The 'over-researched community': An ethics analysis of stakeholder views at two South African HIV prevention research sites

Health research in resource-limited, multi-cultural contexts raises complex ethical concerns. The term 'over-researched community' (ORC) has been raised as an ethical concern and potential barrier to community participation in research. However, the term lacks conceptual clarity and is absent from established ethics guidelines and academic literature. In light of the concern being raised in relation to research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a critical and empirical exploration of the meaning of ORC was undertaken. Guided by Emanuel et al.'s (2004) eight principles for ethically sound research in LMICs, this study examines the relevance and meaning of the terms 'over-research' and 'over-researched community' through an analysis of key stakeholder perspectives at two South African research sites. Data were collected between August 2007 and October 2008. 'Over-research' was found to represent a conglomeration of ethical concerns often used as a proxy for standard research ethics concepts. 'Over-research' seemed fundamentally linked to disparate positions and perspectives between different stakeholders in the research interaction, arising from challenges in inter-stakeholder relationships. 'Over-research' might be interpreted to mean exploitation. However, exploitation itself could mean different things. Using the term may lead to obscured understanding of real or perceived ethical concerns, making it difficult to identify and address the underlying concerns. It is recommended that the term be carefully and critically interrogated for clarity when used in research ethics discourse. Because it represents other legitimate concerns, it should not be dismissed without careful exploration.

African Psychology: Myth and Reality

There is in Africa (not least in South Africa) an important debate amongst psychologists, as amongst philosophers, concerning the possibility of an indigenous African psychology. One version of the debate engages the proposition that “African psychology” is a myth, in the sense that there is no domain of knowledge that is unique to a particular geographical region and its people. Another version regards it as an obvious reality, in that there is a substantial body of psychological literature that originates in the African context and is engaged with African issues and problems. This paper enters the debate by suggesting that African psychology is both myth and reality, conceived in the above terms. In doing this, it takes its lead from the West African philosopher of the human sciences, Hountondji. It goes on to explore the work of Fanon, the Algerian psychoanalytic theorist of colonialism, and Nsamenang, the developmental psychologist from Cameroon, as instances of psychologists whose work demonstrates that psychology in Africa should not be conceived of as unique to the continent, but rather as universal psychology engaged with the problems and issues of Africa. Above all else, the paper stresses that the debate is an African debate, actively engaged in by psychologists and philosophers in Africa, rather that one between Africans and some other, non-African tradition.

Race and Relevance: A Content Analysis of the South African Journal of Psychology

All 478 papers which were published in the South African Journal of Psychology between 1970 and 1995 were content analysed to determine changing ways in which race issues have been dealt with in the Journal.1 It is argued that the discipline of psychology may have played a role in perpetuating racism under the apartheid regime by inaction, by not speaking out. To capture this distinction between ‘speaking out’ and ‘not speaking out’ we distinguished between papers which consider race issues in a value-neutral scientific manner and those which consider race issues in a critical, politicised manner. The results show that the lowest proportion of papers dealing with race occur during the early 1980s, and that in contrast to the mostly ‘scientific’ considerations of race in the 1970s, from the late 1980s there has been a steady increase in ‘political’ papers. These categories of race were also related to the type of methodology which the papers employed, and the field of psychology which was being investigated. The results suggest that the content of the Journal articles has not been independent of ideological forces in South African psychology. We conclude by discussing some of the warrants which may have justified the psychological practices in this country which ignored the profound psychological effects of racism and apartheid.

Radical Plural Feminisms and Emancipatory Practice in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Despite ten years of democracy, gross inequities continue to permeate South African society, implying the need for emancipatory theory and practice. Furthermore, despite a minority critical voice, South African psychology, as elsewhere, has been a generally conservative discipline. In this paper I explore how a radical plural feminism provides a resource for liberatory theory/practice. Drawing on Foucauldian discourse and postcolonial insights, this framework performs a ‘both/and’ (rather than an ‘either/or’) function in the theorizing and practice of diversity/unity and micro/macro-level politics. This theory is installed in practice through intellectual activism. Intellectual activism implies in this context: refusing abstractions that pre-define who one is, while at the same time strategically deploying plural identities around contingent issues; working in the bordersites of dominant understandings; identifying, communicating and acting upon transversal relations of commonality; identifying and inhabiting the contradictions and disparities contained in dominant and oppressive discourses; and being constantly vigilant and reflective in terms of self, other, context, process, assumptions and theory.

Obstacles to the Utilisation of Psychological Resources in a South African Township Community

Attitudes and beliefs regarding the utilisation of psychological resources were explored among a group of black Africans of 18 years and older. Both males and females participated in focus groups that were conducted at Itsoseng Clinic on the Mamelodi Campus of the University of Pretoria. Discussion questions addressed participants' perceptions of psychologists and psychotherapy, barriers to seeking treatment and recommendations for improved service delivery. The focus group responses indicated that reasons for seeking treatment included HIV&AIDS, problems related to the participants' socioeconomic situation, relationship issues and educational problems (learning problems, career guidance and educational stress among tertiary learners). Key barriers to service utilisation included the stigma of mental illness, lack of knowledge, affordability of treatment, lack of trust, impersonal service and lack of cultural sensitivity. Participants discussed the issue of the psychologist's race, as they felt that many white psychologists lack sensitivity toward and knowledge of black communities. Participants further stated that black psychologists were not much better due to the acculturation that occurs during the training of black psychologists. Recommendations for more culturally sensitive services are suggested. The implications of these findings for the practice and profession of psychology are also examined.

Shifting Research Dynamics: Addressing Power and Maximising Participation through Participatory Research Techniques in Participatory Research

Power dynamics in the research interaction are inevitable, particularly in research in rural contexts. Hierarchical and heterogeneous research groups, and the disproportionate power of the researcher in relation to the research participants, are some of the problems that create particular challenges for the social science researcher. Power relations within the research context also affect the way in which knowledge is generated. Participatory research (PR) acknowledges and actively addresses many of these power dynamics. Through the use of novel techniques, PR processes focus on maximising participation and facilitating the expression of multiple voices within the research context. The use of visual representations de-emphasises verbal fluency and also creates the potential for change. PR also has a specific focus on accessing the more marginalized and most disempowered sections of a community. Despite the power dynamics, PR methods enable participants to articulate, extend, and analyse their local knowledge. Using photographs of participatory activities, drawn from the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tradition, several ways in which participatory research techniques alter some of these research dynamics are illustrated, e.g. who talks and who acts in the process; whose knowledge dominates in the process; whose language is used as a medium in the process; and how is the knowledge produced. The potential of participatory research engagements to enable participation, access local knowledge, and facilitate critical reflection is discussed. The combination of these factors activates the agency of the research participants, potentially effecting change.

South African Psychology and ‘Relevance’: Continuing Challenges

During the apartheid era, psychology was accused of being irrelevant, and of advertently or inadvertently bolstering apartheid. Since 1994, much has changed in psychology. However, much has remained the same. In a situational analysis of research in psychology over the last five years it emerged that quantitative methods based on ‘hard’ science theory, as well as the traditional topics of assessment, psychotherapy, counselling, psychopathology and stress continue to dominate psychological research. A minority of studies utilise theoretical frameworks and tackle topics that illuminate the interweaving of the individual with the sociopolitical context. Knowledge is being generated chiefly about urban, middle-class adults living in the three wealthiest provinces, with university students being the most popular source of participants. Historically white universities continue to dominate the publishing scene, and collaboration takes place chiefly with high-income countries. A comparison of these results with the key issues raised in the United Nation Development Programme's South Africa human development report 2003 shows that psychology has a long way to go before it can establish its ‘relevance’ credentials.

Psychology: The High Road or the Low Road?

The interests of psychologists in South Africa as reflected in the publications that have appeared during the past five years were assessed by means of a classification in terms of the psychological index terms developed by the American Psychological Association. The authors arrive at the conclusion that while some of the important issues that ought to be addressed in terms of the socio-political problems of the country, and the unique contribution which psychologists are capable of making, receive attention, the level of involvement may be less than is desirable. On the basis of this analysis an advocacy role for South African psychologists is promoted as’ an approach to ensuring that psychology makes the kind of contribution to the country and its people which is in line with its role of a helping profession.

One world, one psychology: ‘Relevance’ and ethnopsychology

Intellectual and political separatism have propagated two ideas deeply damaging to psychology in the developing countries, and in Africa in particular. One is that the working class of the developing countries — the poor, the ill-educated, and the rural — inhabit a third world that is at a lower evolutionary level than the glittering first world of psychologists and other professionals. The second is that until an indigenous third world (or African) psychology has been developed, psychology and its practitioners will remain irrelevant to the people and problems of the developing countries. In this article the author argues that both the world and psychology are unitary, and that this one psychology is indeed relevant to the developing countries, and that psychology's curriculum in these settings can be enriched not by ‘relevance’, but by human welfare applications derived from psychology as it now exists.

Third world or one world: Mysticism, pragmatism, and pain in family therapy in South Africa

The development of psychological services for South Africa's 30 million black people has been stunted by the mystical view, allegedly derived from cross-cultural psychology, that ‘first-world’ psychology is culturally inappropriate for a ‘third-world clientele’, and that for effective service delivery, psychologists must undergo a radical acculturation process before they can join with the epistemology of this clientele. A theoretical base is developed to challenge the simplistic and desocialized notions of culture and race advanced by the cross-cultural mystics, and to propose a pragmatic alternative by drawing attention to the dynamics of oppression and cultural transformation, and to issues of power and social class. It is argued that empowerment in the process of psychotherapy lies in creating a shared language of negotiation and respect which in turn allows for the appropriate use of a problem-oriented family therapy model.

Analysis of Sample Selection, Sample Composition and Research Design: A Review of the past Decade's Contributions to the South African Journal of Psychology

This review of research published in the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP) between 1979 and 1988 included analyses of populations, methods of sample selection, some aspects of sample composition, types of research design employed and approaches to knowledge building. Altogether 149 articles (containing 159 studies) were reviewed. Accessible populations were defined in 67% of the contributions, but in only 3% of the studies were useful descriptions of these populations provided. Only 18% of the studies made use of randomized sample selection procedures while 25% did not explain the procedure used to select their samples. Explicit recognition of population and sample limitations in drawing conclusions was found in only 7% and 19% of the studies respectively. Also, 31% of all samples were drawn from student populations. Eighty-three per cent of the studies were intra-culturally oriented, but nearly half of these made use of only white samples. A fairly small number of cross-cultural studies (17%) were recorded. Research designs most frequently adopted were correlational type studies (45%) while the favoured approach to knowledge building was to extend findings (57%) rather than to test theory or replicate prior research. A comparison with a similar analysis of the American Educational Research Journal revealed that mostly only minor differences exist between the two journals. Other topics addressed included an examination of trends over time, the implications of using non-randomized samples, the low incidence of cross-cultural studies and the limited attention paid to replication approaches to knowledge building.