Abstract
BackgroundDuring the era of apartheid in South Africa, a number of mental health professionals were vocal about the need for socio-economic and political reform. They described the deleterious psychological and social impact of the oppressive and discriminatory Nationalist state policies. However, they remained optimistic that democracy would usher in positive changes. In this article, we consider how mental health professionals working in post-apartheid South Africa experience their work.MethodsOur aim was to describe the experience of mental health professionals working in prisons who provide care to suicidal prisoners. Data were collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using thematic content analysis.ResultsFindings draw attention to the challenges mental health professionals in post-apartheid South Africa face when attempting to provide psychological care in settings where resources are scarce and where the environment is anti-therapeutic. Findings highlight the significant gap between current policies, which protect prisoners’ human rights, and every-day practices within prisons.ConclusionsThe findings imply that there is still an urgent need for activism in South Africa, particularly in the context of providing mental health care services in settings which are anti-therapeutic and inadequately resourced, such as prisons.
Highlights
During the era of apartheid in South Africa, a number of mental health professionals were vocal about the need for socio-economic and political reform
At the height of the political turmoil and state repression that was a hallmark of the last decade of apartheid in South Africa, a number of mental health professionals commented on the impossibility of conducting truly ethical mental health practice in an oppressive social context [1,2,3]
We present and discuss data gleaned as part of a larger study on the challenges of suicide prevention in South Africa
Summary
During the era of apartheid in South Africa, a number of mental health professionals were vocal about the need for socio-economic and political reform They described the deleterious psychological and social impact of the oppressive and discriminatory Nationalist state policies. At the height of the political turmoil and state repression that was a hallmark of the last decade of apartheid in South Africa, a number of mental health professionals commented on the impossibility of conducting truly ethical mental health practice in an oppressive social context [1,2,3] They envisaged a post-apartheid future in which there would be a more equitable distribution of wealth, and a more just society, conducive to human flourishing and psychosocial well-being [4]. We consider the human rights and advocacy implications of our findings, within the context of existing legislative frameworks in South Africa
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