The development of a moral identity has been closely linked with parental care. Within the
HIV/Aids context, concern about the moral actions of South Africans inspired an
investigation into the Gestalt field of Zulu child-headed households, as the lack of
adequate parental care threatens the development of moral identity in these households.
As substitute parents, the adolescents in the Zulu child-headed households are
responsible for enhancing moral identity in their siblings while their own moral identity is
still developing. Since moral identity development occurs within their field of living
experience, an investigation of the field of Zulu child-headed households was conducted
in order to identify the aspects that can be utilised to develop a model that will empower
the heads of the Zulu child-headed households to enhance moral identity development
within their households. This was based on the Gestalt theoretical paradigm.
The Gestalt theory accepts that people are part of their environments or “field”, and that
the meaning of existence of the individuals in the Zulu child-headed households has no
meaning outside the context of their environments with which they form a unified
interactive whole through their mutually interactive forces. A mixed-methods approach
was used to investigate the Gestalt field of 60 adolescents in Zulu child-headed
households in the Mkhondo municipal area. The exploration of the Gestalt fields of the
adolescents was described in four articles and the aspects that can be used to develop
the model were identified in the conclusions and recommendations section of the
manuscript.
The aim of the first article was to investigate the aspects of the field of Zulu child-headed
households in the Mkhondo municipal area relating to their subjective reality of the kinship
support and associated needs they experienced within their dual roles as members of the
Zulu child-headed households and substitute parents. Perceptions of what the adolescent
heads in Zulu child-headed households viewed as helping their siblings become „good
people? were investigated in the second article. The aim of the third article was to explore
whether ethnic membership is one of the core constructs in moral identity development of
adolescents in Zulu child-headed households, as ethnic identity in the Zulu culture is
strongly integrated with a moral identity. The fourth article investigated the figuration of
moral identity in the field of these adolescents, by comparing moral variants to various
other characteristics of their field.page v
The aspects of the Gestalt field that had been identified as useful for the development of
the model revolved around three main themes, namely: associated with the usefulness of
the school environment; overlapping Eurocentric and Afrocentric characteristics of
identity;, and helper characteristics.
Recommendations were made about aspects that could enhance the practical value of
policy decisions based on facilitating awareness of various aspects of moral identity
development; adjustments in the life orientation curriculum; and expanding the role of
support staff in schools.