Struggling and Coping with Life: Maternal Emotional Distress in a South African Township
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Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK
2014
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1401790260 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-case14017902602021-08-03T06:25:18Z Struggling and Coping with Life: Maternal Emotional Distress in a South African Township Rubin, Sarah Ethel African Studies Cultural Anthropology Gender Studies Mental Health Psychology South African Studies motherhood gender reproductive health pregnancy perinatal depression postpartum depression mental health ethnopsychiatry suffering subjectivity empathy coping inimba ubuntu South Africa Cape Town Xhosa culture anthropology urban poverty This dissertation explores the everyday lives of Xhosa mothers in a township near Cape Town, South Africa. It focuses on Xhosa mothers' emotional experiences during pregnancy and after childbirth in order to demonstrate how their subjectivity is shaped by Xhosa cultural structures and values, the material scarcity and dangers of township life, and the norms and practices of mothering. It challenges the presumed universality of the diagnosis "perinatal depression" by demonstrating that only by focusing on broader realms of maternal experience in local contexts can we understand if and why perinatal depression is a meaningful illness category for a given culture.This dissertation employs longitudinal, person-centered, ethnographic methods, including structured and open-ended interviews with 38 Xhosa women, standardized psychiatric questionnaires, and observations of mothering, family activities, and community life.Xhosa women do not perceive life in the township as wholly problematic, but food insecurity, violence in public and private spaces, and the intersections of HIV and motherhood create widespread suffering.Xhosa concepts and ideals of motherhood include inimba, maternal empathy. Inimba is a complex concept at the heart of a multi-dimensional social role; it provides Xhosa women with a way of understanding a tension between the cultural imperatives of mothering all children and mothering one's own children--a tension exacerbated by poverty.Pregnancy is often joyful, but some find it fraught with anxiety about disclosure and the impending social transformation of woman to mother. Pregnant Xhosa women demonstrate an acute awareness of the liminality (in-between-ness) of pregnancy as they (re)negotiate relationships to secure social support.Xhosa mothers describe a process of "coping" with distress that involves sharing, empathizing, collectivizing, and, finally, "releasing." The process invokes Xhosa cultural concepts ubuntu and inimba. Because of inimba, Xhosa mothers are particularly adept at empathizing and thus coping with distress in a culturally meaningful way.This dissertation contributes to our understanding of how cultural and material contexts and social role affect emotional experiences in the perinatal period; and it contributes more broadly to psychological anthropology, studies of motherhood and mothers, of social suffering and subjectivity, of South African cultures, and of urban poverty. 2014-09-02 English text Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1401790260 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1401790260 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
African Studies Cultural Anthropology Gender Studies Mental Health Psychology South African Studies motherhood gender reproductive health pregnancy perinatal depression postpartum depression mental health ethnopsychiatry suffering subjectivity empathy coping inimba ubuntu South Africa Cape Town Xhosa culture anthropology urban poverty |
| spellingShingle |
African Studies Cultural Anthropology Gender Studies Mental Health Psychology South African Studies motherhood gender reproductive health pregnancy perinatal depression postpartum depression mental health ethnopsychiatry suffering subjectivity empathy coping inimba ubuntu South Africa Cape Town Xhosa culture anthropology urban poverty Rubin, Sarah Ethel Struggling and Coping with Life: Maternal Emotional Distress in a South African Township |
| author |
Rubin, Sarah Ethel |
| author_facet |
Rubin, Sarah Ethel |
| author_sort |
Rubin, Sarah Ethel |
| title |
Struggling and Coping with Life: Maternal Emotional Distress in a South African Township |
| title_short |
Struggling and Coping with Life: Maternal Emotional Distress in a South African Township |
| title_full |
Struggling and Coping with Life: Maternal Emotional Distress in a South African Township |
| title_fullStr |
Struggling and Coping with Life: Maternal Emotional Distress in a South African Township |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Struggling and Coping with Life: Maternal Emotional Distress in a South African Township |
| title_sort |
struggling and coping with life: maternal emotional distress in a south african township |
| publisher |
Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1401790260 |
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AT rubinsarahethel strugglingandcopingwithlifematernalemotionaldistressinasouthafricantownship |
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