African Knowledge Systems
Throughout the history of psychology, the formal study of psychology in African cultures has been based on or established in mainstream Western psychology.
In the African culture certain ailments or illnesses are seen as 'symbolic' - by this we mean that there is more to the sickness than the physical quality we see, but rather a reason as to why the patient is feeling the way they do , it is almost as if they feel that they must go beyond the ‘information given’ (Bruner, 1986) to determine ‘who’ is speaking through such an illness and what they are expected to do to expect a cure.
There is to this day still a very clear distinction between how psychological problems are managed from an African perspective (ritualistic) and a Western perspective (talking therapy).
In the African culture certain ailments or illnesses are seen as 'symbolic' - by this we mean that there is more to the sickness than the physical quality we see, but rather a reason as to why the patient is feeling the way they do , it is almost as if they feel that they must go beyond the ‘information given’ (Bruner, 1986) to determine ‘who’ is speaking through such an illness and what they are expected to do to expect a cure.
There is to this day still a very clear distinction between how psychological problems are managed from an African perspective (ritualistic) and a Western perspective (talking therapy).
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