Perceptions of community psychology among Honours/BPsych students in the Western Cape

[摘要] In South Africa, a dire need exists for a psychological approach that would be appropriate and adequate for all South Africans while opposing remaining historical inequalities. Psychological services are saturated within the predominantly white private sector but scarce for the predominantly disadvantaged who are dependant on public services. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the perceptions of Community Psychology among psychology Honours/Bpsych students. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed in this study. A self-constructed questionnaire was used for obtaining data. A convenience sample was obtained from the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and the Western Cape. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The outcomes of this study are firstly, that there is no significant relationship was established between race and tendency to study community psychology with the exception of the first year. Secondly, the relationship between gender and tendency to study community psychology was also non-significant. The results of the qualitative findings did however suggest that negative perceptions of community psychology are evident among students thus suggesting that they are deterred from pursuing it as a career.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University