MA ( Psychology) / Department of Psychology

MA (Psychology) / Department of Psychology / See the attached abstract below

For centuries Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) used their indigenous knowledge (IK) in conserving medicinal plants and environments to maintain sustainability. With the rapid environmental, social, economic and political changes occurring in many areas inhabited by rural people exist the danger that the loss of biodiversity from habitat destruction and unsustainable harvesting practices will result in some species becoming extinct. The main aim of the study was to determine the natural habitat of extinction-prone traditional medicinal plants combining the insight of THPs with an ultimate goal of guiding research for the conservation, propagation and cultivation of traditional medicinal plants. Despite problems, opportunities and challenges expressed and identified by THPs, the analysis of data from interview schedule and personal observations, show that the THPs' practices are shaped by historical processes and local cultural values, social norms and their management strategies that are influenced by a broad range of factors. / Agriculture, Animal Health & Human Ecology / M.A. (Human Ecology)

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements of the Master’s Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the understanding and utilization of Strychnos henningsii (umqalothi, Red bitterberry) by Zulu traditional healers and the signs and symptoms induced by the thirtieth centesimal potency (30CH) homoeopathic dilution of the crude substance in a previously conducted triple-blind placebo-controlled homoeopathic proving. Methodology The study was carried out in four dispersed areas of KZN (Harding, Durban, Weenen and Melmoth). From each area one isangoma and one inyanga were interviewed, resulting in eight interviews. All visits were conducted by the researcher, who acted as principal communicator and translator, and his supervisor, who assisted him by doing live video recording of all interviews. The methodology employed was that of qualitative interviewing using semi-structured interviews. Each video was transcribed into Zulu text and subsequently translated to English text by the researcher and his supervisor. The data obtained from the interviews was then compared to data obtained from the previously conducted homoeopathic proving of Strychnos henningsii 30CH in order to evaluate the overlap between the traditional and the homoeopathic approach to utilisation of the plant. Results After comparison, it was found that there was an overlap in the gastro-intestinal system, cardio-vascular system, respiratory system and female/male genito-urinary system and in some mental symptoms. v However, there were no overlaps found in traditional usage of the plant as an antisnake venom, and in the proving symptoms related to scalp, hair, eyes, ear, nose, face, mouth, teeth and throat. Conclusion After comparison between the understanding and utilization of Strychnos henningsii by Zulu traditional healers and the signs and symptoms induced by the proving of Strychnos henningssi 30CH, it was concluded that while there are certain overlaps, the homoeopathic proving produced a wider range of symptoms which may either serve to extend the traditional use, or overlap with existing traditional use not exposed within the scope of this study. Interviews with a greater number of traditional healers in a wider geographic area may reveal a closer correlation between homoeopathic proving symptoms and patterns of use by traditional healers.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de saisir les modalités et les logiques d’agencements des pratiques religieuses de guérison en région betsileo, dans les Hautes Terres centrales de Madagascar. Dans ce contexte, les rituels de soin sont le fait des devins-guérisseurs et des possédés par des esprits d’ancêtres familiaux, royaux et/ou aux esprits de la nature, mais également des exorcistes laïcs du mouvement de Réveil protestant luthérien (fifohazana), apparu dans le village betsileo de Soatanàna en 1894. Cette recherche a principalement été menée dans la capitale régionale, Fianarantsoa, et ses environs. Il est alors question, par le biais des acteurs du champ religio-thérapeutique (les guérisseurs et leurs malades), de comprendre comment les soins se juxtaposent malgré la tenue de discours imperméables les uns aux les autres. Les itinéraires thérapeutiques mènent les malades dans les salles de soin du domicile des devins-guérisseurs, les salles d’accueil du mouvement de Réveil, les lieux de culte publics (dans la ville de Fianarantsoa et dans les forêts environnantes), les étals des herboristes des marchés urbains, ou encore les hôpitaux et dispensaires. Ainsi, la dimension centrale du territoire religieux apparaîtra comme centrale dans ces logiques de cumulations, en région betsileo, à Madagascar, mais aussi dans les Églises protestantes malgaches de l’étranger (FPMA). En ce sens, le rapport au religio-thérapeutique se construit dans un espace mondialisé et négocie avec les codes de la biomédecine. / The aim of this thesis is to understand the modalities and the logics of arrangements in religious healing practices in Betsileo region, in the central highlands of Madagascar. In this context, the ritual treatments are offered by soothsayers-healers and possessed by family ancestors, royal ancestors and/or spirits of the nature, but also the exorcists of the lutheran protestant movement of Revival (fifohazana), who appeared in the Betsileo village of Soatanàna, in 1894. This research was principally conducted in the regional capital, Fianarantsoa, and its surroundings. This study aims, by examining religio-therapeutic process, to investigate the juxtaposition of healing methods in spite of impervious discourses. Therapeutic itineraries lead patients to treatment rooms in soothsayers-healers’ homes, to reception rooms of the Revival movement, to public places of worship (in the city of Fianarantsoa and surrounding forest areas), to herbalist market stalls in urban areas, or tohospitals and dispensaries. Thus, the central dimension of religious territoriality appears as central to these cumulative logics in the Betsileo region, in Madagascar, but also in Malagasy Protestant Church abroad (FPMA). In this sense, the relation to religious-therapeutic is constructed in a globalized world and is negociated with the codes of biomedicine.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T18:15:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maximillian Ferreira Clarindo.pdf: 5139285 bytes, checksum: b14f16cb653813179efb4584c7c8adfe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-12 / This research has as its main objective understanding the reproduction of folk medicine in Serra das Almas, located in the District of Três Córregos in Campo Largo, Paraná State, taking into account the material and symbolic dimensions that constitute this system of traditional knowledge and practices. To this end, we discuss the folk medicine and the health-disease process in a contextualized manner to the rural way of life of families living in the region. In this direction, the material and symbolic elements that integrate traditional knowledge were also characterized, as well as the ways in which the subjects territorialize their practices and knowledge were identified. The investigation is divided into four sections. In the first, of theoretical reflection, we debate about the relationship of communities to their respective territories, as well as with the region formed by the connection of local territoriality over various networks, among them, the network reciprocity woven through folk medicine. Within this regional analysis, it is noted that the articulation of the global with the local did not overwrite the notion of small regions, nor dismantled the traditional way of life (identities). On this understanding, we also seek in the first chapter to understand the extent to which modernizing processes (postmodernity) focus on identity (individual and collective), the rustic Catholicism (adaptation of Catholicism to the rural areas) and in popular knowledge in family health of the region. It was observed that communities do not go exclusively towards to the incorporation of new elements and habits into their daily lives, but rather articulate a logic idea of association between the ancient and the modern (change and permanence). We also speak of antagonism between modern medicine and the medicine of the people. It is thought that the gathering of such knowledge, one guided by rationality and another organized by the cognitive matrix, may generate good results for science and encourage the preservation of traditional knowledge. In terms of methodology, it is about a qualitative research guided the analysis of the narratives, phenomena, actions and daily practices of individuals. Thus, we began with participant observation and then we started open interviews, analysis of documents, photographs and other forms of observation. Then, we concluded that folk medicine is an amalgam of knowledge, work conducted by faith healers and the people who dominate the management of local agro-biodiversity in the preparation of home remedies. It is a hybrid of a traditional knowledge that gives a holistic view of the health-disease process in the region, whose reproduction has had obstacles over the years, among other factors, by the tension in the disputed territory between the different actors, migration to the faithful evangelical churches, lack of space for dialogue in modern medicine and by the action of modernizing processes (incorporating electronic media, etc.) / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo geral compreender a reprodução da medicina popular na região da Serra das Almas, localizada no Distrito de Três Córregos em Campo Largo no Paraná, levando-se em conta as dimensões simbólicas e materiais que constitui este sistema de saberes e práticas tradicionais. Para tanto, discute-se a medicina popular e o processo saúde-doença de forma contextualizada ao modo de vida rural das famílias que vivem na região. Neste sentido, foram também caracterizados os elementos materiais e simbólicos que integram o conhecimento tradicional, bem como, foram identificadas as formas pelas quais os sujeitos territorializam suas práticas e saberes. A investigação divide-se em quatro capítulos. No primeiro, de reflexão teórica, debate-se sobre a relação das comunidades com seus respectivos territórios, bem como, com a região formada pela conexão das territorialidades locais através de diversas redes, dentre elas, a rede de reciprocidade tecida através da medicina popular. Dentro desta análise regional, aponta-se que a articulação do global com o local não sobrescreveu a noção de pequenas regiões, tampouco desarticulou o modo de vida tradicional (identidades). Neste entendimento, busca-se também no primeiro capítulo compreender em que medida os processos modernizantes (pós-modernidade) incidem na identidade (coletiva e individual), no catolicismo rústico (adaptação do catolicismo ao meio rural) e no saber popular em saúde das famílias da região. Observou-se que as comunidades não caminham unicamente em direção a incorporação de novos hábitos e elementos em seus cotidianos, mas sim, articulam-se numa lógica de associação entre o antigo e o moderno (mudança e permanência). Fala-se também do antagonismo entre a medicina moderna e a medicina do povo. Pensa-se que o encontro destes conhecimentos, um pautado pela racionalidade e outro organizado por matrizes cognitivas próprias, podem render bons frutos para a ciência e estimular a preservação do saber tradicional. Em termos metodológicos, trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa pautada na análise das narrativas, dos fenômenos, das ações e práticas cotidianas dos sujeitos. Assim, iniciou-se com a observação participante e em seguida partiu-se para entrevistas abertas, análise de documentos, fotografias e outras formas de observação. Concluiu-se, então, que a medicina popular constitui um amálgama de saberes, conduzida pelo trabalho d@s benzedeir@s e das pessoas que dominam o manejo da agrobiodiversidade local na elaboração de remédios caseiros. Trata-se de um conhecimento tradicional hibrido que confere uma visão holística do processo saúde-doença na região, cuja reprodução tem sido dificultada ao longo dos anos, dentre outros fatores, pela tensão na disputa pelo território entre diferentes atores, migração de fieis para as igrejas evangélicas, falta de espaço ao diálogo na medicina moderna e pela ação dos processos modernizantes (incorporação de meios eletrônicos, etc).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-174).

The understanding of the pathways that clients take prior to admission to a mental health institution, is a vital factor in planning to reduce delays in seeking treatment. Studying the pathways may also help in the identification of sources of delays in the receiving of care and suggest possible improvements. Although western medicine plays an important role in the control of disease, traditional medicine continues to play an important role in the health care of black African communities. They, therefore possess unique attitudes, values and beliefs, about health and illness, which integrally infiuence their health behaviour. This study aims to increase the understanding by health professionals of pathways to care taken by clients before they are admitted to a mental health institution, so as to enhance heath service planning. It also aims to determine the socio-cultural and economic factors, as well as satisfaction with different service providers. The sample in this study consisted of 15 clients, who were between the ages of ten and fifty-nine years. These clients were males and females who were admitted for the first time in a mental health institution (MHI) (TownHill Hospital, Pietermaritzburg). The interview questionnaire, was administered, by the researcher.This study has demonstrated that, Africans still believe in traditional and faith healers as their first port of call when they are mentally ill. Their help seeking behaviour is determined by their cultural beliefs and values. The study also demonstrated the high involvement of the South African Police Services (SAPS) in the pathway to mental health institution by intervening to protect family or public and also transporting the client to a mental health institution. The Primary Health Care (PHC) is very seldom used Economic factors like unemployment strongly infiuence the mental health of people and also affect their social functioning, as it is shown by the high levels of unemployment in the sample. Some of these clients resort to living on the streets, because they cannot find employment and are homeless. The study has also shown the importance of education and training of health professionals in PHC, in identifying the first signs of mental illness when clients present themselves and making available the psychotropic drugs at the PHCC as this is the first port of call for clients. Psycho education of traditional healers, spiritual healers, SAPS and community should be implemented on when and how to refer clients, how to handle mentally ill clients. / Thesis (M.Cur.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisors: Darryl Dickson-Carr ; Jerrilyn McGregory, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 22, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 219 pages. Includes bibliographical references. Includes filmography.

For centuries Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) used their indigenous knowledge (IK) in conserving medicinal plants and environments to maintain sustainability. With the rapid environmental, social, economic and political changes occurring in many areas inhabited by rural people exist the danger that the loss of biodiversity from habitat destruction and unsustainable harvesting practices will result in some species becoming extinct. The main aim of the study was to determine the natural habitat of extinction-prone traditional medicinal plants combining the insight of THPs with an ultimate goal of guiding research for the conservation, propagation and cultivation of traditional medicinal plants. Despite problems, opportunities and challenges expressed and identified by THPs, the analysis of data from interview schedule and personal observations, show that the THPs' practices are shaped by historical processes and local cultural values, social norms and their management strategies that are influenced by a broad range of factors. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.A. (Human Ecology)