| Summary: | Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in (Community Psychology) in the Department of Psychology, University of
Zululand, South Africa, 2012. === The aim of this study was to evaluate a group clay therapy programme that was conducted
among teenage girls who have suffered sexual abuse in the rural district of the Free State
Province in South Africa. The strength of this programme lies in the fact that it is a group
therapy programme, therefore is able to reach a number of subjects at the same time, as
opposed to individual consultation, which is a common approach in psychological
interventions.
Literature shows that the incidence of sexual abuse among young girls is alarmingly high
(National Department of Social Welfare, 2004; Bolen, 2001; Conradie & Tanfa, 2005). While
government and non-profit organizations try their best to fight this crime, health care delivery
is lagging behind. Pillay and Lockhart (1997), identified the shortage of psychologists as one
of the reasons for poor delivery of mental health care services to children. Bolen (2001), states
that child sexual abuse invades the inner being of a child, and may result in psychopathology,
if not treated early. This is of concern to everybody including the government hence a solution
is sought in many different forms.
The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. A sample of forty (40) adolescent
girls who are survivors of sexual abuse was selected. They were divided into two groups;
twenty (20) formed the experimental group, and the other twenty (20) the control group. The
experimental group received clay therapy whilst the control group underwent a routine
intervention programme that is offered by the health clinic for survivors of sexual abuse. At the
end, both groups were evaluated in order to check the difference with regard to their response
to these treatments. A higher positive response was observed in the experimental group. This
was an indication of the effectiveness of clay therapy.
Clay therapy was given for eight sessions. This is taken as brief therapeutic intervention. It
therefore minimises time spent in health care facilities. Brief therapies are more effective and
helpful with clients of low socio-economic status, simply because some of them lack funds for
daily trips to see the therapists, who are usually located in urban areas. The subjects for this
research were all from a rural area.
Individuals who have suffered traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse, usually find it
difficult to express themselves in words because they usually get overwhelmed with emotions.
Children also lack vocabulary to express their innermost feelings. Body-based therapies such
as clay therapy, are usually successful in accessing thoughts, feelings, and bodily experiences
which are all intimately related. Clay therapy is therefore recommended as a therapeutic
modality of choice when working with traumatised individuals.A
South Africa is made up of nine provinces and the provinces are further divided into districts.
v
Through poverty, politics, e.g. forced removals, faction fights, etc., and societal factors such as
the migrant labour system, marriages and others, people have migrated from their places of
origin, so that one finds mixed cultural groups all over the country. A therapeutic modality that
reaches a number of clients of different backgrounds at the same time is more relevant. The
clay therapy modality reflected no language barriers; all the girls grasped the activities well,
even though they were from different cultural groups. Playing with clay is culture friendly,
because no level of education is needed to master the art of playing. This makes clay therapy
much easier to integrate into child therapies. Confidentiality is also maintained in such therapy
because the subjects do not have to talk about their feelings in the group if they do not want to,
but they get a chance to interact with people who are of the same age, who have experienced
the same trauma as theirs.
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