Constructions of multicultural therapeutic training in the South African context

Abstract

The challenges of providing appropriate Masters training in therapeutic psychology, to ultimately serve the needs of South Africa s diverse population, have been the focus of much attention in psychological practice and training within the postapartheid climate. Attention has been given to areas such as practical attainment of skills and exposure to diverse curriculum content and experience. The central focus of the study involved an analysis of 27 individual interviews from a cohort of Masters trainers and trainees who were part of therapeutic training at a Historically White University (HWU). In particular, the study focussed on a discursive analysis of constructions of multiculturalism in the therapeutic training that the participants were involved in, and attempted to explicitly uncover and analyse dominant discourses reflected in these constructions. The study aimed to describe the larger social discourses informing these constructions and to highlight the effects these discourses have on the discursive context of a HWU. Furthermore, the uniqueness of the study is seen in that it aimed to explicitly uncover elements of power and positioning and the manner in which power is not only reflected in the social context of the interview situation, but also how power and positioning function within the current ideological context. The study makes use of poststructuralism and social constructionism as theoretical points of departure. The data collected via individual interviews was analyzed using discursive psychology, Foucauldian discourse analysis as well as by applying deconstruction and externalization. Deconstruction and externalisation as research practices were applied within this discursive context to trouble the dominant discourses and subject positions made available. The findings revealed discourses of exclusion, the bigger picture of a country in transition discourse, discourses of multiculturalism, and discourses of race and identity.