Department of Psychology

Focus groups were conducted to 28 young adults aged 18 to 25 years from different ethnic backgrounds in Macao, namely Chinese, Portuguese, and Macanese, to gain their perspective on intergenerational transfer of ritual and tradition in Macao, whilst experiencing two major milestones in the past two decades, specifically the political reintegration with the People’s Republic of China in 1999 and the release of gambling licenses to non-local stakeholders in 2002. Findings show the current young adults in Macao were conscious of on-going socio-historically ethnic estrangement in society and developed sense of acceptance and intense social mobility by pursuing higher education, multilingualism, and career.

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the ethical concerns that arise when providing psychological services in a multi-cultural society such as Macao. The unique context of living and family life in this community, dominated by traditional belief systems, tourism and the gaming industry, demands that researchers and psychologists re-evaluate traditional ethical constructs of respect, sensitivity to diversity, and responsibility for the consequences of professional judgements.

The family is an important unit for the vitality and wellbeing of society. The purpose of this project was to explore family systems in Macao and to gain a deeper understanding of the interaction between the family and the school environment. The researcher used a multiple-case study design with narrative inquiry and three-generation genograms to explore the stories of twelve (12) families and aspects of the family structure and functioning, family dynamics, and parental involvement in school-related activities with their child. Intergenerational transfer was evident as well as the continuation of deferential parenting and benevolence. Several need areas emerged that provide scope for further exploration and for developing school-based family counseling in the local context.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the role of face as macro-social discourse in the positioning of Chinese parents in the family-school relationship in Macao. Through semi-structured interviewing, stories were collected from seventeen Chinese volunteer participants to explore how the family perceives its positioning within the community and its relationship to the school in particular.

In the final throws of writing a doctoral thesis the struggle was to find a structure for presenting the vast amounts of literature that had to be integrated and synthesised to form a coherent whole and linking psychology and music, the basis for my thesis. As a systems theorist and adherent to social constructionist views, the metaphor plays an important role in constructing realities, and the framework that came to mind for structuring and presenting my thesis was that of the concerto from the Western classical music genre. In this paper I will explain how this metaphor was used for organising and structuring my research and presenting a systems paradigm as a coherent whole. African music metaphor for any other research object or content. In such an instance the polyrhythmic structure may also vary and more or less voices/rhythms may be 'heard'. Schalkwyk, D.Phil (Psychology), is currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pretoria. I lecture to undergraduate students, medical students on first year level, and to postgraduate students, in Developmental Psychology, Personality psychology and Qualitative Research methodology, in which I focus on the development of an enquiring and critical orientation necessary for participating in the discource of the scientific dialogue in psychology. My specific area of interest for research is person-music interactive systems and the multitude of contexts where individuals and groups transact with music. In this regard, I am involved in several research projects, consultation, and have contributed several papers both at national and international conferences. I am also extensively involved regionally and nationally in the development, planning and implementation of training programmes for Social Sciences and the Humanities, which constitutes my other main area of interest. In this regard I serve on various committees and undertake research projects pertaining to outcomes

A basic premise in narrative therapy and inquiry is that life story telling is a mechanism by which experiences are rendered meaningful within some form of structure. However, narrative inquiry has to take cognisance of difficulties ensuing from discursive practices for different populations when eliciting their life stories. In this article I explicate a unique method, the Collage Life story Elicitation Technique (CLET), geared towards scaffolding life story remembering. Based on the theoretical underpinnings of social constructionism , symbolic interactionism and performative strategies in social science research the CLET provides a mode of expression and narrative performance for positioning the dialogical self. As the individual engages in collage-making and narrating, cognitive, motivational and affective aspects of autobiographical memories emerge while telling her or his life story. Different forms of positioning in the dialogical self and significant attachments to people, objects and life events co-exist in the verbal and non-verbal communications elicited with this technique. As suggested by the pilot study, the CLET provides a structure within which non-English speaking participants could explore multiple forms of positioning in the dialogical self without the restrictions of a verbal interview conversation.

T his project is a comp re h e n s i ve situation analysis and needs assessment of the psychological well-being of the people of the Macao Special Ad m i n i st ra t i ve Region (SAR). Ove rall the aim is to gain an in-depth understanding of the context and needs of the local community in o rder to appro p ri a te ly provide psychological services and to d e velop models for effe c t i ve inte rvention st ra tegies for th e Macao community (( 2 ) . We re p o rt here on the fi rst phase of th e p roject and on some of the many enabling and disabling p rocesses having an impact on the well-being of the local population. The purpose is to describe the present situation with re ga rd to fa m i ly life in Macao focusing in particular on th e i mpact of the gaming indust ry on fa m i ly and the re s p e c t i ve s u b -s ystems (parents and ch i l d ren). As Macao gains its political and economic imp o rtance alongside its booming ga m i n g i n d u st ry, inte re st in the studying Macao's infra st ru c t u re in social and psychological support systems have become incre a si n gly re l e vant. The gaming indust ry, the major of source of e mp l oyment and re venue in the te r ri to ry, invo lves hidden fa c to rs comp a red to other indust ries in the region and i n e v i ta b ly capt u res the inte re st of re s e a rch e rs in psych o l o g i c a l and sociological topics. Re s e a rch into and lite ra t u re on fa m i ly life and psych o l o g i c a l aspects of people in Macao is ex t re m e ly limited. The curre n t k n owl e d ge base mainly relies on studies conducted in Hong Kong, and about Chinese ex p a t ri a tes living outside Macao. The maj o rity of re s e a rch e rs who study the psych o l o g i c a l aspects of Chinese culture and ethnicity pay little or no atte ntion to the uniqueness of the psycho-social situation and re l a ted needs in Macao. In Au g u st 2005, an independent gro u p of re s e a rch e rs with gove rnment funding conducted a largescale study on the Quality of Life in Macao cove ring seve ra l dimensions re l a ted to how the local population perc e i ve and ex p e rience the socio-economic st ru c t u res of their daily live s (( 3 ) . This st u d y, howe ve r, did not consider psychological aspects of 1. This article is the outcome of research undertaken with a grant from the University of Macau. The authors are all connected to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities where they teach, r e s p e c t i v e l y, p s y c h o l o gy and sociology.

The co-construction of a psychology module for a postgraduate training course in orthotics/prosthetics is socially constructed for the first time in Southern African history. This paper elucidates the integration of theory and practice in a model for the development of a professional identity as orthotist/prosthetist. In creating a context where trainees can learn to develop their practice while also enabling them to deconstruct notions of 'expert knowledge', orthotist/prosthetists move from a position of scientistpractitioner to negotiating an alternative position of reflective practitioner. In the process of coconstructing knowledge, an alternative story of teaching and learning evolves. The result is a celebration of life as it is really lived by health professionals.

Teaching a complex topic, such as lifespan developmental psychology, challenges most lecturers to find ways to produce and develop adequately students' ability to integrate theoretical knowledge and an understanding of psychosocial issues in everyday life. In this paper, I will explain the possibilities of tools from practice in creating and engaging in learning and knowledge production in developmental psychology. Based on the notions of my teaching philosophy, social constructionism and a family systems perspective, I applied the principles of the multigenerational genogram, life-story remembering and reflective journal writing as strategies for choreographing the stage on which reflective learning and the co-construction of knowledge took place. In a reflection on practice I contend that these strategies, when combined in a learning context for lifespan developmental psychology, provide useful tools for gaining access to the kinship network and balance the teaching enterprise with a process of everyday living so that learning becomes both pictorial and practical.

School psychology services and the functions of school psychologists providing assessment, consultation, and intervention for children and their families are still greatly underdeveloped in the Pacific Rim countries, particularly those with a Chinese heritage culture. For the most part, school psychology services are provided by educational psychologists, school counsellors, and/or teacher-counsellors with varying levels of training and expertise, while the development of school psychology as a profession has been slow in coming. Nonetheless, Asian countries are gradually accepting the notion that children should be in school and there are efforts to provide psychological services within schools to prevent and solve mental health problems unique to these countries. With an obvious need for systematic mental health services, particularly for children and youth and their families, there is also a critical need to develop programmes that would lead to graduate level training in school psychology while simultaneously acknowledging the diversity of these Asian cultures in the Pacific Rim countries. Given the large populations of these countries, it is essential that we work to develop school psychology programmes in the very near future. If the Asian countries were to develop to their fullest potential, school psychologists would be needed as a critical component in all school systems.

This article presents an overview of the current status of school-based counselling and psychological services for school-going children and their families in Macao. Adopting an eco-systemic model, some recent articles on school-based counselling and psychological services in Southeast Asian countries are reviewed, and similar data from individuals currently providing such services in Macao are examined. Findings show that there is a great need for psychological services, particularly with regard to consultation and intervention for children, youths, and their families, in Macao's fast-changing society. The needs are discussed within a systems framework, and recommendations for the development of the field and the need for additional school-based child and family interventions in the region are discussed.

School psychology is an important area within psychology, which has a short developmental history in Mainland China. Nonetheless, along with economic advances and social changes in Mainland China, school psychology is developing and becoming more important. Currently, people need to work harder and longer. This places many under pressure that may cause all kinds of mental difficulties and disorders. School psychological services can work with learners and their families for the healthy development of children and adolescents, and is also the fundamental route to prevent and solve mental-health problems in Mainland China. This article explains the significance and the important effects of school psychology in Mainland China, and provides a general account of the developmental history and the status quo of school psychology. It also compares mental health services in Mainland China with those in other countries. The objective of this article is to present an overall description of school psychology, understand new trends, and discuss the need for the future development of school psychology in Mainland China. This article completed a comparative analysis with the USA and considered current practices in Mainland China.

The purpose of this study was to explore the status of psychological services in schools in Macao, and the role of school counsellors providing these services. At present, school psychology is not a recognized profession within the territory and school counsellors appointed by the Direcção dos Serviços de Educação e Juventude (DSEJ) through their designated agencies provide the only psychological services to children and families. Adopting a qualitative approach, the researchers collected the viewpoints from three teachers and seven school counsellors regarding the central question: 'How do school counsellors ''serve'' the Macao school children and their families, and what are the most common services required?'. An interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed three themes: (a) School counselling services; (b) psycho-education and mental health services; and (c) perceived needs. Also discussed were recommendations for the development of the field, including the provision of additional school-based child and family interventions in Macao. Keyword interpretative phenomenological analysis; Macao SAR; school-based child and family interventions; school counselling; school psychology This article explores the provision of psychological services to school children in the Special Administrative Region of Macao, People's Republic of China.

Teaching a complex topic, such as lifespan developmental psychology, challenges most lecturers to find ways to produce and develop adequately students' ability to integrate theoretical knowledge and an understanding of psychosocial issues in everyday life. In this paper, I will explain the possibilities of tools from practice in creating and engaging in learning and knowledge production in developmental psychology. Based on the notions of my teaching philosophy, social constructionism and a family systems perspective, I applied the principles of the multigenerational genogram, life-story remembering and reflective journal writing as strategies for choreographing the stage on which reflective learning and the co-construction of knowledge took place. In a reflection on practice I contend that these strategies, when combined in a learning context for lifespan developmental psychology, provide useful tools for gaining access to the kinship network and balance the teaching enterprise with a process of everyday living so that learning becomes both pictorial and practical.

In this article I explore from a social constructionist perspective the experiences of women when recovering from divorce. Women have a natural resilience and develop unique ways of coping with the experience of divorce through reconstructing themselves in their linguistic and cultural context. Divorced women often face dominant discourses that elicit intense internal discomfort, conflict, and loss of socially constructed self. This can result in their experiencing themselves as less meaningful and worthy as relational beings. I explore the processes by which four women, single again, have experienced these constraints and emerged as reconstructed selves. The discussion is based on qualitative analysis of textual data obtained from written accounts.