The pursuit of paternal custody
- Authors: Pieterse, Johanna Tyziena
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Custody of children -- South Africa , Paternal custody -- South Africa , Divorced fathers -- South Africa , Father and child -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3398 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018266
- Description: Issues concerning children may be the most intense and emotive areas of divorce and can lead to spectacular legal battles. Social work practice revealed that it is often the father who leaves the court, stripped of his fatherhood by a court order that only grants him limited access to his own children. Some divorced fathers disengage from their children's lives but there is documented evidence of South African fathers who desire continuity in their relationships with their children after divorce. An interest in these fathers prompted this study. Fathers who challenged maternal custody were selected since it was assumed that their lived experiences would include non-custodial as well as custodial fatherhood. The study was approached from a constructivist position and was further informed by a family systems theory. South African and international literature was perused followed by an exploratory study on the relatively uncharted terrain of paternal custody. A qualitative method was used and one unstructured interview with a schedule was conducted with each of the five respondents who were selected according to non-probability purposive sampling methods. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed cross-sectionally around certain themes and categories that were extracted from the data. The most significant findings of the study which appear to resemble some earlier national and international findings, are summarised as follows: Some fathers appear to have sound motives for pursuing custody of their children. These fathers, if afforded the opportunity, find fulfilment in parenting their children whom they perceive to be happy and prosperous in their care. There are fathers in whom divorce causes clear and profound signs of distress which appear to be related to the loss of the pre-divorce father I child relationship. The feeling of powerlessness to effect the well-being of their children as they see it was emphasised. Recommendations generated from these findings relate to the elimination of gender bias from custody decisions, including fathers in therapeutic interventions with divorced families and the provision of family courts and mediation services as suggested in the White Paper for Social Welfare. Recommendations for future research are also presented.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Pieterse, Johanna Tyziena
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Custody of children -- South Africa , Paternal custody -- South Africa , Divorced fathers -- South Africa , Father and child -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3398 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018266
- Description: Issues concerning children may be the most intense and emotive areas of divorce and can lead to spectacular legal battles. Social work practice revealed that it is often the father who leaves the court, stripped of his fatherhood by a court order that only grants him limited access to his own children. Some divorced fathers disengage from their children's lives but there is documented evidence of South African fathers who desire continuity in their relationships with their children after divorce. An interest in these fathers prompted this study. Fathers who challenged maternal custody were selected since it was assumed that their lived experiences would include non-custodial as well as custodial fatherhood. The study was approached from a constructivist position and was further informed by a family systems theory. South African and international literature was perused followed by an exploratory study on the relatively uncharted terrain of paternal custody. A qualitative method was used and one unstructured interview with a schedule was conducted with each of the five respondents who were selected according to non-probability purposive sampling methods. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed cross-sectionally around certain themes and categories that were extracted from the data. The most significant findings of the study which appear to resemble some earlier national and international findings, are summarised as follows: Some fathers appear to have sound motives for pursuing custody of their children. These fathers, if afforded the opportunity, find fulfilment in parenting their children whom they perceive to be happy and prosperous in their care. There are fathers in whom divorce causes clear and profound signs of distress which appear to be related to the loss of the pre-divorce father I child relationship. The feeling of powerlessness to effect the well-being of their children as they see it was emphasised. Recommendations generated from these findings relate to the elimination of gender bias from custody decisions, including fathers in therapeutic interventions with divorced families and the provision of family courts and mediation services as suggested in the White Paper for Social Welfare. Recommendations for future research are also presented.
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Young women's memories of their experiences in adolescent relationships : a qualitative study
- Authors: Breetzke, Andrea Welsh
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Teenage girls , Adolescent psychology , Teenagers , Parent and teenager , Teenage parents
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:690 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006366 , Teenage girls , Adolescent psychology , Teenagers , Parent and teenager , Teenage parents
- Description: Democratic Government in South Africa has brought with it changes in ideology and policy as well as a focus on a new area of concern. It has recognised the importance of young people. In May 1995 the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Youth at Risk (IMC) was established to re-organise the Child and Youth Care system in order increase its effectivity in coping with vulnerable youths. The IMC proposed a new framework for understanding and working with youth based on the principle of the Sioux parenting practices, called the Circle of Courage. Traditionally, helping professionals such as social workers use western theories, such as Erikson's Psychosocial Stage theory, to understand adolescents. Both of these theories and philosophies were not developed in South Africa and there is, therefore, cause for concern as to their relevance to the diverse and unique circumstances of this country. In this qualitative study, five young South African women attending a tertiary institution were asked to tell the stories of their adolescence with specific reference to their boy/girl relationships and factors influencing these relationships. The data was gathered in one or two semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed using Miles and Huberman's (1994) broad model using data reduction (through coding), data display (with the use of two context charts and a thematic conceptual matrix)and verification and conclusion drawing (through finding synergies and contrasts between the data and the two theories). This analysis was conducted with two specific aims. The first aim was to provide a thick description of one of the women's stories to show the complexity and diversity of her experience. Secondly, synergies and contrasts were sought between the women's stories and the two theories: Erikson's stage theory and the Circle of Courage. The analysis showed strong evidence that aspects from both these theories existed in the data and that to some degree both were relevant to the experiences of these five women.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Breetzke, Andrea Welsh
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Teenage girls , Adolescent psychology , Teenagers , Parent and teenager , Teenage parents
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:690 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006366 , Teenage girls , Adolescent psychology , Teenagers , Parent and teenager , Teenage parents
- Description: Democratic Government in South Africa has brought with it changes in ideology and policy as well as a focus on a new area of concern. It has recognised the importance of young people. In May 1995 the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Youth at Risk (IMC) was established to re-organise the Child and Youth Care system in order increase its effectivity in coping with vulnerable youths. The IMC proposed a new framework for understanding and working with youth based on the principle of the Sioux parenting practices, called the Circle of Courage. Traditionally, helping professionals such as social workers use western theories, such as Erikson's Psychosocial Stage theory, to understand adolescents. Both of these theories and philosophies were not developed in South Africa and there is, therefore, cause for concern as to their relevance to the diverse and unique circumstances of this country. In this qualitative study, five young South African women attending a tertiary institution were asked to tell the stories of their adolescence with specific reference to their boy/girl relationships and factors influencing these relationships. The data was gathered in one or two semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed using Miles and Huberman's (1994) broad model using data reduction (through coding), data display (with the use of two context charts and a thematic conceptual matrix)and verification and conclusion drawing (through finding synergies and contrasts between the data and the two theories). This analysis was conducted with two specific aims. The first aim was to provide a thick description of one of the women's stories to show the complexity and diversity of her experience. Secondly, synergies and contrasts were sought between the women's stories and the two theories: Erikson's stage theory and the Circle of Courage. The analysis showed strong evidence that aspects from both these theories existed in the data and that to some degree both were relevant to the experiences of these five women.
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SAPS members' experience of diversity and diversity training within the SAPS
- Authors: Everton, Wilma
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Police -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Cross-cultural orientation , Sex discrimination in criminal justice administration -- South Africa , Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2973 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002482 , Police -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Cross-cultural orientation , Sex discrimination in criminal justice administration -- South Africa , Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- South Africa
- Description: During this study, an attempt was made to explore the opinions and attitudes of members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) towards issues of diversity before, immediately after and three months after participating in diversity training workshops presented by the SAPS Training Division during 1997 in Port Elizabeth. The aim of this thesis was not to assess the diversity training itself, but to discover if the training, as currently presented, in any way influenced the attitudes of participants. In order to meet this goal, literature and empirical studies were conducted. The literature study sets the theoretical foundation pertaining to the history of the SAPS and the attitudes and prejudices of and diversity among SAPS members. During the empirical research phase, a non-probability purposive sampling procedure was adopted. Four of a range of diversity workshops presented by the Training Division of the SAPS during 1997 were selected for the purpose of this study. An internal SAPS process was used to nominate members to attend the workshops. The researcher requested the participants in each of the four workshops to complete a self-administered questionnaire before as well as after the workshop concerned. Immediately after each of the four workshops, a short interview was held with each attendee. To explore the stability of any change evident from responses on the questionnaires completed after the workshops, the attendees were again requested to complete the same questionnaire three months later. To increase the validity of any conclusion that attitudinal change was related to the workshop, a control group was used. This study has revealed that a cross-spectrum of SAPS members of both sexes and diverse racial backgrounds believe that various forms of discrimination exist within the SAPS. It confirmed that the diversity training presented by the SAPS Training Division is a useful instrument to heighten members' awareness of the different norms and customs of other cultural/ethnic groups and of the necessity that the SAPS should be constituted of a cross-spectrum of racial groups reflecting the South African society. Finally, based on the research findings, recommendations were made involving management and its supportive services and diversity training.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Everton, Wilma
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Police -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Cross-cultural orientation , Sex discrimination in criminal justice administration -- South Africa , Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2973 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002482 , Police -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Cross-cultural orientation , Sex discrimination in criminal justice administration -- South Africa , Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- South Africa
- Description: During this study, an attempt was made to explore the opinions and attitudes of members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) towards issues of diversity before, immediately after and three months after participating in diversity training workshops presented by the SAPS Training Division during 1997 in Port Elizabeth. The aim of this thesis was not to assess the diversity training itself, but to discover if the training, as currently presented, in any way influenced the attitudes of participants. In order to meet this goal, literature and empirical studies were conducted. The literature study sets the theoretical foundation pertaining to the history of the SAPS and the attitudes and prejudices of and diversity among SAPS members. During the empirical research phase, a non-probability purposive sampling procedure was adopted. Four of a range of diversity workshops presented by the Training Division of the SAPS during 1997 were selected for the purpose of this study. An internal SAPS process was used to nominate members to attend the workshops. The researcher requested the participants in each of the four workshops to complete a self-administered questionnaire before as well as after the workshop concerned. Immediately after each of the four workshops, a short interview was held with each attendee. To explore the stability of any change evident from responses on the questionnaires completed after the workshops, the attendees were again requested to complete the same questionnaire three months later. To increase the validity of any conclusion that attitudinal change was related to the workshop, a control group was used. This study has revealed that a cross-spectrum of SAPS members of both sexes and diverse racial backgrounds believe that various forms of discrimination exist within the SAPS. It confirmed that the diversity training presented by the SAPS Training Division is a useful instrument to heighten members' awareness of the different norms and customs of other cultural/ethnic groups and of the necessity that the SAPS should be constituted of a cross-spectrum of racial groups reflecting the South African society. Finally, based on the research findings, recommendations were made involving management and its supportive services and diversity training.
- Full Text:
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