(Stellenbosch University, Department of Social Work, 2015) Meyer, Karin; Kruger, Lou-Marie
Informed by the feminist social constructionist approach this study aimed at exploring the subjective experiences of depression of low-income South African adolescent girls. Participants in this study (girls between the ages of 12 and 14) live in a semi-rural low-income coloured community in the Western Cape. Participants were familiar with the concept of depression, but it seemed that for them the central emotion associated with depression was anger, which often manifested in destructive behaviours. Furthermore, participants seemed to construct depression as a relational problem, suggesting that psychotherapy may be indicated as an important intervention strategy.