Matholeni, Nobuntu (2012-12)
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: AIDS is stigma, disgrace, hatred, hardship, abandonment, isolation, exclusion, prohibition, persecution, poverty, privation. AIDS is a metaphor. It is a threat, a tragedy, a blight, a blot, a scar, a stain, a plague, a scourge, a pestilence, a demon, killer, rampant, rampaging, murderer. It is made moral. It is condemnation, deterrence, retribution, punishment, a sin, a lesson, a curse, rebuke, judgement (Pillay, 2008:21).
The above quotation represents societal perceptions, discourses and responses to the AIDS pandemic. Sadly, in the early days of this pandemic, some theologians and churches held the above-mentioned perception, creating the fear in sufferers of the disease that they might be judged. Communities, families and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) also still hold this view. The aim of this study is to investigate the judgemental attitudes in pastoral care and spiritual counselling for women living with HIV/AIDS.
One of the aspects that contribute to the spread of the HIV pandemic is the stigma attached to it as it is the stigma that causes the silence. This study aims to explore the definition of stigma and investigate its causes and results as well as looking into the judgemental attitudes of the community, church, society, family and counselling of the HIV/AIDS sufferer, their identity crisis and their question of meaning.
Furthermore, the study aims to investigate the theological reflection on the notion of God, through the doctrine of judge ment (how God is presented as a judge in both the Old and the New Testaments), as well as Old and New Testaments’ views on illness. Using these sources, this study investigates whether or not HIV is a punishment from God. Using case studies, the resurrection of hope and the role of hope in a person was explored. This study also investigates how pastoral care and spiritual counselling can empower and bring hope and healing to PLWHA. This was done through the use of Louw’s five-phase model of counselling PLWHA, an externalising method from a narrative approach.
This study seeks to determine the judgemental attitudes in pastoral care and counselling towards women living with the HI virus in the local township of Lwandle. It is said that the people most vulnerable to the HI virus and most infected are women and especially those living in the poor townships of South Africa. Their lack of education and poverty put these women in a more dangerous situation than their counterparts. In the township churches, women are in the majority. This study speculates about the role of pastoral care and counselling in empowering these women, in particular those living with HIV and AIDS and seeks to explore how the faith community, society and their families judge these women. It also investigates how pastoral care can dispute irrational and unrealistic constructs applied to the interpreta tion of the pandemic and how the Christian community can contribute to constructive pro cesses of de-stigmatisation.
In the early days of the pandemic, the church regarded intercourse as intended solely for procreation (Van Dyk 2008:318). Therefore, since it is well established that HIV and AIDS is a desease that is mostly contracted through sexual activity, those who contracted the disease were regarded as being not morally sound or upright members of society. This resulted in pastoral counsellors finding it difficult to counsel without discussing the causes of this disease as when they did so, they often appeared to be condemning the infected persons by judging them. This study focuses on the judgemental attitudes and stigmatisation, a theological reflection on the notion of God, as well as on women living with the HI virus in a specific context.
In order to determine the attitudes of pastoral care and counselling, an empirical study was done to assess the attitudes in the above-mentioned location to PLWHA in that community. The aim of the empirical research was not to create statistical evidence, but rather to reflect the stories of the women living with the virus in this community. For the study, a certain group of women was selected from the support group of women who are living with HIV/AIDS. The co-ordinator of the support group helped the researcher to access the people from the Ikhwezi clinic. A questionnaire was used for the findings. The study showed the pain, vulnerability as well as the bravery of these women. Through the case study, the researcher was able to demonstrate how hope can change the lives of PLWHA.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Vigs is stigma, haat, swaarkry, verlating, isolasie, uitsluiting, verbod, vervolging, armoede, ontbering. VIGS is 'n metafoor. Dit is 'n bedreiging, 'n tragedie, 'n vloek, 'n klad, 'n letsel, 'n vlek, 'n plaag, 'n kastyding, 'n pestilensie, 'n demoon, 'n doodmaker, wild, vervloek, 'n moordenaar. Dit is sedelikheid gemaak. Dit is veroordeling, afskrikking, vergelding, straf, 'n sonde, 'n les, 'n vloek, teregwysing veroordeling (Pillay, 2008:21).
Bostaande aanhaling verteenwoordig sosiale persepsies, gesprekke en reaksies betreffende die VIGS pandemie. Tragies om te sê, in die begin van die pandemie was bostaande persepsie die standpunt van sommige teoloë en kerke, wat die vrees by lyers van die siekte geskep het dat hulle veroordeel sou word. Gemeenskappe, gesinne en mense wat lewe met MIV/VIGS (MWLMV) huldig nog steeds hierdie seining. Die doel van hierdie studie is om die veroordelende houdings by pastorale sorg en berading van vroue wat lewe met MIV/VIGS, te ondersoek.
Een van die kwessies wat bydrae tot die toename van die MIV- pandemie is die stigma wat daaraan kleef, omdat dat die stigma is wat die verswyging daarvan veroorsaak. Hierdie studie beoog om die definisie van sigma te verken, en om die oorsaak en die gevolg daarvan te ondersoek, asook as om ’n kykie te kry in die veroordelende houdings van die gemeenskap, die kerk, die samelewing, die familie en die berading van die MIV/VIGS-lyer, hulle identiteitskrisis en hulle soeke na betekenis.
Verder beoog die studie om die teologiese besinning oor die idee van God n.a.v., die leerstelling van oordeel (hoe God voorgestel word as Regter in sowel die Ou en Nuwe Testament), sowel as die Ou Testamentiese en Nuwe Testamentiese sienings oor siekte, te ondersoek. Deur die gebruik van hierdie bronne will hierdie studie ondersoek of MIV ’n straf deur God is. Hierdie studie ondersoek ook hoe pastorale sorg en berading kan bemagtig en hoop kan bring vir MWLMV. Dit is gedoen deur die gebruik van Louw se vyf fase beradingsmodel vir MWLMW-’n eksternaliseringsmetode vanuit ’n narratiewe benadering. Deur gebruik te maak van gevallestudies is die opwekking van hoop en die rol van hoop in ’n persoon verken.
Hierdie studie poog om die veroordelende houdings by pastorale sorg en beranding van vroue wat leef met die MI-virus in die plaaslike dorpie Lwandle, vas te stel. Daar word gesê dat die kwesbaarste vir die MI-virus en die mees geïnfekteerde persone die vroue is, en by uitstek die wat in die arm dorpies van Suid-Afrika woon. Hulle gebrek aan geletterdheid en hulle armoede bedreig hierdie vroue meer as hulle mans. In die dorpskerke is vrouens in die meerderheid. Hierdie studie besin oor die rol van pastorale sorg en berading in die bemagtiging van hierdie vroue, in besonder hulle wat met MIV/VIGS lewe in die studie poog om te verken hoe die geloofsgemeenskap, die samelewing en hulle gene hierdie vroue beoordeel. Dit ondersoek ook hoe pastorale sorg irrasionele en onrealistiese opvattings rakende die interpretasie van die pandemie kan betwis, en hoe die Christengemeenskap kan bydrae tot ’n opbouende proses van destigmatisering.
In die vroeë dae van die pandemie het die kerk gemeenskap gesien as uitsluitlik bedoel vir voorplanting (Van Dyk 2008:318). Aangesien dit algemeen aanvaar word dat MIV en VIGS ’n siekte is wat meestal opgedoen word deur seksuele aktiwiteite, is hulle wat hierdie siekte opgedoen het, nie gesien as moreel, of as onkreukbare lede van die gemeenskap nie. Dit het daartoe gelei dat pastorale beraders dit moeilik gevind het om te beraad sonder om die oorsaak van die siektetoestand te bespreek indien hulle dit wel gedoen het, en het dit dikwels gelyk asof die geïnfekteerde persoon veroordeel is deurdat hulle geoordeel is. Hierdie studie fokus op die veroordelende houdings en stigmatisasie-op ’n teologiese besinning oor die idee van God, sowel as op die vroue wat met die MI-virus binne ’n bepaalde raamwerke leef.
Ten einde die houdings van pastorale sorg en berading teenoor MWLMV te bepaal, is ’n empiriese studie in daardie gemeenskap gedoen. Die doel met die empiriese navorsing was nie om statistiese bewyse te skep nie, maar eerder om te besin oor die verhale van die vroue wat met die virus leef in hierdie gemeenskap. Vir die studie is ’n bepaalde groep vroue geselekteer uit die ondersteuningsgroep vroue wat met MIV/VIGS leef. Die koördineerder van die ondersteuningsgroep het die navorser gehelp om die mense van die Ikhwezi kliniek te bereik. ’n Vraelys is gebruik vir die bevindinge. Die studie het die pyn, verwondbaarheid, sowel as die moed van hierdie vroue getoon. Deur die gevallestudie het die navorser aangetoon hoe hoop die lewens van MWLMV kan verander.
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