A Group of Black South Africans' Experience of Telling their Untold Stories about the Apartheid Era

The aim of this research was to explore a group of black South Africans' experiences of telling their untold stories of survival about the apartheid era. The expectation was that if they did become more aware of these alternative stories, it could have a far-reaching effect on their lives. A qualitative study was conducted with a group of seven black South African survivors of the apartheid era, ranging in age from 42–62 years (males =5, females =2). These participants formed part of an earlier study investigating their perceptions regarding factors that helped them to survive the apartheid era. For the present study, unstructured interviews were conducted focusing on their subjective experiences after the initial study. Analysis of the data yielded seven prevalent themes, namely a positive experience that made a difference, gaining of a positive attitude, not all white people are bad, transgressing the past and moving on, awareness of personal strengths, forgiveness and starting to talk to family and friends. The participants became aware of their untold stories of survival and experienced a positive change within themselves, towards others, the past and the future.     

The nature of quality of life in residential care facilities: the case of White older South Africans

This study describes the nature of quality of life (QoL) from the perspective of older South Africans (n?=?41) in residential care facilities (female =?75%; age range 62–95 years). The residents participated in individual in-depth interviews and focus groups. They also set down their narrative reflections on their QoL in journals. Data were analysed by means of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings reveal the resident older South Africans regard QoL as a spiritually informed worldview of life events, coping with challenges and being mindful of others. The residents perceived QoL to include proximity and quality and reciprocity with others. QoL among older people is context and people specific.     

Sport,Girls, Trouble and Humour: Black and Indian Boys Negotiating Gender,Race and Class in a Formerly White Single Sex School in South Africa

This article reports on an interview study conducted by Deevia Bhana and Rob Pattman of Grade 11 (16–17 year old) boys attending different kinds of public schools in the Durban, South Africa. It investigated their accounts personal lives and identities as young men and women in and outside their schools. We conducted semi-structured interviews with the participants to determine how they experienced school and how they presented themselves in the interviews, their interests, aspirations, relations with other boys and girls in and out of school, and the kinds of identifications they made. The data for this are from two interviews conducted with black and Indian boys at Elmsdale, a formerly white boys' high school near Durban with an excellent academic and sporting reputation. We analyzed the data using narrative and discourse analysis. Concerns about being marginalised in school were expressed by both the black and the Indian boys. Issues of gender, race, class, sexuality and power were prominent in the interviews, notably when the boys were discussing sport, trouble, being funny and girls.     

Prevalence and social and health correlates of insomnia symptoms among middle-and older-age persons in rural South Africa

This study investigated the prevalence and social and health correlates of insomnia symptoms among middle-and older-adults in rural South Africa. We analysed baseline survey data from the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH community in South Africa (HAALSI) (N = 5 059; females = 53.6%; largely African Shangaan/Tsonga-speaking). In all, 8.0% of the adults had three insomnia symptoms, 8.9% of participants had difficulty initiating sleep, 13.6% had difficulty in sleep maintenance, and 6.5% had poor sleep quality. In adjusted logistic regression, lower education, perceived unsafe neighbourhood, poorer self-rated health status, vision difficulty, pain, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms increased the odds of having insomnia symptoms. Insomnia symptoms are common in middle-and older-age adults in rural South Africa, and various risk factors were identified. This can help in improving insomnia prevention treatment in this population.     

Teacher-instigated in-school interpersonal violence: Types and prevalence in South African public schools

The study examined types and prevalence of interpersonal violence in South African schools. Data on in-school interpersonal violence by the South African Council of Teachers (SACE) were analysed. The sample consisted of 1 184 teachers (rural = 32.6%, urban = 59.8%, peri-urban = 7.6%). Following logistic regression analyses, results indicated male teachers were the majority offenders. Furthermore, results showed that female teachers and learners were over nine times more likely to be victims of all types of violence, as compared to males. Findings support a social role theory perspective of gendered aggression in which males are likely to resort to physical violence, while females may engage in verbal violence.     

Exploring the Factor Structure of the Proactive Coping Inventory: A Southern African Study

This study explored the factor structure of the Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI) to determine whether its six-factor structure holds within the Southern African context. Data on proactive coping were collected from students attending three universities, one each in Botswana (n=88, females=45.5%, mean age=21.31 years, SD=2.04), Namibia (n=38, females=47.4%, mean age=24.21 years, SD=3.47) and South Africa (n=496, females=56.9%; mean age=22.27 years, SD=2.60). Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure of the PCI. Findings suggest that the PCI is comprised of two factors: Future-Oriented Coping (comprised of Proactive Coping, Reflective Coping, Strategic Planning and Preventive Coping) and Support Seeking (comprised of Instrumental Support Seeking and Emotional Support Seeking). This is in line with theory that suggests that individuals cope by means of persisting towards goal attainment.     

Occupational stress of professional nurses in South Africa

The objective of this study was to identify occupational stressors for professional nurses in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A stratified random sample of professional nurses (n=818; females?=?97%) in hospitals in South Africa was used. The Nursing Stress Indicator (NSI) was administrated together with a biographical questionnaire. Three internally consistent stress factors, namely lack of organisational support, job demands and nursing-specific demands, were extracted. The most severe stressors for professional nurses included staff shortages, inadequate salaries and excessive administrative duties. Work overload, fellow workers not doing their job, health risks posed by contact with patients and demands of patients were also identified as stressors. Stress was associated with specific factors, including age, position (rank), care unit, and work experience.     

Sex and the Right to HIV/AIDS Education in Early Childhood

This study explored how early childhood teachers (n=5) and young children (n=174) (age range 7 to 8 years; males = 81; females = 93) in two primary schools constructed and interpreted the right to HIV/AIDS education. Data were captured using individual interviews with teachers and group interviews with young children. Analysis of the data showed that teachers viewed young children's right to health information positively but did not consider the right to sexual information. Teachers operated within discourses which upheld the image of the child as innocent requiring protection from sexual knowledge. Children's perceptions of their rights to knowledge of sex in HIV/AIDS education showed ambiguity. Some accepted the right to know whilst others felt that knowledge about HIV/AIDS was inconsistent with childhood innocence.     

Psychometric Properties of the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) in a South African Context

Self-regulation (SR), an important construct within the psychological well-being context, involves the ability to monitor behaviour, to contrast it with reference values and to introduce adjustments where necessary. A lack of validated measures of SR in the South African context has contributed to the current caveat in our knowledge of the potential importance of this construct. This investigation aimed to establish the utility of the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ; Carey, Neal & Collins, 2004) in a South African context. This short version of the original Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ; Brown, Miller & Lawendowski, 1999) was completed by a group of 385 undergraduate psychology students. Factor analysis produced 7 factors, all of which showed significant positive correlations with other measures of psychological well-being. This first step toward establishing the importance of SR in non-Western cultures reflected positively on the potential use of the SSRQ in large epidemiological studies.     

Perceptions of alcohol risk among people on antiretroviral treatment in South Africa: a qualitative study

This study explored perceptions of alcohol abuse risk among people on antiretroviral treatment (ART) who self-identified as alcohol users. Twenty six people receiving ART from an out-patient setting were interviewed on their alcohol abuse risk perception. Data were thematically analysed. Findings suggest participants developed routines to drink alcohol around the times they took their antiretroviral medications to reduce adverse impact. They also reported alcohol abuse risk reduction strategies such as reducing alcohol use because of the event of an HIV positive diagnosis and/or getting on antiretroviral treatment, and alcohol use reduction following health education or counselling by health care staff. These findings suggest a need for alcohol interventions tailored to ART patients.