Abstract
In this chapter I explain the evidence base for a Southern African indigenous psychology theory of resilience. In this way I expand on propositions related to culture and context in the relationship-resourced resilience theory. I describe how we built the indigenous psychology theory grounded in data derived from three case studies with people from indigenous groups in Southern Africa that generated empirical evidence. Each study investigated aspects of psychological resilience from the perspective of indigenous people in settings that are challenged due to inequality. Data used for theory-building was generated with Southern African males and females, elders and young people, people from rural, peri-urban and urban settings whose home languages indicated a non-Western heritage. In this way I foreground the diversity of participating ethnic Southern African groups for whom flocking is a pathway to resilience. I explain how participatory reflection and action activities served as sources of textual data (translated, verbatim transcriptions of audio-recorded data), as well as observation data of the context (visual data and researcher journals). I elucidate the trustworthiness strategies used in each of the three case studies to enhance the credibility, dependability, confirmability, transferability, authenticity and relevance of the findings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The collaboration included the co-supervisor of Ferreira’s doctoral work, Dr. Kim Blankenship, Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of AIDS, Yale University.
- 2.
Table 2.1 in Chap. 2 provides an overview of STAR as one of the three case studies in which relationship-resourced resilience theory is grounded.
- 3.
Doctoral students who completed their studies in STAR include Ferreira (2006), Mnguni (2015), Mbongwe (2013), Loots (2010), and Olivier (2010). Master’s students who completed their studies in STAR include Chambati (2015), De Jager (2010), Beukes (2010), Joubert (2010), Dempster (2010), Bagherpour (2010), Mnguni (2007), McCallaghan (2007), Odendaal (2007), and Loots (2005).
- 4.
All the teachers who participated in co-developing STAR are named and acknowledged in Ferreira & Ebersöhn (2012).
- 5.
I reconnected with work on social capital (Bryan, 2005; Bourdieu 1986; Coleman, 1990; Olsson, Bond, Burns, Vella-Brodrick, & Swayer, 2003; Stewart, Sun, Patterson, Lemerle, & Hardie, 2004), relatedness and autonomy (Carsten, 2000, 2004; Van der Geest, 2004), relationships and social support (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Skinner & Wellborn, 1994), relationships and social support (Luther, 2006; Masten, 2001; Rutter, 2000), affiliation (Taylor, 2002) and association (Rothermund & Wentura, 2004).
- 6.
I presented a paper in this regard during my visiting professorship at the Fogarty Learning Centre, Edith Cowan University (2011), and later published my theorising (Ebersöhn, 2012).
- 7.
In later years policy proved extremely effective in providing food to schools in low-income socio-economic settings, although school-based vegetable gardens remained the action plan of choice for many teachers at schools in challenged settings to support children and their families (DBE, 2018).
- 8.
Policy-level treatment support in South Africa was only implemented in 2006 (Department of Health, 2006).
- 9.
For a broad reintroduction to resilience I read Masten (2001), Rutter (2000), Cicchetti (2010), Goldstein and Brooks (2005). For an ecological view on resilience as transational processes I drew on Ungar (2008), Hopfall (2011), Lerner (2006), Ungar (2011), and Sameroff (2009). Memorable readings on social resilience included Evans (2005) and Bloom (1996), and those on collective resilience the work of Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche & Pfefferbaum (2008). Theron and Theron’s (2010) work provided an overview of South African work on resilience.
- 10.
- 11.
The Indigenous Pathways to Resilience Doctoral Lab included Malan van Rooyen (2015), De Gouveia (2015), Mohamed (2018), as well as Raphael Olorunfemi Akanmidu (who sadly passed away tragically in 2014, a month before submitting his thesis for examination). CSR affiliates included Dr. Funke Omidire, Dr. Vanessa Sherman and Dr. Linda Liebenberg.
- 12.
Table 2.1 provides an overview of the Indigenous Pathway to Resilience study as one of the three case studies in which the relationship-resourced resilience theory is grounded.
- 13.
Mohamed focused on appraisal during resilience processes. Malan-Van Rooyen foregrounded adaptive coping embedded in resilience processes, De Gouveia emphasised outcomes of resilience processes. Akanmidu used analysis from their inductive data to design and test a measure scale (Indigenous Pathways to Resilience Scale).
- 14.
Imbeleko means the act of giving birth or ‘to carry on your back’. As ritual, Imbeleko is a ceremony to welcome a child into the greater community. In the Imbeleko ceremony the umbilical connection between mother and child is detached, the child is introduced to ancestors, a goat is slaughtered and the clan is invited to attend the feast.
The Imbeleko study emerged as a result of work and thinking advanced by Kim Samuel in her collaboration with Oxford University’s Poverty and Human Development Initiative and through her leadership as President of the Samuel Family Foundation in partnership with Synergos, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF) and the Foundation for Community Development (FDC) in Mozambique, working to overcome isolation and to deepen the social connectedness of children and youth in Southern Africa.
Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF) Researchers included Vuyani Patrick Ntanjana and Fezile July. Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund Regional Partners included Lesotho—Red Cross; Gauteng—Albertina Sisulu Special School; Swaziland—Save the Children, Swaziland; Eastern Cape—Diaz Primary School; Namibia—Church Alliance for Orphans; Limpopo—Sepanapudi Traditional Authority; North West—Emmang Basadi Advocacy and Lobby Organisation.
- 15.
Table 2.1 provides an overview of Imbeleko as one of the three case studies in which relationship-resourced resilienceis grounded.
- 16.
From 2006–2010 I was a co-investigator in Kgolo Mmogo (an NIH-funded study on ‘Promoting Resilience in Young Children of HIV-infected mothers in South Africa’. Brian Forsythe (Yale University, Principal Investigator, Yale University), Irma Eloff (University of Pretoria, Project Director and Principal Investigator).
From 2010–2013 I was Principal Investigator with Melissa McHale (then at North Carolina State University) in IMAGINE (International Mentoring of Advanced Graduates for Interdisciplinary Excellence).
From 2010–2014 I co-chaired the World Education Research Association (WERA) Task Force, leading the development of an international white paper on poverty and opportunity to learn worldwide. Other co-chairs were: Carol D Lee, Edwina S Tarry Professor of Education at the School of Education and Social Policy, and African-American Studies at Northwestern University), Michael Nettles, (Senior Vice President and the Edmund W Gordon Chair of ETS’s Policy Evaluation & Research Center), and Petronilha Beatriz Gonçalves e Silva (Associação Brasileira de Pesquisadores Negros (ABPN) (Brazilian Black Researchers’ Association) and Associação Nacional de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Educação (ANPED) (National Association of Research and Graduate Studies on Education).
- 17.
I studied views on indigenous research from African perspectives (Chilisa, 2011; Mapara, 2009; Mkabela, 2005; Odora Hoppers, 2008; Owusu-Ansah, & Mji, 2013), other Global South views (Smith, Maxwell, Puke, & Temara, 2016; Zavala, 2013), in non-Western Global North spaces (Shams, & Hwang, 2005; Wilson, 2001, 2008), and in Western-dominant spaces (Bohensky, & Maru, 2011; Braun, Browne, Ka’opua, Kim, & Mokuau, 2013; Dei, 2013; Drawson, Toombs, & Mushquash, 2017; Hart, 2010; LaFrance, Nichols, & Kirkhart, 2012; Sillitoe & Marzano, 2009).
- 18.
I expanded my reading of methodological evidence with regard to participatory work for indigenous research after this first introduction (Abedi, & Badragheh, 2011; Cochran et al., 2008; Coombes, Johnson, & Howitt, 2014; Darroch & Giles, 2014; Ghaffari & Emami, 2011; Kendall, Sunderland, Barnett, Nalder, Matthews, 2011; Khodamoradi & Abedi, 2011).
- 19.
As an aside—I later reflected on this being my first introduction to communal consultation and consensus.
- 20.
In 2003 our husbands accompanied us as we travelled to the ‘dangerous’ peri-urban school site. This remains a poignant reminder to me of how childhood and young adulthood under Apartheid shaped my beliefs regarding gender, class and race, my role as woman, the role of a male in society, ‘danger’ and ‘safety’. Only later could we reflect that the only worse outsider symbols of privilege and oppression than two White Afrikaner women would be two bulky White male Afrikaner ‘boere’.
After this experience we travelled with peace of mind along with members of the ever-evolving research teams into spaces with high violence and crime statistics (Stats SA, 2015). Despite this high probability of crime, over 15 years’ of research in challenged spaces there was only one alarming incident. In 2015 Ronél and I were held at gunpoint and robbed as we got into a car to leave the school grounds at a school that we had visited often. I will not forget the feeling of the cold metal against my temple. Nor will I forget the anxious faces of the emaciated nine young men desperate to take our belongings. For the first couple of visits after this incident we went to that particular school with private guards we had hired for protection. Now, as advised by the school principal and the police, we visit this specific school district using a protocol of alert. The principal alerts the police that we will be visiting her school and other schools in this neighbourhood. When we enter the community, we stop at the police station and the police accompany us to each school.
- 21.
A ‘knopkierie’ is the Afrikaans word for a certain traditional weapon in South Africa. A literal translation is a wood walking stick with a large round knob at the top end.
- 22.
In fact, I learned later from young people in another school-based intervention study (Flourishing Learning Youth) that, contrary to our use of ‘snake’ as a symbol of a ‘locally relevant’ risk factor, snakes were also viewed by some Southern African tribes with pride as a heraldic kinship symbol.
- 23.
Literacy rates in Gauteng (97.8%) are higher than in other provinces in South Africa. Literacy rates in Gauteng are followed by the Free State (93.5%), Eastern Cape (90.7%), North West (88.3%), Mpumalanga (87.3%) and Limpopo (86.9%) (Stats SA, 2012). In Lesotho literacy rates are higher than the sub-Saharan average, with males at 95% and females at an 83% literacy rate (United Nations, 2012). Swaziland has a literacy rate of 83.1% for persons older than 15 years of age and 45.18% for persons older than 65 (United Nations, 2012). In Namibia the literacy rate among the youth is 94.42%, while the adult literacy rate is lower, at 88.27% (United Nations, 2012).
- 24.
In South Africa, Limpopo has the highest number of people aged 20 years and older who have had no schooling 17,3%, followed by Mpumalanga (14.1%) and North West (11.8%) (Stats SA, 2012). The Western Cape has the lowest number of people (2.7%) of 20 years and older, who have had no formal education or schooling in South Africa, followed by Gauteng (3.7%) and the Free State (7.1%).
- 25.
I enjoyed this workspace intersection of socialising, working and networking to which I was introduced when I was a visiting associate professor in the Department of Psychology and ‘Emotions Lab’ of the then Dean of Graduate Students, Peter Salovey at Yale University (2001).
- 26.
She remains a staunch collaborator and is currently involved in a new study on social connectedness as pathway to teacher resilience (2018–2020).
- 27.
Maria Mnguni completed both her Master’s and doctoral studies in the STAR study. Her home language is isiZulu and although she does not speak isiXhosa, given the Nguni heritage of both languages, she could follow conversations among isiXhosa and Siswati teachers in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.
Bathsheba Mbongwe hails from Botswana. As a Setswana- and English-speaking researcher in STAR she was mostly unable to follow typically isiXhosa- and Siswati-dominated conversations in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.
In the Imbeleko team, besides the habitual English, several researchers spoke a variety of Southern African indigenous languages and had the same indigenous socio-cultural heritage as the people at several Imbeleko sites.
Motlalepule Ruth Mampane was raised in rural Limpopo and her home language is Sepedi, resonating with the language and heritage backgrounds of participants in Limpopo, Gauteng and North West.
Tebogo Tsebe was raised in the North West and his home language is Setswana, resonating with the language and heritage backgrounds of participants in Limpopo, Gauteng and North West.
Maximus Monaheng Sefotho and Maitumeleng NthoNtho both have their roots in Lesotho, with Sesotho as their home language, resonating with the language and heritage backgrounds of participants in Lesotho, Gauteng, North West and the Free State.
Tebuhleni Nxumalo was born in Swaziland, with Siswati as her home language, resonating with the language and heritage backgrounds of participants in Swaziland and the Eastern Cape.
I myself and Dr. Tilda Loots have Afrikaans backgrounds, which assisted us in Namibia, where Afrikaans was one of the dominant home languages of participants.
- 28.
My grandmother had to wear donkey’s ears in school when she spoke Afrikaans. She had to speak English. So successful was her socialisation into what is ‘revered’ that she preferred to be called Kitty rather than by her Afrikaans name, Katerina. She also became an English teacher, fiercely strict with us about being well spoken and well read in this language of ‘the enemy’. She never could forget nor forgive that the British had imprisoned her mother and cousins in a concentration camp during the South African War.
- 29.
Mlungu: term used in the context of interaction between black and white South Africans to refer to a white person.
- 30.
Makwerekwere: the slang word used in South Africa to refer to African immigrants or foreigners from outside the country’s borders.
- 31.
Red Cross (Lesotho), Save the Children (Swaziland), Church Alliance for Orphans (Namibia), Albertina Sisulu Special School (Gauteng), Diaz Primary School (Eastern Cape), Sepanapudi Traditional Authority (Limpopo), Emang Basadi Advocacy and Lobby Organisation (North West).
- 32.
A National Rural Education Research Team was established in April 2016, under the leadership of the Acting Director of the Rural Education Directorate, Dr. Phumzile Langa, and was composed of seven members who were appointed by the Minister of Basic Education. The Ministerial Committee consisted of: Prof. Relibohile Moletsane (Chairperson); Prof. Liesel Ebersöhn; Dr. Adele Gordon; Dr. Dipane Hlalele; Mr. Paul Kgobe; Dr. Thomas Mabasa; and Dr. T. Nkambule.
References
Abedi, M., & Badragheh, A. (2011). Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): New method for rural research. Journal of American Science, 7(4), 363–368.
Angrosino, M., & Mays de Pérez, K. A. (2000). Rethinking observation: From method to context. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 673–702). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Angrosino, M., & Rosenberg, J. (2011). Observations on observations. Continuities and challenges. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed., pp. 467–478). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Ansley, F., & Gaventa, J. (1997). Researching for democ & democratizing research. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 29(1), 46–53, https://doi.org/10.1080/00091389709603114.
Atkinson, P., & Delamont, S. (2005). Analytic perspectives. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 821–840). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Antonovsky, A. (1987). The Jossey-Bass social and behavioral science series and the Jossey-Bass health series. Unraveling the mystery of health: How people manage stress and stay well. San Francisco, CA, US: Jossey-Bass.
Babbie, E., & Mouton, J. (2001). The practice of social research. Cape Town, South Africa: Oxford University Press.
Bagherpour, S. (2010). Sustainability of psycho-social support by teachers to enhance resilience in a school. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529.
Beukes, J. (2010). Collaborative partnership trends between teachers and educational psychology researchers. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Bishop, R. (2005). Freeing ourselves from neo-colonial domination in research: A Kaupapa Mãori approach to creating knowledge. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 109–138). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Bloom, M. (1996). Primary prevention and resilience: Changing paradigms and changing lives. In R. L. Hampton, P. Jenkins, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Preventing violence in America: Issues in children’s and families’ lives (Vol. 4, pp. 87–114). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Bohensky, E. L. & Maru, Y. (2011). Indigenous knowledge, science, and resilience: What have we learned from a decade of international literature on “integration”. Ecology and Society, 16(4), 1–19.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York, NY: Greenwood.
Braun, K. L., Browne, C. V., Ka’opua, L. S., Kim, B. J., & Mokuau, N. (2013). Research on indigenous elders: From positivistic to decolonizing methodologies. The Gerontologist, 54(1), 117–126.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Brewer, J. F. (2013). Toward a publicly engaged geography: Polycentric and iterated research. Southeastern Geographer, 53, 328–347.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32(7), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.32.7.513.
Bryan, J. (2005). Fostering educational resilience and achieve-ment in urban schools through school-family-community partnerships. Professional School Counseling, 8(3), 219–227. Retrieved from http://graingered.pbworks.com/f/Resilience-+School+%26+Family+Partnerships.pdf.
Carlson, J. A. (2010). Avoiding traps in member checking. The Qualitative Report, 15(5), 1102–1113.
Carsten, J. (2000). Cultures of relatedness: New approaches to the study of kinship. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Carsten, J. (2004). After kinship. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press.
Chambati, C. (2015). Adapting a teacher intervention programme for use by community volunteers. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Chambers, R. (2006). Participatory mapping and geographic information systems: Whose map? Who is empowered and who disempowered? Who gains and who loses? The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 25(2), 1–11.
Chambers, R. (2007). Participation and poverty. Development, 50(2), 20–25.
Chambers, R. (2010). Paradigms, poverty and adaptive pluralism. Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Working Paper, 2010(344), 01–57.
Charmaz, K. (2000). Grounded theory: objectivist and constructivist methods. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (1st ed., pp. 509–536). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Chen, H. Y., & Boore, J. R. P. (2010). Translation and back-translation in qualitative nursing research: Methodological review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19(1–2), 234–239. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.02896.x.
Chilisa, B. (2011). Indigenous research methodologies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Choi, J., Kushner, K. E., Mill, J., & Lai, D. W. L. (2012). Understanding the language, the culture, and the experience: Translation in cross-cultural research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 11(5), 652–665.
Cicchetti, D. (2010). Resilience under conditions of extreme stress: A multilevel perspective. World Psychiatry, 9(3), 145–154. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2948722/pdf/wpa030145.pdf.
Coburn, E. (2013). Indigenous research as resistance. Socialist Studies, 9(1), 52–63.
Cochran, P. A., Marshall, C. A., Garcia-Downing, C., Kendall, E., Cook, D., McCubbin, L., et al. (2008). Indigenous ways of knowing: Implications for participatory research and community. American Journal of Public Health, 98(1), 22–27.
Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundations of social theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
Connell, J. P., & Wellborn, J. G. (1991). Competence, autonomy and relatedness: A motivational analysis of self-system processes. In M. Gunnar & L. A. Sroufe (Eds.), Minnesota symposium on child psychology (Vol. 23, pp. 43–77)., Self Processes in Development Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Coombes, B., Johnson, J. T., & Howitt, R. (2014). Indigenous geographies III: Methodological innovation and the unsettling of participatory research. Progress in Human Geography, 38(6), 845–854.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Journal of Leisure Research, 24(1), 93–94.
Darroch, F., & Giles, A. (2014). Decolonizing health research: Community-based participatory research and postcolonial feminist theory. The Canadian Journal of Action Research, 15(3), 22–36.
Davidson, C. R. (2009). Transcription: Imperatives for qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(2), 35–52.
De Gouveia, J. M. (2015). Indigenous pathways to well-being as resilience outcome in rural communities. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis. University of Pretoria.
De Jager, K. (2010). Die ontwikkeling van ‘n MIV&VIGS-skoolplan vir onderwysers. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
De Kadt, J. (2006). Language development in South Africa—past and present. In Webb and Du Plessis (Eds.), The politics of language in South Africa.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self determination in human behaviour. New York, NY: Plenum Press.
Dei, G. J. S. (2013). Critical perspectives on indigenous research. Socialist Studies, 9(1), 27–38.
Dempster, G. (2010). A case study of teachers’ implementation of asset-based psychosocial support. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Ed.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 1–32). London, UK: Sage Publications Inc. (Print ISBN: 0-7619-2757-3).
Department of Basic Education South Africa. (2018). National school nutrition programme. Retrieved from https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/NationalSchoolNutritionProgramme.aspx.
Department of Basic Education. (2018). Rural education draft policy. Government Gazette, 41399, 14–23. Retrieved from www.gpwonline.co.za.
Department of Health South Africa. (2006). Broad frame-work for HIV & AIDS and STI strategic plan for South Africa, 2007–2011. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.za/index.php/2014-08-15-12-54-26/category/129-sd2006?download=298:broad-frame-work-for-hiv-aids-and-sti-strategic-plan-for-south-africa-2007-2011-november-2006.
Drawson, A. S., Toombs, E., & Mushquash, C. J. (2017). Indigenous research methods: A systematic review. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 8(2), 5.
Ebersöhn, L. (2012). Adding ‘flock’ to ‘fight and flight’: A honeycomb of resilience where supply of relationships meets demand for support. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22(1), 29–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2012.10874518.
Ebersöhn, L. (2013). Building generative theory from case work: The relationship resourced resilience model. In M. P. Wissing (Ed.), Wellbeing research in South Africa (Vol. 4, pp. 97–121). Netherlands: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6368-5 (Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6367-8).
Ebersöhn, L. (2014). Teacher resilience: Theorizing resilience and poverty [Special issue]. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 20(5), 568–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.937960.
Ebersöhn, L. (2016). Enabling spaces in education research: An agenda for impactful, collective evidence to support all to be first among un-equals. South African Journal of Education, 36(4), 1–12.
Ebersöhn, L., Eloff, I., Finestone, M., Grobler, A., & Moen, M. (2015). Telling stories and adding scores: Measuring resilience in young children. African Journal of AIDS Research, 14(3), 219–227. https://doi.org/10.2989/16085906.2015.1052822.
Ebersöhn, L., Eloff, I., Finestone, M., Van Dullemen, I., Sikkema, K., & Forsyth, B. (2012). Drawing on resilience: Piloting the utility of Kinetic Family Drawing to measure resilience in children of HIV-positive mothers. South African Journal of Education, 32(4), 331–348. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v32n4a660.
Ebersöhn, L., & Ferreira, R. (2009). Teachers as fulcrum of psychosocial support: A longitudinal participatory reflection and action study. Paper presented at the AIDS Impact Conference, Gaborone, Botswana. Abstract retrieved from http://www.aidsimpact.com/2009/Academics/Programme/abstract/?id=98.
Ebersöhn, L., & Ferreira, R. (2011). Coping in an HIV/AIDS-dominated context: Teachers promoting resilience in schools. Health Education Research, 26(4), 596–613. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyr016.
Ebersöhn, L., & Ferreira, R. (2012). Rurality and resilience in education: Place-based partnerships and agency to mitigate time and space constraints. Perspectives in Education, 30(1), 30–42.
Ebersöhn, L., & Loots, T. (2017). Teacher agency in challenging contexts as a consequence of social support and resource management. International Journal of Educational Development, 53, 80–91.
Ebersöhn, L., Loots, T., Mampane, R., Omidire, F., & Malan-Van Rooyen, M. (2017). Age-old care and support practices in Southern Africa functioning robustly as sophisticated social technology interventions. Journal of Community Psychology, 1–21.
Ebersöhn, L., Loots, T., Malan-Van Rooyen, M., Mampane, R., Nthontho, M., Omidire, F., & Sefotho, M. (2018). An indigenous psychology perspective on psychosocial support in Southern Africa as collective, networking and pragmatic support. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 1–16.
Ebersöhn, L., & Malan-Van Rooyen, M. (2018). Making the most of culture and context: Sociocultural strengths and contextual vulnerability when eliciting indigenous resilience insights with remote south african elders and young people. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406918798434.
Ebersöhn, L., Sefotho, M., Mampane, R., Loots, T., Omidire, F., Sherman, V., & Nxumalo-Tsebe, T. (2014). Imbeleko report: Cultivating resourcefulness, not dependency. Retrieved from http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/sites/default/files/Imbeleko%20Report%20%20Cultivating%20Resourcefulness,%20Not%20Dependency.pdf.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/258557.pdf?acceptTC=true.
Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25–32. Retrieved from http://www.aom.pace.edu/amj/editorials/Eisenhart.Graebner.2007.pdf.
Evans, R. M. C. (2005). Social networks, migration, and care in Tanzania: Caregivers’ and children’s resilience to coping with HIV/AIDS. Journal of Children and Poverty, 11(2), 111–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/10796120500195527.
Fereday, J., & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2008). Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(1), 80–92.
Ferreira, R. (2006). The relationship between coping with HIV & AIDS and the asset-based approach. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis. University of Pretoria.
Ferreira, R., & Ebersöhn, L. (2011). Formative evaluation of the STAR intervention: Improving teachers’ ability to provide psychosocial support for vulnerable individuals in the school community. African Journal of AIDS Research, 10(1), 63–72. https://doi.org/10.2989/16085906.2011.575549.
Ferreira, R., & Ebersöhn, L. (2012). Partnering for resilience. Pretoria, South Africa: Van Schaik Publishers.
Ferreira, R., Ebersöhn, L., Dyasi, T., Mtshiselwa, M., & Loots, T. (2011). Supporting a community to cope with vulnerability: The outcome of collaborative partnerships between teachers and university researchers. Paper presented at the ERAS Conference, September 2011, Singapore.
Fine, M., Weis, L., Weseen, S., & Wong, L. (2000). For whom? Qualitative research, representations, and social responsibilities. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 107–132). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Gabriel, Y. (2003). Your home, my exile: Boundaries and ‘otherness’ in antiquity and now. Organization Studies, 24(4), 619–632.
Ghaffari, A., & Emami, A. (2011). Status of rural people in Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). Life Science Journal, 8(2), 898–901.
Giese, S., Meintjes, H., Croke, R., & Chamberlain, R. (2003). The role of schools in addressing the needs of children made vulnerable in the context of HIV/AIDS. Cape Town, South Africa: University of Cape Town, The Children’s Institute.
Glaser, B. (1978). Theoretical sensitivity. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 191–216). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Goldstein, S., & Brooks, R. B. (2005). Why study resilience? In S. Goldstein & R. B. Brooks (Eds.), Handbook of resilience in children (pp. 3–15). New York, NY: Springer.
Hammersley, M. (1992). What’s wrong with ethnography: Methodological explorations. London, UK: Routledge.
Harper, D. (2005). What’s new visually? In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 747–762). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Harry, D. (2011). Biocolonialism and indigenous knowledge in United Nations discourse. Griffith Law Review, 20(3), 702–728. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2011.10854717.
Hart, M. A. (2010). Indigenous worldviews, knowledge, and research: The development of an indigenous research paradigm. Journal of Indigenous Voices in Social Work, 1(1), 1–18. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10125/12527.
Hatting, C., & Swart, K. (2016). The motives for visitors to attend a food and wine event in Cape Town and their satisfaction levels. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 5(2), 1–14.
Hays, R. D., & Woolley, J. M. (2000). The concept of clinically meaningful difference in health-related quality-of-life research. How meaningful is it? Pharmacoeconomics, 18(5), 419–423.
Hopfall, S. E. (2011). Conservation of resources theory: It’s implication for stress, health, and resilience. In S. Folkman (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of stress, health and coping (pp. 127–147). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Janiseck, V. (2000). The choreography of qualitative research design: Minuets, improvisations and crystallization. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (1st ed., pp. 379–400). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Joubert, M. (2010). Dissemination research: Teachers as facilitators. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R. (2000). Participatory action research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (1st ed., pp. 567–607). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Kendall, E., Sunderland, N., Barnett, L., Nalder, G., & Matthews, C. (2011). Beyond the rhetoric of participatory research in indigenous communities: Advances in Australia over the last decade. Qualitative Health Research, 21, 1719–1728.
Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207–222.
Keyes, C. L. M., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The emperical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 1007–1022.
Khodamoradi, S., & Abedi, M. (2011). The role of agricultural extension in integrating indigenous knowledge and modern knowledge in rural. Life Science Journal, 8(2), 254–258.
Kovach, M. (2010). Conversation method in indigenous research. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 5(1), 40–48.
Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. L. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications.
LaFrance, J., Nichols, R., & Kirkhart, K. E. (2012). Culture writes the script: On the centrality of context in indigenous evaluation. New Directions for Evaluation, 2012(135), 59–74.
Lerner, R. M. (2006). Resilience as an attribute of the developmental system: Comments on the papers of professors Masten & Wachs. In B. M. Lester, A. S. Masten, & B. McEwen (Eds.), Resilience in children (pp. 40–51). Boston, MA: Blackwell.
Letseka, M. (2013). Education for Ubuntu/Botho: Lessons from Basotho indigenous education. Open Journal of Philosophy, 3(2), 337–344.
Liebenberg, L. (2009). The visual image as discussion point: Increasing validity in boundary-crossing research. Qualitative Research, 9(4), 441–467.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic enquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Loots, T. (2005). Opvoeders se mobilisering van bates ter ondersteuning van gemeenskapshantering van MIV/VIGS. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Loots, T. (2010). A comparative case study of educators’ implementation of the asset-based approach. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Pretoria.
Luther, S. S. (2006). Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In D. Cicchetti & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 3. Risk, disorder, and adaptation (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 739–795). New York, NY: Wiley.
MacLean, L. M., Meyer, M., & Estable, A. (2004). Improving accuracy of transcripts in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 14(1), 113–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732303259804.
Malan van Rooyen, M. (2015). Indigenous pathways to adaptive coping in resilience in rural communities. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis. University of Pretoria.
Manyena, B., O’Brien, G., O’Keefe, P., & O’ Keefe, R. J. (2011). Disaster resilience: A bounce back or bounce forward ability? Local environment: The international journal of justice and sustainability, 16, (5), 417–424. ISSN 1354-9839.
Mapara, J. (2009). Indigenous knowledge systems in Zimbabwe: Juxtaposing postcolonial theory. The Journal of Pan African Studies, 3(1), 139–155.
Marshall, T. (2016). Prisoners of geography: Ten maps that tell you everything you need to know about global politics. London, UK: Elliott and Thompson Limited.
Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56(3), 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.56.3.227.
Mbongwe, B. (2013). Power-sharing partnerships: teachers’ experiences of participatory methodology. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis. University of Pretoria.
McCallaghan, M. (2007). Die gebruik van liggaamsportrette deur opvoeders in die vervulling van hulle pastorale rol. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Mkabela, Q. (2005). Using the Afrocentric method in researching indigenous African culture. The Qualitative Report, 10(1), 178–189.
Mkhize, N. (2006). African traditions and the social, economic and moral dimensions of fatherhood. In L. Richter & R. Morrel (Eds.), Baba: Men and fatherhood in South Africa (pp. 183–198). Cape Town, South Africa: HSRC Press.
Mnguni, M. (2007). Exploring the relationship between counselling skills and memory work with primary school children. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Mnguni, M. A. (2015). Volunteers’ use of memory work to promote psychosocial support of clients facing poverty-related adversity. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis. University of Pretoria.
Mohammed, S. (2017). Indigenous pathways to appraisal during resilience processes. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis. University of Pretoria.
Munyaka, M., & Mothlabi, M. (2009). Ubuntu and its socio-moral significance. In M. F. Murove (Ed.), African ethics: An anthology of comparative and applied ethics (pp. 63–84). Scotssville, South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
Norris, F. H., Stevens, S. P., Pfefferbaum, B., Wyche, K. F., & Pfefferbaum, R. L. (2008). Community resilience as a metaphor, theory, set of capacities, and strategy for disaster readiness. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41, 127–150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9156-6.
Odendaal, V. (2007). Describing an asset-based intervention to equip educators with HIV & AIDS coping and support competencies. Unpublished Masters’ dissertation. University of Pretoria.
Odora Hoppers, C. A. (2008). Culture, language, indigenous knowledge and the role of universities in sustainable rural development. Paper presented at the Conference of the Centre for Education Policy Development (CEPD), Johannesburg, South Africa.
Olesen, V. L. (2005). Early millennial feminist qualitative research: Challenges and contours. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 235–278). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Olivier, H. (2010). ‘n Fenomenografiese ondersoek na verhoudinge binne die bate-gebaseerde benadering. Unpublished Ph.D.-thesis. University of Pretoria.
Olsson, C. A., Bond, L., Burns, J. M., Vella-Brodrick, D. A., & Sawyer, S. M. (2003). Adolescent resilience: A concept analysis. Journal of Adolescence, 26(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-1971(02)00118-5.
Owusu-Ansah, F. E., & Mji, G. (2013). African indigenous knowledge and research. African Journal of Disability, 2(1). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.4102/jod.v2i1.30.
Phasha, T. N. (2010). Educational resilience among African survivors of child sexual abuse in South Africa. Journal of Black Studies, 40(6), 1234–1253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934708327693.
Pierce, B. N., & Ridge, G. M. (1997). Multilingualism in Southern Africa. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 17, 170–190. Retrieved from http://faculty.educ.ubc.ca/norton/ARAL%20(1997)%20%20Peirce%20&%20Ridge%20-%20Multilingualism%20in%20Southern%20Africa.pdf.
Richardson, L. (1994). Writing: A method of inquiry. In Norman Denzin & Yvonna Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research. London, UK: Sage.
Richardson, L., & Adams St. Pierre., E. (2005). Writing. A method of inquiry. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 85–108). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Richter, L., Chikovore, J., & Makusha, T. (2010). The status of fatherhood and fathering in South Africa. Childhood Education, 86, 360–365.
Rothermund, K., & Wentura, D. (2004). Underlying processes in the implicit association test: Dissociating salience from associations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133(2), 139–165.
Rutter, M. (2000). Psychosocial influences: Critiques, findings, and research needs. Development and Psychopathology, 12(3), 375–405.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141–166.
Ryff, C. D., Keyes, C. L., & Hughes, D. L. (2003). Status inequalities, perceived discrimination, and eudaimonic well-being: Do the challenges of minority life hone purpose and growth? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(3), 275–291.
Sameroff, A. J. (2009). The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Schwandt, T. A. (1996). Farewell to criteriology. Qualitative Inquiry, 2(1), 58–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780049600200109.
Seale, C. (1999). The quality of qualitative research. London, UK: SAGE Publications.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfilment. New York, NY: Free Press.
Shams, M., & Hwang, K. K. (2005). Special issue on responses to the epistemological challenges to indigenous psychologies. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 8(1), 3–4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-839x.2005.00161.x.
Sillitoe, P., & Marzano, M. (2009). Future of indigenous knowledge research in development. Futures, 41(1), 13–23.
Skinner, E. A., & Wellborn, J. G. (1994). Coping during childhood and adolescence: A motivational perspective. In D. Featerman, R. Lerner, & M. Perlmutter (Eds.), Life-span development and behaviour (Vol. 12, pp. 91–133). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Skinner, E. A., & Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J. (2011). Perceived control and the development of coping. In S. Folkman (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Smith, J. K., & Hodkinson, P. (2005). Relativism, criteria and politics. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 915–932). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Smith, L. (2005). On tricky ground: Researching the native in the age of uncertainty. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 85–108). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Smith, L. T., Maxwell, T. K., Puke, H., & Temara, P. (2016). Indigenous knowledge, methodology and mayhem: What is the role of methodology in producing indigenous insights? A discussion from Mātauranga Māori. Knowledge Cultures, 4(3), 131–156.
Sparrow, S. S., Cicchetti, D. V., & Balla, D. A. (2005). Vineland adaptive behavior scales (2nd ed.). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Squires, A. (2009). Methodological challenges in cross-language qualitative research: A research review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(2), 277–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.08.006.
Stake, R. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 443–466). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Statistics South Africa. (2012). Census 2011. Retrieved from https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P03014/P030142011.pdf.
Statistics South Africa. (2015). Victims of crime survey 2014/2015. Retrieved from http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0341/P03412014.pdf.
Statistics South Africa. (2017). Poverty trends in South Africa: An examination of Absoongwe poverty between 2006 & 2015. Retrieved from http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=10341.
Steelman, T., Nichols, E. G., James, A., Bradford, L., Ebersöhn, L., Scherman, V., et al. (2015). Practicing the science of sustainability: The challenges of transdisciplinarity in a developing world context. Sustainability Science, 10(4), 581–599. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-015-0334-4.
Stewart, D., Sun, J., Patterson, C., Lemerle, K., & Hardie, M. (2004). Promoting and building resilience in primary school communities: Evidence from a comprehensive ‘health pro-moting school’ approach. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 6(3), 26–33. Retrieved from http://eprints.usq.edu.au/7473/1/Stewart_Sun_Patterson_Lemerle_Hardie_IJMHP_2004_PV.pdf.
Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Taylor, S. E. (2002). The tending instinct: How nurturing is essential to who we are and how we live. New York, NY: Holt.
Taylor, S., & Von Fintel, M. (2016). Estimating the impact of language of instruction in South African primary schools: A fixed effects approach. Economics of Education Review, 50, 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.01.003.
Tella, O. (2016). Understanding Xenophobia in South Africa: The individual, the state and the international system. Insight on Africa, 8(2), 142–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0975087816655014.
Theron, L. C., & Theron, A. M. C. (2010). A critical review of studies of South African youth resilience, 1990–2008. South African Journal of Science, 106(7/8), 1–8. Retrieved from http://www.sajs.co.za.
Ungar, M. (2008). Resilience across cultures. British Journal of Social Work, 38, 218–235. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcl343.
Ungar, M. (2011). The social ecology of resilience: Addressing contextual and cultural ambiguity of a nascent construct. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01067.x.
United Nations. (2012). Literacy. Retrieved from http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/literacy.
United Nations. (2016). Racism, Xenophobia increasing globally, experts tell third committee, amid calls for laws to combat hate speech, concerns over freedom of expression. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/gashc4182.doc.htm.
United Nations. (2017). International migration report 2017. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/migrationreport/docs/MigrationReport2017_Highlights.pdf.
Vallaincourt, Y. (2006). Paper prepared for the Carold Institute project “Building Local and Global Democracy” (2004–2006). www.carold.ca.
Van der Geest, S. (2004). Grandparents and grandchildren in Kwahu, Ghana: The performance of respect. Africa, 74(1), 47–61. https://doi.org/10.3366/afr.2004.74.1.28.
Van Nes, F., Abma, T., Jonsson, H., & Deeg, T. (2010). Language differences in qualitative research: Is meaning lost in translation? European Journal of Ageing, 7(4), 313–316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-010-0168-y.
Wilig, C. (2008). Introducing qualitative research in psychology (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Wilson, S. (2001). What is indigenous research methodology? Canadian Journal of Native Education, 25(2), 175–179.
Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Black Point, NS: Fernwood.
Zavala, M. (2013). What do we mean by decolonizing research strategies? Lessons from decolonizing, indigenous research projects in New Zealand and Latin America. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 2(1), 55–71.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ebersöhn, L. (2019). Together We Are Stronger: Building an Indigenous Psychology Theory from Case Studies. In: Flocking Together: An Indigenous Psychology Theory of Resilience in Southern Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16435-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16435-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-16434-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-16435-5
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)