a African Studies Centre , Leiden , The Netherlands.
Cult Health Sex. 2013;15 Suppl 4:S509-22. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2013.825927. Epub 2013 Sep 27.
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.
在艾滋病病毒和艾滋病广泛传播的非洲社会，咨询被用来试图控制人们的性关系，已成为一个重要产业。在博茨瓦纳的许多艾滋病相关政策中，咨询都处于核心地位，受到政府和宗教组织的赞助。在广泛的基督教范围内，五旬节派教会非常活跃。他们强调通过调解道德准则和参与有关个人行为和咨询技巧的心理知识，在不断变化的性行为背景下重塑人际关系。本文探讨了宗教咨询在规范个人行为方面的意义，以及这种交流形式在这个社会中产生更广泛兴趣的方式。对于那些接受五旬节派咨询的有教养阶层的成员来说，这特别有吸引力，他们将这种咨询作为重塑亲密关系领域的一种方式。然而，它不仅提供了关于亲密关系的信息——这往往是咨询的既定目标之一——它还就亲密事务进行了交流，旨在为社会文化习俗提供批评。这是咨询的一种反文化动态，在非洲对咨询实践的学术研究中很少被注意到。
