Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Int Rev Psychiatry. 2024 Feb-Mar;36(1-2):31-43. doi: 10.1080/09540261.2023.2274344. Epub 2023 Dec 1.
Ahmed Kathrada (1929-2017), an anti-apartheid activist, political prisoner, and parliamentary politician had been at the centre of South Africa's liberation struggle for six decades and is remembered as a soft-spoken, strong-willed and incorruptible freedom fighter. This psychobiography uses the career development framework of Jeffrey Greenhaus and the ecological human development systems framework proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner to investigate and illuminate Kathrada's life history. Kathrada was purposively selected as subject due to his extraordinary contributions to the liberation struggle. The study used primary and secondary documentary data. The findings indicate poor alignment between the age categories proposed by the Greenhaus framework and Kathrada's career development stages due to him joining the liberation movement at a very young age, his rapid career development during the early career stage and the impact of imprisonment on his career development. The findings relating to Bronfenbrenner's theoretical framework illustrate the interaction between individual and environmental factors that influenced Kathrada's life and career. Ultimately, employing two theoretical frameworks assisted in formulating a pragmatic, holistic and comprehensive psychobiography that illuminates Kathrada's life and career. The study contributes to the legacy of Kathrada and underscores the importance of longitudinal studies in the career development of extraordinary individuals.
艾哈迈德·卡特拉达（1929-2017 年），反种族隔离活动家、政治犯和议会政治家，他曾在南非解放斗争的中心奋斗了六十年，被人们铭记为一位说话温和、意志坚强、廉洁奉公的自由斗士。这部心理传记运用杰弗里·格林豪斯的职业发展框架和乌里·布伦纳提出的生态人类发展系统框架，调查和阐明了卡特拉达的生平。由于卡特拉达对解放斗争做出了非凡的贡献，他被特意选为研究对象。该研究使用了主要和次要的文献资料。研究结果表明，由于他年轻时就加入了解放运动，在职业生涯早期迅速发展，以及监禁对他的职业生涯发展的影响，格林豪斯框架中提出的年龄类别与卡特拉达的职业发展阶段之间存在严重不匹配。与布伦纳理论框架相关的研究结果说明了个体和环境因素之间的相互作用，这些因素影响了卡特拉达的生活和职业。最终，采用两个理论框架有助于形成一种实用、全面和综合的心理传记，阐明了卡特拉达的生活和职业。该研究丰富了卡特拉达的遗产，并强调了对非凡个体的职业发展进行纵向研究的重要性。
