3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions

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    Perceptions of mental illness among the Ndebele culture, in the community of Middelburg, Mpumalanga Province
    (2018) Mahlangu, Nonkululeko Gladness
    Mental illness is conceptualised differently across cultural and religious groups. How it is explained, understood, diagnosed and treated depends on how society and culture interpret it. The western way in which knowledge is generated with regards to the acknowledgement of the value of African indigenous systems of knowledge, that marginalises African systems of knowledge calls for an inclusive evaluation of such culturally-based studies. African traditional societies, such as the Ndebele, are rich in indigenous knowledge systems and can contribute to practices and social values by enhancing the enactment of understanding a community, culturally, and holistically. This stipulates that perceptions of mental illness and certain specific aspects of Ndebele cultural practice and belief systems will be explored, in relation to South African research done in this area. With this said, the area of enquiry this study is dwelling upon, is that of indigenous traditional healing, as this is strongly reflected in the findings and the discussion on the perceptions of the etiology and treatment of mental illness. This study seeks to explore perceptions of mental illness among Ndebele community members in the Mpumalanga Province and the possible role that their culture plays on their perceptions. The study was directed at gaining an understanding of the experiences of treatment and overall exposure to mental illness within the community using the Biopsychosocial model and its extension, the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual model, as the theoretical framework. A qualitative research method was used, employing a non-probability snowball sample of 12 participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings of the study emphasise the importance of the Ndebele culture in day-to-day living. The themes that were found that relate to the Ndebele culture are the fact that mental illness is dealt with as a sub-culture; the causes and treatment of mental illness; and the stigma attached to people who suffer from mental illnesses. The results of mental illness among the Ndebele traditions show that mental illness is affected by cultural influences, social influences and environmental influences.
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    The impact of metal illness stigma: exploring perceptions of mental illness within Gauteng
    (2018) Van Heerden, Francois
    Within South Africa, growing healthcare concerns for mental illness remain, as high reported lifetime prevalence rates persist. Very little has been done in terms of measuring and gauging general perceptions of mental illnesses for the South African context. Additionally, understanding perceived differences between mental illness conditions have only been studied to a limited degree. This study explored general perceptions of mental illness of the public and evaluated knowledge, familiarity, attitudes, causal beliefs, care, and management of mental illness. It also explored attributional understandings related to emotional responses, perceived controllability, helping behaviour, and other perceptions, specifically within three vignette conditions that represented different mental illness conditions, namely: substance use disorder, schizophrenia, and depression. The questionnaire consisted of four main sections: demographic section that included general scale items related to familiarity and knowledge of mental illness, beliefs toward mental illness, public perceptions of mental illness, and the vignettes with attributional items. The questionnaire was completed by a convenience sample of 279 participants within the Gauteng region. Data was primarily analysed using descriptive statistics, correlations, mean difference comparisons, and multiple regression analyses. Knowledge was found to show stronger negative correlations with the stigma factor than familiarity. The sample showed greater preference for both psychosocial and biological aetiologies to understand mental illness. Typically, more than one care and management option was utilised while western health practices would seem to be preferred over traditional alternatives. Large significant differences were found between mental illness conditions in the vignette comparisons. In terms of the multiple regression analyses, a variety of predictors were found across care and management options with little consistency between them. However, in terms of predicting helping behaviour, fear was found to be strongest predictor across mental illness conditions. Results were discussed within the context of South Africa and within the broader understanding of mental illness and attribution theory.
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    The relationship between the perceptions of major depressive disorder and help seeking behaviours in the South African Hindu community
    (2017) Daya, Binita
    The lifetime prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), as reported for South Africa, is 9.7%. However, significant cultural differences occur in the clinical presentation of MDD which are connected to notions of religion, social principles and norms of relationships. With this in mind, this study explores the extent to which Hindu community members’ knowledge of MDD, their beliefs about the aetiology of MDD and their attitudes towards people with MDD impacted their perceptions on the care and management of MDD as well as their help seeking behaviours. The study also explored the extent to which Hindu religious identity mediates or moderates the relationship between aetiology, knowledge and attitudes towards MDD and the care and management of MDD and help seeking behaviour. A questionnaire consisting of a demographics section, a religious identity scale, a MDD knowledge, attitudes and practices scale and the attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help scale was completed by a convenience sample of 264 Hindus from Johannesburg and surrounding areas. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses. Participants in this study had a moderate religious identity and generally positive attitudes towards MDD. This sample believed that stress was the main cause of MDD and that talking to their friends, family and their general practitioner would be the most beneficial in terms of care and management of MDD. Participants also had positive attitudes towards seeking professional help. Two multiple regression analyses were conducted with the attitudes towards professional help seeking as well as all the care and management factors as the dependent variables and religious identity, knowledge of MDD, attitudes towards MDD and all four aetiological factors of MDD as the independent variables. These analyses yielded varying results. Following these analyses, religious identity was explored as both a potential mediator and moderator variable between attitudes towards MDD and help seeking behaviours. These results are discussed within the broader debates on depression and its manifestation across cultures.
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    The use of online text based technologies as a medium for employee counselling: perceptions of online counsellors
    (2017) Magogodi, Precious Priscilla Salamina
    Technology is ubiquitous and presents an opportunity for the psychosocial profession to explore and expand the platforms through which counselling and support for employees is offered. The aim of the research study was to explore the perceptions of counsellors regarding the use of online text technologies as a medium for intervention in the workplace environment. Mobile technology globally and in South Africa is growing rapidly, people are connected to information and services more than ever before. More services are being offered and marketed through the use of online technology mediums; these include professional services for mental wellbeing counselling support. Recognising that this is a relatively new field of study, it is valuable to gain insight from experienced counsellors regarding the use of online text based technologies for counselling specifically for workplace environments. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is used as a framework that it explains how the object of study being text based counselling technologies are used currently characterised by highly mobile social media use. This study employed a qualitative approach and was contextualised to a specific organisation, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) because it offers online counselling interventions which include specific programmes for workplace environments on mental health. Purposive sampling was used to select a total of eight counsellors with experience using online text based mediums and two key informants representing management of the organisation. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted using two semi- structured interview schedules. Thematic content analysis was used for interpretation of the data. The findings show that counsellors do not prefer to use text based online counselling technologies for serious mental health issues. Results indicate that though online text based technologies are relevant as part of employee wellness services in the workplace, the platforms are more suitable for containment, information and referral purposes. Recommendations from the study are for further research to inform standards of practise and formalised and structured training is required for counsellors.
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