Psychology in the South African Context

Debo Akande Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

The discipline of psychology and the practice of it within the South African context cannot be understood without some grasp of history. In fact, in history there is no precedent for successful negotiations allowing a poor majority to take over from or even to share power with a rich minority; this had only happened through revolution or postcolonial replacement. However, as Sommer (1996) put it, "there is a general consensus in the literature that South Africa has managed to a 'negotiated transition', 'a negotiated revolution', or 'a transition through a transition' in which a total state collapse was avoided" (p. 53).

A growing body of studies conducted by researchers (Akande, 1998; Durojaiye, 1993; Gergen, Gulerce, Lock & Misra, 1996; Gopal, 1995; Kagitçibasi, 1996; Lunt & Poortinga, 1996; McAndrew & Akande, 1995; Nsamenang & Dawes, 1998; Sinha, 1994; Watkins & Akande, 1994) has recognized that the growth of psychology in any country (including South Africa) have been a function of the prevailing political, intellectual, historical and social practices. Psychology in South Africa projects, fabricates and institutionalises a Western middle class mode of thinking and outcome based on a relation of dominance and submission on the one hand and a clash of cultures on the other. There is an evident clash of values, of logics, personhood and of conceived worlds.
South African Academia

Let's take a pause and look at higher education in the SA context. The bachelor's degree in psychology is a three-year program of study. It is a general degree that does not prepare students for specialization. This is followed by a "Honors degree" which is a one calendar year program that prepares students for higher or postgraduate education in psychology, or if possible for registration as a psychometrician. After the honors degrees comes a Master's degree program which could take two to three years. The MA or Msc or Mpsych is the certificate for registration as a full-fledged professional psychologist in SA. It also enhances an individual's appointment as a faculty at any university in SA.

The teaching load for academics can be heavy, ranging from eight to sixteen hours per week in some universities. The academic year runs from mid-January through November, ending with a semester break of about two weeks around July.

The culture of "publish or perish" does not exist in SA universities, as most universities could be regarded as teaching institutions. In some universities it is perceived that a faculty who could combine teaching with research publishing effectively must be neglecting teaching (his or her primary task). However, in other universities pressure and resources for scholarship and publications appear to be on the increase, although the expectations are often not acted on. Academics often build their reputation on the quality of their teaching and feedback from students. Sometimes, career mobility or advancement is based on patronage, political/ethnic connections and informal networking. For example, being a department head or chair carries tremendously greater prestige, power and pride than in Britain, Canada or the U.S. Obtaining such a position is often based not on academic output but how "popular or influential" a candidate is.
Due to SA's great geographical and political isolation there is an eagerness to visit or attend international conferences and attraction of international visitors is on the upswing. There is also eagerness to catch up technologically, and most universities now have electronic mail and internet facilities.

Recruitment customs in psychology departments in SA can usually be characterized as a "change of baton" from studentship to becoming faculty. This practice could be viewed as a sort of "inbreeding", but some institutions have been working against this in recent times. During the past, there was overt or covert hostility to degrees from other universities and employability was based on ethnic lines and people staying within their own groups. Paradoxically, 90 percent of the senior faculty in historically Black (disadvantaged) institutions are White. Historically White universities in SA are well equipped and occupy positions of privilege in terms of reputations and parliamentary funding. Hence, most of the research in psychology come from them. The distinctions among historically White institutions is also based on whether the medium of instruction is Afrikaans or English. Those universities that can be categorized as "Ivy League" are universities such Potchefstroom University (PUCHE), Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Witwatersrand, Pretoria (elite SA institutions).

Not surprisingly, historically Black (disadvantaged) universities that suffered from poorer government support in the past have disadvantaged students, ill-equipped facilities and low prestige and status. Examples of HBUs are the University of Fort Hare, the University of the North, Zululand and Northwest. However, in the last few years, some historically Black universities are drawing level with some historically White institutions.
Since the birth of democracy in 1994, a silent transformation has been taking place in SA universities. This change has not been in the development of a culturally sensitive curriculum but through a major influx of Black students at the White institutions. However, the White students are still very few in historically Black institutions.

South African Psychology or General Social Science?

Psychology in SA, as McAndrew observed (1997), is "overly applied" toward finding solution to immediate real world problems. It is based on U.S. or Euro-American psychology with very little emphasis on basic research. There is barely any interest in laboratory-based research. This might be as a result of the practical demands of the transformations that are taking place. Issues of importance to researchers include family violence (child abuse, spouse abuse) race relations, empowerment of underserved communities, abortion, and gang and political violence.
Psychology in SA tends toward an interdisciplinary focus. It appears as if it is general social science, as the bulk of the studies and interventions conducted by psychologists are not dissimilar from what anthropologists, sociologists and even social work educators do. Psychologists in SA seldom conduct experimental research and qualitative research appears to be on top of the research agenda. This may be because of the applied nature of psychology in SA and the strong contact which social scientists (including psychologists) have as advisers to government, business, and clinical/community intervention (Akande, 1994).

There is great interest in traditional Freudian psychoanalysis, hypnosis, and cognitive-systems, both in therapy and teaching. Clinical psychology is by far the most popular field within psychology in SA. Some clinical psychologists who utilize psychodynamic therapy appear not be interested in the implications of this approach for understanding how mind and body are interrelated. Such therapists are accustomed to using self-referential and tautological terms which make their intervention a typical psychodynamic session. However, there is fear that in a diverse society like SA their psychoanalytic techniques may be antithetical to and irrelevant for any other than highly verbal middle class clients/patients. These psychoanalytic therapists appear not to have come to terms with the family and multicultural challenge in SA.
There also appears to be less emphasis on topics from a multicultural perspective and less regard for research on cultural influences within SA psychology. This inhibits the development of a clear understanding of intergroup behavior and our ability to grapple effectively with issues raised by day-to-day contact between different cultures in SA. The cross-cultural collaborative work of Debo Akande of Potchefstroom University and Andrew Gilbert of Rhodes University are the major exceptions.

The umbrella union of psychologists in SA is "Psychological Society of South Africa" (PsySSA), of which Dr. Sath Cooper is currently president. PsySSA has been trying to make psychology relevant in the new SA. PsySSA has been solving problems such as those listed above through joint efforts, cooperation, bidirectionality (vs. unidirectionality) of knowledge, and genuine and empathic communication. However, there is still need to rewrite SA psychology curricula or syllabi taking cultural appropriateness and meaningfulness and the majority of South African in mind rather than a program that is oriented toward the experimental world of the "ivory tower" professor and student.

Such a turnaround is likely to enhance a higher level value of conducting culturally sensitive research and teaching relevant topics with a strong universalistic stance in the curricula. Ideas from South Africa and other countries should have an impact on the U.S. psychology that we presently teach in SA. We need to teach our students psychology of the developing world or "majority world" (Kagitcibasi, 1996); psychology of African Renaissance (Mbeki, 1997); lives across cultures; the practice of clitoridectomy as a fact of life for some African young women; of malaria transmission; of AIDS/HIV infection in Africa; of wars in Rwanda, Angola, Kosovo, the Gulf; of marriage and bereavement in Africa; of economic development in Botswana; of shooting at schools in Littleton, Colorado; of soccer/sports in Nigeria, Brazil, and France; of truth and reconciliation in South Africa etc.

Lest I am misunderstood, let me state categorically that I am not proposing an ethnocentric psychology but a cross-cultural integrated psychology for the new millennium.

For psychology in SA to be appropriate and succeed more in the next century: It must promote and place culture at the forefront of its concerns, pay attention to holism, spiritualism and the interrelatedness of all things. There must be more effective attention to the role of women, children, peaceful coexistence and religion in a new proactive democratic society. This provides a better professional trust and opportunity for genuine intercultural exchange and collaboration within academic and professional psychology in SA. This framework, I believe we get all of us to speak together.

About the Author Adebowale (Debo) Akande is Foundation Professor and Senior Investigator in Behavioral Sciences Research at the Potchefstroom University (PUCHE) in Vanderbijl Park, South Africa. He holds a B.A. (Hons), MSC, MILR/MBA, Mphil, Ph.D and Postdoctoral certificates from Ibadan University, SUNY, and the University of Michigan. Akande was a Commonwealth Research Fellow, and he received an Early Research Career Development Award from Blue Gold International. He was recipient of the Frank Andrews Award from University of Michigan and the Sesquicentennial Prize from St Xavier University in Chicago. Akande has held faculty positions at University of Ife, University of Zimbabwe, and Western Cape University as well as a visiting scholar at the University of Texas at Houston, University of Mississippi, Virginia Tech and University, Knox College, Swinburne University of Technology, and Curtin University of Technology in Australia. He has contributed scientific papers in the areas of cross-cultural psychology, counselling, multicultural education, HRM, and learning and study habits. He is former Editor of Empowering Black Managers International. He sits on the editorial boards of several journals, is a member of scholarly societies in a variety of disciplines.

References

Akande, A. (1998) Caregivers in South Africa: the challenge. Early Child Development and Care, 131, 107-171.
Akande, A. (1994). Review of J. Kareem and R. Littlewood's (Ed.), Intercultural therapy: themes, interpretation and practice, Psychological Medicine, 24, 247-257.
Durojaiye, M.O.A. (1993). Indigenous psychology in Africa. In J.W. Berry & U. Kim (Eds.), Indigenous psychologies: Research and experience in cultural context. Cross cultural research and methodology series, No 17, London: Sage.
Gergen, K.J., Gulerce, A., Lock, A., & Misra, G. (1996). Psychological Science in cultural context. American Psychologist, 51, 496-503.
Gopal, M. (1995). Teaching psychology in a third world setting. Psychology and Developing Societies, 7, 22-40.
Kagitcibasi, C. (1996). Family and human development across cultures: a view from the other side. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers.
Lunt, I., & Poortinga, Y.H. (1996). Internalizing Psychology. American Psychologist, 51, 504-508.
McAndrew, F. T. (1997). Teaching Psychology in the "New" South Africa. Unpublished paper, Knox College.
McAndrew, F. T, & Akande, A. (1995). African stereotypes of Americans of African and European descent. The Journal of Social Psychology, 135, 649-655.
Mbeki, T. (1997). African Renaissance. Unpublished paper, Pretoria, South Africa.
Nsamenang, A. B. & Dawes, A. (1998). Developmental psychology as political psychology in Sub-Saharan Africa: the challenge of Africanisation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 47, 75-87.
Sinhai, J.B.P. (1994). Factors facilitating and impeding growth of psychology in India. Paper presented at IACCP Congress, Madrid, Spain, July 17-23.
Sommer, H. (1996). From apartheid to democracy: problems of violent and nonviolent direct action in SA, Africa Today, 44, 53-76.
Watkins, D. & Akande, A. (1994). Approaches to learning of secondary school children: emic and etic perspectives. International Journal of Psychology, 29, 165-182.

March 1999 Table of Contents