Exploring cognition in Ugandans for psychotherapy

Exploring cognition in Ugandans for psychotherapy

Introduction:

Cultural psychology seeks to understand the mindset of local indigenous populations for successful psychotherapy. If the counselor does not understand the background traditions, customs and culture of the people he serves, he cannot understand the intricacies of his insight in solving life's problems and problems. In this article we will examine the background between Uganda's traditional belief systems and post-colonial religious beliefs. How this contrast and conflict in the minds of Ugandans and create a dual cognitive approach to life.

Background:

Modern Ugandan for the purposes of psychotherapy presents a complex insight that has emerged from a recent history of emancipation from colonialism (1962) to years of violent dictators such as Obote and Amin, both of whom created an atmosphere of terror in the country. (1. See Social Origins of Violence, Kasozi 1994) In addition to these periods of violence, there is a conversion to Western religious beliefs, which includes primarily Protestant churches but includes minorities of Muslim and Catholic influences. Religion dominates television and radio airtime, with nearly 50% of all programs devoted to fanatical worship and faith healing. Almost the entire population attends one type of church or another, creating, on the one hand, a deep religious faith and, on the other hand, a constant fear of hellfire and damnation. Mixed into this melting pot is the modernization of youth, offering rap music, black soul and other ethnic sounds. Most are accompanied by a video showing girls in miniskirts gyrating sexually to the masculine raunchiness of the lyrics. At the same time, the government of the day is trying to impose a new moral order, banning miniskirts on the streets and slapping warnings on music videos saying they are not suitable for children under 18. The government is also trying to introduce a marriage law through Parliament to continue men's dominance in society and the unequal rights for women accepted as the norm. The same government of President Museveni (2nd 27 years in power after a coup de grace) is openly talking about anti-gay laws to suppress and eradicate homosexuals in Uganda. A constant discussion among people is the corruption of officials and politicians; These include land grabs through illegal means supported by local authorities and aid money from the West used for personal enrichment and bribery from the lowest-ranking official to the most senior government ministers. Of course, proving corruption is almost impossible when it becomes an accepted practice on a daily basis. However, it does not stop people from viewing their lives negatively in terms of control and prospects for a better future. A final note is that Ugandans are not a consolidated people, but in fact the country has historically been populated from many different regions of Africa, in the west from Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, in the east from Somalia, Congo and Rwanda, and in the north, Sudan and the Central African Republic. This mix of cultures and traditions has caused much of the fighting since the 1960s, when the British colonialists granted the country liberation.

Traditions, customs and culture:

There is an interesting dichotomy between the tribal traditions of the Ugandan people with their 150 year old introduction to Western religion, primarily Christianity and traditional pagan beliefs. This is brought about through the practice of witch doctors in all parts of society, from advisors to the king (3rd Kabaka) to political influence and the general population who wish to consult the witch doctor in many areas of life. Witch doctors provide a service that overwhelms believers especially for emotional needs in love and relationships. If you ask the local people in the poor Lake Victoria area, they say the witch doctor is godless (not without gods, but without the Christian God). He can make people do his bidding, solve problems in business and economics, curse you. Provides love potions, poisons to kill, predicts the weather and the power of prophecy. Recently, a young girl whose husband had strayed with another woman (very common) tried to woo him back with a love potion made by the local witch, but the liquid she covertly put in her husband's drink actually poisoned him and he died. She is now facing murder charges in her husband's death. (2. New Vision News 2013). Many news stories talk about love potions gone wrong or being cursed and therefore not in control of their actions. Any extenuating circumstance that a person can present to a court as an excuse for a crime or misdemeanor.

Some of the social problems Ugandans face are those that many African countries suffer from, such as alcohol abuse, illegal drugs, HIV and AIDS (the only country in Africa that still has a rising HIV infection rate), as well as huge youth unemployment and a lack of opportunities in the workplace. Of course, these social problems have many psychological consequences for the community. Sexuality is by far the biggest problem when it is seen as a hypocrisy of faith and religion. As mentioned earlier, many Ugandans go to church every week (including the young), pray and practice the faith in a very fanatical manner, loudly praising the Lord and all his blessings and at the same time many men practice traditional polygamy and bride price practices. Although bigamy is a crime under the law, it is not prosecuted unless extreme pressure is applied to the case. Many men who go to church have girlfriends (other women, as they are also called) and children by these women. While I still go to church every week and pray for the faith. Divorce has become common, which means abandonment for many first-time wives. Many early deaths due to HIV infection are directly attributed to the practice of polygamy and men's refusal to use condoms as a barrier device. The second most difficult area for Ugandans is health, not as you might think due to poverty or malnutrition, but obesity in the middle class. Overeating can be seen as a reaction to past hard times when food was scarce and you had to eat what you could get, but now overeating is a bygone era, many fill a plate to overflow and consume large amounts of high-fat foods. Cancer, heart attack and diabetes are very common and high compared to other countries.

Findings:

It is very interesting to talk to many Ugandans about their view of life and their attitude to the future, how negative they are about most things. They have a possessive attitude towards material objects, including women. Men see women as objects or possessions whose purpose is to serve and produce offspring. When he asked a youth (18 years old) his view on how Ugandans see the world, he reported that 60% of the things most people talk about are always from a negative perspective. They look for someone else to blame for their mishaps and misfortunes. When many spoke to many other Ugandans and expressed this sentiment, they agreed that it was generally correct. There is also a general lack of trust among people, they are constantly checking each other out of fear of being cheated, shortchanged or scammed.

What does all this mean for cognition as a way of thinking about solving problems, constructing a reality of everyday life and a cognitive binary of beliefs? Most will approach life with a negative attitude, a disconnect between belief and superstition, a gender bias that leads to decisions that lead to high risk behavior in relationships and sexual behavior, and finally a general fear response to life from a history of violence and corruption.

Psychotherapy:

Now our therapist has a broad background of the typical Ugandan mindset, their recent historical events, their dichotomy of beliefs from which he can begin to understand the position from which the client may be starting. Remember, just because the person recognizes the division of thought and may even realize that it is not sitting comfortably with reality, does not mean that it does not subconsciously have a profound effect on the person as a person. In Freudian terms - insight - should bring relief, but cognitive dissonance shows that many people can hold contradictory views and still present them as rational. The Ugandan superego is shaped by traditions passed down from previous generations and shaped by recent historical violence. This guiding influence of religious belief and superstition can cause a split in the superego by allowing the person to hold opposing views on morals and social customs that easily fit together. The ID, strongly driven by the pleasure principle, enables overeating out of fear of an uncertain future. Sexuality is driven by the custom of polygamy, even if the superego's adherence to the faith is clearly offended by this practice. The high-risk sexual encounters driven by ID, including lack of condom use, and despite the superego's education through the media of mass communication and AIDS workers, have little or no impact on the decision to engage in high-risk sexual encounters. The ego is clearly weak in its efforts to distinguish between the high-risk ID and the morally clear superego. The normal defense of the superego is to use guilt as a means of suppressing the activity of the ID, but in the case of Ugandans the guilt is suppressed and it is left to the pleasure principle to win the reality of the situations which conclude that Ugandans have a weak ego state in which they can cognitively protect their own long-term interests. This also includes cognitive dissonances that have little impact emotionally, particularly the men with sex and the women with overeating, where the superego is overshadowed by a dominant ID.

In the therapy room:

A presenting client is, of course, a person within a society who has decided that their behavior is inconsistent with their own view of life and has therefore made the decision to seek support and change through counseling. The therapist, trained in a therapy technique but now with a background in cultural psychology, is in a good place to begin the healing process. It is always a good idea to measure your clients' cultural position during the ongoing process of psychotherapy to understand their mental attitude. Because they solve their own problems with life based on their position in life in traditions, customs and cultures. This mental attitude, from a transactional analysis perspective, can be viewed as the child's ego state of childhood values ​​interacting with the parental ego state and preventing the client from making rational adult decisions, confusing this with a cognitive mindset that holds a dichotic view of beliefs. The adult ego state is prevented from functioning and, in constant dissonance, could almost be eliminated from the tug and pull of the parent and child ego states. The universality of Freudian psychoanalysis and Bernese transactional analysis allows the therapist to understand how Freud's model of the mind in both the ego positions and Berne ego states can help educate their client in their internal thought processes, leading to insightful introspection that would reduce harmful social behavior to a more firmly ego-driven healthy life position. It is not easy to change long-standing traditions and customs because they have no direct experience for the customer, but are the ones that drive a changing culture influenced by historical values.

Summery:

In summary, this article should educate both therapists and laypeople on the value of cultural psychological studies of the history, attitudes, and beliefs of local populations. You cannot successfully treat a patient for mental health problems without a good understanding of how the person developed their superego or parent ego state from traditions, customs, and cultural influences. It is this ability to hold dichotic states in the same reality that creates both confusion and habitual behavior to exist in a mind. A therapist cannot hope to assist in behavior change unless they have a comprehensive understanding of a person's belief system, which is shaped by history and traditions.

References:

1. Kasozi, ABK (1994) Die Sozialgeschichte der Gewalt in Uganda. Brunnenpresse
2. New Vision News Paper, April 2013 Ed.
3. Kabaka = barundische Sprachbedeutung – König oder Herrscher

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