Psyssa Trauma and Violence Division

15/05/2023

This week we are highlighting a recent qualitative meta-synthesis by Alessi & Khan: Toward a trauma-informed qualitative research approach: Guidelines for ensuring the safety and promoting the resilience of research participants.

Key Terms:
• Qualitative research: a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical data to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation.
• Trauma: the biopsychosocial response to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.

Background:
• Qualitative researchers frequently conduct studies with individuals who have experienced various types of trauma, including those who have been historically marginalized and oppressed.
• However, in-depth discussions of how to conduct trauma-informed qualitative research do not exist.

Key Findings:
This study has provided the groundwork for a trauma-informed qualitative approach and outlines five guidelines for conducting research:
1. Preparing for community entry
2. Preparing for the qualitative interview or focus group
3. Extending safety and trust into the qualitative interview or focus group
4. Knowing when to change course to avoid re-traumatization in the interview or focus group
5. Committing to regular and radical self-reflection and self-care in the research process.

The findings of this study have important implications for research being conducted in South Africa as most of our population and therefore participants are from vulnerable and/or marginalised groups. This offers researchers an opportunity to incorporate these guidelines into their study design and implementation to ensure participant safety as well as promote their resilience.

The full article can be accessed at:

Qualitative researchers frequently conduct studies with individuals who have experienced various types of trauma, including those who have been historically marginalized and oppressed. However, in-...

20/04/2023

This week we are highlighting a recent qualitative meta-synthesis by Green and colleagues on the Influence of Cultural Norms on Formal Service Engagement Among Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.

Key Terms:
• Intimate Partner Violence: a set of behaviours conducted by a former or current intimate partner that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm and is one of the most common forms of violence against women.
• Non-Anglo-Saxon: all ethnic groups other than Anglo-English-speaking majority groups.

Background:
• For victim-survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), receiving help from formal services such as specialist family violence, health, or criminal justice services can be critical for their safety and well-being.
• Previous research has found cross-cultural differences in the rates of help-seeking behaviour, with women from non-Anglo-Saxon communities less likely to seek formal help than Anglo-Saxon populations.
• This may be a result of individual, practical, and cultural barriers which include limited language skills, social isolation, financial dependence on spouses, lack of knowledge of service availability, lack of culturally relevant services, and cultural norms that create a shame and stigma in seeking help.

Key Findings:
• Based on a thematic synthesis approach, this study found five key themes that captured specific cultural norms that influence formal service engagement: (1) gender roles and social expectations, (2) community recognition and acceptance of abuse, (3) honour-based society, (4) the role of religion, and (5) cultural beliefs and attitudes toward formal services.

The findings of this study have important implications for responses to family violence, particularly concerning family violence education for non-Anglo-Saxon ethnically diverse communities and best-practice strategies to improve the cultural relevancy of formal service providers. Given the vulnerability of women in South Africa to IPV, this study had important implications for clinical practice and advocacy.

The full article can be accessed at:

For victim-survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), receiving help from formal services such as specialist family violence, health, or criminal justice ser...

20/03/2023

Join us for a webinar on World Head Injury Awareness Day (HIAD) on Friday 24 March 13:00 - 15:00, hosted by Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital.
Our VC, Sunitha Swanepoel will be speaking on: "Living your way into a new way of thinking."

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81112344886?pwd=QU4reURLMldrbDRscjBwRWRobXBGUT09
Meeting ID: 811 1234 4886
Passcode: 157218

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

01/03/2023

26/01/2023

An outline of the TVD's mission which you can also find on our website https://lnkd.in/dsRTm2rU

The mission of the TVD is to promote the minimisation of violence in society and psychological harm due to exposure to potentially traumatic events.

The TVD addresses this mission through the advancement and appropriate dissemination of scientific research that informs good preventative and ameliorative practice and the implementation of specific initiatives that addresses particular needs related to the prevention of violence or treatment of traumatic stress and related phenomena.

The goals derived from this mission are to be achieved in cooperation with other PsySSA structures, other professional organisations, the general public, and governmental organisations.

26/01/2023

Thinking about joining the TVD?

Here are our annual membership fees:

Full members: R50 per year
Associate and affiliate members: R40 per year
Student members: R20 per year

26/01/2023

Just a reminder of some important emergency numbers, which you can also find on our website https://lnkd.in/dsRTm2rU

SAPS Emergency Services: 10111
Crime Stop: 08600 10111
Domestic violence Helpline: 0800 150 150
Childline: 116
Lifeline: 0861322322
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG): 0112344837
Su***de Crisis Lifeline: 0800567567
Trauma Helpline: 0800205026

26/01/2023

After a break the TVD is back and ready for 2023!

Thank you to all our followers and members for your continued support and engagement. We look forward to working together in 2023 to strengthen and build the TVD.

We are excited to share that we are now on Twitter as well!
Follow us

A reminder that we also have a LinkedIn page where we share news and information. You can follow us there on: https://www.linkedin.com/company/psyssatvd/

You can also check out our website for any TVD related information and updates: https://www.psyssa.com/divisions/trauma-and-violence-division/

We hope you are as excited as we are about the new TVD activities for 2023!

PsySSA Trauma and Violence Division | 1,063 followers on LinkedIn. A division of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) which promotes the minimization of Trauma and Violence. | The Trauma and Violence Division (TVD) aims to promote the minimisation of violence and psychological harm whi...

01/12/2022

16 Days of Activism for no Violence against Women and Children 2022
The following numbers can be contacted to get help if you have experienced violence or to report violence against women and children that you have witnessed:
SAPS Crime Stop Tel: 08600 10111
Gender –Based Violence Command Centre Tel: 0800 428 428/ 0800 GBV GBV
Stop Gender Violence Helpline Tel: 0800 150 150 or sms *120*7867 # from any cell phone
Family and Marriage Society of South Africa (FAMSA) Tel: (011) 975 7107
Childline Tel: 08000 55 555
National Crisis Line Tel: 086 132 2322
SA National Council for Child Welfare Tel: 011 339 5741

01/12/2022

16 Days of Activism for no Violence against Women and Children
Background
16 days is a worldwide campaign from 25 November to 10 December to oppose violence against women and children.
It aims to raise awareness of the negative impact that violence and abuse have on women and children and to rid society of abuse permanently.

Why is violence against women and children so prevalent in our society?
Often violence against women and children stems from the low status of women in the home and in society in general.
Violence against women and children most often take place when men abuse their power and positions of authority in order to control women and children.

What does violence against women and children look like?
This control and abuse can have many forms which includes: emotional abuse, physical abuse (causing bodily harm), r**e, financial abuse, sexual harassment, and child abuse.

What is our government doing to protect women and children against violence as well as prevent violence against women and children?
Parliament has passed laws to protect the rights of individuals against abuse. These include: The Domestic Violence Act of 1998, The Children's Act of 2005, The Maintenance Act of 1998, The Promotion of Equity and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act of 2000, and The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act) Amendment Act of 2007. These laws can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.gov.za/project-event-details/3
The vision of Parliament confirms Parliament as the institution that transforms the entire society to be based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights, which include women’s and children’s rights.

What can you do to prevent and stop violence against women and children?
Break the cycle of violence by breaking the silence and acting against abuse. Report abuse that you are experiencing yourself or abuse of women and children that you have witnessed.
Seek help, care and treatment for yourself after experiencing abuse or assist others who have experienced abuse to do the same. This can include consulting with primary care physicians, nurses, social workers, and psychologists.
Seek social support from friends, family, and other loved ones for yourself after experiencing abuse or assist others who have experienced abuse to do the same.

What are the key dates observed during this period?
25 November: International Day of No Violence Against Women
29 November: International Women Human Rights Defenders Day
1 December: World Aids Day
3 December: International Day for the Disabled
10 December: International Human Rights Day

15/11/2022

As we approach 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children from 25 November to 10 December, we would like to highlight a recent article by Engel and colleagues: Violence against adolescents: prevention must cross the divide between children and women
Key terms:
• Violence against women: any act of gender based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.
• Violence against children: all forms of physical, sexual, and emotional violence, neglect, negligent treatment, and exploitation against children at home or in the community.

Key findings:
• Vulnerability to violence is high in adolescence and poses a considerable threat to adolescents’ safety and wellbeing over the course of their lives. Gender and age put adolescent girls at a double disadvantage based on intersectional systems of oppression, exclusion, and discrimination.
• Adolescence represents a critical period of development where interventions can pre-empt key drivers of violence in their present and future lives. Interventions, programmes, and policies aimed at tackling violence are generally limited to protection approaches dealing with violence against children and survivor centred approaches dealing with violence against women
• As adolescence is very much a transformation life period, there must be greater collaboration when developing these interventions targeted at adolescents, which includes: preparing service providers to tackle multiple forms of violence, better coordination between services, school based strategies, parenting programmes, and a common research agenda.

This study has highlighted how adolescents are biologically and socially different from younger children and older women. Therefore separate interventions to prevent violence in children and in women are neccessary which adapt to adolescents’ specific needs and priorities. These are important considerations to take into account in our clinical work with adolescents as well as policy design and implementation.

Check back on our pages throughout the 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children from 25 November to 10 December where we will be sharing more information, articles and resources.

The full article can be accessed at:

Danielle Engel and colleagues call for an increased focus on adolescents in scaled up programmes for child protection and gender based violence prevention Growing up in a safe and supportive environment is the inherent right of every adolescent and is enshrined in international human rights treaties...

13/09/2022

This week, we would like to highlight a recent study by Kim and colleagues: Psychological legacies of intergenerational trauma under South African apartheid: Prenatal stress predicts greater vulnerability to the psychological impacts of future stress exposure during late adolescence and early adulthood in Soweto, South Africa

Key terms:
Prenatal stress: collection of adverse events, physical and psychosocial stress, and trauma that mothers are exposed to during pregnancy
Psychiatric morbidity: a wide range of mental health conditions, including disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behaviour
Intergenerational trauma: the collection of adverse events, psychosocial stress, and trauma that individuals are exposed to across the life course and then pass down to subsequent generations

Background:
South Africa’s rates of psychiatric morbidity, including mental, neurological, and substance use disorders, are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and are foregrounded by the country’s long history of political violence during apartheid.
Growing evidence suggests that in utero stress exposure is a potent developmental risk factor for future mental illness risk across the life course as the long-term impacts of prenatal stress exposure alters the development, function, sensitivity of human stress physiological systems, which in turn may elevate one’s risk for a psychopathological presentation.

Key findings:
This study evaluated the intergenerational effects of prenatal stress experienced by mothers during apartheid on psychiatric morbidity among their children at ages 17–18 and also assessed the moderating effects of maternal age, social support, and past household adversity.
They found that maternal prenatal stress during apartheid was not directly associated with greater psychiatric morbidity during at ages 17–18. However, maternal age and past household adversity moderated the intergenerational mental health effects of prenatal stress, such that children born to younger mothers and late adolescent/young adult children experiencing greater household adversity exhibited worse psychiatric morbidity at ages 17–18.
Prenatal stress may affect adolescent mental health, have stress-sensitising effects, and represent possible intergenerational effects of trauma experienced under apartheid.

This study has found that the degree, frequency, and timing of gestational trauma exposure may increase future psychopathological risk. Therefore, underlying stress physiological processes are potential candidate mechanisms for intervention and should be a focus of clinical trauma work within the South African context, especially when considering improving access to mental health care treatment and closing the treatment gap faced by many South Africans.

The full article can be accessed at:

Background South Africa's rates of psychiatric morbidity are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and are foregrounded by the country's long history of political violence during apartheid. Growin...