Faculty of Community and Health Sciences

Permanent URI for this community

https://hdl.handle.net/10566/9

The Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (CHS) is committed to excellence in education and training, research and community service which promotes a progressive primary health care approach in an inter-professional manner.

Electronic theses and dissertations are available in the Electronic Theses and Dissertations Repository.

News

South African institutions top THE Africa rankings pilot

Times Higher Education creates a top 15 table for Africa’s academies ahead of the inaugural THE Africa Universities Summit on 30-31 July

Browse

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Abused women's understandings of intimate partner violence and the link to intimate femicide
(Institute for qualitative research, 2016) Dekel, Bianca; Andipatin, Michelle
In this article, we explore how women survivors of intimate partner violence understand the abuse they endured and the possible link to intimate femicide. This is a qualitative study based on a feminist poststructuralist perspective. Seven South African women, aged 23 to 50 years, with a history of different manifestations of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) participated in open-ended interviews. The data was analyzed by means of discourse analysis. In their explanations, the women constructed gendered identities, which reflected contradictory and ambiguous subjective experiences. The women's understandings were filtered through the particular social context in which their abusive experiences occurred. The findings highlighted that contemplating femicide was too threatening, and consequently participants drew on discourses of femininity, romantic love, and others to justify their remaining in their violence-ridden relationships. It emphasizes the need for additional engagement in women's understandings of intimate femicide, as women who live in abusive relationships have largely been consigned to the periphery.
Assessing the influence of gender socialization on early adolescents’ behaviors and perceptions towards sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence in low socio-economic, urban neighborhoods, Cape Town: a quantitative study
(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Kinoshita, Rinko; Cooper, Diane
Early adolescents (EAs), aged between 10 and 14, account for half of 1.2 billion adolescents worldwide. During early adolescence (EA), many EAs experience puberty and social and cognitive shifts. This is a period when gender norms are shaped manifesting in their perceptions and behaviors. Unequal gender norms may negatively affect adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health (ASRH), including early pregnancy, violence, and mental health. There is a paucity of evidence on how EAs construct gender norms, and how unequal gender norms may impact their health and well-being.
Exploring resilience in South African adults exposed to childhood domestic violence (dv)
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Olivier, Gershwille Zynodean; Rich, Edna
Despite an individual's demographic makeup, domestic violence (DV) is one of the most widespread problems in the globe. Children in South Africa (SA) are frequently exposed to domestic violence (DV), which leaves them with both physical and emotional wounds. To conduct the study, Humanities and Social Science Research Ethics and Child Welfare SA approval was required to do the study and to obtain research participants. The study included ethical principles like autonomy, confidentiality, voluntary participation, and do no harm in this study. This study utilized semi-structured interviews and a qualitative research methodology to explore the experiences of three males and five females, ages 25 to 38, who were exposed to childhood domestic violence. The researcher was able to obtain detailed narrative descriptions from the research participants by using an exploratory, descriptive method. Snowball sampling was utilized to recruit research participants.
Intimate partner violence among undergraduate student nurses at a tertiary institution in the Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Kordom, Ashley Gurshin; Julie, Hester; Arunachallam, Sathasivan
Intimate partner violence (IPV), a form of gender-based violence (GBV), has become one of the emerging serious public health issues. It affects all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and religious groups. Internationally, IPV has also become an increasingly common phenomenon among students at tertiary institutions. In South Africa, there is a paucity of literature that investigates this phenomenon especially among undergraduate student nurses who are supposed to render care to survivors of IPV. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of IPV and factors associated with IPV among undergraduate student nurses at a tertiary institution in the Western Cape.A quantitative, descriptive study was conducted. An adapted version of the WHO’s instrument designed to measure partner violence was used to collect the data. This questionnaire was administered to the eligible respondents after lecture time. The total population consisted of 984 undergraduate student nurses. The printed class lists of the 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd- and 4th-year undergraduate student nurses were used as the sample frame. Stratified random sampling method was used to obtain a sample of 243 respondents to ensure that the sample size was representative of the population. The completed questionnaires were analysed quantitatively by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The results are presented in the form of tables, pie chart and graphs. Spearman’s correlations were used to calculate the strength of the relationship between the dependent variables. Multivariate analysis was done using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test to determine the associations between the different variables.The results from the study showed that 42% of undergraduate student nurses experienced IPV during their lifetime. The socio-demographic factors associated with IPV were age (p=0.009*), study year level (p=0.001*) and marital status (p=0.021*). The study also found that family history factors like the respondent’s mother’s educational status (p=0.005*), financial support during need (p=0.031*) and witnessing of abuse as a child (p=0.008*) were factors related to IPV. In this study, certain substance use factors such as dagga (p=0.004) and cigarette smoking (p=0.000*), alcohol use in their lifetime (p=0.000*), time elapsed since joining university(p=0.000*) and having male or female friends who drink (p=0.000*) were significantly associated with IPV. The study highlighted the need to raise awareness on IPV among undergraduate student nurses.
Intimate partner violence amongst undergraduate nursing students
(Unisa press, 2014) Kordom, A.; Julie, Hester; Arunachallam, Sathasivan
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is reported to be rife among the student population at tertiary institutions and the general population. Yet the abuse is under diagnosed by nurses in health care settings. Research indicates that nurses’ personal experiences of this type of abuse play a role in the management of survivors. Hence, this study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with IPV among the undergraduate nursing student population at a tertiary institution in the Western Cape, South Africa. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by the stratified random sample. The reported lifetime prevalence of IPV included psychological, physical, financial and sexual abuse. IPV was significantly associated with the educational status of the respondent’s mother, financial support and witnessing of abuse during childhood. A support structure is thus needed to prepare the undergraduate student nurses emotionally before commencing with their training in the management of survivors of IPV.
Mediation of detention trauma via perceived locus of control
(South African Journal of Psychology, 1990) Perkel, Adrian K.
Political detention in South Africa has been documented to contain conditions inherently detrimental to psychological health. Reports indicate high levels of stress reponses associated with conditions of solitary confinement, and physical and psychological abuse — particularly in the form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Amongst the moderating variables that may mediate between detention stress and post-detention trauma is perceived locus of control. In the present study the author aimed to determine post-detention sequelae and the moderating influence of perceived locus of control in this specific context. A Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder scale was combined with an Index of Well-being scale and correlated with a Detention Locus of Control scale to assess mediation significance of experienced ‘traumatization’. Results indicated a positive correlation with those who are internal in their perceived locus of control suffering reduced post-stress sequelae, compared to those who are more externally oriented. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed with specific reference to therapeutic intervention in the clinical context. © 1990, South African Psychological Association and the Psychological Institute of the Republic of South Africa. All rights reserved.
The perceptions of boys regarding substance abuse amongst adolescents
(University of the Western Cape, 2009) Nkgudi, Leretsene Florence; De Jager, Marianna; NULL; Faculty of Community and Health Sciences
South Africa is overwhelmed by the increase of substance abuse among adolescents. Having consulted the literature, South Africa is not the only country faced with this problem. It raises concerns with regard to the social health of adolescents in this country. In order to develop effective intervention strategies to reduce the wide spread abuse of substances, it is important to first understand how adolescents perceive this problem. In this study the perceptions of boys will be explored with regard, to substance abuse among adolescents. A purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. The eleven participants were interviewed by means of a semi structured interview; an interview guide was applied to collect the relevant information. The goal of the study was to explore the perceptions of boys regarding substance abuse amongst adolescents. After data collection which was indicated by the saturation of the data, the recorded data was transcribed. Transcripts were analysed to determine the emerging themes from the collected data. The main findings of the study were interpreted and discussed according to the themes and sub themes, which were derived from the participants’ narratives. Based on the research findings, recommendations have been suggested for service providers with regard to substance abuse amongst adolescents.
The perceptions of boys regarding substance abuse amongst adolescents
(University of the Western Cape, 2009) Nkgudi, Leretsene Florence; De Jager, Marianna; NULL; Faculty of Community and Health Sciences
South Africa is overwhelmed by the increase of substance abuse among adolescents. Having consulted the literature, South Africa is not the only country faced with this problem. It raises concerns with regard to the social health of adolescents in this country. In order to develop effective intervention strategies to reduce the wide spread abuse of substances, it is important to first understand how adolescents perceive this problem. In this study the perceptions of boys will be explored with regard, to substance abuse among adolescents. A purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. The eleven participants were interviewed by means of a semi structured interview; an interview guide was applied to collect the relevant information. The goal of the study was to explore the perceptions of boys regarding substance abuse amongst adolescents. After data collection which was indicated by the saturation of the data, the recorded data was transcribed. Transcripts were analysed to determine the emerging themes from the collected data. The main findings of the study were interpreted and discussed according to the themes and sub themes, which were derived from the participants’ narratives. Based on the research findings, recommendations have been suggested for service providers with regard to substance abuse amongst adolescents.

Browse

Browsing by Subject "Abuse"

Results Per Page

Sort Options