Counselling and Pentecostal modalities of social engineering of relationships in Botswana

Abstract

In African societies where HIV and AIDS are widespread, counselling is being used in an attempt to control people's sexual relationships and has become an important industry. Counselling is centrally placed in many AIDS-related policies in Botswana and is sponsored by both the government and religious organisations. Within the broad spectrum of Christianity, Pentecostal churches are very active. They emphasise the refashioning of relationships by mediating moral imperatives and by engaging with psychological knowledge on personal behaviour and on techniques of counselling in a changing context of sexuality. This paper explores the significance of religious counselling in terms of the disciplining effects concerning personal behaviour and the ways in which this form of communication is generating a wider interest in this society. This is particularly attractive to members of the educated classes who are engaging with Pentecostal counselling as a way of refashioning their domain of intimate relations. Yet, it does not only provide informed ideas on intimate relations – being often one of the proclaimed objectives of counselling – it also produces a communication about intimate matters that is intended to inform a critique of socio-cultural conventions. This is a counter-cultural dynamic of counselling, which has been little noticed in the academic study of counselling practices in Africa.

En las sociedades africanas donde el VIH y el sida están muy extendidos, el asesoramiento sirve para intentar controlar las relaciones sexuales de las personas y se ha convertido en una importante industria. El asesoramiento es el tema central de muchas políticas sobre el sida en Botswana y está patrocinado por el Gobierno y organizaciones religiosas. Dentro del amplio espectro del cristianismo, las iglesias pentecostales desempeñan un papel muy activo. Hacen hincapié en la remodelación de las relaciones imponiendo preceptos morales y utilizando conocimientos psicológicos sobre las conductas personales y las técnicas de asesoramiento en un contexto de sexualidad en constante cambio. En este artículo se analiza la importancia del asesoramiento religioso en lo que respecta a los efectos disciplinarios sobre el comportamiento personal y el modo en que este tipo de comunicación está generando un interés general en la sociedad. Esto es especialmente interesante para los grupos de personas cultas que reciben asesoramiento por parte de la iglesia pentecostal como una forma de remodelar su dominio de las relaciones íntimas. Sin embargo, la iglesia no solo aporta ideas informadas sobre las relaciones íntimas –lo que con frecuencia es uno de los objetivos oficiales– sino que también estimula la comunicación sobre cuestiones íntimas con la intención de formular críticas sobre las convenciones socioculturales. Se trata de un asesoramiento con una dinámica contracultural al que se ha prestado poca atención en los estudios académicos de las prácticas de asesoramiento en África.

Dans les sociétés africaines où le VIH/sida est répandu, le conseil est utilisé dans un effort de contrôle des relations sexuelles dans la population et est devenu une « industrie ». Il est positionné au centre de nombreuses politiques de la lutte contre le sida au Botswana et est soutenu à la fois par le gouvernement et les organisations religieuses. Dans le large éventail des sensibilités chrétiennes, les églises pentecôtistes sont très actives. Elles mettent l'accent sur la refonte des relations en négociant les règles morales et en prenant en considération les connaissances en psychologie sur les comportements individuels et les techniques du conseil dans un contexte changeant en ce qui concerne la sexualité. Cet article explore la signification du conseil religieux en termes de régulation des comportements individuels et en ce qui concerne la manière selon laquelle cette forme de communication génère un intérêt plus important dans cette société. Ces caractéristiques sont particulièrement attirantes pour les personnes issues des classes sociales éduquées qui exploitent leur engagement auprès du conseil pentecôtiste afin de remodeler le champ de leurs relations intimes. Pourtant, le conseil religieux ne fait pas qu'apporter des idées éclairées concernant les relations intimes –l'un des objectifs proclamés du conseil. Il produit aussi une communication sur les questions intimes dans le but d'éclairer une critique des conventions socio-culturelles. Le conseil a donc une dynamique contre-culturelle qui a été peu remarquée dans les recherches académiques sur ses pratiques en Afrique.

Keywords::

• counselling
• Pentecostalism
• relationships
• sexuality
• middle class
• Botswana

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the comments and suggestions I received on an earlier draft of this paper from Eileen Moyer and Marian Burchardt, and am especially indebted to Astrid Bochow for her significant input and ideas.

Notes

^1. See Mann (1985) as well as Smith (2009) for descriptions of a similar process in Nigeria.

^2. Research permission was granted by the Botswana Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs.

^3. For a comparative case in Nigeria, see Ojo (1997).

^4. For a comparative case in Benin, see Falen (2008).

^5. See also Cole and Thomas (2009) and Dilger (2009).

^6. Giddens (1992) and Spronk (2007) for Kenya.

^7. CSO and NACA (2009, 136) 2008 AIDS Impact Survey III records an overall infection rate of 17.6% for the ages of 18 months and above. For specific age groups, such as those between 35 and 39 and between 40 and 44 years of age, the infection rate is about 40%, one of the highest in Southern Africa.

^8. Botswana Central Statistics Office (2006) Marriage Statistics Report 2003–2006, Botswana Central Statistics Office (2010) Marriage Statistics Report 2010.

^9. CSO and NACA (2009), Botswana AIDS Impact Survey III, Statistical Report. Botswana has not (yet) introduced compulsory premarital HIV testing as a precondition for marriage, as is the case in some other African countries.

^10. However, studies are increasingly showing the opposite, as marriage has become an important source of the spread of the infection as safe-sex practices in marriage usually fail (Parikh 2007; Smith 2009).

^11. A study of Ghanaian Pentecostal videos by Meyer (2006) points in a similar direction. Pentecostalism is being created as a critical label that supports other identities, such as class and national identities.