Dear members and friends of the PsySSA Community and Social
Psychology (CaSP) Division,
The AGM of the PsySSA Community and Social Psychology (CaSP)
Division took place from 17h30 to 19h00 on Thursday, 18 September 2014
during the 20th PsySSA Congress at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli
International Convention Centre in Durban. Only after completion of the session
did we realised that no one took notes of the discussions and we therefore have
to rely on memory in sharing some feedback on the discussions. Will try our
best!
Context of the meeting
The Chair of the Division for Research and Methodology (DRM),
Prof Sumaya Laher proposed that we combine the AGMs of the CaSP and DRM as
these meetings were scheduled for the same time slot and some members present
at the congress and at the meetings serves on both divisions. Those present
supported the idea. The combined session was subsequently divided into three
parts: first the discussions relating to CaSP, second the discussions relating
to DRM and, third an integrated discussion of the shared interests of the
members of the two divisions.
Apologies
Received from Wiehann Rademann
In attendance
Puleng Segalo, Nkateko Manabe, Suntosh Pillay, Eduard Fourie,
Angelo Fynn, Martin Terre Blanche, Ronelle Carolissen, Gerda Bender, Vanessa
Scherman, Janeen Prinsloo, Lee Anne Molobela, Gaogalalelwe Katide (as well as
members of the DRM)
A brief overview of the history of the division was provided and
members were reminded of the division’s blog - http://psyssacns.blogspot.com/
- and were encouraged to click on the relevant icon on the blog should they
wish to receive email notifications of new posts. Members were invited to
respond to any items discussed during the annual PsySSA AGM that took place on
the previous day, and were reminded that PsySSA’s 2014 – 2018 Strategic Plan is
available on the website. Talking money: members were reminded to pay their
annual membership fees.
The CaSP Division hosted a series of individual papers as well
as three symposia at this year’s congress. The three symposia were, (1) Social
Psychology in South Africa: Challenges, possibilities and implications chaired
by Puleng Segalo, (2) Inside-out Outside-in: Prison studies and communities
chaired by Eduard Fourie, and (3) Volunteer experiences of psych student
society’s community placement chaired by M Chown.
Towards the future:
(1)
Members of the division
will continue to actively market the division and invite new members, student
members and associates to join the division. A suggestion was made that student
members of PsySSA should be allowed to register for the CaSP Division for free.
Members and other interested parties are invited to join the division’s blog
and to share information that we can post on the blog. The blog will continue
to be one of the key engagement spaces where information about events,
projects, interesting readings, community initiatives, research initiatives,
etc., will be shared. A suggestion was made to make use of Webinars, to invite
members and guests to speak on a specific topic during a specific time slot.
All are welcome to email contributions to Eduard Fourie at fourime@unisa.ac.za
or Carien du Plessis at cariendupl@gmail.com.
(2)
The Division will
continue to support the Inside-out Outside-in Prison Studies and Communities
Initiative. For more on the initiative, visit the website at http://insideoutoutsidein.co.za/
or contact Carien du Plessis at dplescm@unisa.ac.za for more information on
how to get involved.
(3)
The Division, together
with DRM and the Student Division will participate in the 2015 Southern African
Students’ Psychology Conference. The conference will provide an opportunity for
student members to share and reflect on their community engagement initiatives
and related research projects.
(4) The Division will be actively involved in the 6th International
Conference on Community Psychology that will be hosted in Cape Town in 2016.
Various members of the CaSP Division recently attended and presented at the 5th
International Conference on Community Psychology which was held in Fortaleza in
Brazil. We are looking forward to continue the engagement and networking with
representatives from other countries.
(5)
The Division will
continue exploring the idea of mapping the teaching of community psychology at
tertiary institutions in South Africa. This item has been discussed at each AGM
over the last couple of years and we could consider the upcoming conferences –
mentioned in 3 and 4 above – as an opportunity to present on the history and
the story of community psychology teaching.
CASP Exec Members for 2015
Chair: Eduard Fourie
Vice-Chair and Treasurer: Puleng Segalo
Secretary: Wiehann Rademan
Additional members: Nkateko
Manabe, Suntosh PIllay, Lavanya Pillay
New Additional members: Ronelle Carolissen, Gerda Bender
Post AGM discussions: we suggest that we invite student member,
Carien du Plessis to join us on the Exec. Carien will assist with the further
development of the division’s online spaces and in scheduling webinars.
Compiled by Eduard Fourie & Puleng Segalo
September 2014
