Decolonising theorising on children: Moving towards African-centred childhood studies pedagogy of sexual violence and trauma
Abstract
Background: In Africa, remnants of colonisation and the effects of coloniality have influenced childhood in ways dissimilar to those in other parts of the world.
Objectives: This article contests against universalised theorising of children, advocates for Afrocentric approaches to childhood studies on African children, and makes a case for Afrocentric pedagogy in the psychology of child sexual violence and childhood trauma.
Methodology: The arguments in this article are informed by a rapid review of doctoral research on the history of violence in South Africa and developmental theory to understand how children make meaning of the experience of sexual violence-related trauma.
Results: South Africa’s history of colonisation and Apartheid significantly contributes to child outcomes. Decolonial thought and African-centered theorising must be applied to childhood studies in Africa for a contextual understanding of African childhoods. They must centre on the needs and worldviews of Africans.
Conclusion: Education is an instrument of enculturation; therefore, pedagogy should reflect the people it studies. The methods and practice in teaching childhood studies in psychology in Africa must humanise both children and professionals.
Contribution: The article addresses the questions of relevance in childhood studies in Africa and advances recommendations for how academics and practitioners in childhood sexual violence and psychology should work with complex knowledge in childhood studies pedagogy.
Downloads
References
Abrahams, N., S. Mathews, C. Lombard, L. J. Martin, and R. Jewkes. 2017. “Sexual homicides in South Africa: A national cross-sectional epidemiological study of adult women and children.” PLOS ONE 12(10): e0186432. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186432.
Alanamu, T., B. Carton, and B. N. Lawrance. 2018. “Colonialism and African childhood.” In The Palgrave handbook of African colonial and post-colonial history, ed. M. Shanguhyia and T. Falola, 389‒412. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ali, M. and R. Ailincai. 2015. “Child development in post-colonial contexts: Educational change and ethnic transfiguration in a French Guiana Wayana-apalaï indigenous community.” Procedia ‒ Social and Behavioral Sciences 174: 3625–3632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.1081.
American Psychology Task Force. 2008. Children and trauma: Update for mental health professionals. Presidential task force on posttraumatic stress disorder and trauma in children and adolescents, American Psychological Association.
Araujo, S. d. F. 2016. “Wundt and the Philosophical Foundations of Psychology: A Reappraisal.” https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26636-7.
Asante, M. K. 1992. “The Afrocentric metatheory and disciplinary implications.” The Afrocentric Scholar 1(1): 98–117.
Asante, M. K. 2007. Revolutionary Pedagogy: Primer for teachers of black children. Universal Write Publications.
Bandura, A. 1997a. Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman.
Bandura, A. 1977b. Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bantu Education Act 1953. Anonymous. weebly.com. (Accessed 22 June 2023).
Bhana, D. 2005. “Violence and the gendered negotiation of masculinity among young black schoolboys in South Africa.” In African masculinities, ed. L. Ouzgane and R. Morrell, 205‒220. Palgrave Macmillan.
Biddle, S. K. 2017. “Social constructions of childhood: From not-yet-adults to people in their own right.” Anthós 8(1): 9‒33.
Biko, S. 1996. I write what I like: A selection of his writings. Ravan Press.
Black Agenda Report. 2022. “Manifesto: The 1959 Pan Africanist manifesto.” MANIFESTO: The 1959 Pan Africanist Manifesto | Black Agenda Report. (Accessed 12 June 2023).
Blom, M. and R. Oberink. 2012. “The validity of the DSM-IV PTSD criteria in children and adolescents: A review.” Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 17(4): 571–601.
Bottrell, D. 2009. “Understanding ‘marginal’ perspectives: Towards a social theory of resilience.” Qualitative Social Work 8(3): 321–339.
Bruner, J. 2008. “Culture and Mind: Their Fruitful Incommensurability.” Ethos 36(1): 29‒45.
Cakata, Z. 2020. “Safely Nestled in isiXhosa is a Psychology of a People.” Alternation - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of the Arts and Humanities in Southern Africa 27(1): 113–129.
Childline Gauteng. 2020. “COVID-19 ‒ Report on Help Line data lockdown period 27 March 2020 – 30 April 2020.” https://childlinegauteng.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2.-Lockdown-Level-5_CLGP_-Stats-Report_Final.pdf. (Accessed 22 June 2023).
Choudhary, V., S. Satapathy, and R. Sagar. 2019. “Qualitative study on the impact of child sexual abuse: perspectives of children, caregivers, and professionals in Indian context.” Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 28(4): 489–510.
Chukwuokolo, J. 2013. “Afrocentrism or Eurocentrism: The dilemma Of African development.” OGIRISI: A New Journal of African Studies 6(1): 24 ‒ 39. https://doi.org/10.4314/og.v6i1.52333.
Cloitre, M. 2015. “The ‘one size fits all’ approach to trauma treatment: Should we be satisfied?” European Journal of Psychotraumatology 6(s4): 1‒8.
Cole, M., P. Hakkarainen, and M. Bredikyte. 2010. “Culture and early childhood learning.” In Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, 1–6. http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/culture/according-experts/culture-and-early- childhood-learning.
Diptee, A. A. and M. A. Klein. 2010. “African childhoods and the colonial project.” Journal of Family History 35(1): 3–6. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363199009350880.
Fanon, F. 2004. The wretched of the earth. Translated by R. Philcox. Grove Press. (Original work published 1963).
Fine, A. H. 2006. “Incorporating animal-assisted therapy into psychotherapy: Guidelines and suggestions for therapists.” In Handbook on animal-assisted therapy, ed. A. H. Fine. 3rd Edition. Elsevier Academic Press.
Foster, J. M. and W. B. Hagedorn. 2014. “Through the eyes of the wounded: A narrative analysis of children’s sexual abuse experiences and recovery process.” Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 23(5): 538–557.
Gobodo-Madikizela, P. 2015. “Psychological repair: The intersubjective dialogue of remorse and forgiveness in the aftermath of gross human rights violations.” Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 63(6): 1085–1123. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065115615578.
Gqola, P. D. 2007. “How the ‘cult of femininity’ and violent masculinities support endemic gender based violence in contemporary South Africa.” African Identities 5(1): 111‒124.
Gqola, P. D. 2015. Rape: A South African nightmare. MGBooks.
Gregorowski, C. and S. Seedat. 2013. “Addressing childhood trauma in a developmental context.” Journal of Child & Adolescent Mental Health 25(2): 105–118. doi:10.2989/17280583.2013.795154.
Gumede, V. 2021. “Revisiting Poverty, Human Development and Inequality in Democratic South Africa.” Indian Journal of Human Development 15(2): 183–199.
Idahosa, G. E-o. 2019. “Decolonizing the Curriculum on African Women and Gender Studies.” In The Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies, ed. O. Yacob-Haliso and T. Falola. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77030-7_66-1.
Jiang, D. and L. Pretorius. 2010. “Communication behaviour in international engineering projects: An empirical and comparative study between South Africa and China.” PICMET 2010 Technology Management for Global Economic Growth, 1–8. IEEE.
Kaminer, D. and G. Eagle. 2010. Traumatic stress in South Africa. Wits University Press, South Africa.
Keesing, R. M. 1974. “Theories of culture.” Annual Review of Anthropology 3(1): 73–97.
Keller, H. 2018. “Universality claim of attachment theory: Children’s socioemotional development across cultures.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115(45): 11414–11419. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1720325115.
King, W. 2011. Stolen childhood: Slave youth in nineteenth-century America. 2nd Edition. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt16gzk3n.
Language in Education Policy. 1997. Microsoft Word ‒ 2.doc. www.gov.za. (Accessed on 22 June 2023).
Lephakga, T. 2017. “Colonial institutionalisation of poverty among blacks in South Africa.” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 43(2): 1–15.
LeVine, R. A. 2007. “Ethnographic Studies of Childhood: A Historical Overview.” American Anthropologist 109(2): 247‒260.
Linklater, R. 2014. Decolonizing trauma work: Indigenous stories and strategies. Fernwood Publishing, Canada.
Long, W. 2017. “Essence or experience? A new direction for African psychology.” Theory and Psychology 27(3): 293–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354316686428.
Lugones, M. 2010. “The coloniality of gender”. In Globalization and Decolonial Option, ed. W. Magnolo and A. Escobar, 369‒390. New York: Routledge.
Lugones, M. 2016. “The coloniality of gender.” In The Palgrave handbook of gender and development, ed. W. Harcourt, 13–33. Palgrave Macmillan.
Makiwane, M., M. Nduna, and N. E. Khalema. 2016. Children in South African families: Lives and times. Cambridge.
Mamdani, M. 1996. Citizen and subject: Contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism. Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvc77c7w.
Manning, J. 2021. “Decolonial feminist theory: Embracing the gendered colonial difference in management and organisation studies.” Gender, Work & Organization 28(4): 1203‒1219.
Mathews, S., N. Abrahams, R. Jewkes, L. J. Martin, and C. Lombard. 2013. “The epidemiology of child homicides in South Africa.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 91(8): 562–568. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.12.117036.
Mathews, S., A. Delany, L. Makola, L. October, N. Titi, N. Hendricks, and K. Rehse. 2022. Understanding the intersections of violence against women and violence against children in two communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. Cape Town: Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Mbembe, A. 2003. “Necropolitics.” Public Culture 15(1): 11–40. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-15-1-11.
Mkhize, N. 2006. “African traditions and the social, economic and moral dimensions of fatherhood.” In Baba: Men and Fatherhood in South Africa, ed. L. Richter and R. Morrell, 183‒200. HSRC Press.
Mkhize, N. 2018. “Ubuntu-Botho approach to ethics: An invitation to dialogue.” In African perspectives on ethics for health-care professionals. Advancing global bioethics, ed. N. Nortjé, J. C. De Jongh, and W. Hoffmann, Vol. 13: 25–48. Springer.
Nobles, W. 1986. African psychology: Toward its reclamation, re-ascension and revitalisation. Black Family Institute Publication.
Nsamenang, A. B. and M. E. Lamb. 1995. “The force of beliefs: How the parental values of the Nso of Northwest Cameroon shape children’s progress toward adult models.” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 16(4): 613–627.
Nsamenang, A. B. 2013. “Dilemmas of Rights-Based Approaches to Child Well-Being in an African Cultural Context.” In Vulnerable Children, ed. D. Johnson, D. Agbényiga, and R. Hitchcock. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6780-9_2.
Oswell, D. 2013. The agency of children: From family to global human rights. Cambridge University Press.
Oyewumi, O. (Ed.). 2016. African gender studies: A reader. Springer.
Palmary, I. and S. Mahati. 2015. “Using deconstructing Developmental Psychology to read child migrants to South Africa.” Feminism and Psychology 25(3): 347–362.
Ratele, K., J. Cornell, S. Dlamini, R. Helman, N. Malherbe, and N. Titi. 2018. “Some basic questions about (a) decolonising Africa(n)-centered psychology considered.” South African Journal of Psychology 48(3): 331–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246318790444.
Ross, F. C. 2010. Raw life, new hope: Decency, housing and everyday life in a post-apartheid community. Claremont, South Africa: UCT Press.
Rowan, M., N. Poole, B. Shea, J. P. Gone, D. B. Mykota, M. Farag, C. Hopkins, L. Hall, C. J. Mushquash, and C. Dell. 2014. “Cultural interventions to treat addictions in indigenous populations: Findings from a scoping study.” Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 9: 34.
Scheeringa, M. S., L. Myers, F. W. Putnam, and C. H. Zeanah. 2012. “Diagnosing PTSD in early childhood: An empirical assessment of four approaches.” Journal of Traumatic Stress 25(4): 359–367.
Scheeringa, M. S., C. H. Zeanah, and J. A. Cohen. 2011. “PTSD in children and adolescents: Toward an empirically based algorithm.” Depression and Anxiety 28(9): 770–782.
Shanguhyia, M. S. and T. Falola. (Ed.). 2018. The Palgrave handbook of African colonial and post-colonial history. Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Shell, R. C. H. 1994. Children of bondage: Social history of the slave society at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652‒1838. Wesleyan/University Press of New England, London.
Sones, R., C. Hopkins, S. Manson, R. Watson, M. Durie, and V. Naquin. 2010. “The Wharerata Declaration ‒ the development of indigenous leaders in mental health.” The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services 6(1): 53–63.
Titi, N. 2021. “How children make meaning of sexual trauma: Toward decolonising African centered child-centric interventions.” Doctoral dissertation. UNISA.
Titi, N., L. Jamieson, and S. Vutu. 2022. Closing the gaps in services that respond to violence against women and children. Cape Town: Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town.
Ungar, M. 2018. Systemic resilience: Principles and processes for a science of change in contexts of adversity. Ecology and Society 23(4): 34.
Van der Kolk, B. A., R. S. Pynoos, D. Cicchetti, M. Cloitre, W. D’Andrea, J. D. Ford, and M. Teicher. 2009. “Proposal to include a developmental trauma disorder diagnosis for children and adolescents in DSM-V.” Unpublished manuscript. Verfügbar unter: http://www.cathymalchiodi.com/dtd_nctsn.pdf. (Zugriff: 20.5. 2011).
Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., M. J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, and A. Sagi-Schwartz. 2006. “Attachment cross diverse socio-cultural contexts: The limits of universality.” In Parenting beliefs, behaviors, and parent-child relations: A cross-cultural perspective, 107–142. Psychology Press.
wa Thiongʼo, N. 1986. Decolonising the mind: The politics of language in African literature. James Currey, London.
Wood, A. 2019. Circulating planning ideas from the metropole to the colonies: Understanding South Africa’s segregated cities through policy mobilities. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 40(2): 257–271.
Woodhead, M. 1999. “Combatting child labour: Listen to what the children say.” Childhood 6(1): 27–49.
Wundt, W. 1897. Outlines of Psychology. Translated by C. H. Judd. Leipzig: W. Engelmann
Copyright (c) 2021 Neziswa Titi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors, copyright holders, may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.
A copy of the authors' publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: This is an electronic version of an article published in SAJHE, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX “XXX", DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAJHE) may be found.
Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University Institutional Repository SUNScholar.
Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.
The following license applies:
Attribution CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
