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PsySSA Commemorates International Children’s Day 2022

PsySSA Commemorates International Children’s Day 2022

by | Jun 1, 2022 | COVID-19, Divisions, Media and Public Awareness, Society for Educational Psychology of South Africa (SEPSA)

International Children’s Day is celebrated on June 1 of each year. In 1925 the World Conference for the Well-being of Children declared June 1 as the day to focus the world’s attention on issues affecting children. The Conference adopted the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

Much of the legislated inequalities and discrimination of the Apartheid regime were removed when South Africa became a democratic country under president Nelson Mandela in 1994. Mandela is fondly remembered for his love of children. Birthdays were a special occasion where he could be seen smiling, surrounded by a crowd of excited children. Those occasions no doubt made his Day.
Under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, discriminatory practices against children based on race were removed. Today we have Section 28 of the Bill of Rights which ensures that each child has the right to:

• A name and a nationality. Family care or parental care, or to appropriate alternative care when removed from the family environment.
• Basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care and social services.
• Be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation.
• Be protected from exploitative labour practices.
• Not to perform work or provide services that are inappropriate for that child’s age or risk the child’s well-being, education, physical or mental health or spiritual, moral or social development.
• Not to be detained except as a measure of last resort and may be detained for the shortest period of time, and to be kept separately from adults.
• Be treated in a manner, and kept in conditions that considers the child’s age and have a legal practitioner assigned by the state.
• Not to be used in armed conflict, and to be protected in times of armed conflict.

Although we are guided by the Bill of Rights, we still have violation of these rights by adults. These include use of child labour, violence against children, child customary marriages, parents denying their children the right to education, food and shelter.

Let this International Children’s Day be a day of re-dedication where each of us can work towards protecting and caring for our children, who are the future of our country.

Author:

Dr Guru Kistnasamy

To whom it may concern!

Hear our voices
We depend on you
We are the future and the future starts small Consider our feelings, reach out to us
You are our hope and we will be your hope to Wash our hands and we will wash yours to Help us and we will help you too
Love us and we will love you too
Who am I?

I am a child – a little flower

I am a precious smile

By Nsuku Valentine Shivambu, a 17-year-old child rights activist from Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. https://www.savethechildren.org.za/news-and-events/blogs/covid-19-access-to-educationhttps

 

Every year, International Children’s Day is celebrated on 1 June. The origin of this holiday dates back to the 1925 World Conference for the Well-being of Children. After this date, countries across the world recognised children’s rights to affection, right to adequate food, right to medical care, right to education, and right to protection against all forms of exploitation, neglect, abuse, and right to grow up in a climate of peace and community spirit of Ubuntu.

Children and youth are considered to be a blessing and should be encouraged to flourish and their voices heard. According to our Constitution this includes decision-making, on all matters that affect them, including education, social issues, and mental health.

In a country still recovering from inequalities in the education system, from availability of smart-cellphones, data, and other gadgets or access to textbooks to self-educate to access to clean and/or running water and electricity, there is a need for parents, caregivers, medical and mental health professionals, government leaders and civil society activists, religious and community elders, corporate companies and media professionals and young people and children themselves to play a pivotal part in making International Children’s Day an inspirational entry-point for advocating, promoting, and celebrating children’s rights. In this way, translating dialogues into actions that fosters a better world for children their families, communities, and nations across the world.

Author:

Dr Diana De Sousa

Re-visiting the relevance and importance of health psychology in South Africa

Re-visiting the relevance and importance of health psychology in South Africa

by | May 19, 2022 | COVID-19, Divisions, Health Psychology (HP)

Abstract

Health psychology as a discipline has existed for more than four decades and is primarily concerned with research, theory, and practice at the nexus of psychology and health. The discipline is well established across Europe, the United States, and Australia with health psychology societies, postgraduate programmes, conferences, and academic journals dedicated to the discipline in the majority of these countries. However, in South Africa, health psychology remains a broad umbrella term under which psychologists and other health care professionals conduct research. Health psychology is concerned with the biological, social, psychological, contextual, and structural drivers of health and illness, and relies on theory and empirically-driven research to identify and understand important links between health and behaviour. In South Africa, where a large proportion of the population faces multiple co-occurring disease epidemics, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, COVID-19, diabetes, and heart disease, there is a need for a uniting sub-discipline like health psychology to focus intervention efforts and to meet the sustainable development goals. The recent re-establishment of a special interest group in health psychology in the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) is an important first step. In this article, and as members of the newly re-established special interest group in health psychology, we call attention to the need to promote health psychology in South Africa. In this article, we describe the paradigmatic traditions and theoretical models that inform the discipline. We then argue why health psychology should be prioritised again and recommend future directions for health psychology in South Africa.

Click here to read this article
PsySSA Commemorates Freedom Day 2022

PsySSA Commemorates Freedom Day 2022

by | Apr 27, 2022 | Community and Engagement, Community Engagement, COVID-19, Media and Public Awareness

Where have the heady memories of the very first General Election called for 27 April 1994, through negotiated settlement, gone? Long, colourful, winding queues of almost 20 million generally overjoyed South Africans of all hues, beliefs and position waited patiently to cast their vote. Elections were extended to 29 April to cater for the more than 90% of first-time expectant voters. On 9 May 1994, the newly-constituted democratic Parliament unanimously elected Nelson Mandela as our founding President.

On 28 March, the IFP marched on the ANC Johannesburg headquarters protesting against the elections that they were boycotting. Nineteen protesters were killed, which the Nugent Commission found was unwarranted. Amidst a national and international sigh of relief, the IFP agreed a few days before 27 April to participate. As the ballots had already been printed, IFP stickers were hurriedly added to the already printed ballot papers. The elections were peaceful, although subsequent elections have had the spectre of terrible violence, with deadly contestation before and after the results.

These details reflect some of the anticipation and excitement when PsySSA was inaugurated in January 1994, after protracted negotiations began in 1991 between the white-dominated PASA and the black-dominated Psychologists Against Apartheid, with participation of the Professional Board for Psychology, the Organisation for Alternate Social Services and the Black Psychology Forum.  PsySSA was the first national non-racial professional society to be formed in South Africa, in advance of the advent of democracy.

Those shaping PsySSA’s Constitution acknowledged up front “psychology’s historical complicity in supporting and perpetuating colonialism and the apartheid system” and committed us to, inter alia:

  • Transform and redress the silences in South African psychology to serve the needs and interests of all South Africa’s people;
  • Develop an organisational structure for psychology that reconciles historically opposed groups, amplifies the voices of hitherto excluded users of psychological knowledge and skills;
  • Ensure that PsySSA remains an organ of civil society without an overt or covert loyalty to any political party;
  • Advance psychology as a science, profession and as a means of promoting human well-being; and
  • Actively strive for social justice, oppose policies that deny individuals or groups access to the material and psychological conditions necessary for optimal human development, and protest any violations of basic human rights so as to render and advance mental health services to all South Africans.

While all around us there is the shattered landscape of devastation, desperation and destitution – occasioned by official malfeasance, COVID-19 impacts, natural disasters that  could have been mitigated, and declining education, health and professional training  – we should pay tribute to those who truly gave their all so that we enjoy the fruits of democracy. As we should to those who led PsySSA – from its shaky beginnings, it’s fraught breakaways and strident diversions – and who grew the successive leadership, including many of psychology’s outstanding minds. While the late Rachel Prinsloo and Lionel Nicholas were inaugurating PsySSA three months before democracy, let us not overlook the students Sumaya Laher, Garth Stevens and Shahnaaz Suffla who went on to lead us! Their and our combined challenge is to ensure that psychology is more demographically representative, is seized with crafting policy and interventions that repair the fractured psyche that confronts us, and ensure that psychology plays its rightful role, becoming “more publicly accessible and expanding its role in SA society.” Together we should set “the tone for a psychology that reflects social concerns, transcends personal interest and group prejudice” and truly serves all of  humanity.

26th Annual South African Psychology Congress – First Announcement

26th Annual South African Psychology Congress – First Announcement

by | Apr 20, 2022 | 26th Annual Psychology Congress, Congress, COVID-19

The question of emancipation lies simultaneously at the margins and the centre of psychological work. At the same time, we are faced with enduring legacies of marginality, exclusion and injustice, and the possibilities for liberatory consciousness and action for change. As we look thus toward a new horizon, constitutive of shifting realities and aspirations, we must take cognisance of the ways in which the historical is located within contemporary struggles, most recently highlighted by the widening of systemic social and health inequalities and injustices in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is at these confluences that psychology offers a generative space for justice-aligned, new and creative thought and practice – in alignment with African-centred subjectivities, philosophies and imaginaries. In this moment, signified by plural knowledges, traditions, narratives and social actors in African and South African psychology, the imperative to (re)imagine and (re)inscribe psychology in alignment with the continent’s realities and priorities remains ever-pressing.

Drawing inspiration from lessons learnt in crisis, and liberatory resurgences in Africa and elsewhere in the Global South, the 26th Annual South African Psychology Congress seeks to animate emancipatory impulses and potentialities within the science, practice and profession. The Congress Scientific Committee invites submissions from practitioners, scholars, researchers, educators, students, community organisers, activists, artists, and policymakers that showcase and contribute to trajectories and movements in psychology thought, practice and activism. The Committee encourages both conventional and non-traditional submissions that feature and engage cutting-edge, innovative and cross-cutting applications across the different areas of psychology. 

The 26th Annual South African Psychology Congress will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 26th to 28th October 2022.

PsySSA looks forward to hosting you!

Click here to register for the 26th Congress
Click here to submit an Abstract for the 26th Congress
Click here to find out more about our 26th Congress!
Autism Spectrum Disorders: Psychologists another Piece of the Puzzle?

Autism Spectrum Disorders: Psychologists another Piece of the Puzzle?

by | Apr 2, 2022 | Community and Engagement, COVID-19, Divisions, Mental Health Advocacy

This year’s World Autism Day comes on the heels of changes made in the newly published Diagnostic Statistical Manual-Fifth Edition-Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), to clarify, amongst other things , that “persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following: deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, and in developing, maintaining and understanding relationships” are all integral to the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The use of the puzzle piece has been heavily criticised within as reinforcing negative views of people on the spectrum . These negative views of Autism Spectrum Disorders are often driven by the curative approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders , rather than focusing on increasing strengths for people who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is historically linked with the biomedical model which focuses on ameliorating disease then psychosocial adjustment.

For many psychologists, our role is usually early in the life cycle of treatment often being that of diagnoses. However, psychologists can, and should have a role beyond the diagnostic stage, fundamentally in assisting parents adjust to ways in which they could assist their children who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This moves away from only focusing on diagnosis towards equipping parents with ways that enhance child’s skills, removes the focus on the child towards their social environment. In addition, focusing on naturing the skills of the child, rather than the curative approach that has dominated Autism Spectrum Disorder treatment.

Beyond the parental assistance and the focus on strengths for people on the spectrum, there is much misinformation about Autism Spectrum Disorders especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a rise in the anti-vax movements having sparked renewed anti-vax movements linked to autism. Psychologists are well positioned to mitigate the spread of misinformation and even falsehoods about the vaccines and Autism Spectrum Disorders.

On this world Autism Awareness Day, it is important that psychologists rise to the challenge of tackling misinformation that continues to cause harm to families and people on the spectrum, including the deficit discourses around people on the spectrum. The role of psychologists should be taken outside the therapy rooms to influence policy about how best to offer treatment for people on the Autism Spectrum Disorders.

 

Call for Applications: CaSP 2022 Seed Grant Competition

Call for Applications: CaSP 2022 Seed Grant Competition

by | Mar 31, 2022 | Community & Social Psychology Division (CaSP), Community and Engagement, Community Engagement, COVID-19, Divisions

The CaSP Division invites its members to apply for the Seed Grant competition – which seeks to fund ONE innovative, practical, and sustainable community engagement project (R5000).

Do you have an idea to promote mental health and psychosocial well-being during and beyond the pandemic?

You are invited to submit a community project proposal aimed at improving mental health within a particular community group. Your concept should epitomise the essence or values of Community Psychology In other words, we are not simply looking for an ‘outreach’ community project – but a project that really demonstrates Community Psychology in action.

You can apply on behalf of your students.

Hurry, Entries close the 10th of May, 2022!

Queries: casp@psyssa.co.za

Click here to login and join CaSP
Click here to download the Seed Grant Application Form
Click here to download the Seed Grant terms and conditions

Professor Ronelle Carolissen’s
Tips and Tricks for the 2022 Seed Grant

I would like to focus on three seemingly simple but core approaches to doing grant proposals in general, and the CaSP seed grant specifically:

  1. Read the requirements of the advertised grant carefully and ensure that your application meets ALL the requirements.
  2. Create a narrative about your project that is clear with clearly defined and attainable goals within the time frame. In short, say what you want to do, why you want to do it, when, where and with whom you will do the project.
  3. Do not exceed the budget that is advertised. For example if a budget of R5000 is advertised, do not submit a budget that asks for R20000. This is a seed grant for a small project.

Nick Wood, 2020 Winner

I was thrilled when I saw the CASP seed grant advertised in 2020. I had done some previous work with an informal settlement educational project in Cape Town – the South
African Educational Project (SAEP) – and knew they were hoping to expand their creative writing classes for youth, but lacked support and resources. What a perfect opportunity
to try and help!
I did several things which I think contributed to my successful application;
So

(a) I had a close read of the CASP grant criteria before rushing into applying, as I knew I could optimise my chances of success, if I paid close attention to *all* of the information contained within the Seed grant call, especially the terms and conditions.
(b) I made a note that the community project aim had to have a mental health and psychosocial impact AND needed to be sustainable beyond the initial seed funding.
(c) I discussed it with the organisation to make sure it was what THEY wanted.
(d) I then addressed *every* section as best I could, in the application form, including what I thought was ‘novel’ or different, about my proposed project.

The funding supported a Facing Covid through Creative Writing Project with the SAEP and resulted in a week of socially distanced group writing tasks and discussions. This
was often moving and difficult, as attendees revealed personal, familial and community struggles to survive, but much shared help and supportive resilience as well as laughter
was shared too. We finished each workshop with a discussion on African Speculative Fiction (SF) and attendees were tasked with writing a story of what a ‘better South Africa in 2040’ might look like. Winning stories were adjudicated by an independent SAEP ‘judge’ and awarded a cash prize, certificates – and the best story A South African Coffee Shop Scene was published in The Mail & Guardian ‘Thought Leader.’
Here is my article on Covid in Science Fiction Writing.

Kgomotso Ramanyatsa, 2019 Winner

The CaSP inaugural Seed Grant Competition caught my eye at a time when I sought to engage in work that would be beneficial for mental health and impact positively on the lives of young people. I had just joined PsySSA and the CaSP division as a student member and was eager to apply for the grant. Despite the daunting thought of coordinating an intervention, I let my heart lead the way and applied for the opportunity. The competition’s ethos of fostering mental health through community projects, inspired me to make a difference.

The grant requirements of a novel and sustainable initiative aimed at community mental health and psychosocial wellbeing stood out for me. The criteria aided in further reflection on my idea of a poetry and essays club. I envisioned the implementation of the club within a context where there was a need for the intervention. I aimed to empower students to take ownership of the initiative and determine the form it would take and how to improve in the future. Fortunately, Speak the Word was the winning application for the 2019 Seed Grant Competition.

The funding enabled the project to commence as the beneficiaries received resources such as pens, journals and book vouchers. The students showed great interest and commitment. After several sessions, they became comfortable, led the meetings and were able to share their thoughts, emotions and hopes. And looking back at the positive outcomes, the inception of Speak the Word was worthwhile

Submission deadline: 10 May 2022 @ 12h00pm