- Title
- Av evaluation of the contribution of shelters in offering psychological empowerment to survivors of abuse : a study of selected shelters in Pretoria
- Creator
- Nyamutinga, Dudzai
- Subject
- Women's shelters -- South Africa Abused women -- Services for -- South Africa Victims of family violence
- Date
- 2017
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Doctoral
- Type
- PhD
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/9209
- Identifier
- vital:34305
- Description
- This research explored the contribution made by shelters in the psychosocial empowerment of survivors of abuse in the contemporary South Africa. Abuse of women is increasing at an alarming rate and government is not able to handle the task single-handedly. The study utilized convergent mixed methods approach (Creswell, 2014) with qualitative and quantitative approaches used in tandem; but with the qualitative approach being more dominant, while quantitative approach was less dominant. For research designs, the qualitative approach used a case study design; while the quantitative method utilized a mini survey design. On the unit of analysis, 52 participants participated in the qualitative sample, with the following sample distribution: 30 participants (15 from each shelter) participated using in-depth interviews, 10 participants (5 from each shelter) constituted a focus group discussion with 12 participants (6 from each shelter) interviewed as key informants. The quantitative approach had a sample of 100 samples women who were victims of abuse complete a mini survey based on questionnaire interviews. The study identified many factors that prompted women to go and reside in shelters from physical abuse and sexual abuse usually perpetrated by women’s spouses taking the larger share. Other important drivers included economic and emotional abuse. This resonates with some of the tenets of the critical feminist theory that an offender’s victimization of another person is an expression of domination and control (Brownmiller and Russell, 1975 in Wilcox 2010). Furthermore, the United Nations recognizes that violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, contributing from male domination and discrimination over women. The study also established various psychosocial services provided to survivors of abuse. Such services were important in order to strengthen survivors’ coping capacities, raise their confidence and reinforce their decision-making processes pertaining to their lives. Some of these psychosocial services provided include provision of accommodation, nutritional meals, therapeutic counselling, basic counselling sessions, group work sessions, access to skills development programmes, assistance in maneuvering the judicial system, job placements, parenting skills, access to education and provision of preschool for their children and information and referrals. This study also managed to unearth and identify the various institutional and operational challenges that beset the running of the two selected shelters in Pretoria. Acutely, shelters suffer funding challenges, with funding either being inadequate or having to take so long before it is availed and, therefore, almost affecting the day to day operations of the shelters. These shelters were also challenged by donor regulations, inadequate infrastructure and a continuous increase of survivors and children in their care. Furthermore, the study identified the shelters’ effectiveness to raise survivors’ hope for the future; boost their confidence; improve their social functioning; provide emotional and practical support; offer them the requisite accommodation and meals; and also provided them with different kinds of skills that made them financially independent. The research recommended that a decentralization of shelters to rural areas across all provinces and the nation at large would go a long way in ensuring that all survivors will get the assistance they need. As the rural-urban migration takes its toll, the abuse of women also continues to increase. Funding is the key to the success of every project, and, therefore, the provision of enough and consistent funding and a sustainable plan to the shelters will ensure the smoothness of the provision of services and reduce staff burnout, reduce high staff turnover, and increase the stability of trained personnel. The study also recommends the government to consider subsidizing the salaries for the staff working in shelters so that their salaries would be on par with their colleagues in other organizations. Government should also facilitate the institution of shelters for survivors of abuse as some men feel that the issue of abuse focuses on females and therefore men shy away from accessing the services of the shelters.
- Format
- 277 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | DUDZAI NYAMUTINGA 200909547 PhD FINAL THESIS.pdf | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |