A contextual approach to psychology acknowledges the struggles people face within the social environment. From this perspective, an individual is not only influenced by internal forces, thoughts, or feelings. Instead, a person responds to his or her social environment. Social norms and beliefs determine how a person can act in any given situation. This means that a person’s roots influence the routes they can take and the opportunities open to them. Social marginalization can result in mental health challenges. Without recognizing social injustice, an individual may be blamed for their own struggles and forced to adjust.

Why is it important to acknowledge social context?

Some aspects of identity can lead to people feeling disempowered. This can be due to racial identity, disability, gendered identity, national identity, deaf identity, sexualities, class, health and illness. Sometimes, aspects of identity may combine to create layers of struggle.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shares the complexities of raced identity in Americanah:

“The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America….Race matters. But we don’t talk about it…I speak from experience.“

To look at a person in all of their complexity means that the individual cannot be viewed as an isolated being. Instead, we need to see people within a social context. This context exists within time and space. James Hillman explains that if we are to see every problem a person faces as related to past struggles, psychotherapy may not be helpful. This is because every aspect of our environment plays a role in our mental health. People often face social and environmental struggles on a day-to-day basis. This doesn’t mean individual problems are not relevant. It’s just that by seeing individuals within a social context, we are able to.

When did contextual awareness become recognized?  

In the 1920’s Vygotsky recognised that learning is not simply an individual process. He shared that the mind does not think in isolation. Instead, he explained that everything within us was once between us.

In the 1930’s, George Herbert Mead’s students recorded his teachings. Mead explained that the mind does not exist in isolation. Instead, society shapes self and self shapes mind. 

In the late 1940s, Lacan wrote about the mirror stage of development, where children learn their gender from the other who goes before them. Instead of  seeing individual development as related to drives within, Lacan looked at the influence of social life on individual development and highlighted the importance of repetition. 

In the 1970s, marginalised groups began to demand recognition. This included women’s groups as well as ‘Black’ researchers. Foucault began to explore social hierarchies and how roots (based on identity) opened or blocked opportunities based on race or sexualities. 

In the 1980’s, social constructionists began to explore how marginalised identities had been constructed. By acknowledging how belief systems were woven into culture and shared between people, social constructionists argue that it is possible to create a new and more equal society. 

In the 1990s, researchers such as Patricia Hill Collins began to focus on the role of intersectional identities in creating social disadvantages. Instead of simply focusing on ‘race’ or ‘gender’, intersectional researchers argued that identities combined to create complex layers of marginalisation. 

In the 2000s, researchers began to explore the importance of multicultural research in psychology. This included taking all aspects of identity into account, working sensitivity in order to understand the struggles or difficulties faced by marginalised groups, as well as the agency present within people. 

Current research focuses on decolonized theory. This means taking into account the impacts of colonization on indigenous communities. The role of anthropocentrism, the collective self, and spirituality is taken into account. Decolonised theory argues that western psychology masquerades as universal, but ignores many other definitions of self.  Decolonised theory can also be applied to languages used. This includes the marginalization of over 300 visual languages practiced by Deaf communities.

Some lead researchers who emphasize a contextual approach to psychology include

Lev Vygotsky focused on the development of children. Vygotsky found that children learn a great deal through language and that this language shapes the way that they see the world. 

George Herbert Mead pointed out that self develops through language use. Mead argued that people can understand the world around them. By understanding social values (known as the generalized other) people understand social values. Mead saw community as a positive force that enabled empathy development.

Frantz Fanon was a psychoanalyst who based his works on the teachings of theorists such as Jung and Adler. He argued that social inequalities marginalized ‘Black’ communities, who are forced to adjust to ‘white’ society, putting on masks in order to fit in. This means that people are unable to be themselves in the presence of dominant ‘white’ norms. Fanon also explored the psychological impact colonial norms have on marginalized ‘Black’ communities, who are devalued and oppressed. Fanon worked in the 1960s.

Michel Foucault began to question how social norms form hierarchies that disadvantage groups of people. Foucault argued that if people were seen to be different but equal, there would be no problem. He argued that people are placed within social hierarchies that disadvantage some while privileging others. This impacts upon quality of life. 

Nikolas Rose carried on from the work of Foucault, focusing on the ‘psy’ disciplines, and the way that norms and values are often established and maintained by psychology. While psychology did not invent personhood, it did define what this personhood means. Definitions of what is ‘normal’ were often established through observing what was seen to be ‘abnormal’ or deviant.  Through the ‘psy’ disciplines, ordinary behavior becomes institutionalized. It is practiced through rituals that redefine normality over and over again. 

Ken and Mary Gergen explain that individuals exist within a larger cultural vacuum. Instead, meanings are shared through film, stories and the actions people carry out every day. It is through these meanings that people understand themselves and their place within the world. They might also learn social myths about marginalized groups of people. Mary Gergen explored the social construction of gender and the impacts on women’s lives because of gender norms. 

Patricia Hill Collins began to explore how different social identities played a role in shaping a person’s life. Her work began with exploring ‘Black’ feminism. Her work challenged the viewpoint that people can be defined by a single identity. Instead, she pointed out that all different aspects of self are complex and need to be taken into account. Without this, many social struggles become ignored. 

Madonna Constantine and Derald Wing Sue explored multicultural competence and what this means within a therapeutic setting. In order to be culturally competent, a therapist needs to be aware of his/her personal views, how to relate to people of different cultures, understand different cultural perspectives, and be willing to explore cultural differences with an open mind. Other researchers, such as Neil Glickman, have used cultural competence in specific settings, such as with Deaf clients. 

Lesiba Baloyi and Paddy Ladd focus on how dominant ways of being oppress marginalized cultures. The western self is largely seen to be universal and hides multiple other definitions of self, including the self shaped within African traditions. Baloyi explains that this self is known as ‘moya’, and is connected to numerous other beings. Paddy Ladd explains that the visual language of Deaf culture has been denied within the mainstream audial culture. 

Benefits of liberation psychology

• Identity Affirming
• Encourages Activism
• Increases kindness towards marginalized groups and values difference
• Takes a both/and approach to psychological struggles, understanding context and how to assist with mental health difficulties.

How to find a competent practitioner

Azeemah Kola points out the following three steps to finding a culturally competent psychotherapist:

1. Ask questions to explore how a potential therapist understands privilege, social hierarchies and the everyday sexisms/racisms which impact on identity.

2. If you can, give your therapist some time to develop trust, but if you find you have to educate your therapist about identity and privilege, it may be time to find another.

3.  Ensure your therapist understands your relationship to identity. Just because a therapist has the same identity as you doesn’t mean they will relate. Each person may understand social norms in different ways and may have even internalized oppressive belief systems.

References

• Baloyi, L, J. (2008) Psychology and Psychotherapy redefined from the viewpoint of the African Experience. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The University of South Africa. Pretoria, South Africa. Retrieved February 2012.
• Constantine, M. G., & Sue, D. W. (Eds.). (2005). Strategies for building multicultural competence in mental health and educational settings. John Wiley & Sons.
• Fanon, F. (1967). Black skin white masks. New York: Grove Press. 
• Foucault, M. (1976). Lecture: 17 March 1976. Chapter 11 in Society must be Defended: Lectures at the College de France, 1975-76. (pp 239-264). Eds Bertain, M. & Fontana, A. University of Cape Town 84 Translated by David Macey. New York: Picador. Foucault, M. (1982). The Subject and Power. In Critical Inquiry. Vol 8, No 4, pp. 777- 795. The University of Chicago Press. 
• Gergen, K. & Gergen, M. (1983). Narratives of the Self. In Sarbin, T., & Scheibe, K. Studies in Social Identity. (pp 254-273). New York: Praeger. 
• Glickman, N. S., & Harvey, M. A. (Eds.). (2013). Culturally affirmative psychotherapy with deaf persons. Routledge.
• Hill Collins, P. (1998). Fighting words: Black women and the search for justice. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Kohler, A. (14 July 2020). 3 Tips for Finding A Culturally Competent Therapist. Psychology Today. Retrieved on 14 February 2021.
• Ladd, P., & Lane, H. (2013). Deaf ethnicity, deafhood, and their relationship. Sign Language Studies, 13(4), 565-579.
• Mead, G., H. (1934). Mind, self, and society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago: Chicago University Press. 
• Meyer, W., Moore, C., & Viljoen, H. (2003). Personology, from individual to ecosystem. Sandton: Heinemann. 
• Pretorius-Heuchert, J., & Ahmed, R. (2001). Notions of social change in community psychology: issues and challenges. In Community Psychology: Theory, Method and Practice. South African and Other Perspectives (pp 67-87). Cape Town: Oxford University Press. 
• Rose, N. (1991). Governing the Soul. Routledge. Rose, N. (1996). Inventing ourselves. Cambridge University Press. 
• Van Vlanderen, H., & Neeves, D. (2004). Participatory Action Research and local knowledge in community contexts. In Hook, D. Critical Psychology. (pp 445-464). Cape Town: UCT Press.