Employing Reflexivity in Sexuality Socialisation Research: A Methodological Contribution from Psychosocial Studies

Authors

Lisa Saville Young Dr, Murdoch UniversityFollow
Yanela Ndabula Ms, Rhodes University, South AfricaFollow
Catriona Ida Macleod Prof, Rhodes University, South AfricaFollow

Abstract

In this paper, we describe and demonstrate the value of adopting a psychosocial methodology to explore unique sexual socialisation experiences emphasising the role of reflexivity. Psychosocial methodology emerges from Psychosocial Studies, a “transdisciplinary” area interested in phenomena from “both” a social and personal perspective and in this paper is employed to investigate how sexual socialisation is shaped by psychological processes “and” social relations, and how these can be “thought together” (Frosh & Vyrgioti, 2022). Psychosocial data analytic strategies involve applying narrative and discursive psychology alongside psychoanalytic concepts to understand the possible reasons for a participant’s investment in particular discourses, understanding these investments as serving unique unconscious defensive purposes, alongside social functions. To illustrate this, we use data from a Free Association Narrative Interview with an isiXhosa-speaking “Black” socioeconomically disadvantaged woman in South Africa about her experiences of sexuality socialisation within her sister-sister relationship. We show how a psychosocial emphasis traverses traditional boundaries between discourse and affect, talk and experience, researcher and researched, moving across disciplinary spaces. Furthermore, we pay attention to what is frequently considered the background of research – the study context; the emotional quality of the interview encounter between the researcher and participant; the researchers’ relationship with one another and their contribution to both the data production and analysis. This emphasis on reflexivity in psychosocial methodology is consistent with the political and philosophical position of Psychosocial Studies that is critical of the reification of disciplinary knowledge.

Keywords

psychosocial studies, psychosocial methodology, narrative, discourse, psychoanalysis, reflexivity, sexuality socialization

Author Bio(s)

Lisa Saville Young is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at Murdoch University and a visiting Professor at Rhodes University. She has written articles and book chapters on the application of psychosocial research methods to a variety of relationships of intimacy and care. She has a long-standing interest in psychoanalytic theory, its application to qualitative research methods as well as its application in clinical practice. She teaches on the psychology professional training programmes offered at Murdoch University. Please direct correspondence to Lisa.SavilleYoung@murdoch.edu.au

Yanela Ndabula is a doctoral candidate in the Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction research unit. She has presented papers on her sisterly sex talk research at national and international conferences and published a paper in Culture, Health & Sexuality. She is the recipient of the PsySSA Sexualities and Gender Division/Feminism & Psychology best student presentation award. She is currently working on a project concerning the impact of the Global Gag Rule on NGOs in South Africa and implementing and researching a mentoring programme that supports peer learning in undergraduate education.

Catriona Ida Macleod is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and SARChI Chair in Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction at Rhodes University, and editor-in-chief of Feminism & Psychology. She has written extensively on teenage pregnancy, abortion, sexuality education, pregnancy support, reproductive decision-making, sexual violence, youth sexualities, and contraception.

Acknowledgements

This work is based on research supported by the South African Research Chairs initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa (grant no. 87582).

Publication Date

7-24-2024

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2024.6579

Recommended APA Citation

Saville Young, L., Ndabula, Y., & Macleod, C. I. (2024). Employing Reflexivity in Sexuality Socialisation Research: A Methodological Contribution from Psychosocial Studies. The Qualitative Report, 29(7), 1926-1947. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2024.6579

ORCID ID

0000-0001-5899-1204