The Lived Experiences of Sex Workers in South Africa: An Existential Phenomenological Exploration

We explored the lived experiences of sex workers in South Africa by employing a phenomenological methodology. Five women between the ages of 34 and 48 years who were/are involved in this industry were interviewed between January and March 2008. Through the use of thematic analysis four common themes in their experiences were identified and are elucidated in this article. These themes are: (a) pervasive experiences of abuse and neglect during childhood, (b) entry into sex work, (c) life as a sex worker and (d) trauma and resilience. The lived experiences of the participants were integrated with the literature in order to create a contextualised picture and a deeper understanding of the experience of a sex worker, as well as to assist informing the debate on sex work in South Africa.     

Exploring the bullying behaviours experienced by South African domestic workers

This article phenomenologically explores the nature of bullying behaviours as experienced by domestic workers in South Africa. Participants were a convenience sample of 10 black female domestic workers (age range = 27 to 53 years, work experience = 3 to 26 years). The domestic workers responded to an unstructured interview on their experience of work place bullying. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings suggest that bullying is prevalent in domestic work and is perpetrated by both sexes and all races. Bullying behaviours were categorised into verbal bullying (belittlement, deception and false accusations) and non-verbal bullying (intimidation and excessive control, disregard for basic needs and wellbeing, disregard for employment legislation). Bullying behaviours towards domestic workers are explained by the historical socioeconomic disempowerment of domestic workers and a socio-legal system inaccessible to those with disadvantages.     

Experiences of supervising postgraduate community psychology students at Wits university,South Africa

In this article, the authors discuss problems and challenges of supervising postgraduate community psychology students at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. As part of their community work, students developed community projects in schools in Alexandra Township, aimed at dealing with social ills such as HIV/AIDS, gangs, violence, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. Students found community work to be extremely exhausting, stressful and demanding. Therefore, community psychology supervision became an important space in helping students to reflect on the experiences, anxieties and frustrations. This article discusses key themes that have emerged in community supervision, including gender, race and class issues. In conclusion, recommendations are provided on how to improve community psychology supervision based our experiences. Supervisors need to be proactive in helping students to reflect on their experiences and actively engage with some of the theoretical and practical issues that emerge in community work. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HIV infection in the South African construction industry

South Africa has one of the highest HIV prevalences in the world, and compared with other sectors of the national economy, the construction industry is disproportionately adversely affected. Using data collected nationally from more than 57,000 construction workers, HIV infection among South African construction workers was estimated, together with an assessment of the association between worker HIV serostatus and worker characteristics of gender, age, nature of employment, occupation, and HIV testing history. The HIV infection of construction workers was estimated to be lower than that found in a smaller 2008 sample. All worker characteristics are significantly associated with HIV serostatus. In terms of most at-risk categories: females are more at risk of HIV infection than males; workers in the 30–49 year old age group are more at risk than other age groups; workers employed on a less permanent basis are more at risk; as are workers not having recently tested for HIV. Among occupations in the construction industry, general workers, artisans, and operator/drivers are those most at risk. Besides yielding more up-to-date estimated infection statistics, this research also identifies vulnerable sub-groups as valuable pointers for more targeted workplace interventions by construction firms.     

Counselling psychology in South Africa

The origin and development of counselling psychology in South Africa has been profoundly influenced by the country’s sociopolitical history and the impact of apartheid. As a result of this, counselling psychologists in the country face a number of challenges and opportunities for the future. In this paper we provide a portrait of counselling psychology in South Africa by describing the current character of the specialty and the context in which South African psychologists work. We critically discuss the challenges that the specialty faces to meet the country’s mental health care needs, contest the current Scope of Practice; affirm multiculturalism without essentialising or reifying race and ethnicity, and build an evidence base for community interventions in the country. We also consider how, in the future, counselling psychologists in South Africa may make a more meaningful contribution within public health and the country’s health care and education systems.     

Experiences of Newly Married Black Women Staying with the Extended Family in a Township in South Africa

We report the results of a phenomenological study on the experiences of newly married black women staying with extended family in South African townships. Our goals for the study included in-depth interviews on experiences and guidelines to facilitate these women's mental health. We interviewed six newly married women (age range 20 to 30 years; mean period in marriage = 3 years) staying with the extended families in an urban South African township. An open central question was posed to the newly married black women who fitted the inclusion criteria and this was followed by probing questions to explore and describe the experiences of staying with the extended family in an urban township. Newly married black women who do not follow the expected practices from the teachings of the extended family experienced victimisation by the extended family. The mental health of newly married black women staying with the extended family in an urban South African township could be facilitated by empowering these women with communication skills to enable them to express their feelings and concerns effectively.     

Childhood Exposure to Community and Domestic Violence: Prevalence,Risk Factors and Posttraumatic Outcomes in a South African Student Sample

The effects of exposure to direct and vicarious community and domestic violence on the posttraumatic adjustment of 323 South African students were examined. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires, with the relationship between exposure to violence and posttraumatic outcomes being explored using binomial logistic regression analyses. Two hundred and sixty-two participants (81 %) reported that they had been exposed to some form of interpersonal violence during childhood. An analysis of risk factors for exposure to violence indicated that males were more than twice as likely as females to have experienced victimization by a community member. Direct exposure to domestic violence was the only form of violence which was found to be associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Among participants who had experienced direct domestic violence, clinically significant levels of PTSD were significantly predicted by both gender (being female) and by abuse chronicity.     

The History of Family Therapy in South Africa

The history of family therapy in South Africa is presented from 1960 up to the present. The early days leading to the establishment of the South African Association of Marital and Family Therapy, national conferences, publications, national and international links are discussed.     

Educational struggles and political community in South Africa

Democracy is often said to rest on some form of deeper argument, some self-understanding amongst people as belonging to a common political community. This paper explores this issue in the situation of South Africa. The policies of Apartheid have left a legacy of a morally fractured society with little by way of a shared moral discourse, and the paper raises the question of whether the concepts of democracy and community which emerged out of educational struggles in South Africa might provide a basis for the development of a shared moral discourse. The answer provided in the paper is that, although such concepts cannot provide the basis for democracy at a national level, they do provide some hints of how schools might contribute to the emergence of a shared moral discourse, and, thus, the starting point for building a unified political community.     

Exploring the cognitive development of children born to adolescent mothers in South Africa

This study explores the cognitive development of children born to adolescent mothers within South Africa compared to existing reference data, and explores development by child age bands to examine relative levels of development. Cross-sectional analyses present data from 954 adolescents (10–19 years) and their first-born children (0–68 months). All adolescents completed questionnaires relating to themselves and their children, and standardized child cognitive assessments (Mullen Scales of Early Learning) were undertaken. Cognitive development scores of the sample were lower than USA reference population scores and relative performance compared to the reference population was found to decline with increasing child age. When compared to children born to adult mothers in the sub-Saharan African region, children born to adolescent mothers (human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] unexposed; n = 724) were found to have lower cognitive development scores. Findings identify critical periods of development where intervention may be required to bolster outcomes for children born to adolescent mothers.

Highlights

• An exploration of the cognitive development of children born to adolescent mothers within South Africa utilizing the Mullen Scales of Early Learning.
• Cognitive development scores of children born to adolescent mothers within South Africa were lower compared to USA norm reference data and declined with child age.
• Previous studies utilizing the Mullen Scales of Early Learning within sub-Saharan Africa were summarized, and comparisons were made with the current sample.
• Findings highlight a potential risk of developmental delay among children born to adolescent mothers compared to children of adult mothers in the sub-Saharan African region.

     

Politics and emotion: Working with disadvantaged children in South Africa

This paper discusses the experience of consulting to organizations involved in the provision of care to disadvantaged groups of children in South Africa. It draws particular attention to the impact of South Africa's painful political history on the emotional life of these organizations. This has created an additional burden for organizational staff who often work under difficult conditions with very troubled groups of children. The paper highlights the common experiences of deprivation and loss, fears around the abuse of power and problems with acknowledging differences between people, which are a part of South Africa's political legacy. These kinds of issues were found to have a powerful impact on the functioning of organizations and also on the quality of the consultancy relationship itself. We argue that it is important to recognize the emotional demands of child-care work generally, but also that it is equally necessary work, through our political experiences, to achieve some kind of understanding of these. Lack of containment for these experiences will impact on the quality of care organizations are able to offer to children in our context.     

The Marikana Violence in South Africa: A Brief Psychodynamic Extrapolation

This study applies psychoanalytic concepts in making sense of the individual, group and collective factors that may have contributed towards the Marikana violence. Speculatively, individual factors might include the death instinct, repetition compulsion, and intra-psychic splitting. Related group dynamics such as identification with the aggressor, group and projective identification might be relevant as would the collective psychological influences of history of oppression, severe trans-generational traumatisation, and mystical cultural interpretations in a divided society. Further public truth, reconciliation and forgiveness processes in addition to other integrative forms of healing are proposed.     

The feminization of psychology: data from South Africa

In many countries, women outnumber men in psychology, both as students and as professionals. Much of this information is drawn from Europe and the USA, and the information available about the situation in developing countries is a lot less detailed. The steady increase in the presence of women in psychology in South Africa is examined, via access to two large national databases and telephone interviews. These sources are the most reliable available, and are comprehensive enough to give a very good snapshot of women in psychology in this country over the last 12 years. The data indicate that psychology as a profession in South Africa is dominated by women. Although the applied practical aspects of the discipline attract women disproportionally, women are also over-represented in research psychology and academia (except at the professorial level). The racial composition of the profession remains skewed, with white psychologists in the majority. Although the data in this regard are incomplete, approximately 5% of registered psychologists are black. An examination of student enrolments suggests that this situation will continue in future, as women (and white students) enrol in much greater numbers for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. In 2002, 74% of psychology majors were women, and 78% of all Master's degrees in psychology were awarded to women. Thus it would appear that the feminization of psychology in this country is further advanced than in Europe and the USA. It is not a question of men abandoning the profession, but rather that women entered the profession at a much higher rate in recent years.     

Occupational stress of professional nurses in South Africa

The objective of this study was to identify occupational stressors for professional nurses in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A stratified random sample of professional nurses (n=818; females?=?97%) in hospitals in South Africa was used. The Nursing Stress Indicator (NSI) was administrated together with a biographical questionnaire. Three internally consistent stress factors, namely lack of organisational support, job demands and nursing-specific demands, were extracted. The most severe stressors for professional nurses included staff shortages, inadequate salaries and excessive administrative duties. Work overload, fellow workers not doing their job, health risks posed by contact with patients and demands of patients were also identified as stressors. Stress was associated with specific factors, including age, position (rank), care unit, and work experience.     

Tobacco Use Trends among Adolescents and Adults in South Africa

The purpose of this review is to synthesize the national prevalence data from eight surveys on tobacco use in South Africa over the past 13 years. Results from the national studies indicate that tobacco use among adults is on the decline in South Africa. The same applies to daily smoking and daily smokeless tobacco use among adolescents. However, onset of tobacco use and the prevalence of current smoking among adolescents seem not to have changed over the years. While exposure to tobacco smoke outside the home decreased from 56.5% in 1999 to 36.2% in 2002 among adolescents, exposure to tobacco smoke inside the home increased from 41.7% in 1999 to 73.3% in 2002. This change may be attributed to the introduction of the tobacco control act that from 2000 banned smoking in public places. The decline of overall daily smoking in South Africa may be attributed to the tobacco control strategy based on 1) rapidly increasing excise taxes on tobacco, and (2) comprehensive legislation, of which the most important features are banning all tobacco advertising and sponsorship, and prohibition of smoking in public and work places.     

Perceptions of sugar mommy practices in South Africa

The study sought to explore sugar mommy practices regarding their occurrence, acceptability as well as perceived reasons why older women and younger men enter into sugar mommy relationships. An exploratory qualitative study involving 135 participants from 11 diverse focus groups in terms of age, gender (females=27%) and geotype throughout the nine South African provinces was conducted. Data on the participants’ views, opinions and experiences of sugar mommy practices were collected using focus group interviews. The data were thematically analyzed. The study found that sugar mommy practices were prevalent in South Africa. The perceived reasons for acceptability were: love, survival, and correctness. Perceived reasons why older women have sexual relationships with younger men included: sexual fulfilment, domination, reduction of stress, physical attraction, procreation, lack of self-control, youthful feeling, migrancy, difficulty in finding partners of compatible age and young men being seen as not demanding. Perceived reasons why younger men have sexual relationships with older women included: material gain, reduction of stress, being enticed, rejection by women of compatible age, peer influence and belief that older women are purer. Given the increase in sugar mommy practices, which may have significant implications for the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, it is necessary to understand the underlying perceptions of these practices, in order to develop culturally relevant and socially acceptable intervention programmes.     

Depression symptoms: Their association with socio-demographic factors and health among adults in South Africa

The aim of this study was to assess depression symptoms and socio-demographic and health correlates in a recent (2014-2015) national population-based survey of South Africa adults (n = 22 752; females =57.5%; mean age 37.1 years, SD = 17.6). The participants reported on their socio-demographic variables, health statuses, and experience of depression symptoms the previous four weeks. About 13% of the sample scored positive for depression symptoms. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, being female, older age, being long term sick or disabled, having two or more pain disorders, having been diagnosed with diabetes, and having smoked regularly were associated with high risk for depression symptoms. Being a student, having below or average household income, and having exercised three or more times a week was associated with lower risk for depression symptoms.     

Understanding and management of epilepsy in a rural community in South Africa: An exploratory study

The aim of the study was to explore how people living with epilepsy in an indigenous rural South African community understood and managed their epilepsy. Six people with epilepsy were informants (male = 3, female = 3; age range = 16 to 58 years, unemployed = 5, learner = 1). They completed individual interviews on their meanings of epilepsy and also on their experiences managing the illness. The results indicated that the participants’ understanding of epilepsy is closely linked to their own experiences of the condition, as well as to cultural beliefs about seizure disorder. Moreover, they reported that the unpredictability associated with a seizure generated a greater level of distress to the participants than the fact that they had seizure disorder. The participants reported to rely on family, and both traditional and Western medicine to manage their epilepsy.     

Social determinants of subjective well-being among young adults living in the Eastern Cape,South Africa

We investigated the relationships between certain social determinants (age, gender, marital status, education, income, and employment) and subjective well-being (SWB) in a young adult population in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The participants consisted of 977 persons aged 18 to 40 years living in the historically deprived Eastern Cape, South Africa (females = 48%; age range = 18 to 40; rural dwellers = 15%). We measured their SWB utilising the World Health Organization (Ten) Well-Being Scale. Results following analysis of variance showed that age, education, and income were predictors of SWB. Higher SWB was associated with being older, having a higher level of formal education, and having a higher level of income. However, employment status did not have a significant relationship with SWB, suggesting the relative importance of other social indicators of social functioning in this population.     

Mozambican immigrants to South Africa: Their xenophobia and discrimination experiences

We explored Mozambican immigrants’ lived experiences of xenophobia and discrimination in South Africa. Informants were 15 Mozambican immigrants (female = 7, male = 8) living in an informal settlement in Zandspruit, Gauteng Province. They completed open-ended written narratives on xenophobic and discriminatory experiences. Following thematic analysis, we identified three themes to characterise the Mozambican immigrants’ experiences of xenophobia and discrimination: (i) abusive attitudes, (ii) ethnic discrimination, and (iii) scapegoating. The Mozambican immigrants’ experiences of xenophobia and discrimination are consistent with findings from the extant international literature on ingroup/outgroup social strife with real or perceived scarcity of resources.