Literature review of the relationship between illness identity and recovery outcomes among adults with severe mental illness

This paper is a literature review of the relationship between illness identity and recovery outcomes among adults with severe mental illness. First, illness identity is explored as presented in the literature, through analysis of work on narrativization, labeling theory and the role of gender stereotypes. Literature on stigmatization as a mediating factor that influences the ways illness identity impacts recovery is also studied. Finally, work is presented on recovery outcomes that are a direct result of self-perception. Findings suggest the existence of two paradigms; positive and negative illness identity as the result of mediating factors from the diagnosis stage. A rough model of the process of recovery vis-a-vis illness identity is, therefore, suggested and the implications of discoveries of the current literature on clinical practice are outlined

Cognitive correlates of English reading achievement among standard three pupils in the slums of Nairobi

A Phd Disssertation by Dr. Josephine Arasa, a Faculty member in the school Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU AfricaThis study aimed at finding out the relationship between English reading achievement (dependent variable) and Letter-sound knowledge, decoding abilities and speed of reading (independent variables). The study also investigated whether there were any significant gender differences in English reading achievement, Lettersound knowledge, decoding abilities and speed of reading. Differences between good and poor readers in all the variables were also examined. Finally teachers' views, opinions and perceptions on identification of poor readers, importance of reading, factors contributing to poor reading, help given to poor readers, suggestions on what could be done to improve on reading in the slums, whether time allocated to teaching reading was adequate and whether they felt they were well equipped to teach reading were explored. The sample for the study consisted of 78 (35 males and 43 females) standard three pupils from 5 selected schools in the slums of Nairobi whose ages ranged from 8-13 years with an average age of 10 years. The teachers who teach English to these children in class 3 together with the headteachers in each of the five schools also formed the sample. Data was collected by use of Letter-sound knowledge test, alphabetic process test logographic process test, teachers' and headteachers' questionnaires, students' questionnaires, report cards to obtain English reading achievement scores and a focused group discussion instrument for the teachers. Data was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics to describe and summarize data, Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficients, multiple regression analysis test, t-tests and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) at P<_0.05 level of significance were used to analyze data. The following the results were obtained based on the hypotheses of the study: i) English reading achievement was positively and significantly correlated with Letter-sound knowledge (r = 0.36), decoding of Non-words (r = 0.48) and decoding of Familiar words (r = 0.54). ii) English reading achievement was negatively and significantly correlated with the speed of reading Letters (r = -0.36), speed of reading Non-words (r = - 0.40) and speed of reading Familiar words (r = -0.47). iii) There were significant and positive inter-correlations among Letter-sound knowledge and decoding of Non-words (r = 0.54) and with decoding of Familiar words (0.57). iv) When the independent variables were combined, they contributed significantly to English reading achievement (R` = 0.30). v) There were no significant gender differences in decoding of Non-words, decoding of Familiar words, speed of reading Letters, speed of reading Nonwords and speed of reading Familiar words. vi) There was a significant gender difference in Letter-sound knowledge. vii) Good and poor readers (grouping) differed significantly in English reading achievement and in letter- sound knowledge, decoding of Non-words and Familiar words, speed of reading Letters, Non-words and Familiar words. viii) One's gender and being a good or poor reader (grouping) did not interact significantly to influence performance in Letter-sound knowledge, decoding of Non-words, decoding of Familiar words and in speed of reading Letters, speed of reading Non-words and speed of reading Familiar words. Results from the teachers showed that the teachers could easily identify poor readers using a variety of methods, teachers knew the importance of knowing how to read, they used various methods to teach reading and they could explain factors that contribute to poor reading. The teachers used different approaches to help the poor readers to improve and they gave many suggestions on what they felt needed to be done to improve on reading achievements in the slums. Generally, the teachers felt that they lacked the necessary skills to teach reading; hence, they were not well equipped to teach reading. They also felt that the time allocated to teaching reading was inadequate. From the research, the following recommendations were made: i) There is need for early assessment and intervention to identify students deficient in reading skills (Letter- sound Knowledge and word decoding skills), followed by a one to one intervention. The children should be taught to attend to each letter and its relationship to sounds. The teachers should begin with common, useful letters and words to avoid confusion. Similar letters and letters with similar sounds should be separated. Teachers can use flash cards or word cards, pictorial aids or display high frequency words on the wall or bulletin boards. Reading easy books, repeated readings and choral reading should be used to facilitate ii) The teachers should provide a balanced and comprehensive program of instruction, which covers concepts about print, phonological, and phonetic awareness, letter name knowledge, letter sound knowledge, letter groups and sounds and sight words. The reading instructions should be appropriate for the students' level of performance. Extensive practice should be emphasized to integrate use of visual, contextual, and structural cue system. iii) During teaching, fluency and automaticity should be emphasized. iv) Poor readers require specialized methods of teaching as they lack the necessary skills and knowledge compared to the good readers, this will help them to improve on English reading achievement. This is likely to reduce the anxiety, frustration, high dropout, repetition, poor academic performance, negative attitudes towards school and other problems associated with being a poor or non-reader. v) There is need to provide individual attention and remediation to the poor readers. This can be done by having special classes for those who have not had any previous exposure to reading, those with minimal exposure and those with average skills. Then once they have acquired the necessary skills they can be taught together as a group. Many teachers recommended this grouping though they lack the time, resources, and competence. Remedial programmes should focus on the specific deficits or deficiencies that have been identified through assessment and diagnosis i.e. treat and focus on weaknesses to enhance strengths of the child. For example a priority should be given to teaching how letters correspond to sounds, reading and writing of Non-words by use of letter-sound knowledge vi) When teaching, there is need to distinguish between the letters of the alphabet and their usage to spoken names which contain sounds i.e. spoken Letter/sounds should be linked to written forms. (Many subjects had extreme difficulties linking letters to sounds). vii) There is need to help learners to recognize whole words (word learning). Many children did not perceive words as Familiar or Non-words and they were very slow• in their responses with some relying on Letter-sounding technique (reading letter by letter). Learners should be helped to use lettersound knowledge to read and pronounce Non-words. viii) More pre-primary or nursery schools should be set up in the slums and the parents encouraged to send their children to these schools instead of waiting until they are over age then send them to primary schools. Many teachers felt that this will help the children to acquire basic skills of reading early in life. (74% of the subjects had not attended nursery or pre-primary). ix) Adequate screening tests should be developed and teachers taught on how to diagnose reading problem. These tests can be prepared by specialists in the area of reading at KISE, Ministry of Education, Department of special Education at Kenyatta University and clinical child neuropsychologists to help identify poor readers. x) There is need for the government to provide interesting, varied and more reading materials to the slums now that there is free education. Many of these children cannot afford to buy even a single book xi) Success of any reading program depends on the knowledge and the skills of the teacher. The teacher should be well trained in a specific approach and supported in its implementation either through in-service or pre-service. These teachers need knowledge on word attack knowledge, skills and strategies to provide well-structured instructions to their students. xii) Teacher training colleges should offer courses that impart the necessary skills on teaching of reading and reading disabilities so that the teachers can confidently and competently deal with this problem of poor reading. The training should give the teachers first hand experience, knowledge, and skills on diversity of reading problems. The teachers should also be trained on identification, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention of reading disabilities. The training should also focus on methods of teaching reading, which have been proved effective through research. xiii) Adult education programmes for parents should be emphasized to reduce illiteracy so that the parents can get more involved with their children's schoolwork. xiv) Free medical clinics should be offered to check and help those children with speech, hearing and visual problems that interfere with learning to read (reading is an audio-visual process). xvi) There is need to create awareness to the slum community on the importance of education so that the community can work together with the teachers and administrator to reduce illiteracy and other problems in the slum. xvii) The teachers need to change their negative attitudes towards the slum community and more specifically towards these children. Some of the teachers during the focused group discussion sessions said "ignore them" "they can never make it in life" "we are here because Teachers Service Commission cannot transfer us elsewhere" among other negative comments. The teachers need to know that any child, given the right kind of physical and emotional support can learn and achieve. These children are just disadvantaged but not necessarily retarded intellectually. xviii) There is need for an in-depth study of the poor readers to identify specific features or characteristics associated with poor readers for purposes of remediation or intervention. xix) More research and other comparative studies should be carried out to find out other factors related to related to Kiswahili and English reading achievement since the present research variables accounted for only 30% of the variance in English reading achievement. Such factors include memory, phonological processing, audio-visual perception, home and school related factors among others. From the finding's it can be concluded that English reading achievement is significantly correlated with Letter-sound knowledge, decoding abilities and speed of reading. However, there is need for an in-depth study of the poor readers to identify specific features or characteristics associated with poor readers for purposes of remediation or intervention. More research should also be carried out to find out other factors related to English reading achievement since the present research variables accounted for only 30% of the variance in English reading achievement

Attachment and psychological well-being among adolescents with and without disabilities in Kenya: The mediating role of identity formation

A Journal article by Dr. Josephine Arasa, a Faculty member in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU AfricaThe current study is aimed at evaluating the relationship between attachment and identity development, and their influence on psychological well-being in adolescents with and without disabilities in Kenya. The sample was composed of 296 adolescents (151 with disabilities and 145 without any disability). The mean age in our sample was 16.84 years (SD ¼ 1.75). Adolescents with disabilities had significantly lower scores in identity formation, paternal attachment, and life satisfaction. A path model indicated that identity formation partially mediated the relationship between secure attachment and psychological well-being. Our findings indicate that both parent and peer attachment play an important role in the identity formation and psychological well-being of adolescents in Kenya, irrespective of a disabling condition. A multigroup analysis indicated that while the structure of the relationship between variables held for groups, the pattern and strength of the relationships differed. Implications for practice, especially the guidance and counseling services in schools, are discussed

Negotiating professional identities in higher education in Kenya: dilemmas and priorities of faculty

This research builds on work carried out in England looking at how faculty negotiate their personal and professional identities. It focuses on a sample of full-time faculty in a private secular university in Kenya. Weekly time logs with follow-up individual semi-structured interviews were used as a basis for an examination on how faculty spend their time and cope with the dilemmas they face. The research probes the motivations and priorities of faculty and draws tentative conclusions regarding their professional identities. The picture emerges of a rapidly increasing workforce, very positive about teaching, facing the challenges of intensification of labour, conflicting priorities, outside pressures and a sense of lack of control over their professional lives. In contrast to the UK findings, what was most striking was the lack of dilemmas and agonising between competing claims on time that characterised the work of the UK lecturers. The Kenyan faculty appeared to approach tasks in a pragmatic way, with priority often given to family matters and a tendency to let things happen. Notions of professionalism appeared to be less well developed and appeared to point to compliance and acceptable standards of behaviour

Ethnic Identity in Emerging Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa and the USA, and Its Associations with Psychological Well-Being

Ethnic identity as a social dimension of identity is argued to be developmentally important for psychological well-being. However, the relationships between these constructs are mainly examined in Western contexts, amongst dominant–non-dominant groups. We investigate ethnic identity across the mainstream group of a prototypical Western society (the USA) and several multi-ethnic sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia), as well as how it relates to psychological well-being. A total of 1255 university students (61.8% females, Mage = 20.94 years, SD = 2.97) completed a questionnaire with ethnic identity and psychological well-being measures. Results indicated that ethnic identity was most salient in two different South African ethnocultural samples and least salient in a mainstream US sample. These results suggest that groups that are more exposed to ethnic strain in multicultural societies tend to have more salient ethnic identities. Furthermore, the underlying structure in the ethnic identity psychological well-being relationship was similar across groups. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Relationship between student achievement motivation, students' attitude towards school, parental education and parental involvement with their children's school work among slum children

The purpose of the study were: i. Look at the level of education attained by parents of slum children and parental interest or involvement with their children's schoolwork. ii. To investigate the attitudes towards school held by the subjects and their level of achievement motivation. iii. Find out whether there is any significant correlation among parental level of education parental involvement, students attitudes towards school and students achievement motivation. The sample consisted of 251 standard seven pupils from 4 primary school in the slums of Nairobi. The instruments used for data collection were: i. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to provide information on students’ achievement motivation. ii. Likert-type scale to measure students’ attitudes towards school. iii. Questionnaire to measure parental level of education and parental involvement with their children's schoolwork. For data analysis the following techniques were used: - i. Descriptive statistics to describe data. ii. Coefficient contingency to test strength of relationships. iii. Chi square test to test for significance of relationships. iv. Multiple regression analysis to establish contribution made by each variable on the other. The findings of the results indicated that there i. Was no significant relationship between students achievement motivation and a. Students attitudes towards school b. Parents level of education c. Parental involvement with their children’s schoolwork at p < 0.05 level of significance. ii. Was no significant relationship between students' attitudes towards school and a. Parental level of education b. Parental involvement with their children's schoolwork at p< 0.05, level of significance. iii. There is a significant relationship between parental level of involvement and parental level of education at p <0.05 level of significance. It was concluded therefore that parental level of education and parental level of involvement are not related to students' attitudes towards school nor to students' achievement motivation. There is need therefore to investigate the factors that are likely to influence students' attitudes towards school and students' achievement motivation among slum children

Negotiating professional identities in higher education in Kenya: dilemmas and priorities of faculty

This research builds on work carried out in England looking at how faculty negotiate their personal and professional identities. It focuses on a sample of full-time faculty in a private secular university in Kenya. Weekly time logs with follow-up individual semi-structured interviews were used as a basis for an examination on how faculty spend their time and cope with the dilemmas they face. The research probes the motivations and priorities of faculty and draws tentative conclusions regarding their professional identities. The picture emerges of a rapidly increasing workforce, very positive about teaching, facing the challenges of intensification of labour, conflicting priorities, outside pressures and a sense of lack of control over their professional lives. In contrast to the UK findings, what was most striking was the lack of dilemmas and agonising between competing claims on time that characterised the work of the UK lecturers. The Kenyan faculty appeared to approach tasks in a pragmatic way, with priority often given to family matters and a tendency to let things happen. Notions of professionalism appeared to be less well developed and appeared to point to compliance and acceptable standards of behaviour

The Five Factor model (FFM) of personality: Is there an African personality? Issues and challenges

Proceedings of the Bilateral Workshop 22nd -29th February 2016 Nairobi, Kenya. A paper presentation by Dr. Josephine Arasa, a Faculty member in the Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU AfricaAccording to Atkinson and Hilgards (2009) personality is defined as the distinctive and characteristic patterns of thought, emotion and behaviour that define an individual’s personal style of interacting with the physical and social environment. Measuring personality traits has been going on for as long as the concept of personality has been around. Research has proven the universality of personality traits through cross-cultural studies. One of the tools used to measure personality and that will be the focus of this study is the Five Factor Model (FFM) also known as the Big Five personality traits. The FFM of personality is a hierarchical model that assumes that five broad domains explain personality traits. The domains are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Each of the domains is further divided into six facets and they are very heritable (Zecca et al., 2012). These traits have proved the most successful in replicability research across cultures. The model has been translated into different languages. For the sake of this research will define the different traits

Investigating the Quality of Postgraduate Research in African Universities Today: A Qualitative Analysis of External Examination Reports

A Journal article by Prof. Munyae Mulinge and Dr. Josephine Arasa, Faculty members in the Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU AfricaUtilizing examination reports of the external moderation of 92 masters and 8 doctoral dissertations and theses drawn from 10 universities spread across the Eastern, Western and Southern African regions, we analyzed the quality of postgraduate research produced by universities in Africa today. A content analysis of the various reports was conducted to assess overall quality and to identify the specific weaknesses and flaws that characterized the dissertations and theses. To provide a summative measure of quality, we attached a rating to each of the recommendations made with respect to the various research reports as follows: ‘Accept as submitted’ = excellent, ‘accept with minor corrections’ = good, ‘accept (award degree) after major corrections and/or revisions’ = satisfactory, ‘revise and resubmit for further examination’ = poor, and ‘not to be accepted for the degree’ = very poor. For ease of reference the rating was reduced to a dichotomous scheme of high and low in which reports rated as excellent and good were considered to have been of high quality while those in the other ratings were of low quality. The results showed that the bulk (63.0 percent) of the dissertations examined were of low quality; only 37.0 percent rated as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. These tended to be plagued by a variety of weaknesses, including the inability to adequately contribute original and valuable knowledge, poor packaging and presentation that left many of them reading like raw drafts that required the attention of a supervisor more than the services of an examiner, and contents that left a lot to be desired in terms of depth, clarity, sequencing and coherence, among others. It was concluded that the quality of the bulk of dissertations and theses produced in African universities has been declining. As such, there is an urgent need for universities to create environments that are supportive of research achievements/are suitable for the production of quality postgraduate research

Integrating HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive Health: Policy Implication

A book chapter by Dr. Josephine Arasa, a Faculty member in the Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU AfricaPages 201-20