Indigenisation of psychology: The concept and its practical implementation

The often misunderstood concept of indigenous psychologies is examined from the meta-discipline perspective afforded by a social-psychological study o f the science. Motivation underlying the indigenisation movement, semantic difficulties with the concept, and models for indigenisation of the discipl ine are examined. The commonly accepted building-block approach is of incre asing numbers of indigenous contributions leading to an emerging indigenous psychology. An alternative, but often overlooked approach, is of autochtho nous discipline development leading to increasing numbers of seasoned resea rchers creatively pursuing culturally relevant research. Both approaches ar e intertwined and necessary for a more encompassing definition and understa nding of the indigenisation process. An overview of the required elements f or this broader definition indicate the need for simultaneous pursuit of re search in the local culture and autochthonous discipline development, deman ds that can place the researcher in an essential tension.