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FORUM: Adulthood and Old Age under apartheid: A Psychosocial Consideration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Malcolm Johnson  and
Helen Q. Kivnick
Helen Q. Kivnick
Affiliation:
University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, c/o 624 Grove St, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA.
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Abstract

Based on Erik H. Erikson's life-cycle model as clarified by Erikson, Erikson, and Kivnick, this theoretical paper considers psychosocial development in the adulthood and old age of South Africa's black majority population, under the oppressive laws of apartheid. The author draws on empirical observations made during three months of fieldwork in South Africa. The paper rests on the propositions that apartheid may be expected to interfere with healthy psychosocial development in South African blacks throughout the life cycle, and that cultural strengths – exemplified by traditional singing – function as counterbalancing resources that promote psychosocial health, nonetheless. Adulthood and old age are discussed to illustrate the way black South Africans must negotiate every stage of life under the powerful, opposing influences of apartheid and indigenous culture.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , December 1988 , pp. 423 - 440
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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References

NOTES

1 Erikson, E. H., Erikson, J. M. and Kivnick, H. Q.Vital Involvement in Old Age. W. W. Norton, New York, 1986.Google Scholar

2 In the spring and again in the fall of 1984 the author spent a total of three months in South Africa studying, the singing of black South Africans and its role in their contemporary lives.

3 Erikson, E. H.Childhood and Society. W. W. Norton, New York, 1963.Google Scholar

4 Kivnick, H. Q. Through the life cycle: psychosocial thoughts on old age. In Pollock, G. H. and Greenspan, S. I. (eds), The Course of Life (Vol. 5). International Universities Press, Madison, CT (in press).Google Scholar

5 Kivnick, H. Q. and Gardner, G. M.Mbubel Zulu Men's Singing Competition. (Record album and accompanying booklet.) Rounder Records, Cambridge, MA, 1987a.Google Scholar

6 Kivnick, H. Q. and Gardner, G. M.Let their Voices be Heard: Traditional Singing in South Africa. (Record album and accompanying booklet.) Rounder Records, Cambridge, MA, 1987b.Google Scholar

7 Mandela, W.Part of My Soul. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1985.Google Scholar