by Hilde Van Vlaenderen

In situations of socioeconomic change, development relies largely on the generation of problem solving strategies. Development programmes should therefore be based on local understanding of the notion ‘problem solving’ and on indigenous problem solving skills. This article presents the results of a study focusing on people from rural towns in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa.

People-centered development is based on the conviction that people are capable of directing their own development process, consistent with their aspirations. It stresses the importance of anchoring development programmes in local knowledge and local skills. According to David Korten (1990:67) people-centered development involves a process by which the members of a society learn to mobilize and manage resources, in order to produce sustainable and equably distributed improvements to their quality of life. This definition implies that for people-centered development to succeed, individuals must be empowered to participate in their own development process. The author argues that empowerment must be rooted in the knowledge of the people, and in ways of dealing with their environment which they have successfully used in the past. Building on local knowledge and resources reduces the likelihood that a development intervention will ‘de-skill’ people or increase their dependence on external experts (Korten 1980). On the contrary, building on local knowledge empowers people by increasing their self-reliance (Van Vlaenderen, in press).

One of the core issues in development is the capacity to solve problems arising from changing socioeconomic conditions. As Korten notes, empowering people in their development means reinforcing their existing problem solving capacity (Gilbert & Van Vlaenderen 1995). To that end, development programmes should be informed by people’s local understanding of the concepts ‘problem’ and ‘problem solving’. This article reports on research into local knowledge of the concepts ‘problem’ and ‘problem solving’ in a group of young Africans involved in grassroots development in semi-rural towns in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa.

Much of the information gathered was destined for a development course run by the Eastern Cape Development and Funding Forum (ECDAFF) during February 1993. The data were collected over a period of five weeks, during which a group of 14 participants conducted weekly problem solving workshops, and weekly individual interviews were held with a number of the participants. Interviews were subsequently held with another 14 people. Those participating in the workshops were inhabitants of townships (residential areas reserved for black people during the apartheid era) in small rural towns in the Eastern Cape Province. All were involved in community development work and belonged to a Local Development and Funding Forum (LODAFF), the local affiliate of the regional ECDAFF. All were nominated by their communities to represent them at the course. There were 13 Xhosa first-language speakers and one Afrikaans first-language speaker. All had a good command of spoken English. With two exceptions, they were all young adults under the age of thirty at the time of data collection. All but three participants had completed secondary school.

An additional 14 participants were identified by the researcher via her local network of development work. The research aims were discussed with each prospective participant, as well as with the organization or project she or he belonged to. All those contacted expressed their willingness to participate. While the 14 additional participants did not belong to a LODAFF, they were associated with community development organizations in their area; they all lived in townships attached to small towns in the Eastern Cape. There were 13 Xhosa first-language speakers and one was an Afrikaans speaker; all had a good command of spoken English, and had a similar education background. These participants were somewhat older than the initial group; four were over the age of 30 at the time of data collection. More detailed information on the study can be found in separate publications (Van Vlaenderen 1998a; 1998b; 1999).

Interview data from 28 participants (12 women and 16 men) were interpreted, using a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss 1967), providing insight into the participants’ knowledge of the concepts ‘problem’ and ‘problem solving’. This information, in the form of a series of figures, is presented here with explanatory notes and quotes from the interview data.

The participants’ knowledge of the concept ‘problem’ is presented in Figure 1.

The participants clearly distinguish between a problem experienced by an individual and a problem experienced in a group. Problems are seen as inter-relational rather than intra-individual. Moreover, they are perceived in terms of unacceptable or deficient relationships between individuals or between an individual and society. The following quote illustrates this:

The participants’ knowledge of the concept ‘problem solving’ is presented in Figure 2.

Problem solving is perceived as an inter-active process. This is evident from the following interpretation of Figure 2. Problem solving was seen to involve various role players, whereby a distinction was made between those involved in the problem and the outsiders. Those involved include the ‘problem-causer’ (the individual who displays unacceptable behaviour) and those affected by that behaviour:

In group problem solving all the group members are simultaneously causers and affected. Sometimes a group member emerges as a leader and takes over the role of outside mediator. Several attitudes are considered necessary for successful problem solving. These are mainly of an inter-personal nature and should be displayed by all role players:

Problem solving involves phases in which the ‘problem-bearer’ acts on her own and phases in which there is interaction between the problem-bearer and some or all of the other role players. The more difficult the problem is perceived to be by the problem-bearer, the more interactive the problem solving process is, i.e. the more need there is for outside help. In the case of a group problem, the problem solving process involves all the group members throughout the entire process:

The problem solving process makes use of resources. A distinction is made between human resources (those of the role players themselves) and external resources (those consulted by the role players). The importance of experience was emphasized, and a knowledge of similar problems which had presented themselves in the past:

Problem solving is a cognitive-affective experience. All those involved in problem solving experience certain emotions during the process:

Problem solving fails when the role players are not serious and honest about the endeavour. If this happens, the problem and the effects of the problem will become progressively more serious:

The participants’ knowledge of the problem solving procedure is presented in Figures 3 and 4.

We see here that participants identified several chronological steps in the problem solving process. In both processes (individual and group), the most important step consists in identifying and analyzing the problem. It is considered important to embed the problem in its social context:

In the case of an individual problem, the participants seem to assume that there are problem-specific solutions and that problem solving consists in retrieving those solutions:

In group problem solving the focus is on finding a group consensus:

Figure 4 shows that a distinction was made between actions used to solve an individual problem and actions used to solve a group problem. In both processes, however, most actions are inter-active, with the main focus on listening, observing and talking, as well as on various specific ways of talking, such as suggesting or clarifying.

A further interpretation of the research data presented above sheds additional light on the participants’ underlying knowledge of the concepts ‘problem’ and ‘problem solving’. It is clear that they regard a problem as an interpersonal conflict, and that reaching and maintaining a state of social harmony is considered the main aim of problem solving. Their belief in the social construction of truth is in keeping with the principle of social harmony. They indicated the importance of shared problem identification and a joint search for a solution to the problem. Implicit in the participants’ knowledge is the belief that each particular problem is a unique, socioculturally embedded issue. As a result their focus is not on developing formalized, universally applicable problem solving skills, but rather on the need to contextualise the problem, placing it against a background familiar to all those involved. Problem solving then involves an often emotional process of negotiation that takes into account all the circumstantial factors, and is aimed at reaching consensus on a solution for that particular problem.

It has been argued that if development programmes are to be successful, the people involved must have a knowledge of the concepts ‘problem’ and ‘problem solving’. The present study was an attempt to illustrate this. The participants were involved in a training programme on leadership and the development of management skills which was part of a development programme in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. Insight into their understanding of the concepts ‘problem’ and ‘problem solving’ will help the organizing agency to embed the training in the participants’ own knowledge and experience, rather than in Western theories on problem solving. This will enhance the effectiveness of the training and facilitate the transfer of skills from the training course to the participants’ real-life situation.

Hilde Van Vlaenderen
Senior Lecturer
Department of Psychology, Rhodes University
0461 Grahamstown
South Africa
Tel.: +27-46-603 8504 / 5.
E-mail: H.VanVlaenderen@ru.ac.za
http://www.rhodes.ac.za/academic/departments/psycho

Gilbert, A. and H. Van Vlaenderen (1995) The need for individual and organisational capacity building among all stakeholders in rural development. Paper presented at the UNCRD Conference, University of Transkei, Umtata, 30 Sep –1 Oct.

Glaser, R. and A.L. Strauss (1967) The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine.

Korten, D.C. (1980) ‘Community organisation and rural development: A learning process approach’, Public Administration Review, Sep.-Oct.: 480-503.

Korten, D. (1990) Getting to the 21st century: Voluntary action and the global agenda. Connecticut: Kumarian Press.

Van Vlaenderen, H. (1998a) Group problem solving among a group of community activists in a South African setting: an everyday cognition approach. Doctoral thesis http://www.ru.ac.za/library/theses/vanvlae

Van Vlaenderen, H. (1998b). ‘Problem solving as a process of mediated action’, ISCRAT Congress, Aarhus, Denmark, 7-11 June.

Van Vlaenderen, H. (1999) ‘Problem solving: A process of reaching common understanding and consensus’, South African Journal of Psychology 29(4): 166-177.

Van Vlaenderen, H. (in press). Local knowledge: How and why do we need it and how do we access it? FAO special papers series.

Participants in a problem solving workshop related to the present research.
Photo: Hilde Van Vlaenderen

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