Browsing by Author "Mgumba, Batista Francis"

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    Access to counselling services for students with visual impairment in the selected universities in Tanzania: focus on social-psychological and educational needs
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2018) Mgumba, Batista Francis
    Students with Visual Impairments (SWVIs) are enrolled in most of the universities of Tanzania.Various studies have been conducted on problems facing SWIs in their interaction with different school environment. However, none of those studies has attempted to address SWVIs’ access to counselling services offered in the universities. This study investigated SWVIs’ access to counselling services provided in the universities and how those services address SWVIs’ needs. The study was guided by the following objectives: to identify sources of social psychological problems facing SWVIs in the selected universities; to analyse supportive counselling and other psychological services available for handling social, psychological and educational problems facing SWVIs; to analyse the extent to which the available counselling services are capable of addressing social, psychological and academic needs of SWVIs; and to explore challenges encountered by SWVIs in accessing counselling services in the universities. The study was conducted in two selected universities namely the University of Dar es Salaam (Main Campus), the Sebastian Kolowa Memorial University and the Dar es Salaam University College of Education. To obtain respondents who could be informative to this study, non-probability purposive sampling technique was employed. A sample of 55 subjects participated in the study. The study employed the qualitative approach to studying behavior in which interview, focus group discussion and documentary review were used to collect data. The results indicated that inadequate support in special education; barriers in interaction with physical and social environment and inaccessible information were the main sources of psychological problems faced by SWVIs in the universities, leading to anxiety, loneliness, aggressiveness, poor self confidence, frustration, fear and stress among SWVIs. It was also found that almost all basic counselling services were available in the studied universities but those services could not adequately address the special needs of SWVIs. The provision of counselling services to SWVIs encounters many challenges including: inadequate counselling professionalism among counsellors; counsellors’ lack of knowledge on disability issues; inadequate counselling personnel; absence of a counselling policy; counselling rooms not being user-friendly to SWVIs; inaccessible counselling information, and location of counselling offices in the areas that were not easily accessible to SWVIs. Among the recommendations given for action were the presence of counselling policy; ensuring that counselling services went hand in hand with adjustments of social, physical and educational environment and counsellors having knowledge on disability issues. The study has recommended that a similar research should be conducted on counselling services for PWVIs in other social settings such as the family, work place and lower level educational institutions.
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    Social psychological experiences and problems affecting the visually impaired persons’ interaction in the community: the case of Mpwapwa district
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2006) Mgumba, Batista Francis
    People with disabilities are generally discriminated, mistreated and isolated form interactions with non-handicapped persons. The purpose of this studywas to investigate social psychological experiences and problems affecting the visually impaired persons’ interaction in the community. The aim was to understand their social psychology well a being and adjustments made in the family and community life. The study was guide by the following objectives: to explore the family and other community members perception of the visually impaired person’s potentials; to explore how visually impaired persons perceive themselves, their needs and handicapping condition; to analyze the extent to which these perception affect the visually impaired persons’ interaction and integration into the community life; to investigate the psychological problems they experience as a result of barriers in their efforts for integration towards normally life, to analyze psychosocial support availed to the visually impaired persons in the family and the community. The research was conducted in Mpwapwa district. Forty respondents were selected for the sample. Data was collected through interview, documentary review and checklist. It was found that visually impaired persons were perceived by the community members as being dependent, unproductive and a burden to the community. The visually impaired persons perceived themselves, differently between persons in rural areas and those in working and learning institutions. While the employed visually impaired persons and students believed to be capable of performing most of the activities identified in the study. It was established that in their efforts to integrate in the community, visually impaired persons faced a number of social psychological problems including social isolation, poor self-confidence, poor adjustment to the environment, frustration, anxiety, stress, aggressiveness, fear and hostility. These problems were experienced across social groups, educational levels and status. Visually impaired persons encountered with these problems recived the following psychosocial support services: encouragement and appreciation, exposure to various social activities, spiritual counseling, informational support, and counseling by professionals. The study concluded that community members’ negative perception of the visually impaired persons is still dominant in our societies. Therefore people are to be sensitized on the potentials abilities of people with disabilities in the community so that they can accept and involve them in various community activities. The study recommended that similar investigations on the psychological experiences and problems of handicapped persons in the community should be conducted for other types of disabilities.