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Psychology

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Browsing Psychology by Subject "Abortion--Moral and ethical aspects--South Africa."

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    The attitudes of young male learners towards abortion.
    (2010) Selebalo, Lebohang M. M.; Patel, Cynthia Joan.
    Abortion is one of the issues that elicits relatively controversial debates around the globe. These debates revolve around the pro-life and pro-choice stances, moral and religious issues, backstreet abortion, the role of fathers in decision-making and constitutional issues, among others. Therefore, there is a variety of factors that may influence the way individuals perceive abortion. Race, religious affiliation, and religiosity have been found to play a role in determining the attitudes of individuals towards abortion. For instance, racial and religious differences in abortion attitudes among the South African public are reported (Patel, Ramgoon & Paruk, 2009; Rule, 2004). However, research on attitudes towards abortion demonstrates its complex nature and provides somewhat conflicting evidence. Varga (2002) makes the point that while it is important to understand both male and female perspectives on abortion, very little is known about boys‟ attitudes towards abortion, thus the motivation for this research study. Consequently, the aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of young male learners towards abortion taking into consideration their race, religion and religiosity. Findings indicate that young male learners generally have high religiosity levels and show negative attitudes towards abortion across race and religion. The religious and racial differences in abortion attitudes of male learners were also explored and revealed significant differences amongst the groups, with the Islamic group obtaining the highest levels of abortion opposition for different reasons when compared to Africans and Hindus. In line with past research (Patel & Johns, 2009; Patel & Kooverjee, 2009; Patel & Myeni, 2008), these findings indicate that the higher the religiosity level, the more negative the attitudes towards abortion.
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    Knowledge of, and attitudes toward abortion in a sample of secondary school learners : exploring gender and religious differences.
    (2011) Ramiyad, Devashnee.; Patel, Cynthia Joan.
    A number of studies have attempted to describe and explain both the levels of and trend in support for abortion in the adult population and college students, yet there is a gap around abortion attitudes of adolescents. This quantitative study aims to examine the levels of knowledge and attitudes of abortion among male and female secondary school learners, to examine gender differences among the learners with regards to abortion attitudes and knowledge as well as to investigate the effect of religion in terms of abortion. A sample of 150 adolescent males and females from Grade 11 between the ages of 15 to 19 years old was chosen to be used in the study. This research study was conducted at a secondary school in a lower middle class suburb in Durban. The learners were required to complete a questionnaire measuring levels of knowledge (based on different components of the South African legislation regarding abortion, that is, the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP) Act (1996); a rating scale of abortion attitudes (Esposito & Basow, 1995) and a short biographical component. The statistical programme SPSS 15.0 was used to analyze the data. The results show that the respondents' knowledge about South African legislation governing the act of abortion; varied, attitudes to abortion differed by gender, sexual status and the reasons for abortion. It was found that the older the person, the more positive their attitude towards the elective reasons for abortion. In this study, more positive attitudes towards abortion were prevalent in the Hindu sample as compared to the Christian sample.
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    A phenomenological exploration of Afrikaans women who have experienced an induced abortion.
    (2009) Walters, Lelani.; Patel, Cynthia Joan.
    This study focuses on the lived experience of four women who have undergone induced abortions. The women are white, Afrikaans speaking and from a middle to upper class background. Their ages range from 38 to 45 years. It was expected that these women would reflect and articulate their experiences in their own ways. This study was therefore of a qualitative nature. More specifically, the methodology used was a phenomenological exploration of the lived experience of each woman. The primary aim of this study was, therefore, to understand the experiences of women who have undergone induced abortions, using a qualitative form of enquiry. The acknowledgement of abortion as a potentially ambivalent experience allows one to consider the abortion process as complex, and that different women in different contexts will have both unique and common reactions to abortion. This study utilized theories of motherhood, gender and reproduction to explore the various contexts. The themes of guilt, isolation and anger that emerged were experienced by all the women, but each one not only experienced them differently but also contextualized them differently. Some general suggestions for future research are offered: exploring the different ways in which women deal with this situation could be helpful in working with those who might present with psychological symptoms. This would be particularly helpful to the role which psychologists could play in dealing with women who have undergone an abortion. The importance of support and acceptance is highlighted in this study. With the change in legislation regarding abortion, it would be helpful to consider the attitudes of the health professionals who may encounter women having abortions. In addition it is important to consider post-abortion counselling. Post abortion feelings could be normalized by explaining to women that reactions are not uni-dimensional and that positive and negative reactions are to be expected. As stated, some women do experience negative symptoms post-abortion and more research is needed to examine in depth the experience of these women. Longitudinal studies and narrative research could be beneficial in this regard.