Family Therapy and the Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Therapeutic Use of Songs in Apartheid South Africa

A central issue for family therapy is the critical question of how to define its role in influencing social change. Family therapy has tended to focus on how to liberate and empower individual clients, not communities, from the travails of tradition. This article highlights social change mechanisms implemented by the oppressed majority in South Africa during the apartheid period. It draws inspiration from the pedagogy of the oppressed articulated by Steve Biko and other members of his generation. This enabled the Black majority in South Africa ‘to name their world by reflecting on their conditions, imagining a better world, and then taking action to create it’ (Freire, 1968, p. 253) through the use of revolutionary songs that resulted in the collapse of the cruel apartheid system. The implications for family therapy are discussed.     

The effect of migration on family structures in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper assesses the effect of migration or family structures in sub-Saharan Africa, especially the effect of emigration on the reproduction, production, and social stability of the family in areas of origin in the predominantly agrarian communities of East and Southern Africa. Migration in precolonial Africa usually occurred for 1 of the following reasons: 1) the search by communities for new habitats and opportunities; 2) as a community response to droughts, floods, environmental degradation, and similar disasters; and 3) as a result of internecine wars, civil strife, and general hostilities. Thus, because of the collective nature of early migrations, the family unit maintained a much greater degree of social cohesion. The effects of the rise of the modern state in Africa on migration include 1) spatial limits of collective migration were frozen, 2) the colonial boundaries did not always correspond to cultural divisions, 3) both migration within colonial boundaries and individual migration became dominant, and 4) cyclical migration began. The end of colonialism resulted in 1) difficulties in creating strong and internally coherent nation states because of the uncertainty of national borders and 2) more cyclical migrants. The effects of migration on reproduction in the family during the colonial period include 17 extremely low fertility rates, 2) widespread domestic instability, and 3) exacerbation of moral decadence. Contemporary patterns of emigration have been far less disruptive, due in part to increased personal mobility and migration of the complete reproductive unit. The effects of migration on production include 1) depletion of labor for production; 2) women had to assume production functions, together with all their other responsibilities; and 3) very little cash or goods were available for remittance to areas of origin. Production and productivity among rural African families will continue to suffer as long as plantations, mines, and urban centers entice the younger, more productive labor way. Migration can affect the social structure 1) by undermining basic social institutions including the family; or 2) by strengthening social solidarity especially if it occurs in the land frontier of the migrant's original society. Africa's migration policy should 1) allow for greater mobility within and across boundaries and 2) initiate policies and programs to achieve a more balanced settlement pattern, especially in rural Africa.     

‘Can anything good come out of this mouth?’ Female experiences of disability in Malawi

The aim of this article is to give an overview of the daily life stories of 23 women with disabilities in Malawi. The stories were gained through qualitative interviews that covered aspects of being a woman and living with a disability in Malawi. Recent studies from countries in southern Africa have documented how people with disabilities experience poorer living conditions than people without disabilities. It is generally assumed that the living conditions of women are worse than those of men. There is, however, a large gap in the literature concerning women with disabilities in Africa. The results present a mixed picture. While several of the informants had experienced discrimination and exclusion because of their impairments, most of the women had been well taken care of and were treated equally by their closest family and friends. They had a strong wish to be empowered through education and employment.     

The State of Family Theory and Research in South Africa

In the early period of research on family in South Africa, family problems and family disruption were prevalent topics. From the mid 1970s on there appear more critical analyses of social injustices as casual factors in African family disruption. One out- standing aspect of family studies during the last decade has been a movement toward interdisciplinary research. The current emphasis in family research and theorizing is on developing research-in- formed theory within the context of societal, political, and social conditions during the radical transformation underway in this society.     

Migrant labor and sexually transmitted disease: AIDS in Africa

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is worldwide, but the clinical and epidemiological pattern of the disease in Africa is different from that in developed areas. "Type 1 AIDS" occurs in industrialized North America and Europe; it has a distinctive sex ratio (16:1) and risk pattern of IV drug use and sexual practices. "Type 2 AIDS" occurs in Third World countries, particularly in eastern, southern, and central Africa. It is characterized by an entirely different sex ratio (1:1) and by distinctively different risk patterns. Both epidemics are caused by the HIV-1 virus. The key concept for understanding the origins of the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 AIDS is the migratory labor system in eastern, central, and southern Africa. This system causes long absences, increased family breakdown, and increased numbers of sexual partners. Historically the organization of this labor market has created a population which suffers from epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases. These historical patterns are presented as evidence for the contemporary transmission of AIDS. When contemporary AIDS and HIV-1 seropositivity prevalence data are examined, a systematic temporal and geographic pattern emerges for the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Despite a paucity of good data, the prevalence data from eastern, central, and southern Africa support the thesis of migrant labor's role in the transmission of AIDS.     

Developing an African research network and research agenda on work–family interface

In this article we aim to provide a narrative of the critical engagement on work–family issues in Africa that took place during the inaugural workshop of the African Research Network on Work–Family held at the University of Pretoria, South Africa in September 2015. The inter-disciplinary experts at the workshop agreed that with funding and appropriate local data, the Network has the potential to make a substantial contribution to strengthening and amplifying African voices in the global work–family discourse, which is currently dominated by research findings and literature from the Global North. A future research agenda was also proposed.     

The public private sphere: family narrative and democracy in Argentina and South Africa

This article explores the paradoxical prominence of seemingly private family stories and memories in the democratic public spheres emerging in the wake of the ‘Dirty War’ in Argentina and apartheid in South Africa. In part because the discourse of the family was used in these cases to both uphold and protest dictatorial regimes, individuals who lost family members to state violence became powerful moral agents in the post‐dictatorship and post‐apartheid periods. Narratives told by and about these individuals – ranging from personal testimony given in each country’s truth commission to representations in theatre, fiction and film – have worked to constitute what may be called a ‘public private sphere’. They not only express personal grief, but also (and especially in wider cultural circulation) have been emplotted and mobilised to construct democratic publics. These may or may not correspond to the nationwide publics envisioned in state discourses of reconciliation. Using genealogical fiction surrounding ‘disappeared children’ in Argentina as a lens to analyse South Africa, this article argues that stories of children attempting to piece together their family histories reveal this dynamic as they become sites for convening democratic publics and critiquing transitional politics.     

Education and changing reproductive behavior in Ghana

It has recently been posited by several researchers that a fertility transition is under way in Ghana. Such fertility decline would be the first instance on the west coast of Africa. Data from the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey allows closer assessment of this earlier speculation. Review of the data suggests that earlier assertions of the existence of fertility transition were premature and hastily drawn from fragmented evidence. Little evidence exists to support any hypothesis of a fertility turnaround in ghana. The findings are, however, cautiously optimistic with some indication that continued increases in the proportion of women with some secondary education may yet induce a fertility transition in the country. The author notes the lack of individual motivation to reduce fertility in Ghana and questions the merit of continuing family planning programs in such an atmosphere. Measures to reach men in family planning messages and to expand the level of women's education are recommended. Success in reducing fertility in Kenya as a result of increasing women's education is noted.     

Population and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa

The intricate interrelationships between population and development in sub-Saharan Africa are examined and the prospects are considered for converting the abundant human resources into an effective development asset. The demographic trends that characterize the sub-Saharan region at this time differ markedly from what is happening in other parts of the developing world. In Africa, death rates have come down slightly (17/1000 in 1980-85 in contrast to 20/1000 in 1970-75); there has been practically no change in the birthrate. Consequently, population growth rates are on the rise throughout Africa although there are differences within the regions. The various factors responsible for high fertility in African societies and the consequences of the continuing high fertility often are mutually reinforcing. For example, low health and educational standards are likely to lead women to have large numbers of children, but these conditions are themselves the result of the population growth, which requires an expansion of health care and educational facilities that hard-pressed national budgets cannot provide. In Africa, the growth rate of the youth population is increasing even faster than that of the population as a whole -- from 3.1% in 1980-85 to an estimated 3.4% in 1990-95. The most critical problem posed by such growth rates is an increased demand for food. Countries which cannot adequately feed their growing populations are unlikely to be significantly more successful in satisfying their other basic needs. Whether educated or healthy or not, Africa's growing numbers of children represent major economic problems for countries with a low level of economic growth. There is little hope of effectively absorbing all the new entrants who swell the labor market each year, and the indirect consequences for the economy of rapid demographic growth are no less serious. Presently, Africa is the scene of major and particularly distressing movements of population as the drought has forced people to move long distances in search of food relief. It is too soon to tell whether or how much of the lands left behind can be rehabilitated and again become productive. The question arises as to whether appropriate policies, supported by adequate funds and technical know-how, can convert Africa's millions of young people from being a brake on development into a resource for the future. Policies and strategies that may be most appropriate to this end are: to take sufficient cognizance of the interrelationship between population and development and hence to be prepared to take the necessary steps to ensure that the two remain in balance; to realize that family planning programs mean more than a reduction in fertility but also the possibility of reducing infant and maternal mortality and morbidity; to back whatever family planning programs governments introduce; to plan comprehensively; and to effectively carry out the development strategies.     

Trends and Prospects in Africa

In Africa, modernisation and family change are two key factorsimpinging on the traditional participatory role of the ageingin the community. The article examines survey evidence of theactual level of involvement of Ghana's elders in social participation,and briefly considers what might be done to encourage theircontinued participation.     

Family Resilience Resources in Coping With Child Sexual Abuse in South Africa

The aim of this qualitative study was to identify resources of family resilience that help families cope with child sexual abuse. Data were collected from a purposeful sample of parents representing nine poor families living in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The narratives of the participants were analyzed thematically. The results indicate that the families, despite adverse situations, utilized internal and external resilience resources. Internal resources were the parents’ relationship with their children, their own emotional functioning and attitudes, the children’s ability to cope with the abuse, boundaries in the family, insight into their children’s emotional needs, and sibling relationships. External family resources were the support of extended family members, friends, and a local community-based nonprofit organization working with child sexual abuse and schools. The empowering role of the identified resources for family resilience should be enhanced in interventions, while future studies could further explore these aspects in families confronted with child sexual abuse.     

The place of South African philosophy in the future of South African philosophy

The title of my paper reads like an oxymoron if not downright confusion. However, it is not meant to be an oxymoron and it does not betray my private confusion. It is deliberate and perhaps a bit political. These two words “South Africa” rightly conjure up an image of things that are either in the south of Africa or things that are African in the south. I find the first image deserving of attention for my purposes. Juxtaposing the concerns of academic philosophy in South Africa (the country) alongside the ordinary reference of the term South Africa (and resultant expectations), I seek to argue that the practice of philosophy in South Africa does not sufficiently show South African characteristics. I specifically argue that the practice of philosophy in South Africa is far removed from the place in which it operates. While there are historical reasons to explain this state of affairs, the future of philosophy in this place can only be secured by an active renunciation of the status quo accompanied by a deliberate responsiveness to the philosophical needs of South Africa. It is incumbent on the dominant philosophers to make this renunciation and foster deliberate responsiveness.     

Family patterns,women's status and fertility in the Middle East and North Africa

Currently, countries in the Middle East and North Africa are in the process of changing from high to low mortality and fertility, and the present paper reviews and assesses the current state of the social science research on family patterns and women's status in these regions. In particular, it reviews literature on: 1) marriage patterns; 2) the extended family and relations internal to the family; 3) larger kinship structures; 4) the role and status of women in the larger society; and 5) divorce, widowhood, and remarriage. The author, however, believes that much of the research on family patterns lacks concern with the impact of basic structural changes in the economic and social organization of countries in the region. He concludes by offering a few suggestions about areas where research linking population dynamics with family patterns and the status of women could be usefully undertaken.     

Protecting Freeborn Muslims: The Sokoto Caliphate's Attempts to Prevent Illegal Enslavement and its Acceptance of the Strategy of Ransoming

This article builds upon previous work on the discourse of legal and illegal slavery in Islamic West Africa and on the issue of illegal enslavement as a major cause of the Sokoto jihad. It argues that the protection of freeborn Muslims was a major policy concern for the Sokoto government but that, due to internal factors, the government could not stop the enslavement of freeborn Muslims nor enforce the legally preferred remedy of free release. The government's acceptance of the ransoming of illegally captive individuals by family and friends is interpreted as a demonstration of the weakness of the Sokoto Caliphate government.     

One Family, Two Households: Rural to Urban Migration in Kenya

Many households in sub-Saharan Africa allocate their labor resources between rural and urban areas to diversify risks and maximize income. One such strategy would be for a husband in a rural area to migrate to an urban area while his wife and family remain in the rural area without any chance of joining the migrant husband in the urban area. The family maintains a rural home and an urban home. This article explores possible determinants of this type of migration using data from Kenya. Nontrivial findings suggest that such migratory behavior may be motivated by agglomeration effects of household size in the rural area, an increase in remittance by the migrant husband to his rural family, a relatively low education for the husband, and a high urban cost of living.     

Orphanhood and Completion of Compulsory School Education Among Young People in South Africa: Findings From a National Representative Survey

We examined the association of orphanhood and completion of compulsory school education among young people in South Africa. In South Africa, school attendance is compulsory through grade 9, which should be completed before age 16. However, family and social factors such as orphanhood and poverty can hinder educational attainment. Participants were 10,452 16–24‐year‐olds who completed a South African national representative household survey. Overall, 23% had not completed compulsory school levels. In univariate analyses, school completion was lower among those who had experienced orphanhood during school‐age years, males, and those who reported household poverty. In multivariate analyses controlling for household poverty, females who had experienced maternal or paternal orphanhood were less likely to have completed school; orphanhood was not independently associated with males' school completion. Findings highlight the need for evidence‐informed policies to address the education and social welfare needs of orphans and vulnerable youth, particularly females, in South Africa.     

Older people as resources in South Africa: Mpumalanga households

The extended family used to be relied upon to provide subsistence and care for older people in sub-Saharan Africa. However, recently South Africa has seen a reversal of roles, where older people now provide subsistence and care to younger generations; this role reversal is being accelerated by HIV/AIDS deaths among young adults. In most rural households, the non-contributory old age pension (OAP) that is means-tested is an important factor in making older people breadwinners. Using data from the 2004 Mpumalanga Older People's Survey, we examined the changing role of older people, which has been influenced mainly by changes in household structure and old age pension. Findings show that in 63% of matrifocal, multigenerational households, 76% of older people are the sole providers of household necessities, caring for the sick and grandchildren in increasingly skip-generation households.     

Women from the Middle East and North Africa in Europe: understanding their marriage and family dynamics

The aim of this article is to assist the understanding of social workers in Europe of marriage and family dynamics among women from Middle East and North African countries who have moved to Europe. The focus of this article is on husband selection processes and family dynamics after marriage in Egypt, which is used as a case study reflecting culture and norms surrounding marriage in this region. This article reports on the findings of doctoral studies which examined marriage patterns and family dynamics in North Africa and in particular in Egypt where more in-depth data were available. The authors reflect issues surrounding values and process of marriage not only in terms of the implications for practice with social work clients or service users, but also in relation to the potential of women from this region who may join the social care workforce.