Browsing by Author "van den Berg, Estelle"

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    Die identifisering, beskrywing en riglyne vir die ontwikkeling van veerkragtigheidskenmerke in gesinne waarvan ʼn ouer alkohol misbruik: ʼn gesinsperspektief
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-03) van den Berg, Estelle; Greeff, A. P.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Alcohol abuse is a major problem worldwide and in South Africa which not only affects individuals, but families and communities as well. In South Africa, the Western Cape is the province with the highest prevalence of alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is also the most prevalent amongst the coloured population group and in rural areas. Despite the potentially negative impact that parental alcohol abuse can have on families, some families are capable of coping with and overcoming this adversity. Families who have the ability to withstand and rebound from disruptive life challenges, such as when a parent in the family abuses alcohol, are referred to as resilient families. The main objective of this investigation was to determine which family characteristics can be associated with positive adaptation in families in which a parent abuses alcohol in a rural area of the Western Cape among the coloured population, based on family membersʼ views. The secondary objective of this investigation was to provide guidelines based on family membersʼ perspectives for how these characteristics can be developed in order to help families cope with the crisis of alcohol abuse. Although family resilience studies regarding parental alcohol abuse were found in the international literature, there is a lack of similar studies in South Africa. The lack of local studies that are qualitative in nature, that focus on family resilience rather than individual resilience and where the parent is the family member that abuses alcohol, allows for an investigation in which the unique factors of this group of participants can be identified and described. Participants were 18 families of which one or both parents had been abusing alcohol for six months or longer. In 15 cases, the mother acted as the representative of the family, and in one case the father. In two cases both the mother and a daughter who still lives with them at home participated on behalf of the family. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically. The results are presented in four sections, namely participants’ descriptions of how their families are characterised, participants’ experiences of the negative effect of alcohol abuse, participants’ descriptions of family resilience characteristics, and participants’ suggestions for guidelines for the development of an intervention programme for families with parental alcohol abuse. Themes that related to participants’ descriptions of how their families are characterised were: alcohol abuse is at its worst over weekends and in the month of December; other family members are against alcohol abuse; domestic violence; more than one family member abuses alcohol; only the parent that abuses alcohol can help him-/herself; the parent has been abusing alcohol his/her whole life and has had relapses; the parent does not want to admit the problem or the severity of the problem; and stressors. Themes that related to participants’ experiences of the negative effect of alcohol abuse were the negative effects of alcohol abuse on finances, the community, the family, health, the marriage, children and careers. Themes that related to participants’ descriptions of family resilience factors included family problem-solving communication, family time and routines, religion, support from community resources, social support, and other factors. Themes that related to participants’ suggestions for guidelines for the development of an intervention programme were: to emphasise the importance of the youth; to involve families with parental alcohol abuse in the community; to link the programme to a religious component; to help people to not start drinking, drink less or stop drinking; to make the intervention programme prolonged and continuous; as well as to receive rehabilitation, counselling or therapy. Based on the identified resilience characteristics and advice to other families, suggestions are made for how these factors can be implemented in order to develop a family resilience intervention programme for families with parental alcohol abuse.