A second-order witness: observing infant observers in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Infant mental health is a new field in southern Africa. Some of its premises do not mesh neatly with local social forms and cultural precepts. Infant observation is a key element in the training of students in the only M. Phil programme on infant mental health in Africa. During training, students raised concerns about the model. Seminar discussions generated rich data about their efforts to secure an observational stance true to both the observational model and local relational practices. An anthropologist attended the seminars at which students reported on their weekly infant observations. Discussions were recorded and key themes identified. The anthropologist’s ‘second-order witnessing’ enabled careful reflection on the experience of learning to be an observer and observed. The article considers the process of finding an observational stance both epistemologically and practically in the socio-centric worlds of southern Africa, and reflects on the experiences of being observed from the points of view of the caregivers and infants. It demonstrates that despite the model’s presumption of distance, observers become significant persons in the life of the family. Through close attention to how received models settle in practice, we can derive important questions about epistemological conflicts and productive intersections.

KEYWORDS:

• Infant mental health
• South Africa
• infant observation
• witness
• ethics

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Prof Astrid Berg and Dr Nicola Dugmore, and observers in the IMH M. Phil cohorts of 2021 and 2022; Dr Kedi Montingoe; Dr Mmatlala Mabeba, Dr Michelle du Plessis, Ms Shanaaz Sungay, Ms Rachel Makoni. I am grateful for permission to cite from class discussions, reflection papers and exit interviews. My thanks to Dr Simone Peters. In memorium, Seth Oppong.

Ethical statement

Ethics clearance was granted by the University of Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch: Clearance number N22/08/107_RECIP_UCT_EARC2021_01

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This is unlike conventional anthropological research, which relies on active participation and simultaneous observation. During seminars I keep my camera and microphone off and do not participate in discussions. I take notes on general discussions but do not keep records of the infant observations themselves.

2 I note in passing that ideas about ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ energies permeate most southern African cultural systems and are particularly pronounced in relation to reproduction.

3 See Papoutsi and Fu (2021) and Bekos (2007). To date, there has been no follow-up research in South Africa with the families of observed children, although anecdotal evidence suggests that the effect of an observer is powerful and has residual qualities over time.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation [grant number 31200627] and the South African National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences [NIHSS grant number CRP01643].

Notes on contributors

Fiona C. Ross

Fiona C. Ross is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her work is concerned with redress and remedy in apartheid’s aftermath. Between 2013 and 2022, she led a project on the Anthropology of the First Thousand Days of Life, exploring how scientific knowledge about survival and flourishing enters policy and thence everyday life.