Chapter 17: African Perspective Flashcards
Define African in regards to the African perspective on psychology
Refers to a polymorphous grouping of indigenous peoples of sub Saharan Africa
What does scientific racism refer
It’s the use of science to provide justification for racist ideas
What is the anthropocentric ontology
Implies that humans form the point of departure as well as the center of the universe and implies that humans form an indivisible whole with the cosmos and a unity with God other human being and nature.
What are the 3 cosmic orders or realities proposed by Sow
The macro cosmos which refer to the domain in which God and religion is encountered. Here ancestors represent archetype from collective unconscious serve as intervening medium and contact with God.
The meso cosmos figures as a kind of no man’s land where coincidence and forces of ancestors spirits and sorcerer hold sway and is situated in the world of individual and collective imagination involves ancestors the living reality and natural physical reality
The micro cosmos is the domain of the individual person in his or her everyday collective existence that is typified by Ubuntu which is a code of ethics governing ones interaction with others implying that a person is only a person because of other people. It also refers to our human and humane qualities that differentiate us from animal it’s the ability to have feelings like concern sensitivity tenderness reverence and understanding
What difference exists between the European and traditional African ethos
European ethos rests on principles of the survival of the individual
Traditional African ethos rests on principles of the survival of the community
According to Austustine Nwoye what is the modern psychological account of the African self
The western notion of self is incompatible with the African view which consists of multiple aspects of the relationship between individual and community
The African self isn’t a self contained exclusive entity but an extensive entity that projects itself with varying degrees of intensity into other realms of human existence that of Social economic religion politics and culture.
What are the dimensions of the African self
Nwoye refers to mapping of the fabric of the African self which refers to the synoptic aggregate of dimensions including orientation beliefs characteristics and habits customs shared meaning perceived in Africa as attributes of a normal full fledged being.
These complimentary dimensions include the Embodied self Generative self Communal self Narratological self Melioristic self Structural self Liminal self Transcendental self
Each functions as a source of self fulfillment and social belonging but also psychopathology
What is the embodied self
The self has a body and the concept of embodiment is used to refer to the totality of the individuals unique observable physical properties including height weight skin colour hair finger nail prints body tone. The overall external characteristics
It is the aspects that’s open and visible to others which we present to others and evoke response that can be complimentary or derogatory.
What is the generative self
Refers to the agentic and enterprising capacities of the person that encompasses the seat of the self personal ambitions plans and programs of life that are intended for it’s own betterment. It aims to clear away obstacles that hinder expansion and ascend in the world by so doing to win individual a place in society.
It accumulate distinctions of worth which are the forms of distinction and emblems of success that are valued in one’s community and mediates one’s noticeability and symbolic value in the community
What is the communal self
Refers to the relational and inclusive character of the African self that places emphasis on the phenomenon of social solidarity or the factor of mutual dependence of selves including the living and the dead.
African view of self insists on a dialectical interpretation of the individual and community in which neither has full primacy whereby the community serves as a source of social and emotional sustencence for the person
What is the melioristic self
It is the part of the self that assists the individual in finding meaning in life and expanding their capacity for self awareness. It facilitates confrontation with the gap we experience between how things are and how we believe they ought to be.
It provides one with a time consciousness beyond the mere present keeping one mindful of the past one builds on and the future that will unfold.
What is the narratological self
Refers to that dimension of the African self that reflects the sediment and influence of the cultural memory of the people on the modern African imagination.
It is the mode whereby consciousness of self and consciousness of being part of a community of social and psychological continuity are entangled. It’s the form whereby the past inhabits the present and community inhabits the individual and helps individual maintains a link with tradition.
What is the structural self
It is the psychological counterpart of the embodied self and is the seat of individual thinking feeling and will.
What is the liminal self
Liminality is the condition of being in between 2 states of being of inhabiting a world in between no longer and not yet.
What is the transcendental or spiritual self
Is the values and principles the individual lives by but had not personally chosen. African self is dominated by many internalised beliefs and assumptions and attitudes reflecting the spiritual view of people
First is the belief in a supreme being from which all good originates such as God
Second is a belief in the existence of spiritual agencies that are capable of impacting our lives
Third is a belief that our ancestors and deceased relatives continue to have an impact on our lives
Fourth is a belief that thoughts and utterances have the power to bring about the things that are symbolised by them
