South African Psychology and ‘Relevance’: Continuing Challenges

Abstract

During the apartheid era, psychology was accused of being irrelevant, and of advertently or inadvertently bolstering apartheid. Since 1994, much has changed in psychology. However, much has remained the same. In a situational analysis of research in psychology over the last five years it emerged that quantitative methods based on ‘hard’ science theory, as well as the traditional topics of assessment, psychotherapy, counselling, psychopathology and stress continue to dominate psychological research. A minority of studies utilise theoretical frameworks and tackle topics that illuminate the interweaving of the individual with the sociopolitical context. Knowledge is being generated chiefly about urban, middle-class adults living in the three wealthiest provinces, with university students being the most popular source of participants. Historically white universities continue to dominate the publishing scene, and collaboration takes place chiefly with high-income countries. A comparison of these results with the key issues raised in the United Nation Development Programme's South Africa human development report 2003 shows that psychology has a long way to go before it can establish its ‘relevance’ credentials.