Posted inGeneralHealthMedia

Season 2 of True Detective — A ‘noir’ reflection of our broken society?

When the first season of True Detective was broadcast — with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as two detectives out to solve a case that seemed intractable in the extreme, with a gritty cinematic style and refusal to compromise itself for the sake of satisfying the usual Hollywood saccharine, sentimentalist demands regarding plot structure — […]

Posted inEqualityHealth

An open critique of the Nieuwoudt et al (2019) study on coloured women

By the Division for Research & Methodology (DRM) The Psychological Society of South Africa’s (PsySSA) Division for Research and Methodology (DRM) is committed to the teaching, practice and promotion of relevant, appropriate and ethical scientific research in South Africa. We are disturbed by and strongly opposed to the practice of misusing racial classification in scientific […]

Posted inEqualityGender violenceHealthMediaNews/Politics

Creating space to talk about the politics of shame

By Rebecca Helman and Neziswa Titi In their interview with Elspeth Probyn, Vivienne Bozalek, Tamara Shefer and Ronelle Carolissen argue that “[s]hame has typically been understood as a negative emotion, a view which is prevalent in individualist, psychologising discourses about human experience”. Conversely Probyn argues that shame can be a generative force, one which is […]

Posted inEqualityGeneralHealthMediaTech

Notre Dame, spirituality and technology

The recent devastating fire that nearly destroyed the more than 800 year-old Parisian Gothic cathedral, Notre Dame, has put something important in perspective. One could not but notice that the shock caused by this event was not restricted to Paris, or even France, which one might have expected. Understandably, Parisians have always loved this architectural […]

Posted inEqualityGender violenceHealth

An open statement supporting Caster Semenya’s human rights and dignity

It is with great concern that the Sexuality and Gender Division (SGD) of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) has been following Caster Semenya’s¹ quest to compete in international athletics. The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) is proposing a new ruling to set a limit on female athletes’ testosterone levels in certain track […]

Posted inEqualityGeneralHealthTech

A question of balance…

Two days ago my partner and I went on a whirlwind visit to Gauteng and North-West Province – flying to Johannnesburg and driving from there in a rented car to the Potschefstroom campus of North-West University, where I had been invited to participate in a debate on the question: ‘Is God still necessary for morality?’ […]

Posted inEqualityGender violenceHealth

The Depo-Testosterone stock out must never repeat itself

By Chris/tine McLachlan It was with great concern that the Sexuality and Gender Division (SGD) of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) became aware of the shortage of Depo Testosterone in South Africa during the period December 2018 till mid-March 2019, resulting in trans masculine persons / trans men being unable to access their […]