Double trouble: psychology and psychologization under the spotlight

[BOOK REVIEW]De Vos, Jan (2013) Psychologization and the subject of late modernity. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-30846-6 hbk. Pages xi + 189. Jan de Vos’ starting point in the Psychologization and the subject of late modernity is the gap between being and knowledge. In other words, between how people are as psychological subjects and how they could be as psychologized subjects. He argues, as he has elsewhere, that psychologization is not simply a spillover of psychology into society but that psychology is psychologization. Psychologization is psychology’s paradigm

Press Anywhere: Stories

Press Anywhere is a collection of short stories that depicts the various inadequacies of the third millennium male. Each story concerns a man, a boy, or a family on the cusp of change. These characters, burdened by their family tragedies, try to shake off their histories and renew themselves. But, in one way or another, home always finds them. Set in a shared universe, some characters appear in multiple stories, including one boy who dreams of an unlikely superhero to save him from an abusive sibling, and a man determined to outlive a family curse

Critiques of health behaviour change programs

Abstract: Critics have raised concerns about health behaviour change programs in the global South. However, there has been very little reflection about what those critiques are critical of and, in particular, what psychology has come to mean within those critiques. The aim of this paper was threefold: to describe existing critiques of behaviour change programs, to reflect on how psychology has been written into those critiques, and to determine what theoretical resources critiques overlook. The paper identifies four types of critiques (efficacy, sociological, ethical and governance), argues that critiques tend be psychologized and miss important insights from resources related to discourse, gender, knowledge production and resistance. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate further debate about the role of psychology in behaviour change interventions in the global South

Class, resistance, and the psychologization of development in South Africa

This paper focuses on the psychologization of development in South Africa, one of the most unequal countries in the world, through a critical analysis of a discussion on a national radio programme about the meaning of Mandela Day. We demonstrate how speakers draw on common sense notions of race, class, and party politics that (re)produce subject positions from within a rights-based interpretive repertoire that emphasizes structural reform and class resistance, and an agency interpretive repertoire that emphasizes individualism, responsibility, and volunteerism. We further demonstrate how the agency subject position serves to stifle and resist the rights subject position by drawing on common sense 'psychological truths' about what it means to be a good citizen

The morning has come but it is still dark.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.Racism in sport has progressed from being blatant during Apartheid to being subtler in the 'New South Africa'. Using discourse analysis, this thesis focuses on how subtle racism reveals itself through the 'development' programme in rugby. 'Development' players are constructed as racially inferior to white rugby players. The white institution of rugby is portrayed as a philanthropic organisation whose aim is to 'help' 'development' players raise their levels of skill. In this way, white rugby is constructed as being non-racist. By locating 'development' subjects as being inferior, and disguising this with philanthropy, the 'development' programme serves to reproduce the oppressive power relations between whites and blacks involved in rugby as it was during Apartheid

Towards a ‘just’ conservation psychology

Climate change and biodiversity loss are serious concerns for environmental researchers and conservationists. However, the impact of climate change and biodiversity loss disproportionately affects low-income communities, indigenous groups, and people of colour. Conservation initiatives, however, sometimes perpetuate historical injustices of marginalised people. We argue that environmental justice may be effectively merged with conservation psychology to promote a just conservation psychology. We discuss a case study of a South African community impacted by conservation-related environmental injustices under apartheid. We discuss the role of capacity building in a community-based conservation initiative that promotes justice, human wellbeing, and conservation goals

Psychology, environment and climate change: foregrounding justice (part one)

We are living through unprecedented global heating,environmental pollution, chemical toxicity, biodiversityloss, extractivism, environmental militarisation, exclusionof marginalised people in decision-making processes,violence directed at environmental defenders and limitsto public engagement, to name a few issues (IPCC, 2022,Menton & Le Billon, 2021, Noyes et al., 2009, Sealey-Huggins,2018). While psychologists are paying increasing attentionto environmental degradation and climate change (Bailey,Pool & James, 2021, Wainwright and Mitchell, 2021), thediscipline has been somewhat slow to address the politicaland structural dimensions that underpin those issues.Importantly, mainstream psychological scholarship hasneglected marginalised people who are disproportionatelyaffected and underrepresented in environmental andclimate scholarship and practice

Psychology, environment and climate change: foregrounding justice (part two)

The world is experiencing unprecedented heating, extreme weather patterns, natural disasters, pollution, biodiversity loss, and environmental destruction with disproportionate impacts on marginalised peoples’ physical and mental health. Environmental and climate justice is increasingly used to frame research, practice and praxis. For example, activists on the margins are increasingly demanding that their voices are heard despite extreme levels of physical and epistemic violence. Countries in the global South are demanding reparations for the disproportionate harm caused by industrialised nations. For the first time, the latest IPCC report acknowledged the impacts of colonisation on climate change. However, much work needs to be done.  With planetary health at a tipping point, it is crucial for all sectors and disciplines to urgently mobilise to acknowledge disproportionate impacts and reverse environmental degradation and climate change

The evaluation of a behavioural intervention to reduce the impact of indoor air pollution on child respiratory health

ABSTRACT Indoor air pollution has been associated with acute lower respiratory infections amongst children less than five years old in developing countries. Very little is known about the potential role of behavioural change in reducing child indoor air pollution exposure. This thesis explores three questions: did people change their behaviours following exposure to an intervention that promoted the health benefits of behavioural change? Were changes in behaviour attributable to the intervention? What were the motivations and barriers to behavioural change? The evaluation included a quantitative and a qualitative study. The quantitative study utilised a quasiexperimental before-after design amongst an intervention village (n=98 households). Results were compared to a similar control village (n=121) that did not receive the intervention. Baseline data were collected during winter 2003 and follow-up data were collected during winter 2004 (12 months later). A qualitative evaluation, using two rounds of 4 focus group interviews each, was used to answer questions that emerged from the quantitative study. Indoor air quality - PM10, CO and CO (measured on the youngest child) - were measured over a 24 hour period in randomly selected households before and after the intervention in the intervention (n=36) and control (n=38) groups. After adjusting for confounding factors, there was no statistical association between having the received the intervention and the likelihood of burning outdoors at follow-up (OR=1.16; 95% CI 0.6-1.8). Indoor air quality data showed significant median reductions in PM10 (94-96%), CO (85-97%) and CO (child) (83- 95%) amongst households that burned outdoors compared to those that burned indoors. Results from the qualitative study suggest that motivations for outdoor burning included: health considerations, reaction to participating in the study, reduced drudgery and prestige. Barriers to outdoor burning included the need for space heating during winter, perceptions of low indoor air pollution risk and gender relations. This study highlights the potential for exposure reduction through behavioural change and is original for three reasons. It is the first behavioural intervention study designed to reduce indoor air pollution in a rural African setting. Secondly, it is the first intervention study in the indoor air pollution field to identify the factors that influenced behavioural change. Thirdly, it is one of the first studies to align debates about behavioural change in the field of indoor air pollution with those in the broader environmental health promotion literature

Estimating the burden of disease attributable to indoor air pollution from household use of solid fuels in South Africa in 2000

Objectives. To estimate the burden of respiratory ill health in South African children and adults in 2000 from exposure to indoor air pollution associated with household use of solid fuels.Design. World Health Organization comparative risk assessment (CRA) methodology was followed. The South African Census 2001 was used to derive the proportion of households using solid fuels for cooking and heating by population group. Exposure estimates were adjusted by a ventilation factor taking into account the general level of ventilation in the households. Population-attributable fractions were calculated and applied to revised burden of disease estimates for each population group. Monte Carlo simulation-modelling techniques were used for uncertainty analysis.Setting. South Africa.Subjects. Black African, coloured, white and Indian children under 5 years of age and adults aged 30 years and older.Outcome measures. Mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from acute lower respiratory infections in children under 5 years, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in adults 30 years and older.Results. An estimated 20% of South African households were exposed to indoor smoke from solid fuels, with marked variation by population group. This exposure was estimated to have caused 2 489 deaths (95% uncertainty interval 1 672 - 3 324) or 0.5% (95% uncertainty interval 0.3 - 0.6%) of all deaths in South Africa in 2000. The loss of healthy life years comprised a slightly smaller proportion of the total: 60 934 DALYs (95% uncertainty interval 41 170 - 81 246) or 0.4% of all DALYs (95% uncertainty interval 0.3 - 0.5%) in South Africa in 2000. Almost 99% of this burden occurred in the black African population.Conclusions. The most important interventions to reduce this impact include access to cleaner household fuels, improved stoves, and better ventilation