scholarly journals phenomenon of divorce and its challenge to the black African communities: A need for pastoral and indigenous African marital therapy

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gift Tlharihani Baloyi ◽  
Buffel Olehile

Divorce is a painful and traumatic experience that disrupt the lives of people. Research has shown that the phenomenon of divorce among black South Africans is escalating on a yearly basis. This is accompanied by both emotional, spiritual and psychological effects which impact on the well-being of people. Furthermore, divorce is understood as a disruption of normal life and it also threatens the stability and sustainability of social institutions. As the article is written from a context of pastoral care and counselling, it acknowledges the existence of other forms of care beyond the boundaries of the Christian ministry of healing. The indigenous African martial therapy plays a vital role in black African communities in strengthening marital bonds and its longevity. Even though this African model has been disrupted by the wave of industrialisation and urbanisation, the article argues that its methods of healing, counselling and mediatory role are necessary for African people and in response to the collapse of the institution of marriage.

Author(s):  
Matsobane J. Manala

Witchcraft is presented as a threat to the life and well-being of the people of Africa, their embracement of Christianity notwithstanding. This article seeks to highlight the negative impact of witchcraft beliefs and experiences among many African people, including Christians and the educated, that is, “educated” in the western sense. The article identifies a lacuna in the Hervormde Kerk in Suidelike Afrika’s ministry to the sick and to those who find themselves engulfed by misfortune in one form or another and believed to have been caused by witchcraft. The article points to the need for a ministry that will be relevant and meaningful in addressing the illnesses and misfortunes of black African Christians.


Itinerario ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Posel

This article engages questions of colonial intimacy in the context of the market – specifically, by white commercial sector in apartheid South Africa to lure black South Africans into burgeoning consumer markets. I focus on the 1960s, when the exercise in racial domination grew more ambitious and coercive, at the same time as buoyant economic growth efforts spurred consumerist desire. African consumers were largely invisible and incomprehensible to white businesspeople, who turned to advertisers and market researchers to bring ‘the African consumer’ to light. This was largely an epistemological challenge – the pursuit of new modes of knowledge about African people, and especially the material intimacies of their daily lives. This article examines this knowledge-making project, along with the anxieties, lapses and contradictions that inhered in it.


2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mea Van Huyssteen ◽  
Millidhashni Reddy ◽  
Nadasen T Naidoo ◽  
Shirley-Anne Boschmans ◽  
Jane McCartney ◽  
...  

Diabetes mellitus, a chronic illness, affects approximately 8% of black South Africans. Traditional healers are an integral part of the lifestyle of the African people. Opsomming Diabetes mellitus, 'n chroniese siekte, affekteer na raming 8% van Suid-Afrika se swart bevolking. Tradisionele genesers is 'n integrale deel van die lewenswyse van dié bevolkingsgroep. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-101
Author(s):  
Maria I. Cherepanova ◽  
Anastasiya A. Gorbunova ◽  
Syldysmaa A. Saryglar

The relevance of scientific understanding of security in the context of a crisis of generalized trust in Russian society is justified by the search for significant indicators of its interdependence. The scientific discourse of the study of subjective assessments of social well-being allows us to predict the dynamics of these phenomena. The purpose of this article is to identify the optimal socio-economic context, as well as the effectiveness of the regional authorities, which are a necessary condition for optimizing the social well-being of citizens, as one of the basic components of the stability of the region's functioning. The analysis of the basic components of the social well-being of the population of the Altai territory in the context of the analysis of generalized trust in the basic social institutions of the region is presented. On the basis of structural-functional and neo-evolutionist approaches, the role of trust as a basic construct of the social order of functioning of the regional community is revealed. Conclusions are made that the set of assessments of the cognitive and emotional level of sensations indicates that most of the inhabitants of the region have a low estimate of the potential of social institutions responsible for the safety of life in the region.


Crisis ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourens Schlebusch ◽  
Naseema B.M. Vawda ◽  
Brenda A. Bosch

Summary: In the past suicidal behavior among Black South Africans has been largely underresearched. Earlier studies among the other main ethnic groups in the country showed suicidal behavior in those groups to be a serious problem. This article briefly reviews some of the more recent research on suicidal behavior in Black South Africans. The results indicate an apparent increase in suicidal behavior in this group. Several explanations are offered for the change in suicidal behavior in the reported clinical populations. This includes past difficulties for all South Africans to access health care facilities in the Apartheid (legal racial separation) era, and present difficulties of post-Apartheid transformation the South African society is undergoing, as the people struggle to come to terms with the deleterious effects of the former South African racial policies, related socio-cultural, socio-economic, and other pressures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-444
Author(s):  
Amanuel Isak Tewolde

Many scholars and South African politicians characterize the widespread anti-foreigner sentiment and violence in South Africa as dislike against migrants and refugees of African origin which they named ‘Afro-phobia’. Drawing on online newspaper reports and academic sources, this paper rejects the Afro-phobia thesis and argues that other non-African migrants such as Asians (Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis and Chinese) are also on the receiving end of xenophobia in post-apartheid South Africa. I contend that any ‘outsider’ (White, Asian or Black African) who lives and trades in South African townships and informal settlements is scapegoated and attacked. I term this phenomenon ‘colour-blind xenophobia’. By proposing this analytical framework and integrating two theoretical perspectives — proximity-based ‘Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)’ and Neocosmos’ exclusivist citizenship model — I contend that xenophobia in South Africa targets those who are in close proximity to disadvantaged Black South Africans and who are deemed outsiders (e.g., Asian, African even White residents and traders) and reject arguments that describe xenophobia in South Africa as targeting Black African refugees and migrants.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Azeez. E.P

Social Capital is the most crucial asset which significantly influence the efficacy and resilience of any community. Social capital is a dependent variable that depends upon the competence and coherence of the individuals in the community and mode of social relationships, trust and networks they maintain. It is one of the most sustainable social resources that originate from human relations and results on the mutual support of people. Utilization of Social capital has a wide applicability in the process of social inclusion, especially in dealing with the vulnerable and disadvantaged sections in the community itself. Voluntary organizations are very keen to utilize the social capital for community/social services and community development in a sustainable manner. Community based de-institutionalized Palliative Care is one of the foremost among such organizations that made social capital in a strategic way for social inclusion and community well being. This paper analyses the extent to which different elements of social capital helps in initiating the sustainable community based palliative care movement by assessing the unique intervention strategies carried out by the palliative care. This paper explores conceptual questions of how social capital and voluntary community based services are correlated. A case study method was adopted for the study in which ten palliative care units were analyzed. The results show that a number of social capital elements are playing a vital role in the sustainability of community palliative care movement in Kerala.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document