School of Human and Community Development (ETDs)
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Item Hybrid working and organisational commitment: the role of perceived organisational support(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-08) Tresidder-Angelo, Miguel Richard; Milner, KarenCovid-19 has brought about many changes that has affected the workforce both positively and negatively. The major change brought about by Covid-19 is the alteration in the way individuals work. For many years remote working was a concept most employees had dreamed of, but through Covid-19 it became accessible to all. Now that the pandemic is at the point of phasing out and the seriousness of it has lessened, organisations are searching for a new way to maintain, motivate and increase their employees’ performance without losing the flexibility and autonomy that is afforded to remote working. This has come in the form of hybrid work which seeks to blend the benefits of remote work and the benefits of in-office work, to meet the expectations and needs of all employees and improve on both ways of work. This new concept could shape the way of work which is under-researched particularly in terms of how it will affect the employee’s attitudinal outcomes such as perceived job stress and organisational commitment. Therefore, this study explored the relationship between these two variables within a hybrid working context employees will be negative. Traditional organisational research also seemed to suggest that perceived organisational support could moderate this relationship. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the effect of job stress on organisational commitment and whether or not perceived organisational support moderates this relationship within a hybrid working context. This was done through acquiring data through purposive non-probability convenience sampling which allowed the study to obtain a sample of 106 individuals within the IT and Data Management sector. Participants were administered a self-report survey which contained three scales - Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ), and Perceived Organisational Support scale (POS). A correlation coefficient test was conducted to determine the association between perceived job stress and organisational commitment and a hierarchical moderated regression was run to determine if perceived organisational support moderates this relationship within a hybrid working context. The results of this found a weak statistically negative relationship between perceived job stress and organisational commitment. Perceived organisational support was found to have a statistically non-significant moderation effect on the relationship between perceived job stress and organisational commitment.Item The motive of a South African male muti murder offender: a case study(2018) Thenga, KhalirendweTraditional healers in South Africa are easily accessible to individuals who require their services. Traditionally, traditional healers would help their clients either by giving them advice or by giving them muti made from plants and/ or animal body parts. However, some traditional healers have adopted the practice of using human body parts in muti. Traditional healers who practice muti murder believe that different human body parts have different “powers”. The traditional healer who practices muti murder will often appoint someone to carry out the murder thus they are not directly involved in the murder. There are various motives for committing murder and the current study utilised a single case study design to investigate the motives of Black South African males who commit muti murder. Due to the sensitivity of the topic, the researcher was able to recruit one participant. The participant was interviewed by the researcher in Northern Sotho. The researcher recorded and transcribed the interview. The researcher utilised thematic analysis to analyse the data. The current study identified two motives for committing muti murder, “cultural beliefs” and “financial gain”. Future studies should recruit more participants and delve into the motive, financial gain.Item Trainee psychologists’ experiences of professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-08) Baloyi, Cindy; Jithoo, VinithaThe declaration of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in March 2020 resulted in unprecedented and transformational effects on professional psychology programs. Professional psychology programs were confronted with several legal, practical, and ethical challenges associated with delivering appropriate training while also ensuring the safety of trainees, supervisors, and clients. An emergency remote teaching and supervision plan was launched to mitigate these challenges. However, the online platforms were a foreign territory for most trainees and trainers and required familiarisation before mastery. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of trainee psychologists’ professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic in South African universities. The current study was also undertaken to explore trainees’ experiences of online practical work. Participants in this study were distinctive because they were the first cohort of professional trainees to be exclusively trained online. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of twelve intern psychologists. Subsequently, the data was analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings suggested that only the delivery mode in which learning and teaching took place changed, but the curriculum remained the same. However, the change in delivery had implications for trainees’ mental health, academic goals and expectations. Trainees reported initial anxiety and uncertainty associated with the unknown use of online platforms. Despite support from the university and their lecturers, they noted challenges related to constant academic changes that were implemented on a trial-and-error basis, studying from home in suboptimal environments, managing home and work balance, and counselling clients in a new and different therapeutic framework. Psychological assessments and community work were difficult to adapt to online platforms. In addition to the challenges faced, however, there were unexpected opportunities that positively impacted trainees’ learning and acquisition of profession-wide competencies.