"But what story?": a narrative-discursive analysis of "white" Afrikaners' accounts of male involvement in parenthood decision-making
- Authors: Morison, Tracy
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Family planning -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects Family size Birth intervals Men -- South Africa -- Attitudes Men -- South Africa -- Psychology Couples -- South Africa -- Psychology Afrikaners -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3025 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002534
- Description: Despite the increased focus on men in reproductive research, little is known about male involvement in the initial decision/s regarding parenthood (i.e., to become a parent or not) and the subsequent decision-making that may ensue (e.g., choices about timing or spacing of births). In particular, the parenthood decision-making of “White”, heterosexual men from the middle class has been understudied, as indicated in the existing literature. In South Africa, this oversight has been exacerbated by the tendency for researchers to concentrate on “problematic” men, to the exclusion of the “boring, normal case”. I argue that this silence in the literature is a result of the taken for granted nature of parenthood in the “normal” heterosexual life course. In this study, I have turned the spotlight onto the norm of “Whiteness” and heterosexuality by studying those who have previously been overlooked by researchers. I focus on “White” Afrikaans men’s involvement in parenthood decision-making. My aim was to explore how constructions of gender inform male involvement in decision-making, especially within the South African context where social transformation has challenged traditional conceptions of male selfhood giving rise to new and contested masculine identities and new discourses of manhood and fatherhood. In an effort to ensure that women’s voices are not marginalised in the research, as is often the case in studies of men and masculinity, I conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews about male involvement in decision-making with both “White” Afrikaans women and men. There were 23 participants in total, who all identified as heterosexual and middle-class. The participants were divided into two age cohorts (21 – 30 years and >40 years), which were then differentiated according to gender, reproductive status, and relationship status. Treating the interviews as jointly produced narratives, I analysed them by means of a performativity/performance lens. This dual analytic lens focuses on how particular narrative performances are simultaneously shaped by the interview setting and the broader discursive context. The lens was fashioned by synthesising Butler’s theory of performativity with Taylor’s narrative-discursive method. This synthesis (1) allows for Butler’s notion of “performativity” to be supplemented with that of “performance”; (2) provides a concrete analytical strategy in the form of positioning analysis; and (3) draws attention to both the micro politics of the interview conversation and the operation of power on the macro level, including the possibility of making “gender trouble”. The findings of the study suggest that the participants experienced difficulty narrating about male involvement in parenthood decision-making, owing to the taken for granted nature of parenthood for heterosexual adults. This was evident in participants’ sidelining of issues of “deciding” and “planning” and their alternate construal of childbearing as a non-choice, which, significantly served to bolster hetero-patriarchal norms. A central rhetorical tool for accomplishing these purposes was found in the construction of the “sacralised” child. In discursively manoeuvring around the central problematic, the participants ultimately produced a “silence” in the data that repeats the one in the research literature.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Morison, Tracy
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Family planning -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects Family size Birth intervals Men -- South Africa -- Attitudes Men -- South Africa -- Psychology Couples -- South Africa -- Psychology Afrikaners -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3025 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002534
- Description: Despite the increased focus on men in reproductive research, little is known about male involvement in the initial decision/s regarding parenthood (i.e., to become a parent or not) and the subsequent decision-making that may ensue (e.g., choices about timing or spacing of births). In particular, the parenthood decision-making of “White”, heterosexual men from the middle class has been understudied, as indicated in the existing literature. In South Africa, this oversight has been exacerbated by the tendency for researchers to concentrate on “problematic” men, to the exclusion of the “boring, normal case”. I argue that this silence in the literature is a result of the taken for granted nature of parenthood in the “normal” heterosexual life course. In this study, I have turned the spotlight onto the norm of “Whiteness” and heterosexuality by studying those who have previously been overlooked by researchers. I focus on “White” Afrikaans men’s involvement in parenthood decision-making. My aim was to explore how constructions of gender inform male involvement in decision-making, especially within the South African context where social transformation has challenged traditional conceptions of male selfhood giving rise to new and contested masculine identities and new discourses of manhood and fatherhood. In an effort to ensure that women’s voices are not marginalised in the research, as is often the case in studies of men and masculinity, I conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews about male involvement in decision-making with both “White” Afrikaans women and men. There were 23 participants in total, who all identified as heterosexual and middle-class. The participants were divided into two age cohorts (21 – 30 years and >40 years), which were then differentiated according to gender, reproductive status, and relationship status. Treating the interviews as jointly produced narratives, I analysed them by means of a performativity/performance lens. This dual analytic lens focuses on how particular narrative performances are simultaneously shaped by the interview setting and the broader discursive context. The lens was fashioned by synthesising Butler’s theory of performativity with Taylor’s narrative-discursive method. This synthesis (1) allows for Butler’s notion of “performativity” to be supplemented with that of “performance”; (2) provides a concrete analytical strategy in the form of positioning analysis; and (3) draws attention to both the micro politics of the interview conversation and the operation of power on the macro level, including the possibility of making “gender trouble”. The findings of the study suggest that the participants experienced difficulty narrating about male involvement in parenthood decision-making, owing to the taken for granted nature of parenthood for heterosexual adults. This was evident in participants’ sidelining of issues of “deciding” and “planning” and their alternate construal of childbearing as a non-choice, which, significantly served to bolster hetero-patriarchal norms. A central rhetorical tool for accomplishing these purposes was found in the construction of the “sacralised” child. In discursively manoeuvring around the central problematic, the participants ultimately produced a “silence” in the data that repeats the one in the research literature.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
(In)visibility and the exercise of power: a genealogy of the politics of drag spectacles in a small city in South Africa
- Authors: Marx, Jacqueline Greer
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Female impersonators -- Research -- South Africa Male impersonators -- Research -- South Africa Apartheid -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3013 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002522
- Description: This study investigates the politics of homosexual visibility in dressing-up, cross-dressing and drag performances that take place in a small city in South Africa over a period of sixty years, beginning in the 1950s and the inception of apartheid policy, through the socio-political changes in the 1990s to the 21st century post-apartheid context. The study draws on Butler’s notion of performative resistance and adopts a Foucauldian genealogy to examine the conditions that make visibility possible and through which particular representations of homosexuality are articulated and read, or remain unread or misread. Information about dressing-up, cross-dressing and drag performance was obtained in interviews, from documentary evidence, and from audio-visual recordings of drag shows and gay and lesbian beauty pageant competitions. Semiotics and a Foucauldian approach to analysing discourse were used to interpret the written, spoken, and visual texts. In this study I argue that the state prohibition of homosexuality during apartheid meant that people could not admit to knowing about it, and this ‘not knowing’ provided a cover for homosexual behaviour in public. At this time, the threat of being identified was associated with police raids on private parties. In the 1990s, homosexual visibility was more viable than it had been in the past. However, the strategies that were adopted to negotiate public visibility at this time were tailored to appease normative sentiments rather than challenge them. I argue that, historically, race and gender have played a role in diminishing and exacerbating homosexual visibility and its politics. Addressing the potential for harm that is associated with homosexual visibility in the 21st century post-apartheid context, this study considers the circumstances in which invisibility is desirable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Marx, Jacqueline Greer
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Female impersonators -- Research -- South Africa Male impersonators -- Research -- South Africa Apartheid -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3013 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002522
- Description: This study investigates the politics of homosexual visibility in dressing-up, cross-dressing and drag performances that take place in a small city in South Africa over a period of sixty years, beginning in the 1950s and the inception of apartheid policy, through the socio-political changes in the 1990s to the 21st century post-apartheid context. The study draws on Butler’s notion of performative resistance and adopts a Foucauldian genealogy to examine the conditions that make visibility possible and through which particular representations of homosexuality are articulated and read, or remain unread or misread. Information about dressing-up, cross-dressing and drag performance was obtained in interviews, from documentary evidence, and from audio-visual recordings of drag shows and gay and lesbian beauty pageant competitions. Semiotics and a Foucauldian approach to analysing discourse were used to interpret the written, spoken, and visual texts. In this study I argue that the state prohibition of homosexuality during apartheid meant that people could not admit to knowing about it, and this ‘not knowing’ provided a cover for homosexual behaviour in public. At this time, the threat of being identified was associated with police raids on private parties. In the 1990s, homosexual visibility was more viable than it had been in the past. However, the strategies that were adopted to negotiate public visibility at this time were tailored to appease normative sentiments rather than challenge them. I argue that, historically, race and gender have played a role in diminishing and exacerbating homosexual visibility and its politics. Addressing the potential for harm that is associated with homosexual visibility in the 21st century post-apartheid context, this study considers the circumstances in which invisibility is desirable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
A series of systematic case studies on the treatment of rape-related PTSD in the South African context implications for practice and policy
- Authors: Padmanabhanunni, Anita
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder -- South Africa -- Treatment Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Patients Case studies Rape victims -- Counseling of -- South Africa Psychic trauma -- Treatment Rape victims -- Counseling of Case studies Cognitive therapy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3035 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002544
- Description: In 2009, South African police statistics revealed that more than 68 332 women were raped in the country. The evidence from independent researchers has shown that SAPS statistics are highly susceptible to under-reporting and the actual figure is more than double this amount. One pervasive feature of the phenomenology of rape is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a highly debilitating condition with severe individual and societal costs. The condition takes a critical toll on occupational functioning, schooling and personal relationships and is associated with depression, suicide risk, self-harming behaviours and alcohol-abuse problems. The Ehlers and Clark (2000) cognitive model represents the most efficacious treatment for PTSD but the approach is severely under-utilised by South African practitioners working with sexual trauma. The reasons for such under-utilisation relate to a lack of exposure and training surrounding the model and concerns about the transportability of the treatment to a multi-cultural context. One method of addressing these barriers to treatment delivery is through systematic case-based research. Systematic case-based research offers a complementary means of refining theory and developing evidence-based practice in the context of a developing country. The method offers an intensive analysis and description of the particular phenomena under study within its real-life context. It allows the researcher to intensively examine and identify the specific aspects of the therapist’s responses and client’s reactions that contributed to significant change. Unlike efficacy studies, generalisability in case-study research is based on replication on a case-by-case basis and the creation of case law. This research study uses a systematic-case study approach to investigate the applicability of the Ehlers and Clark (2000) model in the treatment of rape-related PTSD in South Africa. The study aims to demonstrate the transportability of the model and develop a needed evidence base for service providers in the country. Seven women participated in the project and lent their treatment process to the research. The participants varied in terms of age, race, culture, socio-economic status and the nature of their sexual trauma. Through synoptic thematic analysis of their therapy process specific client-related personal aspects, client-related contextual factors and state-level factors were found to impede treatment delivery and implementation. The implications of these aspects for clinical practice and social policy are comprehensively discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Padmanabhanunni, Anita
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder -- South Africa -- Treatment Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Patients Case studies Rape victims -- Counseling of -- South Africa Psychic trauma -- Treatment Rape victims -- Counseling of Case studies Cognitive therapy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3035 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002544
- Description: In 2009, South African police statistics revealed that more than 68 332 women were raped in the country. The evidence from independent researchers has shown that SAPS statistics are highly susceptible to under-reporting and the actual figure is more than double this amount. One pervasive feature of the phenomenology of rape is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a highly debilitating condition with severe individual and societal costs. The condition takes a critical toll on occupational functioning, schooling and personal relationships and is associated with depression, suicide risk, self-harming behaviours and alcohol-abuse problems. The Ehlers and Clark (2000) cognitive model represents the most efficacious treatment for PTSD but the approach is severely under-utilised by South African practitioners working with sexual trauma. The reasons for such under-utilisation relate to a lack of exposure and training surrounding the model and concerns about the transportability of the treatment to a multi-cultural context. One method of addressing these barriers to treatment delivery is through systematic case-based research. Systematic case-based research offers a complementary means of refining theory and developing evidence-based practice in the context of a developing country. The method offers an intensive analysis and description of the particular phenomena under study within its real-life context. It allows the researcher to intensively examine and identify the specific aspects of the therapist’s responses and client’s reactions that contributed to significant change. Unlike efficacy studies, generalisability in case-study research is based on replication on a case-by-case basis and the creation of case law. This research study uses a systematic-case study approach to investigate the applicability of the Ehlers and Clark (2000) model in the treatment of rape-related PTSD in South Africa. The study aims to demonstrate the transportability of the model and develop a needed evidence base for service providers in the country. Seven women participated in the project and lent their treatment process to the research. The participants varied in terms of age, race, culture, socio-economic status and the nature of their sexual trauma. Through synoptic thematic analysis of their therapy process specific client-related personal aspects, client-related contextual factors and state-level factors were found to impede treatment delivery and implementation. The implications of these aspects for clinical practice and social policy are comprehensively discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
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