The complex transformation of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA)

Abstract

1994 saw the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa, which was replaced by a ‘new’ democratic society. With the fall of the apartheid regime came the need to transform and (re)construct a South African identity and the psychology profession in the country. However, the Africanisation of psychology is fought for on political grounds of injustice and irrelevance rather than grounds of conceptual and practical transformation. Often arguments for Africanisation seek to distance and exclude psychology from indigenous theory and practice, and vice versa, creating theories and methodologies that are immune to each other. The Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) was established in January 1994, preceding democracy by four months. PsySSA is the amalgamation of several disparate psychological societies that existed up to that point. The mandate of PsySSA was to replace the previously racially split societies with an equal and democratic society. As part of this mandate, internal transformation was required while encouraging external transformation. Simultaneously, PsySSA has to represent South African psychology and psychologists, nationally, continentally and internationally. 27 years since the establishment of PsySSA, 18 past presidents of the society were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of their construction of PsySSA’s identity and transformation. Foucauldian discourse analysis was used to analyse the data. PsySSA’s transformation and identity were constructed in metaphorical terms and as becoming and as endorsed. The findings of this study indicate that PsySSA is an organisation transforming while being an agent of transformation for psychology in South Africa. Despite PsySSA having contributed productively to psychology in the country and having gained international recognition, PsySSA has no clear end-goal of transformation, making it challenging to assess its progress in this regard. A primary fault line in PsySSA is the continuity of the organisation in the face of discontinuity and vice versa. This fault line, often constructed utilising racialised and historical discourses, threatens the very existence of PsySSA, but is also the articulation point that fuels and directs its transformation. It is recommended that future studies consider the views of PsySSA’s members regarding transformation in relation to the society.