PINS-Psychology in Society

“My voice matters. “ The psychobiography of Liezille Jean Jacobs, a First-Generation Black Psychologist in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Danille Arendse — 2025-10-13

In the book, Rocklands: On Becoming the First Generation of Black Psychologists in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Liezille Jacobs aptly titles it, Rocklands, which serves as a signifier of “a common social identity and [that gave the author] a sense of belonging”. Liezille Jacobs takes us on a psychobiography journey, merging the personal, political, cultural, and academic in one form. Liezille Jacobs’ book compels us to grapple with violence, Coloured identity, Blackness, sexism, inequality, racism, patriarchy, White supremacy, and the discipline of psychology in South Africa, albeit in different forms. More importantly, Liezille Jacobs allows us to witness how she confronts her trauma in her quest for healing and rebels against repression and silencing. This book grants Liezille Jacobs agency to rewrite this past in a restorative manner while serving as a reminder that even though she could not speak up in the past, she can prevent further silencing. It gives us, as readers, time to soak in the past and ponder its impacts on us in the present. In conclusion, this book is a great asset because it not only compels the reader to wrestle with contemporary issues in South Africa but also provides the reader with an easy-to-follow guide for producing their own psychobiography.

THE EVERYDAY VIOLENCE OF GENDERED IDENTITIES IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

Ghouwa Ismail — 2025-10-13

In South Africa, everyday violence shapes and is shaped by patriarchal masculinities in ways that have been inadequately explored in the research literature. In order to better understand this relationship, we conducted focus group discussions and individual interviews in two South Africa communities, both of which are indexed as “low income” and “high crime”, and have low rates of municipal service delivery. Research participants highlighted how patriarchal social relations structure quotidian life, and how women’s vulnerability oftentimes serves as the basis for reproducing cycles of everyday violence in their communities. More specifically, participants described how violence is used to reify masculinised identities (e.g., that of the breadwinner) and to ‘protect’ women from other violent men. Several participants noted that because such violence offered women basic securities, women were partially responsible for reproducing violence in their communities. By focusing on the relationship between violence, gender, and impoverishment, we conclude by considering how the coloniality of gender works to fix hierarchical social ordering in contemporary South Africa.

The Case for Psychotherapeutic Case Studies in South Africa

Josie Greenhalgh — 2025-10-13

With the call for relevance in, and decolonisation of, South African psychology, it is important to consider possible ways that this can be achieved through psychological research and clinical practice. The relevance debate includes the argument that South African psychology remains ‘irrelevant’ in some ways due to its continued reliance on ahistorical and de-contextualised Eurocentric psychological knowledge, as rooted in colonial and apartheid ideology and politics. Thus, one is urged to consider possible research methodologies and practices that can foreground both the immediate and historical context of South Africans, and thus bridge the gap between theory/research and meaningful practice. Despite facing ongoing critique in the literature, the authors show that the case study method in psychology, as a form of context-dependent knowledge generation, is making its resurgence in South Africa. In this scoping review of 45 South African psychotherapy case studies published in the last 20 years, we investigate whether such case studies may be considered to be one of the possible mechanisms for developing relevant, contextually informed psychological knowledge. The results revealed that South African psychotherapy case studies not only evaluate and demonstrate the applicability of Western-developed treatment models in the South African context, but also explore the unique dynamics of the therapeutic process and alliance in context. Additionally, salient themes related to violence, trauma, race, anger, shame, and sadness were highlighted, foregrounding individual experiences and broader social challenges relevant to the South African population. The results thus support the position that psychotherapy case studies may be one possible method of developing contextually relevant knowledge in the pursuit of decolonising South African psychology.

Starting the Conversation: Exploring the Possible Contributions of AI in the Theory and Practice of African Psychology

James Munnik — 2025-10-13

This commentary aims to open up a discussion on artificial intelligence (AI) as it relates to its role in the context of African Psychology. The paper sees the potential for collaboration between AI technologies and the African psychology discipline as presently constituted. This exploration hopes to offer new pathways for enhancing low-cost mental health services, bridging language barriers, fostering cross-cultural understanding and improving research, particularly here in continental Africa. Ethical considerations are also explored in the paper.