Department of Psychology

Permanent URI for this community

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Experiences of graduation or termination from a girls youth community project
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006-12) Alkana, Lidia; Van Wyk, S.; Smith, M.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology.
The study attempted to gain insight into the behavioural response to termination/ graduation of a group of ten female graduates from a community intervention programme. The participants, aged between eleven and fourteen years and predominantly from low socio-economic backgrounds, attended the Usiko Girls Youth Community Programme. The eighteen month programme aimed to facilitate their transition from girlhood to womanhood. To this end, the program was conceptualized as having various components including, but not limited to, Initiation, Life skills training, Cultural activities, Camps, and graduation. After the graduation ceremony, which culminated in the termination of the programme for these participants, they returned to the programme, stating different reasons for doing so. A single group, post-test design, utilizing a structured interview was employed with the main focus being the graduation and termination component, to help understand this phenomenon. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results suggest that the participant’s identification with the programme made it difficult for some to terminate.