Browsing by Author "Smith, Nicole"

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    Exploring young adults’ views of the #AmINext movement in South Africa
    (2023) Smith, Nicole
    Gender-based violence (GBV) is a pervasive problem in South Africa and has significant impacts on a person’s physical, psychological, and sexual health. Moreover, as technology advances in the world, social media becomes increasingly available and ‘hashtag activism’ has become an increasingly important tool in challenging social injustices such as GBV. A notable example of online movements is the #AmINext movement. Thus, this study aimed to develop an understanding of how young adults in South Africa experienced the #AmINext movement and how it served to conscientise and shape their ideas about GBV. Semistructured interviews were conducted with five male and five female participants and thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview material. The findings of the study revealed a unified understanding of the #AmINext movement to exist as a result of the murder and rape of Uyinene Mrwetyana. The movement was understood to raise consciousness on GBV, encourage action against GBV, challenge rape culture and create a sense of community among victims and those engaging in the movement. The movement was experienced not only as unifying but the online space was also experienced as negative and exclusionary and where harmful narratives were perpetuated. The movement resulted in a deeper understanding of GBV and an increased willingness to engage against GBV further highlighting how the movement shaped ideas around GBV. Therefore, the #AmINext movement reflected many of the advantages and disadvantages of hashtag activism but was perceived to result in conscientisation around GBV.
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    Teenage pregnancy : an exploration of teenage mothers' perceptions and experiences of support from an eco-systemic framework
    (2015-09-01) Smith, Nicole
    This study aimed to explore teenage mothers’ perceptions and experiences of support from an eco-systemic framework. According to Statistics South Africa (2012) about 4.5% of females in the age group 13-19 reported to being pregnant, in addition to this 19.2% of females were reported to having dropped out of school due to their pregnancy. Due to the increase in teenage pregnancy in recent years, it may be beneficial to evaluate the kind of support systems teenage mothers utilise in attempting to overcome the challenges and difficulties they may face. The rationale of the current study is to illuminate such support systems and how teenage mothers ultimately perceive and experience such support. This is contrary to previous research studies which have mainly focused on only one or two of these systems as support networks utilised by teenage mothers. The study was able to gain in-depth information into how a small group of teenage mothers view their support in relation to their pregnancy. This was achieved through the use of semi-structured interviews. The system that the teenage mothers seemed to rely on the most seemed to be their microsystem which consisted of their family and friends. Their mesosystem also seemed to give support to those teenage mothers who attended school at the time of their pregnancy. The study also revealed that most of the teenage mothers were not aware of the inclusive education policy and were dissatisfied with the sex education they received at school. This has implications for governmental policy on inclusive education and the sex education programmes offered at schools.