Social Ontogenesis

1992

A. Bame Nsamenang (b. 1951)

With the notable exception of South Africa, the discipline of psychology was not well established in sub-Saharan Africa until the late twentieth century. Until the work of Professor A. Bame Nsamenang and a few others was brought to light beginning in the 1980s, most African psychology mirrored the individualistic perspective of Westerners. Nsamenang, however, developed a theory of human development grounded in the sociocentric worldview of most African societies. In his book Human Development in Cultural Context: A Third World Perspective (1992), Nsamenang argued that African theories of human development place primary emphasis on social ontogenesis; that is, development occurs as the individual participates in the cultural activities of the community.

An African view of development incorporates both metaphysical and experiential phases. The spiritual self begins with conception and ends when a person is given his or her name. The experiential self then takes over and carries a person through to biological death. The final stage is ancestral selfhood, in which the self continues in the memories and rituals of the living. In some cultural expressions, it may be reincarnated.

Experiential selfhood is the domain of social ontogenesis. It comprises seven stages: the newborn, a period of social priming, followed by social apprenticing, then a social entrée, social internment, adulthood, and, finally, death. Each stage has its own developmental tasks framed by the cultural expectations of the community. Development is relational, requiring a connection to the community. In this model, human beings need social responsibility to attain full personhood, and guidance is devoted to helping children become socially responsible.

How is intelligence recognized? As a child develops, he or she is assigned a task that serves the community. Adults and older children monitor how well the child completes the task and thus determine when the child is ready to take on more complex and difficult chores. Intelligence is described in social terms and by a person’s level of social responsibility rather than by an abstract score on a test.

By the beginning of the twenty-first century, a robust body of psychological theory, research, and application had been established in sub-Saharan Africa. Much of it focused, as Nsamenang did, on human development and its problems in rapidly changing societies.

SEE ALSO Genetic Epistemology (1926), Theory of Mind (1978), Multiple Intelligences (1983)

Four unidentified Masai boys in Seneto Cultural Boma, 2013. Masai are pastoralist people of east Africa who practice the “age set” system of social organization, in which young people of a similar age adopt a collective identity.