Pdf a history of community psychology in south africa jeffery. An online survey revealed that the current situation of. Thus, modern scientific psychology, drawing exclusively upon the empirical, positivistic, mechanistic, and. One approach to training that is relevant to educational psychology students is community engagement. The triangulated development of south african psychology. Journal of community psychology volume 39 issue 3 april 2011, pages 2467 dc. After centuries of institutionalised segregation, discrimination and oppression, south africa sa became a democracy in 1994. The cwp uses community participation to identify useful work and priorities. Social psychology in south africa is said to have consistently. 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. They also very briefly describe communityfocused work in other selected african countries. They also serve to challenge the assumption that community psychology involves. Keynote opening address, congress of the psychological association of south africa, durban. Journal of theoretical and philosophical psychology, 302, 6778.
Community psychology has been part of the relevance debate since the 1980s, but has failed to inspire most clinical psychologists to contribute to. Learning and teaching in academic and community contexts. Priority is given to articles which are relevant to africa and which address psychological. Click here to start building your own bibliography. In the penultimate section, we take a critical look at the notions of community embedded in community. This study investigated the current situation of registered counsellors in south africa. University of south africa, institute for social and health sciences, p. Origin and development of scientific psychology in africa. In other words, has industrialorganisational psychology been relevant to those it serves, namely, practitioners in. In this chapter yen examines the historical uses of the term community in the discipline of psychology and within the context of apartheid.
Visser m 2012 community psychology in m visser a moleko. Article information, pdf download for community psychology in south africa. University of south africa, institute for social and health sciences, and mrc. Community psychology psychology bibliographies cite. 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. 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. 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 is an applied branch of psychology that strives to promote the health and wellbeing of people in various contexts. Box 1087, lenasia, south africa 1820search for more papers by this author. The south african journal of psychology publishes contributions in english from all fields of psychology. Explain the focus of community psychology as a subdiscipline.
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. A manifestation of community psychology in primary health care. The authors trace the early antecedents of socialcommunity psychology. Rhetorical demarcation of science and society in historical narratives of positive psychology. Community psychology is all theory and no practice.
Origins, developments, and manifestations mohamed seedat. Work is decided in ward committees or local development fora. An action researchbased intervention to tackle intergroup conflict. There are few things that give a greater sense of achievement than rolling up your sleeves and getting involved in community development work. Industrial and organisational psychology in south africa. Prescribed texts the following texts are compulsory readings. In this way the term community is seen as a political and historical construct that has implications for the way in which. 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. They also very briefly describe community focused work in other selected african countries.
Twenty years after the advent of democracy, there have. Psychology graduate assistant school of health sciences monash south africa. 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. Discuss the importance and relevance of context to understanding community psychology. Pdf a history of community psychology in south africa. Intergroup tensions have long and complex history in south africa sa and appear to flare up particularly at times of increased societal discontent.
Define the concept of community in various contexts. The role of the psychologist in south african society. 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. Van schaik publishers, 2012 community mental health services 341 pages. 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. Lastly, we give a broad overview of the concept of community psychology in the context of south africa. 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. Community psychology in south africa wiley online library. In other words, the current manifestations of ethnocentrism are based on the origins of various ethnic groupings, preferences, attitudes, politics, colonialism, evangelization of africa and other powerful external pressures, such as neocolonialism with its economic and social implications. 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. 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. The origin and development of counselling psychology in south africa has been profoundly influenced by the countrys sociopolitical history and the impact of apartheid.
Even by the mid1980s not more than 20 african universities had. Isbn 019 571922 0 kerry frizelle school of psychology university of natal durban. The ultimate aim of community psychology is to enhance the quality of life through collaborative research and action. Community research crisis intervention community education. 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.
The road to relevance recurring calls for a relevant psychology in south africa have not been answered by mainstream psychology or community psychology. Thinking critically about psychology in south africa. Special collections, harry oppenheimer institute, cape town, 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. 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. 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. Visser m 2012 community psychology in m visser a moleko eds. We also very briefly describe communityfocused work in other selected african countries. Constructing community, reconstructing psychology in south africa introduction an inaugural lecture is an important rite of passage in any university, serving two primary purposes. Origins, developments, and manifestations article in journal of community psychology 393. Reading diary psychology bibliographies in harvard style. Community psychology psychology bibliographies cite this. Origins, developments, and manifestations by seedat m.
This article represents a south african contribution to the growing. Origins, developments, and manifestations this article represents a south african contribution to the. Learning outcomes at the end of this theme you should be able to do the following. This article traces a neglected history of south african psychology, examining. Reading diary psychology bibliographies cite this for me. It is an opportunity for the university as an institution to induct and introduce its new. This article represents a south african contribution to the growing international body of knowledge on histories of community psychology. 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. Mohamed seedat, sandy lazarus 2011community psychology in south africa. No static citation data no static citation data cite. South african context jace pillay department of educational sciences, rand afrikaans university, po box 524, auckland park, 2006, south africa email. Mohamed seedat, sandy lazarus 2011 community psychology in south africa. University of cape town,faculty of humanities,department of psychology, 1988 cited yyyy month dd.
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