First contact : an exploratory study of the role of psychoanalytic infant observation in South African community psychology interventions
Date
2007-12
Authors
Lazarus, Jana
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
Abstract
Very little is known about the experiences of black children living in poverty in South Africa. This compromises
the delivery of appropriate psychological services. This dissertation considers the contribution that psychoanalytic
infant observation might make to a needs assessment process within the community psychology paradigm. To date,
infant observation has predominantly been used for training psychotherapists and other professionals in Western
contexts. The goal of the present project was to conduct a "classical" observation of a mother and child in a lowincome
South African community in the first year of the infant's life, in order to ascertain what kind of description
it would yield. The question was whether such a description is useful for the needs assessment process, and
ultimately, whether infant observation is a viable tool for psychologists working in low-income communities in
South Africa.
The study was set in a poor, semi-rural, so-called coloured township in the Western Cape. The data were analysed
using an intersubjective psychoanalytic lens and a social constructionist grounded theory approach. In overview,
the findings relate to two main areas, namely a) the nature and content of the resultant description, and b) the effect
of the process. The analysis of the case material showed that the observation produced an extremely detailed
account of the experience of poverty and oppression, involving the way in which it influences all relationships,
including the one between mother and child. The knowledge gained offers clear pointers to the kind of intervention
that would benefit the particular infant in the present study, and potentially other infants in vulnerable social
contexts as well. One surprising outcome was the extensive way in which the observation functioned
therapeutically for the whole family. It is therefore concluded that infant observation can provide a very rich
contribution to low-income communities on a number of levels, if it is able to make both the theoretical and
practical adjustments needed. It is thus argued that it is necessary to look at infant observation in more critical
ways, both in terms of how it has traditionally been conceptualised and how it is and can be applied across all
contexts.
Description
Thesis (DPhil (Psychology))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
Keywords
Infant psychology -- South Africa, Community psychology -- South Africa, Poor -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects, Observation (Psychology), Dissertations -- Psychology, Theses -- Psychology