Discussing the psychological impact of a mix of sorcery and biomedicine employed in some parts in Africa, University of Cambridge professor Ama de-Graft Aikins called for further research into African psychology yesterday afternoon.
Speaking before a small audience in Boston University’s African Studies Center, Aikins described the development of psychology in Africa over the last century and the science’s evolution from the 1920s in a lecture titled “Africa and (Social) Psychology: History, Prospects and Challenges.”
Aikins called for “greater collaboration between psychology and the social sciences [and] stronger connections between psychology in and outside of Africa,” and said she hopes there will one day be a “concrete collaboration between anthropologists of African Studies and social historians.”
Aikins said African psychologists have adapted Western psychology so it may be applied to African cultures.
“Psychology was a Western discipline that needed to form an African personality,” she said.
Describing her interactions with diabetes patients in Ghana, Aikins said social psychology — a branch of psychology that stresses social experiences — allowed her to understand how individuals and their families cope with the disease.
Through interviews and studies with these patients, Aikins was able to highlight cultural beliefs that may explain differences in African and Western psychology, including the belief that sorcery can contribute to the disease.
Because of these beliefs, some African patients turn to “ethnomedical” practices and faith healing instead of biomedicine, she said. Contemporary and traditional treatments can be applied together in a system known as “cognitive polyphasia.”
Aikins shared insights about public health messages that correspond with spiritual beliefs. She said her findings will contribute to the evolution of African psychology and improvement in care for individuals suffering from chronic diseases in Africa.
Audience members asked several questions afterward and sparked a discussion about the opportunities and lack of funding for psychological research in Africa as well as the continent’s medicinal development.
Aikins shared her future research plans, which include a teacher-exchange program and various projects that secure new British funding in the field.
After the lecture, Aikins told the Daily Free Press she was excited about being “able to connect with some graduate students [through the lecture].”
Aikins’ lecture was part of ASC’s 27th biannual Walter Rodney Lecture Series. ASC Director James Pritchett said BU employs 84 faculty members associated with African studies, covering most major disciplines, but none associated with psychology.
“The aim of the series is to bring new research to the African Studies Center,” he said. “We try to bring people from as many different disciplines as possible so that our students and faculty can be exposed to the latest research on Africa . . . this [African Psychology] is new.”
When introducing the lecturer, Francophone Africa Research Group Director Edouard Bustin said Aikins is conducting research about “Black British Identity” among multi-generational families of West African origin. He said the series has allowed the BU community to learn about new aspects of African studies.
“All the people here are from different backgrounds — the professors, the graduate students,” he said. “It is interesting to get insight on something that is not our direct specialty. It invites people from different disciplines to share their knowledge.”
The Walter Rodney Series has covered many issues in African studies throughout the fall semester, including anthropology, literature, ecology and political science.
“I try to come every Monday,” Graduate School of Arts and Sciences history student Natalie Nettler said. “This subject matter is really different and was interesting.”