Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Supervisors: Professor Akin Odebunmi (Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan) Dr. Abiodun Gesinde (Department of Psychology, Covenant University)
(B.Sc., M.Sc.)
Clinical Psychology
Department of Psychology School of Human Resource Development College of Development Studies Covenant University
I dedicate this work to the intellectual visionaries in and out of the academia, who are accessing
new landscapes of alterity and possibilities; whose subversive visions are challenging the political orthodoxy of order, hegemony and the heteronormative articulations of success; who are learning to fail into new ways of being and knowing whether this be deemed legitimate or not.
Presentation Outline
Introduction
Statement of Problem Aim and Objectives of Study
Research Questions
Literature Review Research Methodology Expected Contributions Conclusion References
Introduction
Statement of Problem
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Research Questions
3) What kinds of psychological problems do people bring to the attention of traditional healers in Ayetoro Township?
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Research Questions
6) How do subjects of these indigenous techniques story their experiences and what informs their preferences for these therapeutic technologies?
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Research Questions
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Literature Review
The Igbo of Eastern Nigeria also have an elaborate cosmology that implicates healing and illness, deviance and wellbeing. Nwoko (2009, p.37) states that in Igbo perception, every ailment comprised the invisible, spiritual or supernatural origin and visible or natural origins.
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Research Methodology
Phenomenological research
This study employs a qualitative research design since the topic, assumptions, questions and objectives of the project are not appropriate for positivist and quantitative approaches. Qualitative research is naturalistic research, and is particularly adapted to the exploration of why and how questions, which seek the subjective meaning behind experiences within multiple contexts.
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Research Methodology
Phenomenological research
Setting The study will be situated in the south-western part of Nigeria, specifically in Ayetoro Township, in Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State, which is mostly populated by indigenous Yoruba communities. Ayetoro, established around 1813, is one of the founding cites that formed Ogun State in the mid-1970s. It has more than four government secondary schools and many private schools; it serves as the administrative headquarters for Yewa North Local Government, and is home to many prestigious traditional healers hence its selection. Additionally, Ogun State is home to one of Nigerias few psychiatric centres.
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Research Design This study employs a qualitative, phenomenological research design (inspired by a social constructivist paradigm) and adaptations of phenomenological thematic analysis procedures as data analysis tools. Phenomenology is a major form of qualitative research. It is employed by qualitative researchers who are concerned about process, not outcome which is usually a story and who seek to describe the subjective experiences of people. The operative word in phenomenological research is describe. The aim of the researcher is to describe as accurately as possible the phenomenon, refraining from any pre-given framework, but remaining true to the facts. Phenomenologists are concerned with understanding social and psychological phenomena from the perspectives of people involved.
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Participants My portrait of the mental health system in Ayetoro and the culture that informs their indigenous practices will be derived from my interactions with multiple populations: a) Traditional Healers/Indigenous Mental Health Practitioners in Ayetoro Town b) Clients of Traditional Healers c) Clinicians at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Sampling The most popular form of sampling in qualitative research is purposive or theoretical sampling. The probability sampling techniques employed in quantitative research are rarely appropriate when applied to qualitative research (Marshall, 1996). The purposive sampling method is a non-probability sampling method, and has thus been selected in this study since it is appropriate to the direct goals of identifying primary participants within the multiple populations or looking for those who have had experiences relating to the phenomenon to be researched. In addition, I shall use snowball sampling. Snowballing is a method of expanding the sample by asking one informant or participant to recommend others for interviewing.
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Sample Size The sample size cannot be determined prior to engaging the concerned populations. However, since it is already clear the kinds of people I expect to meet, it is possible to have a rough estimate about the number of participants one might expect to meet in the sites. In this case, it is expected that I shall be able to interview approximately seven well-established practitioners in Ayetoro town, not less than 10 clients, and not less than 10 mainstream psychotherapists at the Aro Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Data-Gathering Methods This phenomenological study of practitioner-based worldviews about mental health in Ayetoro and the lived experiences of participants in the culture will derive its data (narratives, observations, and quotations) based on the research questions I have earlier earmarked. The data collection methods are: i) Unstructured in-depth (personal narratives), ii) phenomenological interviews
iii) focus group discussions, and iv) memoing (a qualitative research method-inspired way of accounting for researcher bias) from field notes
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Data Explicitation Data explicitation will be performed using content explicitation protocols, which involve coding qualitative data (that is, the transcribed conversations generated from the interviews, focus group discussions and even field notes made by the researcher) in a spiral fashion, building categories that exemplify elements of a narrative, constructing themes from categories and then arriving at a representative theory or big picture about the data.
1) Bracketing and phenomenological reduction. 2) Delineating units of meaning. 3) Clustering of units of meaning to form themes. 4) Summarising each interview, validating it and where necessary modifying it.
5) Extracting general and unique themes from all the interviews and making a composite summary.
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Expected Contributions
Expected Contributions
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers
Conclusion
Thank you
References
(Full bibliographic content provided in Proposal; the following is merely displayed here for presentation purposes)
Causes of mental illness (Traditional healers) - Types of mental illness among Yoruba tribe of Nigeria. (2010). Retrieved September 22, 2010, from Progressive Individual Resources, Inc.: http://pirimn.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=34 Abbo, C. (2009). Profiles and outcome of traditional healing practices for severe mental illnesses in two districts of Eastern Uganda. Retrieved September 22, 2010, from Makarere University: http://diss.kib.ki.se/2009/978-91-7409-5906/thesis.pdf Abdi, A. A. (2010). Globalization, culture and development: Perspectives on Africa. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences, 2(1), 1-26. Adegoke, A. A. (2008). Factors influencing health beliefs among people in South West, Nigeria. African Research Review, 2(1), 177-197. Adichie, C. (2009, July). Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story. Retrieved September 26, 2010, from TED: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html Afolayan, S. O. (2010). Pragma-criticism: An Afrieurocentric reaction to the Bolekaja Agenda on the African novel. The Journal of Pan African Studies, 3(10), 85-103. Agara, A. J., Makanjuola, A. B., & Morakinyo, O. (2008). Management of perceived mental health problems by spiritual healers: a Nigerian study. Afr J Psychiatry, 11, 113-118.
Interpretations and Perceptions associated with Indigenous Psychotherapeutic Practices of Traditional Healers