Recreating community in post apartheid South Africa

• Main Author: Chettiar, Shamilla
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Community psychology > Research > South Africa > Katlehong; Community development > Research > South Africa > Katlehong; Political violence > South Africa; Violence > South Africa; Apartheid > South Africa; Political violence > Psychological aspects; Apartheid > Psychological aspects; Violence > Psychological aspects; Children and violence > Research > South Africa > Katlehong
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6279

M.Sc. === The present study describes the experiences of participants on an Adventure Therapy project at the Ekupholeni Mental Health Clinic in Katlehong. It details an account of the violence, both political and everyday, that face South Africans, particularly children and youth. It also attempts to detail the reconstructive challenges facing a democratic South Africa on the road towards healing. The implicit values underlying the research process are the values of Community Psychology and the Action Research method. Themes were drawn from four taped interview (two group and two individual) sessions. These themes suggest that participants have had positive experiences of pride, dignity, control, responsibility and unity through involvement with the project. These experiences are however not without their contradictions. An attempt has also been made to report on this dialectic. The study makes recommendations regarding the improved functioning of this project and also more widely applicable lessons for working with communities. The recreation of community is a struggle better expressed as a process rather than an event. Further documentation of this project is recommended to build on this baseline data.