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Living in fear : the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships, 1985-1988 : a social-psychological study
Bibliography: pages 212-218.
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Psychology
2016
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| _version_ | 1867613293338689536 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Syren, Christian J |
| author2 | Foster, Don |
| author_browse | Foster, Don Syren, Christian J |
| author_facet | Foster, Don Syren, Christian J |
| author_sort | Syren, Christian J |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Bibliography: pages 212-218. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/16632 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:49.949Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | Department of Psychology |
| publisherStr | Department of Psychology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/16632 Living in fear : the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships, 1985-1988 : a social-psychological study Syren, Christian J Foster, Don Youth - South Africa - Cape Town - Political activity Parents - South Africa - Cape Town Bibliography: pages 212-218. The present is a social-psychological study which describes and analyses the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships against the background of the socio-political upheaval in South Africa during the 1985/86 rebellion and thereafter. An ethnographic research method was used due to its suitability in terms of accessing the phenomena under study, and due to the theoretical problems associated with the use of traditional social psychological models in the South African context; it was argued that it is necessary to articulate the micro- and macro levels of social phenomena at the point of their intersection to do social psychology in an oppressive context. Outlines of the 1985/86 rebellion, which emphasized the role of youth and students, and of the methods of operation of the South African Police, from a historical perspective, were given as a backdrop against which the analyses of the empirical data were presented. The concrete experiences of the parents with respect to various forms of political repression were described and situated as specific stressors in their everyday lives; police presence, visits and searches of their homes, having a child 'on the run', detention without trial of their children, and the prevalent fear of being informed upon. While the particularly stressful aspects of these experiences were highlighted, they were moreover found to have had significant consequences in terms of contributing to the development of the parents' politicization and engagement in the political activities of their own children. These experiences were furthermore found to have precipitated the parents' own gradual involvement in support and other activities offered by progressive organizations, which reinforced the development of an outlook of resistance towards the state. Although the security forces' engineering of a climate of fear in the townships was portrayed as initially being a pervasive aspect of daily life and a powerful deterrent to parental involvement, it later, on the basis of commonality of experiences of victimization and persecution, forged communality of spirit and unity in resistance. The parents' experiences were first and foremost found to be characterized by fundamental emotional intra-personal conflict, and the need for further research of the psychological sequelae of political persecution and repression was stressed. The thesis was concluded by a comparison of some central findings which related to international as well as local research. 2016-02-01T10:01:16Z 2016-02-01T10:01:16Z 1989 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16632 eng application/pdf Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Youth - South Africa - Cape Town - Political activity Parents - South Africa - Cape Town Syren, Christian J Living in fear : the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships, 1985-1988 : a social-psychological study |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Living in fear : the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships, 1985-1988 : a social-psychological study |
| title_full | Living in fear : the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships, 1985-1988 : a social-psychological study |
| title_fullStr | Living in fear : the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships, 1985-1988 : a social-psychological study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Living in fear : the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships, 1985-1988 : a social-psychological study |
| title_short | Living in fear : the experiences of parents of political activists in "coloured" Cape Flats townships, 1985-1988 : a social-psychological study |
| title_sort | living in fear the experiences of parents of political activists in coloured cape flats townships 1985 1988 a social psychological study |
| topic | Youth - South Africa - Cape Town - Political activity Parents - South Africa - Cape Town |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16632 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT syrenchristianj livinginfeartheexperiencesofparentsofpoliticalactivistsincolouredcapeflatstownships19851988asocialpsychologicalstudy |