possibility and limits of life design counselling with an abandoned adolescent

156 Pages·2011·3.6 MB·English

POSSIBILITY AND LIMITS OF LIFE DESIGN COUNSELLING WITH AN
ABANDONED ADOLESCENT

by

Sandra Crous
(21076350)

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

Magister Educationis
(Educational Psychology)

in the

Department of Educational Psychology
Faculty of Education
University of Pretoria

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J.G. Maree

PRETORIA

2011

©© UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff PPrreettoorriiaa
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My deepest thanks and appreciation goes out to:

• My Heavenly Father for giving me the opportunity to be part of this research
project.
• Prof. Kobus Maree for his inputs, guidance, motivation and support throughout
this process.
• My dear husband and best friend, Tristan: Without your support, motivation and
understanding this would not have happened. You are my inspiration.
• My family, old and new, for their support and motivation during this process.
• Ms. Zelda Pollard for her input, support, critical reading and help with coding the
data.
• Ms. A. Bowlby for her language editing services.
• The research participant for sharing your story with me. I wish you all the best for
your future endeavours.
In loving memory of my father (1953 – 2011):

We left out all the
rest…
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

Full names of student: SANDRA CROUS
Student number: 21076350

Declaration

1. I understand what plagiarism is and am aware of the University’s policy in this
regard.
2. I declare that this dissertation is my own original work. Where other people’s
work has been used (either from a printed source, Internet or any other source),
this has been properly acknowledged and referenced in accordance with
departmental requirements.
3. I have not used work previously produced by another student or any other person
to hand in as my own.
4. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention
of passing it off as his or her own work.

SIGNATURE OF STUDENT: __________________________

SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR: _______________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTORY ORIENTATION

1.1 INTRODUCTORY ORIENTATION 1
1.1.1 Preliminary literature review 2
1.1.1.1 The traditional approach to career facilitation 3
1.1.1.2 The postmodern approach to career facilitation 3
1.1.1.3 The individual’s context in career facilitation 4
1.1.1.4 Contructivism in postmodern career facilitation 5
1.1.1.5 The influence of the system on the individual 5
1.1.1.6 Life design counselling 6

1.2 MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY 7

1.3 AIM OF THE RESEARCH 8

1.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 9
1.4.1 The research problem 9

1.5 WORKING ASSUMPTIONS 9

1.6 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 10

1.7 CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS 11
1.7.1 Abandoned 11
1.7.1.1 Context 12
1.7.1.2 Culture 12
1.7.1.3 Cultural identity 12
1.7.1.4 Diversity 13
1.7.2 Adolescent 13
1.7.3 Personal identity 14

1.8 EXPECTED OUTCOMES OF THE STUDY 14
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1.9 ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS 15

1.10 PARADIGMATIC PERSPECTIVE 15
1.10.1 Interpretive/constructivist paradigm 15

1.11 RESEARCH DESIGN 16
1.11.1 Characteristics of the research design 16
1.11.1.1 Qualitative research 16
1.11.1.2 Descriptive research 17
1.11.1.3 Exploratory research 17
1.11.2 Case study research 17

1.12 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18

1.13 DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES 18

1.14 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 18

1.15 QUALITY CRITERIA 19

1.16 RESEARCH SITE 19

1.17 ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER 19

1.18 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 19

1.19 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 19

1.20 LAYOUT OF THE CHAPTERS 20
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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE STUDY

2.1 INTRODUCTION 21

2.2 LIFE DESIGN COUNSELLING: AN APPROACH FOR THE POSTMODERN
ERA 21
2.2.1 Existing models for life design counselling 22
2.2.2 Goals of life design counselling 23
2.2.2.1 Adaptability 24
2.2.2.2 Narratability 24
2.2.2.3 Activity 25
2.2.3 Factors that influence the process of life design counselling 25

2.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS UNDERLYING LIFE DESIGN
COUNSELLING 26
2.3.1 Introduction to the theoretical frameworks underlying life
design counselling 26
2.3.2 Career construction theory 26
2.3.2.1 Life structure 27
2.3.2.2 Career adaptability 28
2.3.2.3 Personality style 30
2.3.2.4 Life themes 30
2.3.3 Self-construction theory 31
2.3.3.1 Sociological proposition 32
2.3.3.2 Cognitive proposition 33
2.3.3.3 Dynamic proposition 34
2.3.4 Social constructionism 35
2.3.5 Ecosystemic theory 36

2.4 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM AND LIFE
DESIGN COUNSELLING 37

2.5 CULTURAL CONTEXT AS A SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE 38

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2.6 THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING 39

2.7 IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH AFRICAN ADOLESCENTS 41

2.8 THE EXPERIENCE OF ABANDONED ADOLESCENTS IN THE SOUTH
AFRICAN CONTEXT 42

2.9 SUMMARY OF THE LITERATURE 44

2.10 SUMMARY 49

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION 50

3.2 PARADIGMATIC PERSPECTIVE 50
3.2.1 Interpretive/constructivist paradigm 51
3.2.1.1 Interpretive paradigm 51
3.2.1.2 Constructivist paradigm 52

3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN 52
3.3.1 Characteristics of the research design 53
3.3.1.1 Qualitative research 53
3.3.1.2 Descriptive research 54
3.3.1.3 Exploratory research 54
3.3.2 Case study research 54

3.4 RESEARCH SITE 56

3.5 ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER 56

3.6 DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES 57
3.6.1 Selection of the participant 57
3.6.2 The life design counselling process 58
3.6.3 Qualitative techniques 59
3.6.4 Postmodern techniques 60
3.6.4.1 Collage 60
3.6.4.2 Family constellation 61
3.6.4.3 Life line 61
3.6.4.4 The career story interview 61
3.6.4.5 Asset map 62
3.6.4.6 Stories of success and failure experiences 62
3.6.4.7 Life chapters 62

3.7 DATA ANALYSIS 63
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3.8 QUALITY ASSURANCE CRITERIA 64
3.8.1 Transferability 64
3.8.2 Confirmability 65
3.8.3 Credibility 65
3.8.3.1 Triangulation 65
3.8.3.2 Crystallisation 66
3.8.4 Dependability 66
3.8.5 Strategies to enhance credibility and dependability 66

3.9 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 68
3.9.1 Informed consent 68
3.9.2 Privacy, confidentiality and anonymity 68
3.9.3 Protection from harm 69

3.10 SUMMARY 69

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