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A History of “Relevance” in PsychologyScience and Society in the Time of SAPA (1948–1961)

A History of “Relevance” in Psychology: Science and Society in the Time of SAPA (1948–1961) [The 1962 splitting of the South African Psychological Association (SAPA) ranks among the most distasteful episodes in the history of psychology in South Africa. While a fair amount has been written on the subsequent founding of the whites-only Psychological Institute of the Republic of South Africa (PIRSA), comparatively little is known about SAPA, which was established in 1948 as the first national association for psychologists in the country. If anything, SAPA has come to be defined by the events of 1962, discussions of which tend to suggest that, whereas the association’s Afrikaner psychologists ended up being mouthpieces for the apartheid state, its Anglophone members remained faithful, more or less, to a non-racial psychology. This chapter suggests, however, that such an assessment of SAPA’s politics simplifies matters to a fault. While it is true that many of the association’s Afrikaner members went on to devote themselves to a brazenly racist formulation of the discipline, the ostensibly progressive politics of their English-speaking counterparts is not beyond interrogation.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A History of “Relevance” in PsychologyScience and Society in the Time of SAPA (1948–1961)

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References (10)

Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan UK
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016. The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN
978-1-137-47488-9
Pages
117 –135
DOI
10.1057/978-1-137-47489-6_6
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[The 1962 splitting of the South African Psychological Association (SAPA) ranks among the most distasteful episodes in the history of psychology in South Africa. While a fair amount has been written on the subsequent founding of the whites-only Psychological Institute of the Republic of South Africa (PIRSA), comparatively little is known about SAPA, which was established in 1948 as the first national association for psychologists in the country. If anything, SAPA has come to be defined by the events of 1962, discussions of which tend to suggest that, whereas the association’s Afrikaner psychologists ended up being mouthpieces for the apartheid state, its Anglophone members remained faithful, more or less, to a non-racial psychology. This chapter suggests, however, that such an assessment of SAPA’s politics simplifies matters to a fault. While it is true that many of the association’s Afrikaner members went on to devote themselves to a brazenly racist formulation of the discipline, the ostensibly progressive politics of their English-speaking counterparts is not beyond interrogation.]

Published: Jun 24, 2016

Keywords: Presidential Address; Progressive Politics; Psychological Service; National Party; Opening Address

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