The Physically Impaired Children in Rural South Africa: The Assessment of their Psychosocial Challenges

Abstract

The qualitative study investigated the psychosocial challenges which the physically impaired children are experiencing in their society. Open-ended questionnaire was used to conduct the in-depth interviews which were meant to be friendly for both literate and illiterate impaired children. The following ethics of conduct were put into cognizance: - The permission from the guardians, the school principals and respondents was granted. - Informed consent was granted from the respondents.- Confidentiality, anonymity, voluntary participation and withdrawal from the study were guaranteed from 30 respondents. Qualitative thematic analysis was employed. The analysis helped the researchers move their analysis from a broad reading of the data towards discovering patterns and developing themes. The study came up with the findings that the physically impaired children face challenges such as isolationism, neglect, lack of basic and extra-mural facilities. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p2285