Historicising the relevance debate: South African and American psychology in context

The relevance debate in psychology can be described as discourse which calls for the discipline to become more socially valuable and accessible to those who purportedly need it. Literature suggests that there is a socio-historical dimension to relevance discourse that is frequently overlooked by those engaging in the debate, resulting in a typically ahistorical and axiomatic presentation. It is therefore argued that an historical perspective on the relevance debate is necessary for an informed consideration of its attending issues. This paper compares relevance discourse from South Africa (1974-1994) and the United States of America (1960-1980) by means of a thematic analysis of journal articles published during these periods in the South African Journal of Psychology and American Psychologist, respectively. The analysis yielded six key analytic themes: social upheaval; the pure-applied dichotomy in psychology; the role of psychology in socio-political matters; the place of human values in science; equity in psychology; and indigenising psychology. The first five themes are common to both the American and South African debates. Consequently, it is argued that the two debates arose in similar social contexts and that, in particular, the relevance debate is associated with conditions of social upheaval. This historicisation of relevance discourse permits a more critical and accurate understanding of the relationship between the debate and contemporary society.