Social Practice Of Psychology
The social practice of psychology and the
social sciences in a liberal democratic
society: an analysis of employment trends
M. WILSON, L. RICHTER, K. DURRHEIM, N. SURENDORFF AND
L. ASAFO-AGEI
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the relevance of psychology and the social
and human sciences in a changing South Africa. Thenew South
Africa embraces a liberal democratic approach to government.
The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) is a
policy document that articulates the goals of this liberal
democratic society and the transformative approach to be
followed to achieve it. The RDP policy document advocates
massive social change and the steps that have been taken to
implement the goals of the policy need to be assessed. In this
paper, this has been analysed at the level of employment
practices. Employment advertisements for social and human
science graduates, in three national weekly newspapers, from
1976 to 1996, were investigated. The results are interpreted
within a framework based on the ideas of Nickolas Rose about
the role played by the discipline of psychology in a liberal
democratic society.
Introduction I THE RELEVANCE of psychology has been a contentious issue in South
Africa for the past two decades (Prinsloo 1992). In 1981
Holdstock stated: "Psychology must certainly rate as one of the most
irrelevant endeavours in South Africa today" (p.123). What has been
1 The programme for research on employment trends was
supported by a University Foundation grant to Professor L.M.
Richter and by a CSD Unit grant to Professor R.D. Griesel.
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOl 15 NO. 2 JULY 2000 115
called "the political crisis in psychology" has led psychologists to question
their role in the current and future South Africa. Much of the
practice of psychology has centered around white, middle-class individuals
in urban areas and in industry, where increased productivity,
application of psychological tests for employee...
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