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DECONSTRUCTING
SECONDARY TRAUMA AND RACISM
AT A SOUTH AFRICAN
POLICE SERVICE STATION
by
JO VILJOEN
submitted in partial
fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of MASTER
OF THEOLOGY
in the subject PRACTICAL
THEOLOGY
WITH SPECIALISATION IN
PASTORAL THERAPY
at the UNIVERSITY OF
SOUTH AFRICA
SUPERVISOR: Dr E
Kotzé
CO-SUPERVISOR: Prof. J
Wolfaardt
JANUARY
2001
ABSTRACT
The community, government
and members of the South African Police Service (SAPS)
expect respectful police practice from police officers. This
qualitative study used postmodern, narrative pastoral
therapy-as-research and emancipatory action
research-as-therapy to deconstruct dominant social
discourses about secondary trauma and racism in the lives of
police officers. Social construction discourse, feminist
discourses and prophetic pastoral practice informed this
work. This research suggests that the value of
deconstructing secondary trauma and racism lie in the
rediscovery of subjugated, marginalised and preferred
discourses of respect and ethical practices. The officers
and the researcher engaged in a participatory process of
narrative co-research during individual and group
conversations. Therapeutic letters and documents expanded
the stories that emerged; inviting officers to re-discover
their own knowledges and reflect on their preferred
respectful police practices.
KEYWORDS:
Challenging dominant
discourses; Deconstruction; Discourse; Narrative pastoral
therapy;
Preferred ways of being;
Racism; Respectful police practice; Social construction;
Stress; Therapy-as-research.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
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