Johann Louw

Culture and Self in South Africa: Individualism-Collectivism Predictions

Abstract People from collectivist cultures may have more concrete and interdependent self-concepts than do people from individualist cultures (G. Hofstede, 1980). African cultures are considered collectivist (H. C. Triandis, 1989), but research on self-concept and culture has neglected this continent. The authors attempted a partial replication in an African context of cross-cultural findings on the abstract-concrete and independent-interdependent dimensions of self-construal (referred to as the abstract-specific and the autonomous-social dimensions, respectively, by E. Rhee, J. S. Uleman, H. K. Lee, & R. J. Roman, 1995). University students in South Africa took the 20 Statements Test (M. Kuhn & T. S. McPartland, 1954; Rhee et al.); home languages were rough indicators of cultural identity. The authors used 3 coding schemes to analyze the content of 78 protocols from African-language speakers and 77 protocols from English speakers. In accord with predictions from individualism-collectivism theory, the African-language speakers produced more interdependent and concrete self-descriptions than did the English speakers. Additional findings concerned the orthogonality of the 2 dimensions and the nature and assessment of the social self-concept.

Adjustment to university and academic performance among disadvantaged students in South Africa

Adjustment to the university environment is regarded as an important factor in predicting university outcomes. This study explores the pathways taken by adjustment and other psychosocial variables (help‐seeking, academic motivation, self‐esteem, perceived stress, and perceived academic overload), in relation to the success of economically and educationally disadvantaged students at university. Participants were 194 first‐year students on need‐based financial aid at a South African university; they completed questionnaires that measured these psychosocial variables, and their final first‐year academic results were obtained via the university’s records office. Path analyses showed that adjustment did not function as a pure mediator on academic performance as the dependent variable. Furthermore, the psychosocial factors explained much (59%) of the variance in the students’ adjustment and 20% of the variance in their academic performance. Hence, the psychosocial variables better explained the students’ adjustment to university than academic performance.

Inequitable access to substance abuse treatment services in Cape Town, South Africa.

BackgroundDespite high levels of substance use disorders in Cape Town, substance abuse treatment utilization is low among people from disadvantaged communities in Cape Town, South Africa. To improve substance abuse treatment utilization, it is important to identify any potential barriers to treatment initiation so that interventions to reduce these barriers can be implemented. To date, substance abuse research has not examined the factors associated with substance abuse treatment utilization within developing countries. Using the Behavioural Model of Health Services Utilization as an analytic framework, this study aimed to redress this gap by examining whether access to substance abuse treatment is equitable and the profile of variables associated with treatment utilization for people from poor communities in Cape Town, South Africa.MethodsThis study used a case-control design to compare 434 individuals with substance use disorders from disadvantaged communities who had accessed treatment with 555 controls who had not accessed treatment on a range of predisposing, treatment need and enabling/restricting variables thought to be associated with treatment utilization. A hierarchical logistic regression was conducted to assess the unique contribution that the need for treatment, predisposing and enabling/restricting variable blocks made on substance abuse treatment utilization.ResultsFindings revealed that non-need enabling/restricting variables accounted for almost equal proportions of the variance in service utilization as the need for treatment variables. These enabling/restricting variables also attenuated the influence of the treatment need and predisposing variables domains on chances of treatment utilization. Several enabling/restricting variables emerged as powerful partial predictors of utilization including competing financial priorities, geographic access barriers and awareness of treatment services. Perceived severity of drug use, a need for treatment variable) was also a partial predictor of utilization.ConclusionsFindings point to inequitable access to substance abuse treatment services among people from poor South African communities, with non-need factors being significant determinants of treatment utilization. In these communities, treatment utilization can be enhanced by (i) expanding the existing repertoire of services to include low threshold services that target individuals with less severe problems; (ii) providing food and transport vouchers as part of contingency management efforts, thereby reducing some of the financial and geographic access barriers; (iii) introducing community-based mobile outpatient treatment services that are geographically accessible; and (iv) employing community-based outreach workers that focus on improving awareness of where, when and how to access existing treatment services.

Psychology, History, and Society

Psychology, in particular clinical Psychology, has experienced strong growth in the twentieth century. This growth has been the strongest in industrialised, urbanised democracies, and as a result, the discipline has come under criticism for its Western bias. While not denying the possibility of such bias, this paper argues that an historical analysis provides a more thoroughgoing explanation for what has happened in the relationship between Psychology and these societies. Following Foucault, it is argued that there is a special affinity between Psychology and the government of individuals, and as a result, between Psychology and the self-understanding of individuals. As a result, the subject matter of the discipline itself is historically variable, and Psychology is reflexively involved in this process. The discipline already has an inescapable presence in “non-Western” countries, but how the interplay between government, Psychology, and its subject matter constructs and reconstructs human subjectivity in these societies remains unpredictable.

It's important to take your medication everyday okay? An evaluation of counselling by lay counsellors for ARV adherence support in the Western Cape, South Africa

There is growing interest in standard care programmes for antiretroviral (ARV) adherence support. In South Africa, individual counselling following ARV initiation is a main strategy for supporting adherence in the public sector. Egan’s client-centred “Skilled Helper” counselling model is the predominant model used in HIV counselling in this context. This study evaluated counselling delivered by lay ARV adherence counsellors in Cape Town in terms of adherence to Egan’s model. Thirty-eight transcripts of counselling sessions with non-adherent patients were analysed based on the methods of content analysis. These sessions were conducted by 30 counsellors. Generally counsellors’ practice adhered neither to Egan’s model nor a client-centred approach. Inconsistent with evidence-based approaches to counselling for ARV adherence support, counsellors mainly used information-giving and advice as strategies for addressing clients’ non-adherence. Recommendations for improving practice are made. The question as to how appropriate strategies from developed countries are for this setting is also raised.

Eating Attitudes and Behaviours in South African Adolescents and Young Adults

We examined the presence and severity of disordered eating attitudes and behaviours in a group of 895 South Africans. The Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26), the Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh (BITE) and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE), were administered to high-school and college students (515 White, 126 Black, and 254 ‘Coloured’). There were few differences between these three groups on measures of eating disorder pathology and self-esteem. A small number of participants (3.5%) were identified as at ‘high risk’ for an eating disorder as shown by scores in the clinical range for both the EAT-26 and BITE. Weight, self-esteem and age were predictors for this subgroup. This study suggests that ethnicity per se may not ‘protect’ against the development of disordered eating attitudes and behaviours in nonwestern black populations. These findings remain tentative until future survey studies employ interviews to confirm eating disorder diagnosis.

Eating disordered behaviors and media exposure

BackgroundThis study examined this relationship between eating disordered behaviors and exposure to ideal-type media in a sample of South African university students, who could be expected to have reasonably high levels of media exposure. Possible underlying reasons for this complex relationship were also investigated.MethodIt examined the relationship via both quantitative (using a questionnaire that included the EAT-26 and a media composite variable) and qualitative methods (interviews) in the sample.ResultsIn the quantitative part, sex and level of media exposure significantly predicted scores on the EAT-26. Women obtained scores that indicated they were more “at risk” for anorexia nervosa than men, especially women with higher levels of media exposure. In the qualitative part of the study grounded theory was used to explore how this relationship was formed. Results indicated that numerous factors, some related to the media, predispose women to disordered eating behaviors. The interviewees were then more likely to use ideal-type media heavily to sustain their disordered eating behaviors. Heavy use of the media led participants to attempt a number of strategies to change their appearance to resemble those in the media, with various degrees of success.ConclusionThe model developed by the qualitative research indicated that the media are not necessarily always the cause of pathological eating, but that they interact with other factors in the development of symptoms of anorexia nervosa for these women.

Instructional technologies in social science instruction in South Africa

This study describes the results of a survey and a description of instructional technologies in place in the social sciences in South African Universities. Lecturers in the social sciences reported a well-established practice of information and communication technologies (ICTs) use for general purposes (although frequent use tended to be for email and searching the Internet). They had a high self-efficacy in terms of using ICTs both generally and for teaching and learning, and a high enthusiasm for the use of ICTs for teaching and learning. Half the lecturers had started using ICTs recently with the introduction of learning management systems (LMSs) whereas the other half had established practices that preceded the mainstreaming of LMSs across universities. Only about a quarter of the respondents felt able to develop and update ICTs themselves which indicates that support is a necessary part of teaching with technology. In terms of different types of use the focus was on putting content on the web and course administration. Use of ICTs for teaching of skills (whether information literacy, problem solving or critical thinking) was infrequent. There were different types of ICT use across the different sub-disciplines. Lecturers reported factors which constrained their use of ICTs for teaching and learning, such as inadequate technology, pedagogical issues (e.g. plagiarism), and students opting out of lectures when materials were available online. It is argued that user studies in are relevant to the future delivery of educational material, in terms of removing barriers to use and targeting training and supportive activities.

A citation analysis of Henri Tajfel's work on intergroup relations

The late Henri Tajfel (1919-1982) is one of the central figures who shaped the development of post-war European social psychology. His contributions range from the establishment of an infrastructure for a European social psychology, and the start of a new intellectual movement within social psychology, to the formulation of a set of concepts addressing intergroup relations that were finally integrated into Social Identity Theory. The present study provides an empirical examination of Tajfels contribution to intergroup research over the last 30 years via a citation analysis of five journals: the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the British Journal of Social Psychology, the European Journal of Social Psychology, the South African Journal of Psychology, and the German Journal of Social Psychology (Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie). The results indicate that Tajfels work on intergroup relations is increasingly cited, especially since the 1990s, and the international recognition of his work is substantial. Three possible reasons for the recognition his work still enjoys are proposed: its potential to generate theoretical and empirical controversies; its explanatory power; and the extent to which his work is used as a referential framework.

Regulating Professional Conduct Part I: Codes of Ethics of National Psychology Associations in South Africa:

This article provides a brief history of the development of codes of ethics in two South African psychological associations. It also examines the patterns of complaints and enquiries forwarded to the ethics committees of these associations. Concerns about advertising dominated in a relatively low total number of complaints and enquiries over the years. Most of the complaints were lodged by psychologists themselves. The development of a code of ethics is linked to one aspect of professionalization: the certification of psychologists.