Browsing by Author "Papadopoulos, Renos"

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    An attempt to minimize the adjustment reaction of aged home entrants in the Greater Cape Town area.
    (1980) Joffe, Hugh Ian; Papadopoulos, Renos
    The literature indicates that admission to an aged home are produces a severe crisis for the aged newcomer. The symptoms resulting from this final move are an increase in affective disturbance (anxiety, depression, hostility and suspiciousness), cognitive disequilibrium (confusion, disorientation and mental disorganization) and social withdrawal (apathy). The present study was designed to assess the efficacy of two different treatment approaches in attenuating this stress. 90 elderly persons admitted into 9 aged homes, a cross-section taken from the Greater Cape Town area, were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (a) Crisis Intervention Group (C.I.) subjects were seen twice weekly for five consecutive weeks in an attempt to minimise the expected adjustment reaction. (b) Social Attachment and Activity Group (S.A.) subjects were seen once a week for the same time period to support the new resident through this difficult transition. (c) Control Group subjects received no treatment either previous or subsequent to location in the hone. Treatment conditions were compared using a within-subject and between-group pre-test post-test follow-up design. Biological, psychological and social levels of functioning were assessed with a battery of tests at three points: on admission to the hone, in the sixth week, and finally, in the third month of residency. Results clearly indicate that the C. I. treatment was the most effective. The nature of the C.I. approach lends itself to wide use by those who have had no specialized training in psychotherapy. This has important implications for the ready improvement of present conditions in residential institutions for the aged.
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    The development, implementation and evaluation of a training programme in rape crisis intervention for lay therapists : a community psychology approach
    (1981) Flisher, Alan John; Isaacs, Gordon; Papadopoulos, Renos
    A conceptual framework was developed in the context of community psychology for the development of a training programme in rape crisis intervention for lay therapists who were members of the Rape Crisis Organisation in Cape Town, South Africa. This framework was structured around the use of lay therapists, crisis intervention (including crisis intervention with rape victims) and consultation. The interrelationships of these three aspects were explored. The programme consisted of theoretical input and experiential exercises pertaining to rape crisis intervention and was held over two full days and one evening. The programme was evaluated by means of a modification of the instrument reported by Carkhuff (1969) to assess the levels of facilitativeness (FAC) and action orientedness (ACT) that therapists were able to offer. This instrument consists of 16 client stimulus expressions to which the therapists are required to provide responses which are rated. Besides the experimental group which consisted of the members of Rape Crisis who attended the programme (N=8), there were two control groups: control group A, consisting of members of Rape Crisis who did not attend the programme (N = 9) and control group B, consisting of people who were neither members of Rape Crisis nor who attended the programme (N = 8). The data were analysed by means of a 3 way AN OVA with repeated measures on two of the factors (the stage of assessment and the client stimulus expressions) and no repeated measures on the other factor (the groups). There were no differences in levels of FAC that subjects were able to offer within any of the groups for any of the client stimulus expressions. However, members of Rape Crisis offered significantly lower levels of FAC than subjects who were not members of Rape Crisis (overall the stage of assessment and the client stimulus expressions). The levels of ACT that subjects were able to offer increased in the case of the experimental group for all 16 client stimulus expressions, decreased in the case of control group A for 4 expressions and increased for one expression and decreased for one expression in the case of control group B. The theoretical and practical implications of these results were explored. In addition, this data was used in conjunction with information gathered from experiential reports that the members of the experimental group provided at the end of each component of the programme and from a questionnaire that they completed after the programme to yield a blueprint for future training programmes in rape crisis intervention. Finally, the training programme was discussed in relation to the conceptual framework that had been developed.