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Doctoral Degrees (Psychology)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/6475

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Psychology) by Author "Asante, Kwaku Oppong."

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    Health and well-being of homeless youth in Ghana.
    (2015) Asante, Kwaku Oppong.; Meyer-Weitz, Anna.; Petersen, Inge.
    Background: Homeless youth have been described as being resilient, and vulnerable to poor mental and behavioural health. However, literature on factors promoting resilience of these homeless youth in an African context, especially in Ghana, is scarce. The main aim of the present study was to examine the mental and behavioural health and well-being of homeless youth and the protective factors that could be strengthened to promote their mental health and reduce risky health related behaviours. Specifically this doctoral thesis investigated: 1) factors fostering resilience among homeless youth, 2) the experiences of homeless youth in relation to their health and well-being, 3) the validation of the factor structure of Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), 4) the prevalence of health risk behaviours and status of psychological well-being, and 5) the relationship between resilience and health risk behaviours among homeless youth in Ghana. Method: An exploratory mixed method approach was adopted in which qualitative data was first collected followed by a quantitative survey. For the qualitative study a purposive sample of 16 homeless youth from the Central Business District of Accra were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. A cross-sectional study with an interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to assess the mental health variables from a relatively large sample of 227 conveniently selected homeless youth. The participants were between the ages of 9-19 years, and had lived on the street for a period of between 6 months to 8 years. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the interview transcripts in the qualitative study whilst exploratory factor analysis, One-Way ANOVA, independent samples t-tests, Chi-Square tests for independence, Pearson- moment correlation coefficient, standard multiple regression and logistic regression models were used to analyse the quantitative data. Data collection lasted for 8 and 12 weeks for the qualitative and quantitative phases of the study respectively. Results: The qualitative results showed that strong religious beliefs, engagement in meaningful activities, peer group support, adherence to cultural norms and support from community-based organizations were important factors that promote resilience among participants. The quantitative results showed that participants exhibited poor mental health with high levels of psychological distress, substance use and suicidal ideation. Clustering of health risk behaviours was found in this study among homeless youth who were using substances and engaging in unprotected sex with multiple sexual partners. Some evidence for the engagement in survival sex was also found. Overall poor psychological functioning was predicted by experiences of perceived stigmatization and discrimination, self-stigma, suicidal ideation and exposure to violence. The results also showed that perceived resilience served as a protective factor for suicidal ideation and having multiple sexual lifetime partners, suggesting that youth with higher perceived resilience were less likely to engage in health risk behaviours. Conclusion: These findings seem to suggest that homeless youth are resilient, but nevertheless are susceptible to various mental health problems, with substance use acting as a gateway for sexual risk behaviours. Development of multilevel prevention interventions are recommended to build resilience in youth through access to psychological counselling and to develop better coping strategies at the individual level; facilitate health enhancing social networks that provide homeless youth with an alternative network to that of gains in social support at the interpersonal level and to address the social determinants of poor mental health at community and societal levels.
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    Skills shortages and challenges in the employment of foreign professionals in the selected KwaZulu-Natal higher education institutions.
    (2016) Ngonyama, Thulie Lillian.; Buitendach, Johanna Hendrina.; Asante, Kwaku Oppong.
    This study examines the challenge of academic skills shortage in South Africa as represented in the selected institutions of higher learning in the KwaZulu-Natal province. Further to the shortage of academic skills, the study examines the challenges encountered in the mediation of attracting and recruiting academic expatriates who in turn encounter their own obstacles in adjusting into and settling in their host country, host academic institutions and host communities. The term “academic expatriates” as reflecting throughout this study is being used interchangeable with the term “foreign professionals” reflecting in the title of this study. The selected institutions of higher education are the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban University of Technology (DUT), Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) and the University of Zululand (UNIZULU). Methodologically the study deploys a mixed methods approach to research. The merits of the mixed methods approach to research are chiefly that it employs both the quantitative and qualitative techniques of inquiry. For that reason, the study is able to examine and interrogate its subject from a multiplicity of quantitative and qualitative vantage points, yielding a much more enriched and enriching illumination. The results, observations, arguments and conclusions of a mixed methods study tend to enjoy more credibility, reliability and dependability than the outcomes of a study that employs a singular and narrow approach. Mixing the strengths of both the quantitative and the qualitative techniques delivers much more durable articulation and understanding of the subject. The study used both qualitative and quantitative research measures to collect and analyse data. The explanatory sequential design approach was used. The researcher amended and validated a 5 point Likert scale questionnaire originally developed by Black to study expatriates’ adjustment challenges. This questionnaire was then used to collect data relating to interaction adjustment, general adjustment and work adjustment from academic expatriates. One hundred and forty-two (142) academic expatriates from all the four institutions under study participated in the quantitative study. The qualitative study collected data relating to an academic skills shortage, disciplines that experience skills shortage, academic labour turnover, employment process and support offered to academic expatriate. Qualitative data was collected through a structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. A total of 48 respondents; including, line managers, human resources practitioners and academic expatriates participated in the qualitative study. The results revealed that the institutions under study are confronted by academic skills shortage in almost all academic disciplines especially in the disciplines associated with Science, Engineering and Accounting. As a result difficulties are experienced in attracting academic talent in these fields/disciplines. Therefore, academic talent is brought in from outside the borders of the country. But, delays in work permit application process makes it difficult for these institutions to finalise their recruitment and selection process on time. Furthermore, academic expatriates experience general and interaction adjustment challenges associated with the use of local language and understanding of local culture. However, female academic expatriates were found to be better adjusted in the two areas as compared to male academic expatriates. Moreover, significant mean differences were found between institutions suggesting that academic expatriates based at UNIZULU experience adjustment challenges differently from the academic expatriated based at DUT and UKZN. But, these institutions assist academic expatriates to adjust through their induction programme. Additional to this, the results revealed that the institutions under study are faced with higher labour turnover which could be attributed to uncompetitive salaries for academic staff, poor job satisfaction and stringent academic appointment and promotion criteria. In summation, the study gestured to the need for policy revisions in the area of immigration, human resources and academic administration in the Republic of South Africa.