer participants were invited to express their opinions in relation to messages about sexual violence from a range of posters from several international campaigns. The analysis focused on uncovering the discursive subject positions that participants’ express in their attitudinal responses to the poster messages, providing not only a description of these positions, but also illustrating the level of resonance that the poster messages may find with intended audiences. The aim of the study is to potentially inform the development of more focused campaign material, tailored to the specific context from which participants were drawn. Analysis shows clear patterns of audience resistance towards stereotypical representations of sexual violence and messages that are geared towards the simple prohibition of behaviours. The findings highlight the need for the development of alternative strategies of engagement that focus on specific engagement with understandings of sexual violence in the context of intimate and/or acquaintance relationships and which are aimed at inviting audiences to take up a position in relation to sexual violence phenomena that troubles the reproduction of received notions of gendered subjectivities and (hetero) sexuality
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020