OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Dawes, Andrew"

Browsing by Author "Dawes, Andrew"

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Open Access
Apartheid and identity redefinition : a conflictual analysis
(1990) Prinsloo, Rachel C; Dawes, Andrew
This study has attempted to examine how the imposition of Apartheid identity constructs has adversely impacted upon the processes of and to describe the extent to which the participants have allowed the present hegemony to influence the structuring of their consciousness. The structural inequalities inherent in the system of Apartheid have required the conceptualization of identity construction as a process mediating important choices, rather than - the uncritical acceptance of the existing structural arrangements. The conflictual perspecive adopted facilitated a more complex and differentiated picture of social representation , on the assumption that individuals and groups be understood in terms of being constituted through the social domain and actively engaging with and challenging the restrictive aspects embodied in it. The qualitative phase sought to examine the extent to which two levels of consciousness, the personal or systemic causal attribution of their circumstances , had influenced their agendas. A self-administered interview schedule, consisting of open-ended questions, provided the basic demographic information with regard to age, sex and organisational affiliation. The major issues which were perceived to cause both personal difficulty and which presented problems for their cohort were also elicited. An analysis of the reasons which induced both pessimism and optimism about the present condition of society provided an account of the trepidations with which oppressed youth view adult society. The descriptive categorisations of the three societal components, I, We, and They, as South Africans now , were intended to further clarify how the sample perceived the sociopolitical arrangements of our polarised and estranged society.
Open Access
An archival study of an adolescent day patient unit with a particular focus on risk-taking behaviour and suicidality
(2002) Kometsi, Molelekoa J; Dawes, Andrew
This study was conducted with the following three objectives: 1, to construct a profile of patients admitted to William Slater Hospital day-patient program during a three-year period (1998-2000). 2, To study the prevalence of suicide and risk-taking behaviour among this sample population, and thus making a comparison with Cummins and Allwood's (1984) study. 3 To explore the extent to which risk-taking behaviour is associated with suicidal hebaviour in this clinical population. Archival research method was used to achieve these objectives.
Open Access
Breaking cycles of violence, one wave at a time : a formative evaluation of the Waves for Change Surf Therapy programme
(2016) Snelling, Matthew; Dawes, Andrew
This dissertation was a formative evaluation of the Waves for Change Surf Therapy Programme, and included both a process evaluation and an outcome evaluation. Waves for Change used surfing as a means of engaging children and adolescents thought to be at risk of long-term social exclusion. This engagement was necessary in order to deliver a psychosocial curriculum. Waves for Change aimed to use this curriculum to enhance psychosocial wellbeing and reduce antisocial behaviour, and association with antisocial peers. Five evaluation questions were generated using programme documents and a rapid evidence assessment. These were concerned with whether the programme was capable of enhancing psychosocial wellbeing, and reducing antisocial behaviour and association with antisocial peers. Further, the evaluation wished to determine whether the programme was correctly targeted, and delivered with fidelity. An intention to treat analysis was conducted within a randomised control trial, using 115 primary school students from Masiphumelele, Khayelitsha, and Lavender Hill. Further 88 interviews were conducted with programme beneficiaries, and 15 coaches were submitted to performance review. The programme was found to be suitably targeted, but delivery of the programme was not achieved with fidelity to the programme design. There were a number of reasons for this, including inadequate completion of programme tasks by coaches, and inadequate attendance by children and adolescents. The result was that children and adolescents received less than half of the psychosocial curriculum, and did not show a change on the outcomes of interest. However, this evaluation suggested that the programme is feasible, pending improvements.
Open Access
Child sexual abuse in Atlantis
(Children's Institute, 2003-07) Parker, Zareena; Dawes, Andrew
Open Access
Childhood mourning : a critical evaluation of psychoanalytic views.
(1982) Smith, Amanda Tweedie; Dawes, Andrew
There is dissention among psychoanalysts about mourning in childhood, including the criteria appropriate to define mourning, the intrapsychic processes of mourning, the ways these manifest in grief and the factors affecting the outcome of childhood bereavement. In order to place the controversies in context, research on adult mourning, both psychoanalytic and empirical, is first reviewed. Psychoanalytic contributions on childhood mourning, with particular reference to parent loss are then examined, and it is .contended that Klein's theoretical formulations have been under utilised in illuminating childhood bereavement reactions. Questions raised but unanswered by the psychoanalytic literature on childhood parent loss are considered-to be whether the loss of a primary love object has specific repercussions, either in affecting mourning or the child's ongoing development in the parent's absence; whether the therapeutic relationship has been necessary to facilitate mourning in the case-reports discussed; whether generalisations are being made from an unrepresentative sample; and what role cognitive conceptions of death have in affecting bereavement reactions.
Open Access
A cognitive developmental study of children's sex-role development
(1975) Ventress, Keith; Dawes, Andrew
The present study of the acquisition and development of the child's sex-typed behaviours and attitudes is pursued in the Piagetian cognitive developmental tradition. Qualitative changes in the child's perceptions of himself and his physical and social world are described as changes in mental structure. The cognitive structures are made up of categories of experience or schemas. The schemas are organizations of actions upon objects which possess the quality of mobility. Development of the cognitive structure is facilitated by old structures being continually fitted to new functions, and new structures evolving to fill old functions under changed circumstances. Through age and experience, schemas for hierarchical integrations of increasing differentiation moving from predominant use of lower to higher level operations. This study accounts for the qualitative changes in the child's gender self-concept with age development by investigating the changes in the structure of the child's cognitive schema. The cognitive developmental approach evidenced in the work of Piaget and Inhelder deals comprehensively with the acquisition and general stabilization of constancies in the physical world; the concepts of number, weight, mass, time, etc., only recently has it been proposed to account for the development of gender concepts (Kohlberg, 1966).
Open Access
A crisis-oriented approach to the rehabilitation of myocardial infarction patients
(1981) Sonnenberg, David Max; Dawes, Andrew
Myocardial infarction is introduced as a medical syndrome in which psychosocial factors are thought to have significant bearing on the etiology and outcome of the disease. An outline of the epidemiology, pathophysiological process, etiology and prognosis is provided in order to highlight the many psychological implications in each of these areas. The study aims at proposing a model for psychological intervention with myocardial infarction patients that is both economical and effective. Crisis intervention has been chosen as the theoretical basis, as it is felt that many of its concepts apply in this case. Myocardial infarction is seen primarily as a "shock" type crisis as described by Korner (1973) followed by a succession of vulnerable points at which certain individuals descend into crisis.
Open Access
The difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own children
(1987) Price, Ruth Nanette; Dawes, Andrew; Saayman, Graham
Relatively few studies have examined the difficulties of the stepmother, but research suggests that compared to other stepparents, stepmothers without their own children have the most difficult task. This preliminary study describes the difficulties of the stepmother by comparing two groups of stepmothers; those who have no experience of their own children, with those who have children of their own, either from a previous marriage or from their present marriage, or from both. A convenience sample of thirty-one volunteers, who are full-time stepmothers, constituted the sample. Subjects were limited to white middle class South Africans. A two-part, semi-structured interview was conducted on each subject: Part one consisted of open-ended questions intended to provide an overall view of the particular circumstances of the stepmother. Part two consisted of information elicited by means of psychometric testing. The McMaster Family Assessment Device is used to assess the family functioning and thereby investigate the difficulties of the stepmothers. The Rutter Child Behaviour Questionnaire is used to determine the range of behaviours with which the stepmother might need to cope. Information regarding the stepmother's early childhood relationships is elicited by means of the Adult Family Relations Test. After the interviews and tests had been scored. the subjects were divided into two groups: One comprised of twelve stepmothers who had had no experience of mothering prior to their stepmother status; the other comprised of 19 stepmothers who had either one or two children of their own. Statistical analysis was conducted on the scores derived from The Rutter Child Behavior Questionnaire (t-test) and The McMaster Family Assessment Device (Hotellings Tz). The Family Relations Test was analysed by means of percentages and standard deviations. The demographic details were presented as percentages, and where applicable. Chi squared tests were conducted. Findings suggest that stepfamily functioning in the situation where the stepmother has no children of her own is different and less healthy from that in the family where the stepmother has children of her own. These results are largely consistent with the literature, but as regards the actual difficulties that contributed to the differences between these groups,findings remain tentative.
Open Access
Does HIV matter when you are poor and how ? : the impact of HIV/AIDS on the psychological adjustment of South African mothers in the era of HAART
(2007) Brandt, Rene; Wild, Lauren; Dawes, Andrew
The study investigated the psychological adjustment of HIV -infected South African mothers living in poverty in the era of HAART. One hundred and eighty adult women living in long-term poverty who were the primary caregiver of at least one child under 18 years were administered a structured questionnaire. The sample comprised infected women (n=130), some but not all of whom were on antiretroviral therapy, as well as a comparison group of non-infected women from the same community (n=50). Of those who were receiving antiretroviral therapy (n=80), half had just commenced treatment and half had been on treatment for six months. In addition, five women were selected as case studies and followed up with in-depth interviews for six months. Data were analysed using analysis of variance, planned comparisons and multiple regression, and narrative analysis respectively. Results showed that HIV status had a significant, independent impact on levels of depressive symptoms but not anxiety. HIV positive women exhibited significantly more symptoms of depression and anxiety than seronegative women, regardless of their stage of disease. An irregular household income, poorer perceived physical health and the use of avoidant coping predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms amongst infected women, while less active coping and greater avoidant coping predicted higher levels of anxiety. Avoidant coping was the best predictor of levels of depression and anxiety amongst women, independent of HIV status. When assessed at six months after commencing treatment, antiretroviral therapy had had no impact on anxiety. However, levels of depression were lower than amongst women who had just commenced treatment. Qualitative data of women's own accounts supported the role of HIV in psychological distress, but pointed to poverty as an underlying narrative through which women's experiences of living with HIV were continually filtered. While HIV was sometimes the source of disruption and disturbance, it typically lacked salience in the presence of HAART and for women who were relatively asymptomatic, particularly given the substantive poverty-related stressors that women faced on an ongoing basis. Key findings indicated that HIV status contributed to the mental health burden experienced by women living in poverty, and that longer-term use of antiretroviral therapy was associated with reduced depression. Since avoidant coping was the best predictor of poor psychological adjustment, it may be an appropriate focus for future targeted mental health interventions for this population group. However, the fact that poverty had considerable, and even greater, salience for women at times, should also inform the planning and provision of services.
Open Access
The effect of test anxiety on IQ test performance, achievement, and self-concept in elementary schoolchildren
(1984) Baddeley, Gillian Mary; Oxtoby, Richard; Dawes, Andrew
IQ test performance of elementary schoolchildren was investigated as a function of two levels of test anxiety and two types of IQ measure. IQ measures used, the New South African Group Test (NSAGT) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised (WISC-R) were assumed to vary in anxiety-provoking cues on cognitive-attentional theoretical grounds. The hypothesis tested was that high test anxiety would lower performance on the NSAGT, but not the WISC-R. The performance of children varying in test anxiety but equivalent in intelligence was then compared at different IQ levels with the hypothesis that high-test anxious children would perform less well at each level. Academic achievement and self-concept of these children were also investigated, with the hypotheses that high-test-anxious children would be lower in both than low-test-anxious children of equivalent intelligence. The Test Anxiety Scale for Children, the Defensiveness Scale for Children and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale were administered to all Standard 4 pupils at two white, English-language, co-educational schools in middle-class suburbs. Highly defensive children were eliminated; the top and bottom 20% of the test anxiety distribution formed the experimental groups, high-test-anxious (HA; n=28) and low-test-anxious (LA; n=27) who were tested blind, in random order, on the WISC-R NSAGT and achievement data were obtained from school records and subjects assigned to High, Medium and Low IQ levels based on NSAGT scores. Analysis of variance indicated that HA children obtained significantly lower IQ scores independent of type of IQ measure.
Open Access
Evaluating the training and supervision of home visitors in a Parent-Infant Home Visitation Programme
(2009) Pocock, Robin; Dawes, Andrew
The training and supervision of home visitors for the Parent Centre's Parent-Infant Home Visitation Programme (PIHVP) was evaluated. The evaluation aimed to determine whether training and supervision prepared the home visitors to deliver the PIHVP as intended. The supervision questionnaire measured home visitors' views on the extent to which group and individual supervision fulfil their educative, supportive and administrative functions, and the extent to which they felt supervision prepared them for visits. The training questionnaire asked them to rate the extent of their home visiting skills and knowledge a) before training and b) immediately after training. Interviews were also conducted with 27 past programme recipients, during which they were asked a) in which areas their home visitor assisted them, b) which assistance they found most useful and c) if there were any other areas in which they would like to have been assisted.
Open Access
An experimental study of adolescents' identification with South Africa and Africa
(2001) Eaton, Elizabeth M R; Dawes, Andrew
South African social psychological research on national identity has been limited. The current research aimed to address some of the gaps in the local literature. Two studies were conducted among Grade 11 learners at Cape Town high schools. Study 1 (N=565) included Black African-language speakers, Coloured English-speakers, White Afrikaans-speakers and White English-speakers aged between 16.5 and 18.5. This study was an experimental test of hypotheses based on the principle of 'functional antagonism' within Self-Categorisation Theory (Turner, 1987), as well as on other concepts derived from European and local research. Based on methods used by Cinnirella (1998) and Rutland and Cinnirella (2000), participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions designed to make national, sub-national, or personal identity salient. The effect of this experimental manipulation on identification with South Africa and with Africa was then assessed across ethnic groups. Study 1 also investigated the relationship between attitudes towards diversity, perceived sub-national group security, and strength of identification with South Africa. Study 2 (N=91) was restricted to Coloured English-speakers within the same age range as in Study 1. Study 2 tested a hypothesis about the relative sensitivity to the experimental manipulation, of alternative measures of identification. No effects for the experimental manipulation of identity salience were found on any of the dependent variables. Significant differences were, however, found between ethnic groups on absolute and relative identification with South African and Africa, as well as on certain pertinent attitudes and beliefs. The result of Study 2 provided a degree of methodological triangulation for Study 1, while also providing additional information about the relative strength of South African, Africa, and nine other social identities. The results are discussed in the light of findings from prior South African research.
Open Access
Factors associated with adherence to antiretroviral therapy : a pilot study conducted in the Western Cape, South Africa
(2002) Hendricks, Graeme; Dawes, Andrew
This study aimed to identifY the barriers to and facilitators of adherence to antiretroviral therapy and attempts to understand these factors within a developing country context. A further aim is to add to the literature on antiretroviral adherence in South Africa.
Open Access
A formative evaluation of the South African Education and Environment Project Bridging Year Programme
(2009) Boodhoo, Adiilah; Dawes, Andrew
Many learners from disadvantaged schools struggle to obtain entrance into tertiary institutions. A Bridging Year Programme (BYP) designed by the South African Education and Environment Project (SAEP) seeks to address this problem by offering intensive tuition to post-high school learners who have failed to gain sufficient points for entry into a tertiary institution. The BYP prepares those learners to re-write core National Senior Certificate (NSC) subjects and assists them in applying for entrance into a university or college. A formative evaluation was conducted to assess whether the programme is designed and implemented as intended and whether programme design and delivery takes into account evidence based practices, established in the literature for programmes of this nature. A review of programme records was undertaken, interviews were conducted with the programme manager and programme coordinator, and selfreport questionnaires were administered to course tutors and programme beneficiaries. The results of the evaluation indicate that while the programme has the necessary potential to set high standards of participation for beneficiaries and provide them with personalised attention, and while learners are generally positive about their experience, a number of limitations are evident. These include in particular: the need for better monitoring of learner compliance with their contractual obligation, improved quality assurance with regard to the teaching and learning programme, and tutor preparation and training. Recommendations for improved programme implementation, as well as monitoring of programme standards, learner participation and performance, and tutor quality are provided.
Open Access
Getting the basics right: an essential package of services and support for ECD
(Children's Institute, 2013) Berry, Lizette; Dawes, Andrew; Biersteker, Linda
Open Access
The habilitation of mentally retarded adults
(1981) Gilbert, Patricia Jane; Dawes, Andrew
The history of the care of the mentally retarded in Western civilization is outlined including the care of the mentally retarded in South Africa. Difficulties in the definition and assessment of mental retardation are indicated and problems in present day institutional care are considered: specific reference is made to the characteristics of institutionalization and to the role of institutions in the future. Pre-discharge training within the institutional setting is discussed with particular emphasis on the curriculum of such training programmes training methods. and the role of transitional facilities. This is followed by a critical review of prognostic and follow up studies of retarded persons discharged into the community, and a consideration of the concepts of "success" and "normalization". An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the specific training programme (ASAT) in operation at Fernhill Care and Rehabilitation Centre. The degree of improvement shown after six months by those participating in the programme was compared with a control group. The experimental and control groups were matched on age, IQ and length of institutionalization. The living skills of the mentally retarded subjects were assessed on the ten areas covered by the ASAT Schedules an assessment procedure previously designed for the assessment of such skills. Significant improvement was found in the two areas of finance and measurement only, and no clear trends emerged relating either age, IQ or length of institutionalization to the degree of improvement shown. Possible reasons for the lack of measured improvement in the other areas of skills are outlined. The need for systematic revision of the assessment procedure itself is indicated and the possible effects of the institutional environment upon the retention and learning of skills is discussed. Recommendations for increasing the efficacy of the training programme within the institutional setting are put forward and suggestions are made for easing the transition from institutional to community living. A detailed investigation of the lives of discharged persons already living in the community was carried out to assess the suitability of the content of the ASAT programme as a preparation for discharge. It was found that none of the subjects was living completely independently and that this was largely due to the restricting circumstances in which they had been placed, rather than lack of potential. The content of the training programme was found to be relevant to community life except for the omission of training in employment practices and the use of leisure time. It is suggested that greater consideration be given to the achievement of maximum levels of functioning for those discharged rather than simply being discharged into "protective" settings. It is concluded that many mentally retarded persons are well able to speak for themselves and that greater effort should be made to ascertain their views.
Open Access
Influences on perceived job opportunities : a study of final year university students
(1997) Wright, Wendy-Ann; Dawes, Andrew
South Africa has undergone major socio-political change. A key element of this change concerns increased job opportunities for qualified Blacks through the implementation of Affirmative Action policies which advantage Blacks in relation to Whites. Simultaneously, South Africa is experiencing high levels of unemployment. This situation is likely to result in negative evaluations of social change and concern about future job prospects in those experiencing a relative drop in status (Whites), in contrast to those whose group position is improving. This study sought to investigate the effects of these changes on 3 groups of students (African, White and Coloured), each representing a different position within the South African population group hierarchy. In particular, the focus was perceptions of job opportunities in the context of this change.
Open Access
An investigation into the intergenerational transmission of Holocaust effects in South African survivors
(1993) Brener, Loren; Dawes, Andrew
This study focuses on the intergnerational transmission of Holocaust effects among South African Jewish survivors of the Nazi Holocaust and their children. Its aim is to ascertain whether common patterns exist among survivor families that could be attributed to the parents' Holocaust past. Early theoretical and empirical literature suggests that exposure to extreme trauma bas long term damaging consequences on the personality, functioning of survivors, and on their parenting of their children. However, Holocaust survivors are also immigrants. It is possible that immigration to Southern or Central Africa produced stresses which could also have influenced coping and parenting. In order to address this issue, a comparison group of Jewish immigrants who were not survivors, was also studied. The survivor group consisted of 21 survivors and 11 adult children. The immigrant sample comprised 14 subjects, with 10 children. The implications of resettlement for survivors was also accounted for in this study as part of the process of recognizing that survivors too experienced immigration. Patterns of adaption and acculturation of survivors in general were compared to immigrants it! general. Therefore, the sample also included childless survivors and immigrants. Indepth interviews were conducted with all subjects. Findings were based on the reports of the respective subjects regarding their perceptions of their own and their family functioning. No clear differences were found between the survivor and immigrant samples. Considerable within-group variation was present in both groups. Limited intergenerational transmission of generalized patterns of negative psychological effects were found in survivor families. Children of survivors appear to focus on the resourcefulness and strength displayed by their survivor parent. They similarly exhibit resilient and coping behaviour which seems to be based on the presence of these qualities in their parents.
Open Access
The junior South African individual scale as predictor of scholastic achievement at Sub A, Sub B & Std One levels
(1987) Le Roux, D M; Dawes, Andrew
This study examines the relationship between the eight subtest form of the Junior South African Individual Scale (JSAIS - 8) and scholastic performance at Sub A, Sub B and Std One levels, as measured by teacher evaluations. An unreferred sample of 104 pupils who had been tested on the JSAIS- 8 in their Sub A year were followed up at the end of Std One. The pupils' three sets of year-end symbols, as recorded in the official school records, were obtained. Pearson correlations were calculated between the Global, Verbal Performance and Numerical Scales and each of the subtests on the one hand, and selected school subjects and a computed average of the subjects on the other. The JSAIS scales and subtests were regressed on the computed averages for each standard. A test was performed to evaluate the longitudinal stability of the correlation matrix of Pearson correlations. The results were compared with those of similar studies employing non-South African intelligence scales, and with a study employing the full, twelve subtest version of the JSAIS (JSAIS - 12). The values of the correlations yielded were found to be of the same general magnitude as those reported in studies employing non-South African scales. The test for the longitudinal stability of the Pearson correlation matrix indicated that the test probably predicted equally over the three standard levels. The Global, Verbal and Numerical Scales and their associated subtests correlated moderately to highly with measures of scholastic achievement. The Performance Scale and its subtests yielded lower and sometimes non-significant correlations. Some discrepancies were noted between the results of the present study and that which employed the JSAIS - 12. It was observed that three of the five subtests which yielded the highest correlations with scholastic achievement in the study employing the JSAIS - 12 are excluded from the JSAIS - 8. The possibility of substituting these subtests for three subtests currently incorporated in the JSAIS - 8 was explored. Limitations of the present study were discussed and the tentative nature of the findings emphasised. Suggestions were made for further research.
Open Access
The long-term impact of severe head injury on the family
(1989) Richman, Alexandra Elizabeth; Dawes, Andrew; Jordan, Ann
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of brain injury upon the family of the brain-injured patient. Although some research into the psychosocial sequelae following head injury and the direct and indirect effects of severe head-injury upon the family have been conducted, these studies have largely been of a quantitative nature. For this reason, and with a view to expanding upon the existing findings, the present study was qualitative in nature in order to gain an in-depth understanding of relatives' experience of living with and caring for a severely head-injured family member. In addition, ways in which family members coped with the impact of the brain injury were elicited. Participants were caregivers to 11 severely head-injured patients who were representative of a range of socio-economic groupings and racial classifications. Severity of head injury was controlled for and participants were interviewed two or more years after the head injury had occurred. Demographic and injury related data were elicited by means of a questionnaire. Thereafter, data was collected by means of in-depth semi-structured interviews. A number of indices were developed based on a qualitative and descriptive analysis of the data. The study found that the mam source of distress experienced by caregivers related to emotional rather than physical symptomatology. All types of family relationships were profoundly affected by the patient's brain injury, although the caregiver's relationship with the patient appeared most vulnerable. Formal sources of support were considered inadequate and most caregivers relied heavily on emotional support, particularly from an intimate source. Coping responses were dependent upon coping resources available. Families of brain-injured patients who were racially and socio-economically disadvantaged were subjected to additional stress related to the unavailability of services and the randomness with which services that were available were dispensed. Rehabilitation services appeared to be failing to meet the needs of "brain-injured families" (Brooks, 1984) as they concentrated on the patient's physical handicap rather than emotional sequelae of the head injury.