A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Community Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2015 / The incidence of rape in South Africa is high. A total of 50 481 rape cases were reported in 2010. Rape trauma is exacerbated by the fact that the country has a limited number of professionally trained therapists to attend to survivors. Most survivors end up looking for assistance from their churches, and therefore claim to be healed spiritually. This study was conducted in the Nkangala district of South Africa because of the high incidence of reported rape cases. While it is estimated that one woman is raped in every five minutes in this district, there are only three psychologists employed by the government to attend to a population of 1 020 592. As a result of the scarcity of health care professionals, survivors end up looking for assistance from their churches. South Africa is a country in which spirituality is clearly important. Seventy five percent of the population claim to be Christian and twenty percent claim allegiance to other religions In-depth interviews were conducted with eight female rape survivors between the ages of 18 and 40yrs, who considered themselves to have experienced spiritual healing. Content analysis indicated that spiritual healing approximated psychotherapeutic interventions in the provision of unconditional positive regard, empathy, congregational support and respect. Survivors strongly believed that their healing occurred as a result of prayer, reading Holy Scriptures, church support and spiritual guidance, which gave them strength to forgive perpetrators and move on with their lives. / Department of Health Mpumalanga Province

This study is about the exploration of the concept of community, using the Mamelodi Counselling Clinic as the context for the exploration. The members who got involved in different phases in the running of the clinic, went through the process of defining and redefining the concept. This process was based on their experiences and their coevolved reality of what the concept means. These experiences will be discussed and in the end, a punctuated end product of the coevolved meanings will given. Furthermore, an account will be given as to how the running of the clinic evolved with the changes in meaning. The author's perception of the division between clinical and community psychology was altered as a result of the findings in the study and this will also be discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Thesis (DPhil (Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The literature in psychology repeatedly hints at identity representation as important in transforming the discipline of psychology in contemporary South Africa. It simultaneously names curriculum, race and gender as areas of silence within the discipline. These literatures coexist with the reality that few psychologists work in public health services, where approximately eighty six percent of South Africa’s population who cannot afford private health care, receive their services. Community psychology is generally viewed as the area of study that prepares practitioners to work in public health service. Thus the intersections of identity, community, psychology and community psychology become important. Yet no contemporary studies that systematically and empirically examine community psychology and identity, exist in South Africa. The current study therefore aims to examine identity and community psychology from a multi-levelled perspective in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. This work draws on multiple theoretical strands, broadly united under a social constructionist framework, to examine community psychology in the organisation of the university, in terms of student and practitioner perceptions (and therefore constructions) of community psychology and in the everyday talk of psychologists about their professional identities. The four studies of which this project consists use complementary quantitative and qualitative methodologies. A survey of all psychology departments, combined with interviews with one community psychology teacher in each department, examines teaching, learning and research practices in community psychology. The second study constitutes a survey of all psychology Honours students in the Western Cape whereas the third study surveys the perceptions about community psychology among senior psychologists in the Western Cape. The fourth and final study in this series uses three focus groups where senior psychologists, based in the greater Cape Town area, talk about their professional identity. The quantitative data were analysed using the descriptive statistics of frequencies and cross-tabulations. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis and discourse analysis as analytical tools. While the quantitative data do not consistently suggest a link between community psychology, race and gender, there are some areas, such as community work, in which this link is apparent. The nature of such a link is not clear. However, in the qualitative work, the link between community, psychology and identity is centrally situated in the constructions and practices of universities, students and practitioners. Community psychology is constructed as psychology for black people in terms of both who delivers services and who clients are. This represents parameters of inclusion and exclusion not only for community psychology but for psychology, as a whole. The implications of these findings are discussed, particularly in relation to organisational transformation in universities.

On t.p.: Degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) / Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Community psychology in South Africa has been defined in antithesis to more traditional psychotherapies such as psychoanalysis. It has been necessary, in the formative stage of community psychology, to be clear about what it is not, in terms of establishing a progressive psychology that meets an urgent need. So too, psychoanalysis started out needing to be very clear about how it differed from previous practices, and what its aims were. Over the last hundred years psychoanalytic thought has, however, undergone tremendous development. Perhaps it could be said that its transmutation into a South African psychology is still underway. Community psychology has been critiqued for its lack of theory, and few extended analyses of community psychology interventions exist. By contrast, psychoanalysis offers detailed theoretical accounts and case studies. It is proposed that both paradigms could benefit from an exchange of ideas. There is a common misperception that community psychology focuses on external problems, while psychodynamic therapy focuses solely on the intrapsychic. While this is not wholly true, it could be said that children are conceptualised very differently by these two perspectives, and that this has had implications for treatment. Recently, however, several South African practitioners have begun to introduce psychodynamic thought into community interventions in enriching ways. They are beginning to conclude that community psychology has necessarily been unable to utilise a depth psychology approach, for a variety of legitimate reasons, but that this is the next step in meeting the huge challenges of community work. This study provides a discussion of the contributions of psychoanalysis to an understanding of child development, as well as an examination of the ways in which community psychology has conceptualised and worked with children. Empirical examples of the treatment of South African children will be followed by a case study in which psychodynamic thought was combined with a community-style intervention. The authors conclude that the link between internal and external worlds is a complex one, especially in work with children. The internal and external seem, in effect, to be indivisible, and any intervention hoping to be effective splits these two worlds to its own detriment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gemeenskapsielkunde in Suid-Afrika word dikwels gedefineer in teenstelling met meer tradisionele benaderings soos die psigoanalise. In die vormingsjare van gemeenskapsielkunde was dit noodsaaklik om dit helder te definieer. Hierdie noodsaak het ontstaan weens die ontwikkeling van 'n vooruitgaande sielkunde wat 'n dringende behoefte nakom. Op 'n soortgelyke manier moes psigoanalise in die onstaansjare ook presies wees oor hoe dit verskil van vorige benaderings en oor sy doelwitte. Oor die afgelope honderd jaar het psigoanalitiese denke egter geweldig ontwikkel. Daar sou beweer kon word dat die posisie in 'n Suid-Afrikaanse sielkunde nog steeds onderweg is. Gemeenskapsielkunde is al gekritiseer oor sy gebrek aan teorie en daar bestaan min uitgebreide teoretiese verslae oor gemeenskapsintervensies. In teenstelling hiermee bied psigoanalise breedvoerige berigte en gevallestudies aan. Dit word voorgestel dat beide benaderings sou kon baat vind by die gemeenskaplike toepassing van idees. Daar bestaan 'n algemene wanopvatting dat gemeenskapsielkunde op eksterne probleme fokus, terwyl psigodinamiese terapie uitsluitend op die interne ingesteld is. Terwyl dit nie heeltemal waar is nie, sou daar ook aangevoer kon word dat kinders baie verskillend gekonsepsualiseer word binne hierdie twee perspektiewe. Dit hou implikasies vir behandeling in. Onlangs het verskeie Suid- Afrikaanse praktisyne egter psigodinamiese denke verrykend begin aanwend in gemeenskapsintervensies. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat gemeenskapswerk in die verlede noodgedwonge nie 'n psigodinamiese benadering kon benut nie weens 'n verskeidenheid van voor-die-hand-liggende redes. Die enorme uitdagings van gemeenskapswerk word in die vooruitsig gestel. Hierdie artikel verskaf 'n bespreking van psigoanalise se bydrae tot 'n begrip van kinderontwikkeling, asook 'n ondersoek na die wyse waarop gemeenskapsielkunde oor kinders dink en met hulle werk. Voorbeelde van die behandeling van Suid-Afrikaanse kinders word gevolg deur 'n gevallestudie, waarin psigodinamiese denke gebruik word in 'n gemeenskapsintervensie. Daar word aangevoer dat die skakeling tussen interne en eksterne wêrelde 'n komplekse een is veral in werk met kinders. Die interne en die eksterne blyk om in effek onskeibaar te wees en enige intervensie wat hoop om effektief te wees, verdeel hierdie twee wêrelde tot sy nadeel.

This study is about the exploration of the concept of community, using the Mamelodi Counselling Clinic as the context for the exploration. The members who got involved in different phases in the running of the clinic, went through the process of defining and redefining the concept. This process was based on their experiences and their coevolved reality of what the concept means. These experiences will be discussed and in the end, a punctuated end product of the coevolved meanings will given. Furthermore, an account will be given as to how the running of the clinic evolved with the changes in meaning. The author's perception of the division between clinical and community psychology was altered as a result of the findings in the study and this will also be discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Thesis (DPhil (Psychology))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Very little is known about the experiences of black children living in poverty in South Africa. This compromises the delivery of appropriate psychological services. This dissertation considers the contribution that psychoanalytic infant observation might make to a needs assessment process within the community psychology paradigm. To date, infant observation has predominantly been used for training psychotherapists and other professionals in Western contexts. The goal of the present project was to conduct a "classical" observation of a mother and child in a lowincome South African community in the first year of the infant's life, in order to ascertain what kind of description it would yield. The question was whether such a description is useful for the needs assessment process, and ultimately, whether infant observation is a viable tool for psychologists working in low-income communities in South Africa. The study was set in a poor, semi-rural, so-called coloured township in the Western Cape. The data were analysed using an intersubjective psychoanalytic lens and a social constructionist grounded theory approach. In overview, the findings relate to two main areas, namely a) the nature and content of the resultant description, and b) the effect of the process. The analysis of the case material showed that the observation produced an extremely detailed account of the experience of poverty and oppression, involving the way in which it influences all relationships, including the one between mother and child. The knowledge gained offers clear pointers to the kind of intervention that would benefit the particular infant in the present study, and potentially other infants in vulnerable social contexts as well. One surprising outcome was the extensive way in which the observation functioned therapeutically for the whole family. It is therefore concluded that infant observation can provide a very rich contribution to low-income communities on a number of levels, if it is able to make both the theoretical and practical adjustments needed. It is thus argued that it is necessary to look at infant observation in more critical ways, both in terms of how it has traditionally been conceptualised and how it is and can be applied across all contexts.

Thesis (MA) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: no abstract available / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsing ondersoek die behoefte van Sielkunde as professie om meer sosiaal relevante en gepaste dienste vir al die mense van Suid-Afrika te lewer. Dit bespreek die kritiek teen tradisionele sielkunde en die dringende behoefte vir 'n meer kontekstuele benadering om the negatiewe sielkundige verskynsels in the samelewing te begryp en verklaar. Die waarde van Gemeenskapsielkunde om voorkomende, kuratiewe en bevorderende geestesgesondheidsdienste aan gemeenskappe te lewer, word ook ondersoek. Verskeie modelle van gemeenskapsielkunde en die voorgestelde integrasie van geestesgesondheidsdienste by Primere Gesondheid word bespreek. Die plasing van 'n voorligtingsielkunde internskap binne 'n gemeenskapsomgewing, naamlik, die Don en Pat Bilton Kliniek, Jamestown, word beskryf en qeevalueer.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The current South African mental health context can be described as skewed in favour of the predominantly white, paying clientele in the private sector. The mental health needs of the predominantly poor, black population and people in rural areas are consequently left unmet. Community psychology is identified as a suitable approach to providing relevant psychological services to the South African population. However there are many structural barriers to the efficient practice of community psychology, which is further compounded by misconceptions and discouraging connotations attached to this field of practice. The overarching aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of registered psychologists regarding different aspects of community psychology. A further aim was to explore the current practice patterns of registered clinical, counselling, research and educational psychologists in the Cape Winelands district. A postal survey was undertaken, which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative components. A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to all psychologists in the Cape Winelands district who have been registered with the Professional Board of Psychology of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for at least three years. The data was analysed using frequencies and descriptive statistics as well as content analysis. In this study psychologists raised diverse opinions about community psychology, barriers to service delivery, service providers and users of such services. It appears that despite numerous calls for a more relevant psychology in the South African context, psychologists maintain a preference for the private practice setting. Suggestions were also made for changes so that the provision of community-based psychological services could be more attractive for mental health professionals in South Africa.

This thesis is an account of how a networking approach may assist participatory community development. The author undertakes naturalistic action research into how she can improve her social practice with a view to gaining equal participation amongst university and community members in a community development practicum. She describes how efforts to maximize group participation are typically countered with various forms of non-participation, analogous to a rebellion against authoritarianism. Dialogue with her doctoral peer group about tacit meanings from her personal history reveals that she is too heavily invested in community involvement. A stance of irreverence gives her the freedom to realize that her politically correct approach is conveying the message that "MY way of participation is THE way". She embarks on a networking programme of action in the hope of achieving more balanced participation. A multidisciplinary workshop and a study tour show her that openness to multiple inputs may free people from restrictive views and problematic styles of participation. She initiates the formation of a local network and finds that this is a more free-flowing structure that encourages fluid problem solving among community, government and university participants. The author's original anxieties are, however, revived when networking, too, becomes entangled in organizational complexities. She eventually realizes that she tends to base her actions on premises of power and justice and that it may be helpful to base new ventures on information flow and creativity instead. Her new approach to group facilitation elicits creative inputs from others. She finds that deliberate debate of the assumptions on which collective undertakings are based releases an awareness of alternative approaches to addressing unequal resource utilization in the commons. A review of the local Network's development over six years draws attention to networking resources, and its uses, structuring and management. The author's experiences continuously demonstrate that the assumptions of independence and freedom of choice may provide a more satisfactory basis upon which to manage community participation. / Social Work / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

This thesis is an account of how a networking approach may assist participatory community development. The author undertakes naturalistic action research into how she can improve her social practice with a view to gaining equal participation amongst university and community members in a community development practicum. She describes how efforts to maximize group participation are typically countered with various forms of non-participation, analogous to a rebellion against authoritarianism. Dialogue with her doctoral peer group about tacit meanings from her personal history reveals that she is too heavily invested in community involvement. A stance of irreverence gives her the freedom to realize that her politically correct approach is conveying the message that "MY way of participation is THE way". She embarks on a networking programme of action in the hope of achieving more balanced participation. A multidisciplinary workshop and a study tour show her that openness to multiple inputs may free people from restrictive views and problematic styles of participation. She initiates the formation of a local network and finds that this is a more free-flowing structure that encourages fluid problem solving among community, government and university participants. The author's original anxieties are, however, revived when networking, too, becomes entangled in organizational complexities. She eventually realizes that she tends to base her actions on premises of power and justice and that it may be helpful to base new ventures on information flow and creativity instead. Her new approach to group facilitation elicits creative inputs from others. She finds that deliberate debate of the assumptions on which collective undertakings are based releases an awareness of alternative approaches to addressing unequal resource utilization in the commons. A review of the local Network's development over six years draws attention to networking resources, and its uses, structuring and management. The author's experiences continuously demonstrate that the assumptions of independence and freedom of choice may provide a more satisfactory basis upon which to manage community participation. / Social Work / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)