Origins, developments, and manifestations by seedat m. University of cape town,faculty of humanities,department of psychology, 1988 cited yyyy month dd. Although scholars such as painter and terre blanche 2004 and van ommen and painter 2008 have chronicled the history of psychology in sa, the development of cp is relatively poorly documented. Twenty years after the advent of democracy, there have. Origin and development of scientific psychology in africa. In this way the term community is seen as a political and historical construct that has implications for the way in which. It is an opportunity for the university as an institution to induct and introduce its new. Forum of african psychology, polokwane, limpopo province, 27 29 march 2014 abstract throughout the past halfcentury, the professional study of psychology in africa has been dominated by the euroamerican approaches. The south african journal of psychology publishes contributions in english from all fields of psychology. They also very briefly describe communityfocused work in other selected african countries. The origin and development of counselling psychology in south africa has been profoundly influenced by the countrys sociopolitical history and the impact of apartheid.
Visser m 2012 community psychology in m visser a moleko eds. The authors trace the early antecedents of social community psychology interventions and describe the social forces and academic influences that provided the impetus for the emergence and development of community psychology in south africa. In this chapter, we describe the historical and contemporary forces that have shaped the development of psychology and community psychology cp in preapartheid and postapartheid south africa. A synopsis of south african psychology from apartheid to democracy. Community psychology has been part of the relevance debate since the 1980s, but has failed to inspire most clinical psychologists to contribute to. South african context jace pillay department of educational sciences, rand afrikaans university, po box 524, auckland park, 2006, south africa email. Analysis, context and action deals with community change and includes a number of chapters on topics that are contextually relevant and critical. Journal of theoretical and philosophical psychology, 302, 6778. In this chapter yen examines the historical uses of the term community in the discipline of psychology and within the context of apartheid. South africa ab s t r a c t this historical account of sa psychology spans over hundred years of its engagement with international psychology and the influence of racism on its development. We also very briefly describe communityfocused work in other selected african countries. In a penultimate section the authors take a critical look at the notions of community embedded in. Community psychology in south africa wiley online library.
University of south africa, institute for social and health sciences, p. South africa, such as the university of pretoria, the university of johannesburg and stellenbosch university, which reflect the changing scope of the educational psychologist pillay, 2003. Community psychology psychology bibliographies cite this. Of the total population of 256 registered counsellors, who are registered with the professional board for psychology of the health professions council of south africa hpcsa, 2007, 82 responded. Yen 2008, it is difficult to define community psychology in the south african context because it encompasses a broad range of approaches and tackles a large array of problems. We trace the early antecedents of social community psychology interventions and describe the social forces and academic influences that provided the impetus for the emergence and development of community psychology in south africa. Possibly, the most established of these forms is community psychology, the origins of which, certainly in its social justice form, can be traced to multiple concerns regarding the practice of. After centuries of institutionalised segregation, discrimination and oppression, south africa sa became a democracy in 1994.
A sociopsychological perspective on the phenomenon of infant rapes in south africa. This article represents a south african contribution to the growing international body of knowledge on histories of community psychology. As a result of this, counselling psychologists in the country face a number of challenges and opportunities for the future. Reading diary psychology bibliographies cite this for me. The role of the psychologist in south african society. Intergroup tensions have long and complex history in south africa sa and appear to flare up particularly at times of increased societal discontent. Van schaik publishers, 2012 community mental health services 341 pages. Keynote opening address, congress of the psychological association of south africa, durban.
Nestling between zimbabwe and south africa, with namibia on its western borders, botswanas primary health programmes and its community development and social welfare programmes have developed throughout its rural and kalahari desert regions in a way that challenges its neighbours. Reading diary psychology bibliographies in harvard style. Origins, developments, and manifestations article in journal of community psychology 393. Community psychology is an applied branch of psychology that strives to promote the health and wellbeing of people in various contexts. Psychology graduate assistant school of health sciences monash south africa. Journal of community psychology volume 39 issue 3 april 2011, pages 2467 dc. Rhetorical demarcation of science and society in historical narratives of positive psychology. Origins, developments, and manifestations this article represents a south african contribution to the. The road to relevance recurring calls for a relevant psychology in south africa have not been answered by mainstream psychology or community psychology.
Explain the focus of community psychology as a subdiscipline. Lastly, we give a broad overview of the concept of community psychology in the context of south africa. This article represents a south african contribution to the growing. Visser m 2012 community psychology in m visser a moleko. Industrial and organisational psychology in south africa. This article traces a neglected history of south african psychology, examining. One approach to training that is relevant to educational psychology students is community engagement.
Prescribed texts the following texts are compulsory readings. In our reading of south african work, specifically in community psychology, we find very little, if any. Mohamed seedat, sandy lazarus 2011 community psychology in south africa. The cwp uses community participation to identify useful work and priorities. The chapter on social psychology paints a bleak picture of the discipline, which is described as having begun and remaining in a state of paralytic mimicry, and suffering from ideological limbo. Discuss the importance and relevance of context to understanding community psychology. Learning outcomes at the end of this theme you should be able to do the following. This discipline is of particular relevance in south africa, where excellent infrastructure and meaningful pockets of wealth coexist with extremely poor communities experiencing specific social and psychological issues. Even by the mid1980s not more than 20 african universities had. At the core of the constitution of this new democratic state is a commitment to human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms republic of south africa, 1996.
With this in mind, it was proposed that while community psychology in some other contexts was characterized by diversity, providing goals of its major aims of prevention and social change, africa the issues of power and oppression needed to form a. This study investigated the current situation of registered counsellors in south africa. We trace the early antecedents of socialcommunity psychology interventions and describe the social forces and academic influences that provided the impetus for the emergence and development of community psychology in south africa. Pdf a history of community psychology in south africa jeffery. Learning and teaching in academic and community contexts. Jul 28, 2010 in a similar vein to south african psychology s newfound interest in community psychology for blacks, and psychology s role in a changing south africa, the american interest in community psychology and its official recognition as a division of psychology by the american psychological association in 1967 did not occur in a social and political. Special collections, harry oppenheimer institute, cape town, south africa. They then draw on various sources, including undocumented small histories of organized groups and individuals, to present on account of the emergence, development and focus of community psychology in south africa. Define the concept of community in various contexts. We draw on examples of curriculum design in community psychology from the universities of the witwatersrand, south africa and stellenbosch, three large south african public universities, in an attempt to surface what we regard as the decolonial frameworks that underpin their development and delivery.
There are few things that give a greater sense of achievement than rolling up your sleeves and getting involved in community development work. Community research crisis intervention community education. No static citation data no static citation data cite. Thinking critically about psychology in south africa. An online survey revealed that the current situation of. Constructing community, reconstructing psychology in south africa introduction an inaugural lecture is an important rite of passage in any university, serving two primary purposes. The authors trace the early antecedents of socialcommunity psychology. Community psychology psychology bibliographies cite. They also serve to challenge the assumption that community psychology involves. University of south africa, institute for social and health sciences, and mrc.
Click here to start building your own bibliography. Isbn 019 571922 0 kerry frizelle school of psychology university of natal durban. The unification of psychology under the psychological society of south africa, a few. In the penultimate section, we take a critical look at the notions of community embedded in community. The triangulated development of south african psychology. An action researchbased intervention to tackle intergroup conflict. Priority is given to articles which are relevant to africa and which address psychological. The ultimate aim of community psychology is to enhance the quality of life through collaborative research and action.
Community psychology is defined by pretoriusheuchert and ahmed 2001 as a field which aims at mass intervention by training and utilising large numbers of people for. Pdf a history of community psychology in south africa. The swampscott conference in 1965 highlighted a growing need for psychologists to be political activists and agents of social change this conference is considered the birthplace of community psychology barry, 2008. A manifestation of community psychology in primary health care. Article information, pdf download for community psychology in south africa. Box 1087, lenasia, south africa 1820search for more papers by this author.
Thus, modern scientific psychology, drawing exclusively upon the empirical, positivistic, mechanistic, and. They also very briefly describe community focused work in other selected african countries. Visser m 2012 community psychology in m visser a moleko eds community from pyc 2614 at university of south africa. Community psychology is all theory and no practice. Work is decided in ward committees or local development fora. In other words, has industrialorganisational psychology been relevant to those it serves, namely, practitioners in.
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