TOWARDS SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION IN RURAL SCHOOLS : PERSPECTIVES OF EDUCATORS

The education reform process in South Africa is faced with the task of improving the quality of schooling by restoring a culture of teaching and learning in die classroom.  Establishing healthy learning environments requires an exploration of factors impacting on the learning process.  The Education White Paper 6 (Department of Education 2001a) lists the following as areas of concern: problems in the provision and organisation of education, socio-economics barriers, factors such as violence and crime which place learners at risk, substance abuse, attitudes, problems with language and communication, lack of human resource development, and lack of parental recognition and involvement.  Sayed (202) views schools as the key institutions through which people could potentially experience themselves as social outcasts, recipients of skills or learning, or as agents of change.  It is for such reasons that schools are crucial in human lives

Predicting safe sex: Assessment of autoregressive and cross-lagged effects within the Theory of Planned Behavior

Despite its popularity, few studies have assessed the temporal stability and cross-lagged effects of the Theory of Planned Behavior factors: Attitude, subjective norms and self-efficacy. For this study, 298 adolescent learners from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, filled out a Theory of Planned Behavior questionnaire on teenage pregnancy at baseline and after 6 months. Structural equation modeling showed that there were considerable cross-lagged effects between attitude and subjective norms. Temporal stability was moderate with test-retest correlations ranging from 0.37 to 0.51 and the model was able to predict intentions to have safe sex (R-2 = 0.69) Implications for practice and future research are discussed

Effects of a Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Programme in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Researchers aimed to determine the effects of a teenage pregnancy (TP) prevention program for 816 high school students attending 16 KwaZulu-Natal, South African schools through a randomized control trial. Data were collected at baseline and at the 8-month follow-up in 2009. Results were calculated using multivariate analyses of program effects employing Mplus 6, and indicated significantly healthier attitudes, including intentions to abstain from sex whilst at school, plans to communicate with partners about teenage pregnancy, and increased reports of condom use. Researchers thus provide some support for the effectiveness of a TP prevention program that should be further strengthened in a comprehensive approach that includes schools and families

Adolescents' Beliefs About Forced Sex in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Gender-based violence has serious consequences for the psychological, physical, and sexual well-being of both men and women. Various gender roles, attitudes, and practices in South Africa create an environment that fosters submission and silence in females and hegemony and coercion in males. One of the expressions of this power inequity is a high prevalence of forced sex, which in its turn is associated with higher risk of HIV infection. This study therefore assessed potential gender differences in beliefs about forced sex and in prevalence of reported forced sex among high school students (N = 764) in KwaZulu-Natal. Results showed that significantly more boys were sexually active (26 %) than girls (12 %) and that boys experienced earlier sexual debut by over a year. Boys also held a more positive view about forced sex than girls since they associated it more often with signs of love, as an appropriate way to satisfy sexual urges, and as acceptable if the girl was financially dependent on the boy. The perception that peers and friends considered forced sex to be an effective way to punish a female partner was also more common among boys. On the other hand, boys were less knowledgeable about the health and legal consequences of forced sex, but no significant differences were found for other sociocognitive items, such as self-efficacy and behavioral intention items. Consequently, health education programs are needed to inform both boys and girls about the risks of forced sex, to convince boys and their friends about its inappropriateness and girls to empower themselves to avoid forced sex