Multiculturalism and Training Psychologists in the South African

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Introduction and Background to the Study

The study aims to explore how multicultural therapeutic training in the profession of psychology in South Africa is constructed, particularly in relation to the dominant discourses in psychology pertaining to multiculturalism. The purpose of therapeutic training at Masters level is to train clinical and counselling psychologists so they will be capable of providing effective counselling to culturally different clients (Locke, 1990). This training philosophy could not be more appropriate in a country such as South Africa. Among the South African population, as is the case further afield, client needs are becoming more diverse and non- western (Ruane, 2006). Through my involvement in the training of Masters Counselling psychology, I have become faced with dilemmas pertaining to the multicultural aspects of training within a Historically White University (HWU) context. Whenever I interact with Masters trainees, the following two questions are at the forefront of my mind: 1. How has the therapeutic profession, both clinical and counselling in registration, responded to multiculturalism and how effective have those efforts been within South Africa? 2. Are we adequately preparing Masters in Psychology trainees for the multicultural nature of the South African society? Multiculturalism has become my research focus due to my personal investment in training psychologists to meet the demands of the diverse and changing South African context. The study attempts to bring to the fore the multicultural constructions, and the discourses that inform these constructions, which are present in the current context of a HWU. The hope is that the findings could be used to further develop the programmes offered at this HWU and will also be disseminated amongst other Masters training institutions in South Africa so as to assist in developing the Masters training to a level of multicultural competence, thereby ensuring that the psychologists qualifying are equipped to deal with the demands that our unique and multidimensional society provides.
Multiculturalism and the description of the problem Multiculturalism is broadly defined in the Accreditation Procedures Manual and Application for Multiculturalism (CACREP, 1994) as “representing a diversity including different races, economic backgrounds, ages, ethnic backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, and physical and mental abilities. Implies a pluralistic philosophy” (p. 108). The Professional Standards and Certification Committee of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD), however, suggests that multiculturalism should be focused on ethnicity, race, and culture (Arredondo & D’Andrea, 1995).
Although I view multiculturalism as being a construct that needs to be interrogated on a broader level than that of ethnicity, race and culture, the definition suggested by the Professional Standards and Certification Committee of the AMCD will be used for this study as it is the universally accepted definition of multiculturalism and proves to be more salient to the study, due to the apartheid history, which has allowed ethnicity, race and culture to dominate the discursive landscape of South Africa. The other factors of multiculturalism namely, class, age, gender, sexuality and disabilities are briefly touched upon. The legacy of apartheid, the nature of the demographics of both trainees and registered psychologists, and the context of disadvantaged communities within South Africa have had a huge impact on communities’ help-seeking behaviours. Apartheid resulted in poverty, limited resources in some communities, such as black communities (limited finances, services, and infrastructure, to name but a few), and poor education for black populations. The labour market of psychology was predominantly populated by the white elite who could afford university tuition, and only a small number of black psychologists entered the profession (Berger & Lazarus, 1987; Peltzer, 1998; Ruane, 2010). This also meant that the psychology curriculum focused on European and American knowledge to the detriment of local knowledge systems (Bakker, Eskell-Blokland & Ruane, 2007).
Local knowledge and indigenous knowledge systems were, and might still be, viewed as inferior and not worthy of postgraduate study (Bakker et al., 2007; Ruane, 2006). The fact that the vast majority of South African psychologists are white has been a point of criticism and contention for many years (Berger & Lazarus, 1987; Peltzer, 1998). Although the Professional Board of Psychology (1999; 2001; 2002) cites this as an area of concern, in practice the situation appears unchanged over time (Ruane, 2006).
“Psychology has been accused of being irrelevant, and of advertently or inadvertently bolstering apartheid. Since 1994, much has changed in psychology. However, much has remained the same” (Macleod, 2004, p. 613). Bakker et al. (2007) comment that the literature yields references to psychology as having little impact in Africa, citing Dawes (1986), Eze (1991), Gilbert (1989), Nsamenang (1995), and Peltzer (1998) in this regard, while Seedat (1997) accuses South African psychology of being in a state of disillusionment and disempowerment. It is furthermore seen as taking inappropriate individualist approaches in cultural contexts (Mungazi, 1996; Mwamwenda, 1999; Tembo, 1985).
Marsella (1998) urges the profession to acknowledge, understand and address the role of cultural variations in behaviour and experience in practice, research and training, while Vogelman (1987) suggests that the acknowledgement of local cultures is essential for effective psychological practice. Whitehead (2003, p. 23) supports critics in arguing “that the majority of traditionally trained counsellors operate from a culturally biased and encapsulated framework,” which results in the provision of culturally conflicting and even oppressive counselling treatments (Ponterotto & Benesch, 1988; Sue, 1981). These counsellors, although well-intentioned, often unknowingly impose their white middle-class value system on culturally different clients who may possess alternative and equally meaningful and justifiable value orientations (Katz, 1985; Ponterotto & Benesch, 1988; Sue, 1981; Whitehead, 2003).

Table of contents: :

• Dedication
• My South Africa
• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• Chapter 1: Introduction and background to the study
  • 1.1 Multiculturalism and the description of the problem
  • 1.2 Significance of the study
  • 1.3 Aims and objectives
  • 1.4 Research paradigm
  • 1.5 Outline of the thesis
  • 1.6 Conclusion
• Chapter 2: Multiculturalism and Training Psychologists in the South African
  • Context
  • 2.1 Multiculturalism
  • 2.1.1 Culture
    • 2.1.2 Race and ethnicity
    • 2.1.2.1 Whiteness
    • 2.1.2.2 The intersection of culture and race
    • 2.1.3 Class
    • 2.1.4 Age
  • 2.1.5 Gender and sexuality
  • 2.1.6 Physical and mental disabilities
  • 2.2 Multiculturalism and Training
  • 2.2.1 New directions for training
  • 2.2.2 Constructions of ‘effective’ multicultural training, trainers and trainees, and training environments
  • 2.3 Training in the South African context
  • 2.4 Post-apartheid South African context in psychology
  • 2.4.1 Relevance debate
  • 2.4.2 Racism and racist ideology
  • 2.5 South African psychology’s support of Apartheid ideology
  • 2.6 Therpeutic training in psychology in South Africa
  • 2.6.1 The sctientist-practitioner model
  • 2.6.2 The professional-practitioner model
  • 2.7 Therapeutic training context
  • 2.8 Conclusion
• Chapter 3: Theoretical framework
  • 3.1 Postmodernism
  • 3.2 Social constructionist approach
  • 3.2.1 Language
  • 3.2.2 Articulating the relational
  • 3.3 Poststructuralism
  • 3.3.1 Discourse, power and knowledge
  • 3.4 Theory and its methodological implications: Seeking a critical awareness of discourse
  • 3.5 Discourse analysis
  • 3.5.1 Discursive psychology
    • 3.5.2 Foucauldian discourse analysis
    • 3.5.3 Deconstruction and externlisation as a research practice
  • 3.6 Positioning theory, agency and position calls
    • 3.6.1 Positioning theory
    • 3.6.2 Agency
  • 3.6.3 Position calls
  • 3.7 Conclusion
• Chapter 4: Research Approach
  • 4.1 Research question
  • 4.2 Objectives of the study
  • 4.3 Research as resistance
  • 4.4 Moving towards a research methodology that works against discourses of domination
    • 4.4.1 An emancipatory tradition
    • 4.4.2 A deconstructive tradition
    • 4.4.3 Theoretizing as methodology
  • 4.5 Research context
    • 4.5.1 Sampling and participants
  • 4.6 Data collection
  • 4.7 Data analysis
  • 4.8 Reflextivity in the research process
  • 4.9 Ethical considerations of the study
  • 4.10 Conclusion
• Chapter 5: Findings and discussion: Discourses of Exclusion
  • 5.1 The process of discourse analysis
  • 5.2 Discourses of exclusion
    • 5.2.1 Constructions of institutional culture
    • 5.2.2 Discourse of exclusion and discourses of resistance to the system
    • 5.2.2.1 Constructions of conservative space
    • 5.2.2.2 Constructions of the absence of a meritous black student
  • 5.3 Subject position: You’re black or you’re white
  • 5.4 Counter discourses
  • 5.5 Conclusion
• Chapter 6: Findings and discussion: The Bigger Picture Discourses of a Country in Transition
  • 6.1 Construction: From big stories to local understandings
    • 6.1.1 Local versus universal psychology discourse
    • 6.1.2 The effects of race as agency
  • 6.2 Construction: Guises of oppression
  • 6.3 The construction of a legacy of offending
    • 6.3.1 Subject position: Black or white
  • 6.4 Construction: Permission to speak
  • 6.4.1 The effect of minimising agency
  • 6.5 Historical residue
  • 6.5.1 Generational positioning
  • 6.6 Conclusion
• Chapter 7: Findings and discussion: Discourses of multiculturalism
  • 7.1 The Impasse of multiculturalism discourse
    • 7.1.1 Constructions of under- or overstated multiculturalism
    • 7.1.2 Subject positions: Insiders and outsiders
    • 7.1.3 Effect of transformation being institutionalised
  • 7.2 The Immutability of culture discourse
    • 7.2.1 Constructions of culture bound in oppression
    • 7.2.2 Constructions of discomfort with ‘otherness’
    • 7.2.3 The alternative construction of a negotiated culture
  • 7.3 Conclusion
• Chapter 8: Findings and Discussion: Discourses of Race and Identity
  • 8.1 Constructions of race as gains and losses and black and white
  • 8.1.1. Discourses of whiteness and blackness
  • 8.1.2 Construction of the colour-blind subject
  • 8.2 Discourses of identity
    • 8.2.1 Race and identity
    • 8.2.2 Post-apartheid discourse/s
    • 8.2.3 Historical residue
    • 8.2.4 Construction of an evolving South African identity
    • 8.2.5 Generational trends
  • 8.3 Conclusion
• Chapter 9: Research commentary
  • 9.1 Summary of the findings
    • 9.1.1 Discourses of exclusion
    • 9.1.2 The bigger picture discourse of a country in transition
    • 9.1.3 Discourses of multiculturalism
    • 9.1.4 Disocurses of race and identity
    • 9.2 Reflections on the findings
    • 9.2.1 Locating myself
    • 9.2.2 Knowledge
    • 9.2.3 Power
    • 9.2.4 Reflections on the research process
  • 9.3 The value and challenges of the study
  • 9.4 Recommendations for future research
  • 9.5 Recommendations for training in the South African context
  • 9.6 Conclusion
  • Reference List

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