Abstract
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
Adolescent-headed households are a rapidly growing form of family both nationally and internationally, due to increased death rates caused by HIV/AIDS, migration of labourers from rural to urban areas, and the weakened state of traditional family safety nets in taking up care. This raises responsibilities of orphaned children, with extended families no longer able to cope due to strained socio-economic circumstances. As a result, older siblings become caregivers to the younger siblings, and have to assume the role of parenting their siblings, ensuring that they are well taken care of financially, emotionally and otherwise. Resilience is needed to rise above adversity and to stand firm despite all the obstacles. This study was conducted to explore how creative expressive arts can explore the resilience of adolescents in adolescent-headed households. Creative expressive arts are a source of healing for people who may experience amongst other things emotional barriers as well as an inability to express feelings. Arts in therapy are also of exceptional value when used with people with learning difficulties. This study was based on a socio-cultural framework by Lev Vygotsky as a framework for the research with critical discussion of relevant literature on resilience, adolescent-headed households and their development, mild to moderate intellectual impairment as well as creative expressive arts. A qualitative research approach was chosen to understand the research topic from the perspective of the participants. For the purpose of the study, the interpretivist paradigm was chosen, which focused on how people create meaning out of their lives and experiences. A phenomenological design was employed and research participants included five adolescents from a school that catered for learners with mild intellectual impairments. The participants were purposefully selected. Data collection methods included semi-structured focus group interviews, artefacts and participant observation. As a method of data analysis, the Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to identify themes that emerged, namely: “externalising their contextual stories”, “voicing” and “connecting with belief systems”. The study concludes with possible contributions, limitations and recommendations for future research.