Cultural Differences Between African Colonialism And Mental Health

Although it is because of colonialism that European frameworks are applied to the African context with regard to the majority of domains and areas of political structure, it is however, this same process that overlooked and put aside the African perspective and worldview when it comes to what is considered as psychology. Therefore, it can be said that the African countries, including South Africa, benefited in some aspects from colonialism, and that on the other end of the stick, colonialism has unintentionally oppressed the African population in terms of mental health as. This is because colonialism has been inconsiderate to the existence of and differences that lie between the African and Western views of psychology and mental health. It somewhat seems as though through globalization and colonialism, the African culture is forced to adapt to, and believe in the European view of mental illness, and thus forget, or put culture on extinction. The helping profession is therefore required to be aware of the African culture so as to choose the appropriate methods of interventions. Thus, psychologists (as part of the helping profession) need to be more sensitive towards the African perspective when working with African clients. This is because the African perspective shapes the way on which Africans relate to the …show more content…
this group includes the Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Zulu, Tsonga, Venda, Ndebele and Swati ethnic groups. Reasons for the exclusion of the white, coloured and Indian population reflects the difference in understanding that lies between these group and ethnic group. Therefore, this assignment will provide a detailed discussion on the global and African history of psychology, the difference between African and Western psychopathology, with the inclusion of the view of human nature and treatment, as well as the researchers world view as a registered counsellor in South