Community psychology in South Africa: origins, developments, and manifestations

Abstract

This article represents a South African contribution to the growing international body of knowledge on histories of community psychology. We trace the early antecedents of social-community psychology interventions and describe the social forces and academic influences that provided the impetus for the emergence and development of community psychology in South Africa. We then draw on various sources, including undocumented small histories of organized groups and individuals, to present on account of the emergence, development, and focus of community psychology in South Africa. We also very briefly describe community-focused work in other selected African countries. In the penultimate section, we take a critical look at the notions of “community” embedded in community psychology practice in South Africa, and then by way of conclusion, we describe the trajectory of community psychology and speculate about its future in the country.