Vol. 1 No. 1 (2022): Inaugural Issue
The inaugural issue of the Zimbabwe Journal of Psychology, published in 2022. Six peer-reviewed articles are available to read and download.
Richman Kokera; Tinashe Muromo; Anitha J Menon
Commuter omnibuses provide convenient and demand-responsive transportation services for the urban population in most African countries, including Zimbabwe. However, they are considered unsafe mainly due to the aggressive driving by drivers. The study investigated the association between risk perception and aggressive driving among commuter omnibus drivers in Harare, Zimbabwe. A quantitative research design was used. A random sample of 420 drivers stratified by bus-terminus and route responded to a questionnaire. Driver’s risk perception was measured on a 10-item risk perception scale. The ten items measured three dimensions of risk perception — concern, worry and insecurity and probability assessment of road traffic accidents (RTAs) involvement and injury. Aggressive driving behaviour was measured using the 18-item version of the driving behaviour questionnaire. The results show that aggressive driving was associated with risk perception. Emotion-based risk perception was positively correlated with an increase in aggressive driving behaviour (r = 0.18, p = 0.000). Probability assessment of getting involved, and getting injured in a RTA was also significantly, and positively, correlated with aggressive driving behaviour (r = 0.17, p = 0.000). However, the negative association between aggressive driving and concern about traffic risk and injury (r = -.05, p = 0.29) was not significant. These findings suggest that efforts aimed at reducing aggressive driving among urban omnibus drivers in Zimbabwe should look beyond risk perception.
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Tenson Ngwenya; Mqemane Tshababa; Edmore Chijoko M; Edward Tshuma; Stephen Makaza
This paper reviews literature on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in improving policing efficiency. The paper makes a case for a better understanding and adoption of AI as a policing and criminal investigation strategy for use by police organisations. The authors document the historical developments of AI as well as the benefits that accrue from using AI in policing. The challenges affecting the successful implementation of AI are also highlighted to build sustainable AI systems for crime management in Zimbabwe. Using the Innovations Diffusion theory and Systems theory, the authors highlight how organisations such as the Zimbabwe Republic Police take up and utilise technological innovations to their advantage. The benefits that can accrue from AI include crime prevention and detection through Unmanned Aerial Systems, Facial Recognition Systems, Gunfire Detection, DNA Analysis, AI Security Cameras, Pre-trial Release, Parole, and public safety video and image analysis. The conclusions drawn from the discussion show glaring gaps between the Zimbabwean context and advances made in other countries. Given the challenges and benefits of AI, meaningfully investing in information communication technologies by governments in developing countries is the starting point for enhancing law enforcement through Artificial Intelligence. Human capital capacitation is also another critical area that should be reinforced by sustainable strategies for employee retention.
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Samson Mhizha; Moreen Mudenda
This article analyses the teaching of psychology in African universities. This is in the context where a few Zimbabwean scholars have interrogated the teaching of psychology in African universities. The paper argues that psychology is divorced from national discourses in Africa and is seen as a step-child from western psychology. The methodology used in this paper involves the review of secondary data which involve assessing government reports, academic manuscripts and research reports published in English from 1995 to 2017. The authors argue that scholars, and psychology graduates, shunned national discourses in much the same as the government and the populace shunned the profession. Yet there are opportunities for an endogenous approach to the teaching and practice of psychology in Zimbabwe. Psychology should take its place in the national development discourse as there is vast potential in family life, education, law, social services, health, private organisations, government and management. Psychology in Zimbabwe should also study how Africans think, and behave, and how those thought processes and behaviours can be managed. The article recommends that key stakeholders, including the Government of Zimbabwe, industry, key scholars and civic society, should come together in owning, and using, the vast opportunities in psychology as a field.
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Jacqualine T Chivasa; Gwatirera Javangwe; Tinashe Muromo
Over the years, the number of children affected by parental incarceration has risen. However, in Africa there is limited research on children of incarcerated parents. This paper is a scoping review of the experiences of children left behind following parental incarceration. It synthesised available knowledge on the psychosocial experiences of children of incarcerated parents left outside in Southern Africa. The review was guided by the Arksey and O’Malley framework. The search was conducted using EBSCOhost, JSTOR, Google Scholar and grey literature. Only four articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Parental incarceration impacts on all aspects of their children’s lives. Children of incarcerated parents have diverse negative emotional, behavioural and cognitive experiences. They miss the incarcerated parent, at times they fail to maintain contact, as such view themselves, and life, negatively; they engage in suicidal ideation and use atypical problem-solving methods. They also face social challenges in the form of stigma and discrimination. More research needs to be conducted on the needs of children of incarcerated parents. This will enable the formulation of social policies and development of interventions based on research evidence. Efforts should be made to promote contact between children and their incarcerated parents.
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Ngonidzashe Mutanana; Patrick Senderayi; Mqemane Tshababa
This qualitative study is concerned with male sexual abuse, which has serious consequences for survivors, and is largely an under-reported and under-researched crime, particularly in developing countries. The study sought to establish the coping strategies used by male survivors of sexual assault in Zimbabwe. The authors adopted a multi-case study research design and used purposive sampling to determine a sample of thirteen male sexual assault survivors. In-depth face-to-face interview data were subjected to thematic analyses to illuminate the participants’ lived sexual assault experiences. The findings largely sit within a wider discourse of male masculinity, and indicate that male survivors experienced different types of sexual assault that included aggravated indecent assault, withdrawal of semen from the penis using a syringe, sodomy as well as incest. Male constructions of masculinity and myths seemed to affect the survivors’ decisions to disclose the sexual assault and abuse to the police and significant others within their communities. To ameliorate the negative impact of sexual assault, survivors used a plethora of methods, such as psychotherapy, relocating from places where the abuse happened, academic escapism, working with organisations to raise awareness, substance abuse, being abusive to partners and indulging in promiscuity. This study recommends that communities should create supportive environments to ensure that sexually assaulted males are able to make their reports timeously, and that prolonged psychotherapy sessions empower survivors with coping mechanisms for managing their trauma.
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McDonald Matika; Tinashe Muromo
The current study was a validation of the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator (HSE MSI) tool to determine work stress in Harare’s financial services sector. The instrument was observed to have good face and content validity. The convergent and discriminant validity was performed through examining the factor structure of the HSE MSI tool using a de-identified data set. Data collected from financial services employees (N = 209) was used to perform exploratory factor analysis in a bid to demonstrate the validity of the scale. This tool was also designed to enable comparisons across and within organisations to take place. The overall reliability indices were also demonstrated on both sub-constructs; Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.67 to 0.88. In the industrial-organisational landscape this tool is increasingly being employed by practitioners and researchers to monitor organisational and working conditions that can result in work stress. We conclude that the tool has good psychometric properties and is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing work stress. The convergent and discriminant validity demonstrated the efficacy of the tool and its acceptable psychometric properties make it a useful aid as part of assessing organisation-specific stressors. Determining work stressors is a crucial corollary to any stress management programme in the financial services sector.
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