Assumptive World of Traumatized South African Adults

Abstract

One way of understanding the impact of traumatic events is through exploration of cognitive changes that confront a traumatized individual. The author investigated changes in individuals' basic assumptions after traumatic experiences. The participants were 65 people who had been traumatized by representatives of the South African apartheid government. From the total sample, 36 participants had witnessed the violent death of a close relative (sibling, mother, or father). The remaining 29 had been tortured and detained. The author administered the World Assumption Scale (R. Janoff-Bulman, 1989), a semistructured questionnaire on basic assumptions developed for the present study, and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinical Checklist (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Traumatic events affected the participants' basic assumptions about the meaning and benevolence of the world. The tortured and detained group and the bereaved group showed differences in their assumptions of self-worth following the trauma. Cognitive approaches can yield invaluable therapeutic insights into strategies for coping with trauma.     

The Transportability and Utility of Cognitive Therapy in South African Contexts: A Review

Cognitive therapy could be more widely promoted in South Africa given the great disparity between the need and provision of psychological therapies. Three possible objections to the promotion of cognitive therapy are considered: uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of cognitive therapy in South African contexts; uncertainty surrounding the applicability in multicultural contexts; and suggestions that cognitive therapy is decontextualised and therefore objectionable in a country facing major social challenges. A systematic review of the literature indentified 15 outcome studies, and suggests that cognitive therapy is a viable and much-needed approach in South Africa.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Caregiver Social Support on Adolescent Psychological Outcomes in Two South African AIDS-Affected Communities

Caregiver social support has been shown to be protective for caregiver mental health, parenting and child psychosocial outcomes. This is the first known analysis to quantitatively investigate the relationship between caregiver social support and adolescent psychosocial outcomes in HIV‐endemic, resource–scarce Southern African communities. A cross‐sectional household survey was conducted over 2009–2010 with 2,477 South African adolescents aged 10–17 and their adult caregivers (18 years or older) in one urban and one rural community in South Africa’s KwaZulu‐Natal province. Adolescent adjustment was assessed using adult caregiver reports of the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), which measures peer problems, hyperactivity, conduct problems, emotional symptoms and child prosocial behavior. Hierarchical linear regressions and multiple mediation analyses, using bootstrapping procedures, were conducted to assess for: (a) direct effects of more caregiver social support on better adolescent psychosocial wellbeing; and (b) indirect effects mediated by better parenting and caregiver mental health. Direct associations (p < .001), and indirect associations mediated through better parenting, were found for all adolescent outcomes. Findings reinforce the importance of social support components within parenting interventions but also point to scope for positive intervention on adolescent psychosocial wellbeing through the broader family social network.     

Understanding Miscommunication: Speech Act Recognition in Digital Contexts

Successful language use requires accurate intention recognition. However, sometimes this can be undermined because communication occurs within an interpersonal context. In this research, I used a relatively large set of speech acts (n = 32) and explored how variability in their inherent face-threat influences the extent to which they are successfully recognized by a recipient, as well as the confidence of senders and receivers in their communicative success. Participants in two experiments either created text messages (senders) designed to perform a specific speech act (e.g., agree) or interpreted those text messages (receivers) in terms of the specific speech act being performed. The speech acts were scaled in terms of their degree of face threat. In both experiments, speech acts that were more threatening were less likely to be correctly recognized than those that were less threatening. Additionally, the messages of the more threatening speech acts were longer and lower in clout than the less threatening speech acts. Senders displayed greater confidence in communicative success than receivers, but judgments of communicative success (for both senders and receivers) were unrelated to actual communicative success. The implications of these results for our understanding of actual communicative episodes are discussed.     

The Role of Contexts in Understanding and Explanation

In considering the Cambridge School of intellectual history, we should distinguish Skinner's conventionalism from Pocock's contextualism whilst recognising that both of them argue that the study of a text's linguistic context is at least necessary and perhaps sufficient to ensure understanding. This paper suggests that although "study the linguistic context of an utterance" is a valuable heuristic maxim, it is not a prerequisite of understanding that one does so. Hence, we might shift our attention from the role of linguistic contexts in understanding a text, to the role of ideational contexts in our explanations of meanings or beliefs. The explanatory role of contexts can be unpacked in terms of traditions and dilemmas. Here the paper also considers how this approach differs from that of the Cambridge School.     

Assessing Phonemic Fluency in Multilingual Contexts: Letter Selection Methodology and Demographically Stratified Norms for Three South African Language Groups

Because of their global clinical utility, phonemic fluency tests are frequently incorporated into neuropsychological assessment batteries. However, in heterogeneous societies their use is complicated by the lack of careful attention to using letters of equivalent difficulty across languages, and the paucity of norms stratified by relevant sociodemographic variables. In accordance with the International Test Commission's guidelines for adaptation of test material in multilingual contexts, this study provides (1) an internationally replicable methodological template for selecting appropriate letter sets; (2) empirical evidence to substantiate the equivalence of a letter set across three languages; (3) a template for evaluating the relative impact of sociodemographic variables on phonemic fluency; and (4) appropriately stratified norms for the letter set SBL (English and Afrikaans) / IBL (Xhosa) in a sample (N = 512) of urban participants (7–25 years with 1–17 years of education) from the Cape Town region of the Western Cape province of South Africa.     

South African Muslim Faith Healers Perceptions of Mental Illness: Understanding,Aetiology and Treatment

The important role that religious beliefs may have on perceptions of mental illness cannot be ignored. Many religions including Islam advocate witchcraft and spirit possession—all of which are thought to influence the behaviour of a person so as to resemble that of a mentally ill individual. Thus this research explored Muslim Faith Healers perceptions of mental and spiritual illness in terms of their understanding of the distinctions between the two, the aetiologies and the treatments thereof. Six Muslim Healers in the Johannesburg community were interviewed and thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. From the results it is clear that the faith healers were aware of the distinction between mental and spiritual illnesses. It was also apparent that Islam has a clear taxonomy that distinguishes illness and the causes thereof. Treatments are then advised accordingly. Thus this paper argues that the predominant Western view of the aetiology and understanding of mental illness needs to acknowledge the various culturally inclined taxonomies of mental illness so as to better understand and aid clients.

Natural Mentoring Processes Deter Externalizing Problems Among Rural African American Emerging Adults: A Prospective Analysis

A 3-wave model linking natural mentoring relationships to externalizing behavior was tested with 345 rural African American emerging adults in their final year of high school. Structural equation models were executed linking multi-informant reports of mentor-emerging adult relationship quality with youths' externalizing behavior 18 months later. Consistent with our primary hypotheses, emerging adults whose relationships with their natural mentors were characterized by instrumental and emotional support and affectively positive interactions reported lower levels of anger, rule-breaking behavior, and aggression. These effects emerged independent of the influences of family support and youth gender. Two intrapersonal processes, a future orientation and self-regulation, emerged as mediators of the influence of natural mentoring relationships. The influence of natural mentors was most pronounced for emerging adults experiencing high levels of life stress.     

The Experiences of Self-Injury Amongst Adolescents and Young Adults within a South African Context

The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of self-injury among adolescents and young adults within the South African context. The participants were twelve university students who had self-injured in their adolescence (females = 92%). The data were collected through interviews, personal writings and collages and analysed using phenomenological data analysis. The findings indicate that self-injury is a strategy used to alleviate intense intrapersonal and interpersonal distress. To understand the complexity of self-injury, an integrative theoretical approach, encompassing a developmental and biopsychosocial perspective was used.     

成败情境下不同目标取向学生内在动机特点

以213名小学生为被试,设置成功和失败情境,考察三种成就目标取向学生内在动机的差异。结果发现:两种情境下,掌握目标的学生均有最高的内在动机;失败情境下,成绩接近目标学生的内在动机显著高于成绩回避目标的学生,但成功情境下,两种目标取向学生的内在动机没有显著差异;掌握目标学生在两种情境下的内在动机无显著差异;成绩接近和成绩回避目标学生在失败情境下的内在动机显著低于成功情境下的内在动机。     

Home Brewed Alcohol use Among High School Students in a Rural South African Community

This study investigates the use of home brewed alcoholic beverages among adolescents in high schools in a rural community in South Africa. There is much concern about alcohol misuse among young people and very little information exists on alcohol produced by the informal liquor industry in South Africa. A total of 1600 high school students participated in the study. The prevalence rates for past year use of home brewed alcohol was 22.2%. There was association between home brewed alcohol use and correlates such as “lived in city”; “raised by both parents”; “repeating school year”; “poor scholastic progress”; “absenteeism” “getting into trouble”, “arguing with parents/friends”; “neglecting homework”; and “recreation/leisure”. The prevalence rates for home brewed alcoholic beverages use in this rural schools calls for more research that focuses on home brews which could lead to the development of appropriate health promotion intervention in schools.     

Understanding Suicide in Socially Vulnerable Contexts: Psychological Autopsy in a Small Town in Mexico

In Mexico, suicides are increasing in certain latitudes where local rates have grown to levels of alert; suicide is also the second most common cause of death for the group aged 15 to 19. The psychological autopsy method was utilized to uncover and analyze common factors in all of the registered suicides within 2011 and 2012 in a small town of the state of Guanajuato, located in the center of Mexico. A total of nine decedents were analyzed, and 22 interviews were conducted. The most salient factors were as follows: poverty, financial stress, substance abuse, low levels of education, conflictive relationships, and a poor handling of emotions. The concepts of social exclusion and vulnerability were employed to analyze suicides as symptoms of a much deeper problem of this country, suggesting that anomie and social malady are nowadays important suicidal factors, mostly for children and young people.     

Motivations for Philanthropic Giving in the African American Church: Implications for Black College Fundraising

Since its inception, the Black church has been the center of African American fundraising and the single most effective fundraising mechanism for Blacks. The majority of African Americans are taught from a young age that they have an obligation to give to the church. According to Cheryl Hall-Russell, African Americans are experts at educating their prospective donors in the church setting. Both Hall-Russell and Emmett D. Carson suggest that a formalized structure, like that of the church could aid colleges and universities in their acquisition of African American contributions. Consequently, a study of the Black church and its African American congregants can be a vital source of information for those interested in improving the fundraising capabilities of Black colleges. Through historical inquiry and qualitative interviews with Black college alumni/church members, we explore these important issues.     

Children's Understanding of Referentially Opaque Contexts: The Role of Metarepresentational and Metalinguistic Ability

We investigated whether children's ability to deal with referentially opaque contexts could be predicted by both metarepresentational ability (false-belief understanding) and metalinguistic awareness (the ability to compare and evaluate statements containing referring expressions). Five- to 7-year-olds completed opacity, false-belief, metalinguistic awareness, digit-span, and vocabulary measures. Hierarchical regressions indicated that even after the variability from age, vocabulary, and digit span is taken into account, metarepresentational ability and metalinguistic awareness still significantly, and independently, explain some variability in referential opacity performance. These results are taken as support for the view that both metarepresentational ability and metalinguistic awareness are necessary in order to deal with referentially opaque contexts.     

Responsive Parenting and Child Socialization: Integrating Two Contexts of Family Life

Developmental and behavioral research traditions differ in their prioritization of certain interpersonal contexts. Developmentalists focus on what might be called the attunement context and investigate how parent responsiveness impacts child symbolic capacities and social behavior. Behaviorists, on the other hand, focus primarily on limit-setting encounters and how reinforcement impacts rates of coercive and cooperative child behavior. The present paper discusses parental attunement from a reinforcement perspective. It illustrates that child behavior is related not only to how parents respond to prior episodes of coercion and cooperation, but to a wide range of child social behaviors.