Apartheid has negatively affected the lives of all South African children but its effects have been particularly devastating for black children. The consequences of poverty, racism and violence have resulted in psychological disorders, and a generation of maladjusted children may be the result. This article describes the trauma associated with growing up in a divided society and the 'childshock' caused by political unrest and a society in the throes of major social transition. Although the present mental health system is grossly inadequate, hopefully the dismantling of apartheid, social reconstruction and innovative counseling approaches will in time promote the psychological well-being of all South Africa's children.

Structural problems in mental health services conjoined with attitudinal barriers are the cause of inadequate mental health care in South Africa. However, the major reason for the failure of psychology to address the needs of the majority lies in training deficiencies. In spite of the potential cost benefits of psychotherapy and prevention by way of counselling and educative interventions, psychologists are not perceived or employed as primary members of mental health teams. In schools they are rapidly losing ground. The profession is disempowered to position itself strategically to become a significant roleplayer in the ‘new’ South Africa. Affirmative action for psychology is needed. Ways in which the state may help are suggested, including the creation of more posts and training opportunities in health care settings, as well as use of the school as a locus for health and mental health care delivery. The author concludes with a call to the profession to get its own house in order by way of self-regenerating actions in the areas of training, addressing political and cross-cultural issues, and service delivery.

In South Africa, careless implementation of child psychiatry"s biomedical model of "mental disorder" could stigmatise children and youth who have been made vulnerable by the lingering effects of apartheid -poverty and malnutrition, violence and abuse, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A focus on DSM-5 category changes -regarding posttraumatic stress disorder and ADHD -demonstrates that these psychiatric labels are impracticable and irrelevant in a post-colonial developing country where mental health care is delivered in the context of scarce services and unequal access. A social constructivist perspective enables us to broaden policy decisions and suggest directions for research.

Heteronormativity is a foundational source of human oppression, resulting in heterosexism and homophobic attitudes, thus creating a hostile climate for non-heterosexual people. Despite a constitution that prohibits discrimination against anyone on the grounds of sexual orientation, homophobic victimisation of learners at secondary schools still occurs. The objective of this research project was to investigate educators' perceptions of homophobic victimisation against homosexual learners at private secondary schools. We adopted a phenomenological approach. The research design was qualitative and of an exploratory, descriptive, and contextual nature. We gathered data by means of an open-ended, structured questionnaire and, with the assistance of an independent coder, we employed Tesch's eight-step method of data analysis. We identified six themes: culture of acceptance; the need for policies; understanding of homosexuality; perception of homosexual learners; social difficulties and acts of verbal, physical, and emotional victimisation; and the learners' feelings. These themes were organised under three categories, namely, school context, educators' perceptions, and learners' difficulties.

Abstract:Classifications in psychiatry can result in the reification of hypothetical approaches, arbitrary categorization and social injustice. This article applies a social constructivist approach to critique the DSM-5 as a neurobiological model of psychiatric diagnosis which ignores psychosocial factors such as poverty, unemployment and trauma as causes of mental distress. It challenges the universality of psychiatric diagnosis and proposes that cultural psychiatry"s framing of "culture-bound syndromes," or "cultural case formulation" guidelines, is oversimplified. Use of the DSM in the South African context risks perpetuating injustice by labeling and stigmatizing people who have in the past been racially stigmatized by apartheid. In culturally diverse South Africa, psychiatric diagnosis should take into account alternative explanatory models that provide a more balanced view of the complex and dynamic relationship between biological and sociocultural forces in the manifestation of psychopathology.2

Sielkundiges speel 'n uiters beperkte rol in prioriteitsbesluitnemingsprosesse en die bevordering van geestesgesondheid in die gemeenskap. In 'n land wat gekenmerk word deur sosio-ekonomiese en tegnologiese ontwikkelingsuiterstes en afstuur op dramatiese politieke veranderings en 'n moontlike geestesgesondheidskrisis, moet die sielkunde in die algemeen en die opvoedkundige sielkunde in die besonder deurslaggewende besluite neem rakende professionele rolverruiming, meer toepaslike intervensiemodelle en statutêre aanpassings. Opvoedkundige intervensiemodelle en vaardighede moet die ontoepaslike en koste-oneffektiewe, individuele, kuratiewe mediese model aanvul as die maatskaplike relevansie van die professie bewys wil word deur betrokkenheid by gemeenskapsontwikkeling, primêre voorkoming en nie-formele en informele onderwysprogramme. Die Suid-Afrikaanse opvoedkundige sielkunde staan vandag voor die enorme uitdaging om beroepslui op te lei wat onmisbare lede van môre se geestes-gesondheidspan sal wees. Die implikasie hiervan is 'n herstrukturering van bestaande opleidingsmodelle, doelwitte en inhoude en moontlik ook van die hiërargie van professionele registrasiekategorieë soos dit tans daar uitsien.

This multi-site, multi-method project consisted of a situation analysis in four phases, and culminated in a programme which is an example of the kind of systems-intervention needed to break the illiteracy cycle in a rural print bereft community context. Action research was conducted within a participatory empowering framework, employing qualitative methods underpinned by the epistemological bases of ethnography. The results proved that a programme based on appropriate principles can be effective in establishing and enhancing the emerging literacy behaviours of black nursery-school children. The latter compared favourably with older Grade One children after a 23-week exposure to the programme, implemented by caregivers who, although not fully literate themselves, were empowered by way of in-service training to support emergent literacy.

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