Abstract
D.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
The problem of strikes in South Africa has infiltrated the whole work industry,
and has led to the Municipalities also participating in strike action; this affects
service delivery and often has a negative impact on the mental health of those
who participate.
The overall goal of this study is to develop and describe a psycho-educational
model to be used as a framework of reference to facilitate the mental health of
workers involved in strike action, before during and after strikes. The research
also focused on developing guidelines for operationalisation of the model for
impact and sustainability of the therapeutic interventions after the termination
phase.
Garber's (1972) (in Myburgh, Niehaus &Poggenpoel2000: 150-156) psychoeducational
developmental model was employed as a departure premise to
for this study in order to capacitate the workers with the skills to manage the
effects of strike action.
Focus groups as well as individual interviews were held with workers and
worker representatives of a Metropolitan Municipality respectively to identify
empirical evidence and the central concepts for the model.
A theory generative design that is, qualitative, explorative, descriptive and
contextual in nature was used to develop the model and the operational
guidelines. The model was developed according to the approach of Chinn
and Kramer (1991); Walker and Avant (1995) of theory generation, which
embraces the following steps:
Concept analysis which includes identification of the central concepts for the
model through conducting a field study to explore and describe the lived
experiences of the workers as well as the worker representatives ...