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Behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability : a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without

Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-57).

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Main Author: Kwendakwema, Mwendalubi Nolianga
Other Authors: Shabalala, Nokuthula
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Psychology 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author Kwendakwema, Mwendalubi Nolianga
author2 Shabalala, Nokuthula
author_browse Kwendakwema, Mwendalubi Nolianga
Shabalala, Nokuthula
author_facet Shabalala, Nokuthula
Kwendakwema, Mwendalubi Nolianga
author_sort Kwendakwema, Mwendalubi Nolianga
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-57).
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12420
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:16.944Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
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publisher Department of Psychology
publisherStr Department of Psychology
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12420 Behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability : a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without Kwendakwema, Mwendalubi Nolianga Shabalala, Nokuthula Clinical Psychology Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-57). Includes abstract. Literature suggests that challenging behaviour is one of the most common problems associated with intellectual disability. The aim of this research was to compare the behaviour of two groups of people with intellectual disabilities, depending on whether they had a history of a sexual assault or not, to determine whether there was a difference in their presentation and severity of challenging behaviours. Following a review of relevant literature, the study had a one-directional hypothesis that people who had experienced a sexual assault would present with increased and more severe challenging behaviours than those with no sexual assault history. 54 participants who are carers for people with intellectual disability were interviewed using the Aberrant Behaviour Checklist-Community (ABC-C). All participants were identified and accessed through Cape mental health Society, a nongovernmental organisation that supports psychiatric patients and people with intellectual disability. 27 of the people with intellectual disability had a history of sexual assault and the other 27 had no known history of sexual assault. The ABC-C, a questionnaire with five subscales, namely Irritability, Lethargy, Stereotypical behaviour, Hyperactivity, and Inappropriate speech, was used to assess the presence of challenging behaviours in the intellectually disabled people they were caring for. The ABC-C has been used in previous studies and has a well-established validity and reliability. The performance of the two groups was quantitatively analysed using the Mann-Whitney U statistical test. The results showed that intellectually disabled people who had been sexually assaulted had more challenging behaviours, and these challenging behaviours were more severe than those who did not have a sexual assault history. This was specifically so on three of the subscales: Irritability, Lethargy and Hyperactivity. There were no significant differences between the two groups in their presentation and severity of aberrant behaviour on the Stereotypy and Inappropriate speech subscales. The findings suggest that a history of sexual assault is associated with an increase in, and the presence of more severe challenging behaviours, in people with intellectual disabilities. This supports the argument that intellectually disabled people do react to trauma, and that sexual assault may have adverse effects on their well-being and particularly on their behaviour. The results will hopefully help caregivers of intellectually disabled people to recognise that challenging behaviours may be an expression of trauma. 2015-02-10T13:38:08Z 2015-02-10T13:38:08Z 2009 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12420 eng application/pdf Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Clinical Psychology
Kwendakwema, Mwendalubi Nolianga
Behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability : a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability : a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without
title_full Behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability : a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without
title_fullStr Behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability : a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without
title_full_unstemmed Behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability : a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without
title_short Behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability : a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without
title_sort behavioural challenges in people with intellectual disability a comparison between those with a history of sexual assault and those without
topic Clinical Psychology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12420
work_keys_str_mv AT kwendakwemamwendalubinolianga behaviouralchallengesinpeoplewithintellectualdisabilityacomparisonbetweenthosewithahistoryofsexualassaultandthosewithout