Enhancing Reflexivity in Psychology: Insights from Empirical Studies of Published Work in Post-Apartheid Africa

Abstract

South Africa psychology has always been contentious, and under apartheid, it was complicit in perpetuating racist ideology and reproducing social asymmetries. While structural inequalities permeated all areas of South African society, knowledge production played a particularly insidious role in the perpetuation of patterns privilege and marginalisation. South African critical psychologists have offered a unique perspective to unearthing the workings of power through the study of published work in psychology. This article provides a review of studies of knowledge production published in post-apartheid South African psychology. This analysis synthesises the themes, theories, and methods that are characteristic of this corpus, and illuminates trends in knowledge production both under apartheid and in the post-apartheid period. The article underlines the role of critical psychologists in promoting reflexivity in psychology through empirical research that reflects on the dominant patterns and gaps in published work, and identifies new directions for this type of research.