Prof. Anthony Naidoo

Brief Academic Biography

Tony Naidoo is a psychology professor and former chair of department at the Stellenbosch University. He teaches community, counselling and career psychology and is also known for a focus on themes such as the politics of training psychologists, the relevance of psychology in South Africa, career development, community project implementation as well as the history and philosophy of psychology. Tony is an accomplished author and runs a number of community projects that inform and guide his research and teaching.

Research

Research Topics

• Career/Vocational related behaviour, assessment and interventions
• Career Guidance and counselling
• Applied contextual community psychology assessment and interventions
• Community based participatory action research
• Cross-cultural research
• Ecopsychology and the human-nature interaction
• Masculinities’ study

About my Research

My dominant academic orientation is critical Community Psychology. I have a keen interest in the contextual or socio-ecological understanding of behaviour and particularly in engaging the concerns of marginalised groups.

My research interests are oriented around 3 discernible areas of interest:

• Issues related to community functioning and wellness
• Issues related to the career development and behaviour
• Matters relating to the interaction between humans and nature/environment

Community Functioning and Wellness

• Impact of a stress and burnout intervention on educators in a high risk, low-income schools
• Coping with destructive leadership behaviour: A qualitative study of nonphysical abuse in South African companies
• A community-based participatory intervention promoting positive forms of masculinity to create peace and safety: Addressing interpersonal violence in a Western Cape community
• Psychosocial influences related to community engagement: A multilevel perspective
• Delineating “At-Risk”- An Exploration of Self-reported and Observed Risk Factors Pre-empting Gang-involvement Amongst Western Cape Females
• Exploration of the lived experiences of the female spouse in child marriages in Ghana

Career Behaviour and Development

• The impact of a career development programme on the career self-efficacy and academic motivation of Grade 11 learners from diverse socio-economic backgrounds
• A mixed-methods analysis of black adolescents’ vocational identity status and career adaptability competencies in a South African township
• Exploring the influence of role models on the career development process of school-going adolescents from a low-income community in South Africa
• Narrative Identities: Voices of the unemployed youth in a low-income community in South Africa
• A translation and psychometric investigation of The South African Career Interest Inventory across gender and race among secondary school learners

Environment/Context

• An exploratory study of the ways that youth-at-risk experience a wilderness therapy programme in the Western Cape
• Perceived Benefits of Nature-based Experiences as Mediators of Connectedness-With-Nature: The Case of Mystic Mountain
• Lived Experiences of Hidden Racism at a Historically White University
• Exploring the influence of gender on how female facilitators of a wilderness programme view “wilderness”

These three clusters illustrate my research interests in understanding behaviour ecologically within the context of structural and mediating social influences.

Listed below are examples of recent theses and dissertations I supervised from the 3 clusters.

Teaching

Coordination of Programmes and Modules

Honours:

• Career Psychology (Theoretical Focus)
• Career Psychology (Applied Focus)
• Applied Community Psychology

Clinical Masters:

• Research Assignment

Teaching Areas

Postgraduate:

• Career Psychology
• Community Psychology
• Ecopsychology
• Clinical Supervision
• Counselling Psychology

Community Projects

Career Guidance Project

Read more on our site or visit https://careerguidanceproject.co.za/

Usiko Stellenbosch NPO

Read more on our site or visit https://www.usiko.org.za/

Vocational Assessment Project

Read more on our site.

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

Sarfo, E., Yendork Salifu, J., & Naidoo, A.V. (2020). Examining the intersection between marriage, perceived maturity and child marriage: Perspectives of community elders in northern Ghana. Culture, Health and Sexuality. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2020.1749934

Rabie, S., & Naidoo, A. V. (2019). Validating the adaptation of the first career measure in isiXhosa: The South African Career Interest Inventory–isiXhosa version. South African Journal of Psychology, 49(1), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246318772419

Albien, A., Kidd, M., Naidoo, A.V., & Maree, J. (2019). Mixed-methods analysis of the applicability of the Career Adapt-abilities Scale for isiXhosa-speaking South African township adolescents. International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-019-09391-6

Zygmont, C.S., & Naidoo, A.V (2018). Phenomenography – an avant-garde approach to extend the psychology methodological repertoire. Qualitative Research in Psychology. DOI: 10.1080/14780887.2018.1545061

Zygmont, C.S., & Naidoo, A.V. (2018). A phenomenographic study of factors leading to variation in the experience of a school-based wilderness experiential programme. South African Journal of Psychology, 48(1), 129-141. DOI: 10.1177/0081246317690686

Taliep, N., Lazarus, S., & Naidoo, A.V. (2017). A qualitative meta-synthesis of interpersonal violence prevention programs focused on males. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. doi: 10.1177/0886260517748414.

Albien. A., & Naidoo, A.V. (2017). Deconstructing career myths and cultural stereotypes in a context of low resourced township communities. South African Journal of Education, 37(4). https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v37n4a1476

Johnson, S.M., & Naidoo, A.V. (2017). A psychoeducational approach for prevention of burnout among teachers dealing with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. AIDS Care, 29(1), 73-78. DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2016.1201193

Miles, J., & Naidoo, A.V. (2017). The Impact of a Career Intervention Programme on South African Grade 11 learners’ Career Decision-making Self-efficacy. South African Journal of Psychology, 47(2) 209–221.

Rabie, S., & Naidoo, A.V. (2016). University students’ gap year experience and its influence on their career development. South African Journal of Higher Education, (30)3, 138‒155. http://dx.doi.org/10.20853/30-3-631

Lazarus, S., Bulbulia, S., Taliep, N., & Naidoo, A.V. (2015). Community-based participatory research as a critical enactment of community psychology. Journal of Community Psychology: Special Issue: African and Arab Enactments of Community Psychology, 43(1), 87-98.

Lazarus, S., Naidoo, A.V., May, B., Williams, L., Demas, G., & Filander, F. (2014). Lessons learnt from a Community-Based Participatory Research Project in a South African rural context. South African Journal of Psychology, 44(2), 149-161. DOI: 10.1177/0081246314528156

Johnson, S.M., & Naidoo, A.V. (2013). Transpersonal practices as prevention intervention for burnout among HIV/AIDS coordinator teachers. South African Journal of Psychology, 43(1), 59-70.

Jacobs, L., Naidoo, A.V., & Reddy, P. (2012). Crossing the invisible line: Exploring women’s secretive alcohol dependence and barriers to accessing treatment. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22(3), 453-457.

Mankayi, N., & Naidoo, A.V. (2011). Masculinity and sexual practices in the military: A South African study. African Journal of Aids Research, 10(1), 43-50.

Thompson, A., Smith-Tolken, A., Naidoo, A., & Bringle, R. (2011). Service Learning and Community Engagement: A Comparison of Three National Contexts. Voluntas, 22, 214-237.

Marais, S., Naidoo, A., Donson, H., & Nortje, C. (2007). Strategic violence prevention partnerships in a peri-urban South African town: The case of the Jamestown community project. African Safety Promotion Journal, 5(1), 19-30.

Dunn, M., Loxton, H., & Naidoo, A.V. (2006). Correlations of scores on the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration and the Copying Test in a South African multi-ethnic preschool sample. Journal of Perceptual and Motor Skills, 103, 951-958.

Van Wyk, S.B., & Naidoo, A.V. (2006). Broadening Mental Health Services to Disadvantaged Communities in South Africa. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 2, 273-282.

Kagee, S.A., Naidoo, A.V., & van Wyk, S.B. (2003). Building communities of peace: The South African experience. Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 25(4), 225-234.

Naidoo, A.V., & Jano, R. (2003). The role of employee assistance programmes (EAPs) in the South African context. The Social Work Practitioner-Researcher, 15(2), 113-127.

Naidoo, A.V., & Van Wyk, S.B. (2003). Intervening in communities: Combining curative and preventive interventions. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 25(1), 65-80.

Naidoo, A.V., & Jano, R. (2002). Role salience of dual-career women managers. Journal of Industrial Psychology, 28(3), 69-74.

Naidoo, A.V., Bowman, S.L. & Gerstein, L. (1998). The influence of demographic factors, attributions of causality, and work salience on the career maturity of African-American college students: A causal model. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 53, 15-27.

Naidoo, A.V. (1996). Challenging the hegemony of Eurocentric psychology. Journal of Community and Health Sciences, 2(2), 9-16.

Book Chapters

Naidoo, A.V., Visser, M., De Wet, M., Rabie, S., Van Schalkwyk, I., Boonzaier, M., De Bruin, G., Venter, C., & Shirley, L. (2019). An early life design group based career guidance intervention for South African high school learners from low income communities. In J. Maree (Ed.), Innovating career counselling theory, research, and practice (pp. 665-685). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Morgan, B., Naidoo, A.V., Rabie, S., & De Bruin, G. (2019). Using Interests in Career Counselling: Some Thoughts and Research Findings. In J. Maree (Ed.), Innovating career counselling theory, research, and practice (pp. 485-503). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Albien A.J., & Naidoo A.V. (2018). Barriers and Enablers for Career Development Among Marginalized South African Youth. In V. Cohen-Scali, J. Rossier, & L. Nota (Eds.), New perspectives on career counseling and guidance in Europe (pp.147-164). Springer, Cham. ISBN 978-3-319-61476-2

Naidoo, A.V., Zygmont, C., & Phillips, S. (2017). Harnessing the power of ecopsychology in community work. In M. Seedat, S. Suffla, & D. Christie (eds.), Emancipatory and Participatory Methodologies in Peace, Critical, and Community Psychology (pp. 77-89). Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham.

Lazarus, S., Taliep, N., & Naidoo, A.V. (2017). Community Asset Mapping as a Critical Participatory Research Method. In M. Seedat, S. Suffla S. & D. Christie (eds.), Emancipatory and Participatory Methodologies in Peace, Critical, and Community Psychology (pp. 45-59). Cham, Switzerland: Peace Psychology Book Series, Springer.

Lazarus, S., Seedat, M., & Naidoo, T. (2017). Community building: Challenges of constructing community. In M. Bond, I. Serrano-García, & C. B. Keys (Eds.-in-Chief), M. Shinn (Assoc. Ed.), APA handbook of community psychology: Vol. 2. Methods for community research and action for diverse groups and issues (pp. 215–234). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Naidoo, A.V., Pretorius, T.B., & Nicholas, L. (2017). The emergence of Career Psychology in South Africa: A socio-historical perspective. In G.B. Stead & M.B. Watson (eds.), Career psychology in the South African context (3rd Edition) (pp. 1-20). Pretoria: J.L van Schaik.

Books

Lazarus, S., Naidoo, A.V., et al. (2011). Die Uitvoering van ‘n Gemeenskapsassessering – ‘n Praktiese Gemeenskapshandleiding. Railton Foundation & Stellenbosch University. ISBN 978-0-7972-1292-3

Lazarus, S., Naidoo, A.V., et al. (2011). Conducting a Community Assessment: A Practical Community Handbook. Railton Foundation & Stellenbosch University. ISBN: 978-0-7971-1291-6

Duncan, N., Bowman, B., Naidoo, A.V., Pillay, J., & Roos, V. (Eds.) (2007). Community psychology in South Africa: Theory, context and practice. UCT Press: Wetton.

Websites and other relevant links

For a more detailed list of his publications see his profile see his cv and orchid profile:

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2556-5676