Nhu cầu tâm lý - xã hội của trẻ mồ côi tuổi vị thành niên trong bối cảnh HIV/AIDS: Nghiên cứu tại Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

INVESTIGATING THE PSYCHO-SOCIAL NEEDS OF ORPHANED ADOLESCENT LEARNERS IN THE CONTEXT OF HIV AND AIDS: A CASE STUDY OF A HIGH SCHOOL IN BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE by KESIWE PHUTHI submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR STUDIES IN HIV/AIDS at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: MRS SS CHISALE JUNE 2014 I Declaration I declare that the research project titled: Investigating the psycho-social needs of orphaned adolescent learners in the context of HIV and AIDS: A case of a high school in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe is my original work and all sources I have used or quoted have been acknowledged through references. I also declare that raw data that builds up to the conclusions herewith is available on request from the author. Kesiwe Phuthi II ABSTRACT Orphans from child care institutions and from extended families attend the same schools as non-orphans. They are often given the same psycho-social support yet it is clear that they have different psycho-social needs.

Their backgrounds are usually different from those of other adolescent learners because, often, they would have observed or nursed sick parents who eventually died from AIDS-related illnesses. This qualitative study aimed at investigating the psycho-social needs of orphaned adolescent learners in child care institutions and those in extended families in the context of HIV and AIDS. The study further sought to find out how the psycho-social needs affected the HIV- and AIDS-affected orphans’ school performance and social behaviour. In-depth interviews were conducted with four orphaned learners from child care institutions and four from extended families using open-ended questions.

Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings of the study were that the psycho-social needs of AIDS-affected orphans in families were met by relatives more than those of AIDS-affected orphans in child care institutions. The results of the study also revealed that there was not much difference in school performance between HIV- and AIDS-affected orphans from extended families and those from child care institutions. Thus this study contributes to Sociological and Behavioural literature in the area of HIV and AIDS as well as the education literature of the vulnerable groups like orphans.

The school offered psycho-social support en masse with no special programme for orphans affected by HIV and AIDS for fear of stigmatising the orphans. Key Terms psycho-social, orphan, adolescent, extended family, child care institution, school attendance III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank God Almighty for giving me life, good health and the strength to work and complete this project. I would like to thank the following people heartily as well:  My tireless supervisor, Sinenhlanhla Chisale, who guided me every step in compiling this project. Her attention to detail and informative guidance was invaluable.

May the good Lord increase her knowledge and wisdom  My dear husband, Dr Nduduzo Phuthi, whose encouragement, support and patience during the stressful times of my being a student, wife, mother and teacher have been beyond measure  My children, Nokubekezela, Thabisani and Mgcini who kept reminding me that all started projects MUST be completed. I thank Mgcini even more for coming in handy when I was stuck with typing and other computer technical matters.  My mother, Anna, who sacrificed so much single handedly through prayer and hard work to get me started and complete my education up to becoming the person I am today  My mother-in-law, Olive, for her fervent, continuous prayers and belief in me IV Dedication I dedicate this study to all orphans who have lost their parents to the AIDS epidemic and are striving towards reaching the highest educational attainment in both primary and secondary school. V Acronyms AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome BEAM Basic Education Assistance Module DEO District Education Officer GoZ Government of Zimbabwe HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus NAC National AIDS Council NPA National Programme of Action PED Provincial Education Director UNAIDS United Nations Global Programme on HIV and AIDS UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund ZNASP Zimbabwe National Strategic AIDS Plan VI CONTENTS ABSTRACT II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III Dedication IV Acronyms V CHAPTER 1 1 INTRODUCING THE STUDY 2 1.1 Background of Study 2 1.2 The Research Problem 5 1.3 Rationale of the Study 6 1.8 Research Methodology and Design 8 1.9 Chapter Outline 8 CHAPTER 2 9 LITERATURE REVIEW 9 2.2 An Overview of the Situation on Orphans in Zimbabwe 9 2.3 Orphans Absorbed in Extended Families: Challenges and Advantages 10 2.4 Orphans Absorbed into Child Care Institutions: Challenges and Advantages 13 2.7 Current forms of Psycho-Social Support for Orphans in Zimbabwean Schools 22 VII 2.8 Theoretical frameworks: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Bowlby’s Attachment Theory 23 2.9 Conclusion 26 CHAPTER 3 27 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN 27 3.2 Qualitative Research Approach 27 3.3 The Study Design 28 3.5 Data Collection Technique 30 3.1 In-depth Interviews 30 3.6 Reliability and Trustworthiness 32 3.7 Data Analysis-thematic Analysis 34 3.1 Privacy and confidentiality 35 3.4 Conclusion 36 CHAPTER 4 37 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 37 4.1 Introduction 37 From child care institutions 37 4.2 Education and the Extended Families 39 4.1 Loss of childhood attachment and school performance 39 4.3 Disrupted education and age of orphans in school 42 4.4 The role of grandmothers in orphans’ education 44 4.3 Feelings of Abandonment 46 4.1 Orphans with known relatives but live in child care institutions 46 4.2 Orphans with no known relatives in child care institutions 47 VIII 4.3 Effects of changing caregivers frequently on orphans’ emotional development 47 4.4 Child care institutions and material support 47 4.1 Supervision of schoolwork in child care institutions 48 4.2 Regularity and punctuality regarding school 49 4.3 School as a social link for orphans’ socialisation 50 4.1 Sources of motivation to achieve high grades 50 4.6 Socialisation and the Child Care Institution 52 4.1 Bullying and abuse 52 4.2 Loss of parental love and care 53 4.7 Socialisation and the Extended Families 55 4.1 Bullying and abuse in extended families 55 4.1 Worry about tertiary education fees 57 4.2 Loss of hope for the future 58 4.9 Forms of Psycho-social Support Offered in the School 58 4.1 The role of guidance and counselling in schools 58 4.10 Conclusion 60 CHAPTER 5 61 CONCLUSION 61 5.2 Summary of Key Findings 61 5.3 Implications of the Results 67 5.4 Recommendations for Future Research 69 5.5 Limitations of the Study 70 IX LIST OF REFERENCES 71 Appendix I: Ethical Clearance 79 Appendix II: Letter to the Gatekeepers-Ministry of Education (province) 80 Appendix III: Letter for Permission to Carry out a Study at…High School 82 Appendix IV: Letter to the Gatekeeper – School 83 Appendix V: Informed Consent – Headmaster 85 Appendix VI: Informed Consent Form (Participant 15 - 18 years) 86 Appendix VII: Interview Guide for Learners 87 Appendix VIII: Interview Guide for the Senior Teacher 89 Appendix IX: Interview Guide for the Guidance and counselling Teachers 90 1 Key terms and operational definitions Adolescent a young person who is developing from childhood to an adult, between the ages of 13 and 18 years.

Oxford Dictionary Sv adolescent Orphan a child below the age of 18 years who has lost one or both parents (Subbarao and Coury 2004:76; UNICEF 2004; ZNSP 2011-2015) Psycho-social defined by Foster et al (2005) as interaction of psychological, emotional and social behaviour Extended family a family comprising of parents and children living with relatives like aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents (De Witt & Lessing 2005) School attendance presence at school (Bennet & McNamara 1979) HIV refers to human immunodeficiency virus, and is a virus that causes AIDS (Van Dyke 2008:492) AIDS refers to acquired immune-deficiency syndrome. The disease is acquired and is caused by a virus that invades the body. The virus then attacks the immune system and the body becomes susceptible to infectious diseases (Van Dyke 2008:489) Child care institution a boarding place where orphans and other vulnerable children live under the guidance of adults 2 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING THE STUDY The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the psycho-social needs of orphaned adolescent learners from extended families with those whose parents may have died of AIDS-related illnesses and have been placed in residential child care institutions. The study further examined forms of psycho-social support provided by the school to orphans, how orphans adjust to school learning and how they behave while at school.

After their parents’ death, orphans may have been affected psychologically and emotionally during their parents’ long illness. Some adolescents orphaned by AIDS may actually have nursed their sick parents (Adejuwon & Oki 2011:2). Adolescent orphans remain traumatised by the sickness and death of their parents as a result of HIV and AIDS and this affects their psycho- social well-being. It is even worse when both parents are dead and the orphaned adolescents are absorbed by extended families or are placed in residential child care institutions (Adejuwon & Oki 2011:4; Goldberg & Short 2012:72).

In-depth interviews were conducted with four orphaned adolescent learners from extended families and four from child care institutions through open-ended questions. The senior master and two guidance and counselling teachers at the school were also interviewed. Bowlby’s attachment and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theories were used to guide and inform the study. The study revealed that relatives were concerned about the education of orphans beyond high school level.

Extended family members assisted orphans with homework, supervised study and encouraged them to pass even if it meant that the orphans repeat forms until they pass. On the other hand, orphans in child care institutions had no one to motivate them to proceed to tertiary institutions of learning. The orphaned learners in child care institutions seemed to have a bleak future and education was about completing high school only and there was no concern about tertiary education. Orphans in child care institutions seemed to lack love whereas most of those in extended families had support and love from relatives.

The school offers psycho-social support through guidance and counselling to all learners with no special programmes for orphans affected by HIV and AIDS due to the fear of increasing their vulnerability to stigma and discrimination by other learners. However, individual orphans who approach the guidance and counselling department get assistance from the teachers. The findings of this study are significant to Sociology and Education literature particularly to those entrusted with 3 educating Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) from both child care institutions and extended families.1 Background of the Study Globally, there is an increase in the number of orphans owing to natural disasters and wars. This increase has worsened as a result of HIV and AIDS (Dalen, Nakitende & Musisi 2009:2; Miller 2007:3).

UNAIDS Global Report (2012) states that there are 17.3 million orphans in the world, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa (Adejuwon & Oki 2011:2). According to the Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS country report (2012: 2), there were 946 547 orphans affected by AIDS by December 2011 but only a small percentage of these were in child care institutions because Zimbabwe advocates for the integration of orphans into families to promote a sense of belonging and continuity in the family (Foster, Mukufa, Drew & Kralovec 1997:157; Foster 2000:2; Foster, Levine & Williamson 2005:33; Phiri & Webb 2002:10; ZNASP 2011-2015: 42). Adejuwon & Oki (2011:1) state that in almost all previously HIV high prevalence countries the number of orphans is on the increase because of the ‘time lag between infection and death’. While most of the countries are experiencing a decline in HIV infection, the aftermath of the disease is being felt now in the form of orphans and single parent families (Adejuwon & Oki 2011:2).

The majority of orphans still remain in unsupported extended families causing a lot of strain in families, with the poor families being hardest hit and failing to send orphans to school. There is a need for the government to support such families financially to ease the plight of orphans.