Abstract
D.Ed.
The frequency and intensity of aggression that has become an everyday reality to
an increasing number of adolescents who perpetrate it, witness it or become its
victims necessitates research of the phenomenon in context so that measures
may be put in place to curb it or prevent it from occurring in the first place.
Despite current legislation to protect the rights and safety of pupils, reports in
literature on aggression in South African schools illustrate the ways in which
aggression continues to have a detrimental impact on adolescents in secondary
schools. Hence, the first research aim of this study, conducted within a psychoeducational
framework, was to explore how adolescents experience aggression
in an urban public secondary school in the Johannesburg South school district in
the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Based on the findings the second aim of
the research study was to develop, implement and evaluate a psycho-educational
programme for the constructive management of aggression that adolescents
experienced in that context in order to facilitate improvements in their mental
health.
A mixed methods research design with an explorative, descriptive, explanatory
and contextual focus was followed. The qualitative phase of the mixed methods
design not only provided richer insight and understanding into the complex
phenomenon of aggression in secondary schools but also served to provide a
foundation for the quantitative stage of the study. The four criteria of truth-value,
applicability, consistency and neutrality, identified by Guba to ensure
trustworthiness in research, were applied. Ethical measures were strictly
adhered to and included maintaining the confidentiality of the data and respecting
the privacy, anonymity and the voluntary participation of the participants.
Informed consent to conduct the research was obtained from the necessary
authorities and from the research participants.
The study was conducted in four phases as prescribed by programme
development, implementation and evaluation. In phase one, the situation
analysis phase, data was collected using phenomenological interviews and field
notes which were verified by means of a literature control. The data generated
from this phase was analysed using Tesch’s open coding method of analysing
descriptive data.
Three themes were identified that encapsulate the adolescents’ experience of
aggression. The themes identified that adolescents are aware of their diverse
experiences of aggression, that they experience aggression as an internal or
external point of control in their lives and that they experience aggression as a
barrier to healthy interpersonal relationships. The data was used in phase two as
a basis to develop a psycho-educational programme aimed at teaching
adolescent pupils the skills to manage the aggression they experience in
secondary school in a constructive manner. Phase three saw the implementation
of the psycho-educational programme. In phase four the researcher used an
experimental research design to evaluate the efficacy of the programme. The
results were analysed using rigorous statistical techniques. The narrative
comments made by the participants to evaluate each workshop session were
used to provide a qualitative evaluation of the programme process.
The positive results obtained from both the qualitative and the quantitative
evaluations of the psycho-educational programme suggest that it may be applied
successfully to facilitate the constructive management of aggression that
adolescents experience in the secondary school environment and in life so that
they can attain mental health and actualise their full potential for a positive future.