The current study investigated ukuthwasa, a South African culture-specific syndrome associated with the calling to become a sangoma, a type of traditional healer. Ukuthwasa has previously been compared to Western mental health constructs, such as depression and schizophrenia due to its accompanying debilitating symptoms. The current study sought to better understand the calling to become a sangoma and define the phenomenology of ukuthwasa. Unstructured interviews were conducted with participants comprised of izangoma (plural of sangoma) who had experienced ukuthwasa and key informants indigenous to South Africa living in and around the Durban metropolitan area (N = 11). The qualitative data were analyzed using grounded theory, which allowed for the categorization of data into themes for further analysis. The results of the study showed that while there were similarities between ukuthwasa and Western constructs of mental health, the course and effectiveness of management differed greatly, suggesting the need to incorporate cultural factors into management decision-making.
AshworthP.ChungM. C. (Eds.). (2007). Phenomenology and psychological science: Historical and philosophical perspectives. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.
2.
AuerbachC.SilversteinL. (2003). Qualitative Data. New York: New York University Press.
3.
BartholomewT. T. (2017). Madness (Eemwengu) and its sources: Conceptualizing mental illness in Namibian ovambo culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 48, 421-437. doi:10.1177/0022022117692676
4.
BergA. (2003). Ancestor reverence and mental health in South Africa. The Journal of Transcultural Psychology, 40, 194-207. doi:10.1177/1363461503402004
5.
BerglundA. I. (1976). Zulu thought-patterns and symbolism. London, England: C. Hurst.
6.
BooiB. N. (2004). Three perspectives on Ukuthwasa: The view from traditional beliefs, western psychiatry and transpersonal psychology (Master’s dissertation). Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
7.
BraathenS.VergunstR.MjiG.MannanH.SwartzL. (2013). Understanding the local context for the application of global mental health: A rural South African experience. International Health, 5, 38-42.
8.
BührmannM. V. (1982). Thwasa and bewitchment. South African Medical Journal, 61, 877-879.
9.
CaninoG.AlegríaM. (2008). Psychiatric diagnosis—Is it universal or related to culture?Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 237-250. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01854.x
10.
CharmazK. (2000). Constructivist and objectivist grounded theory. In DenzinN. K.LincolnY. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 509-535). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
11.
Chentsova-DuttonY. E.TsaiJ. L. (2007). Cultural factors influence the expression of psychopathology. In LilienfeldS.O’DonohueW. (Eds.), The great ideas of clinical science (pp. 375-396). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group.
12.
ChipfakachaV. (1994). The role of culture in primary health care. Two case studies. The South African Medical Journal, 84, 860-862.
13.
CookC. T. (2009). Sangomas: Problem or solution for South Africa’s health care system. The Journal of the National Medical Association, 101, 261-265.
14.
CumesD. (2013). South African indigenous healing: How it works. Indigenous Medicine, 9, 58-65.
15.
DragunsJ. G.Tanaka-MatsumiJ. (2003). Assessment of psychopathology across and within cultures: Issues and findings. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 755-776.
16.
FernandoS. (2002). Mental health, race, and culture. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
17.
GielenU. P.FishJ. M.DragunsJ. G. (Eds.). (2004). Culture, therapy, and healing. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
18.
GlaserB. G. (1992). Basics of Grounded Theory analysis. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
19.
GlaserB., G.StraussA., L. (1967). The discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.
20.
GqaleniN.IndresM.HeidiK.AbigailN.HeatherM. (2007). Traditional and complementary medicine. South African Health Review, Health Systems Trust, 12, 175-188.
21.
Hammond-TookeW. D. (1989). Rituals and medicines. Johannesburg, South Africa: Ad. Donker
22.
HelmanC. (2007). Culture, health, and illness (5th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
23.
KirmayerL. J.RyderA. G. (2016). Culture and psychopathology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, 143-148. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.020
24.
LaherS. (2014). An overview of illness conceptualizations in African, Hindu and Islamic traditions: Towards cultural competence. South African Journal of Psychology, 44, 191-204. doi:10.1177/0081246314528149
25.
Lewis-FernándezR.KleinmanA. (1995). Cultural psychiatry: Theoretical, clinical, and research issues. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 18, 433-448.
26.
LittlewoodR.DeinS. (2000). Cultural psychiatry and medical anthropology: An introduction and reader. Somerset, NJ: Transaction.
27.
LopezS. R.GuarnacciaP. J. (2000). Cultural psychopathology: Uncovering the social world of mental illness. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 571-598.
28.
LyonsE.CoyleA. (Eds.). (2007). Analysing qualitative data in psychology. London, UK: Sage.
29.
MakhanyaS. M. (2012). The traditional healers’ and caregivers’ views on the role of traditional Zulu medicine on psychosis (Master’s thesis). Faculty of Arts, University of Zululand, Richards Bay, South Africa.
30.
MarsellaA. J.YamadaA. M. (2007). Culture and psychopathology. In KitayamaS.CohenD. (Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 797-820). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
31.
MpofuE.PeltzerK.BojuwoyeO. (2011). Indigenous healing practices in sub-Saharan Africa. In MpofuE. (Ed.), Counseling people of African ancestry (pp. 3–22). NewYork, NY: Cambridge University Press.
32.
NgubaneH. (1977). Body and mind in Zulu medicine. New York, NY: Academic Press.
33.
NiehausD.OosthuizenP.LochnerC.EmsleyR.JordaanE.MbangaN.SteinD. J. (2004). A culture-bound syndrome “Amafufunyana” and a culture-specific event “Ukuthwasa”: Differentiated by a family history of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. Psychopathology, 37(2), 59-63. doi:10.1159/000077579
PatelV. (2014). Why mental health matters to global health. Transcultural Psychiatry, 51, 777-789. doi:10.1177/1363461514524473
36.
PonterettoJ. G. (2005). Qualitative research in counseling psychology: A primer on research paradigms and philosophy of science. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 126-136. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.126
37.
PuckreeT.MkhizeM.MgobhoziZ.LinJ. (2002). African traditional healers: What health care professionals need to know. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 25, 247-251. doi:10.1097/00004356-200212000-00001
38.
RyderA.BanL.Chentsova-DuttonL. (2011). Towards a cultural-clinical psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5, 960-973.
39.
SamD. L.MoreiraV. (2012). Revisiting the mutual embeddedness of culture and mental illness. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 10(2). doi:10.9707/2307-0919.1078
40.
SandlanaN.MtetwaD. (2008). African traditional and religious faith healing practices and the provision of psychological wellbeing among Amaxhosa people. Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, 7, 119-131.
41.
SodiT.BojuwoyeO. (2011). Cultural embeddedness of health, illness and healing: Prospects for integrating indigenous and Western healing practices. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 21, 349-356.
42.
SodiT.MudhovoziP.HashambaT.Radzilani-MakatuM.TakalaniJ.MabundaJ. (2011). Indigenous healing practices in Limpopo Province of South Africa: A qualitative study. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, 49, 101-110. doi:10.1080/14635240.2011.10708216
43.
SteinD. J.HeY.PhillipsA.SahakianB.WilliamsJ.PatelV. (2015). Global mental health and neuroscience. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 178-185.
44.
TlouE. R. (2013). A South African perspective on culturally congruent mental health services. Journal of Black Psychology, 39, 272-275.
45.
TruterI. (2007). African traditional healers: Cultural and religious beliefs intertwined in a holistic way—Complimentary and alternative medicine. South African Pharmaceutical Journal, 74, 56-60.
46.
WrefordJ. T. (2008). Working with spirit: Experiencing Izangoma healing in contemporary South Africa. New York, NY: Berghahn Books.
47.
ZumaT.WightD.RochatT.MoshabelaM. (2016). The role of traditional health practitioners in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Generic or mode-specific?BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 16, Article 304. doi:10.1186/s12906-016-1293-8
