Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Clinical Supervision Theory and Practice Hse 160 260 270 Clinical Supervision Sequence 1st Edition Ebook PDF
Clinical Supervision Theory and Practice Hse 160 260 270 Clinical Supervision Sequence 1st Edition Ebook PDF
Clinical Supervision Theory and Practice Hse 160 260 270 Clinical Supervision Sequence 1st Edition Ebook PDF
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Clinical Supervision:
Theory and Practice
LORI A. RUSSELL-CHAPIN
Bradley University
WITH
THEODORE J. CHAPIN
Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
This is an electronic version of the print textbook. Due to electronic rights restrictions, some third party content may
be suppressed. Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall
learning experience. The publisher reserves the right to remove content from this title at any time if subsequent rights
restrictions require it. For valuable information on pricing, previous editions, changes to current editions, and
alternate formats, please visit www.cengage.com/highered to search by ISBN#, author, title, or keyword for
materials in your areas of interest.
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Clinical Supervision: Theory and Practice © 2012 Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning
Lori A. Russell-Chapin with Theodore ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein
J. Chapin may be reproduced, transmitted, stored or used in any form or by any means
Acquisitions Editor: Seth Dobrin graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying,
recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or
Assistant Editor: Alicia Mclaughlin
information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107
Editorial Assistant: Suzanna Kincaid or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permis-
Media Editor: Elizabeth Momb sion of the publisher.
Marketing Assistant: Gurpreet Saran
Marketing Communications Manager: For product information and technology assistance, contact us at
Tami Strang Cengage Learning Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706
Content Project Manager: Rita Jaramillo For permission to use material from this text or product,
submit all requests online at www.cengage.com/permissions
Design Director: Rob Hugel Further permissions questions can be e-mailed to
Art Director: Caryl Gorska permissionrequest@cengage.com
Print Buyer: Linda Hsu
Rights Acquisitions Specialist: Don
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010928365
Schlotman
Production Service: MPS Limited, Student Edition:
a Macmillan Company ISBN-13: 978-0-495-00915-3
ISBN-10: 0-495-00915-6
Copy Editor: Jill Pellarin
Cover Design and iconography: Angie
Wang and Mark Fox, Design is Play Brooks/Cole
20 Davis Drive
Compositor: MPS Limited, a Macmillan Belmont, CA 94002-3098USA
Company
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Table of Contents
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
vi CONTENTS
Supervisor Factors 13
Competency 13
Nonspecific Feedback 13
Narrow Scope of Supervision 14
Excessive Criticism 14
DISCUSSION QUESTION 2 14
Supervisory Relationship 14
Personality Confl icts 14
Mismatch of Theoretical Orientations 15
Diversity Issues 15
Inattention to Potentially Harmful Effects of Treatment 16
Failure to Utilize Outcome Data 16
Lack of Ethics 16
Formality 17
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 3 17
Structural Factors 17
Time 17
Equipment 18
Setting 18
Facility Support 18
Staff Support 18
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 4 20
Summary 20
Chapter Two Final Discussion Question 21
References 21
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
CONTENTS vii
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 7 33
Supervisee On-the-Job Training 34
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 8 35
Off on the Wrong Foot and Only Getting Worse 36
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 9 37
You Can’t Change What You’re Not Aware of 38
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 10 39
Counselor Heal Thyself 40
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 11 41
How Should You Respond to an Ethical Complaint? 43
Summary 43
Chapter Three Final Discussions Questions 44
References 45
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
viii CONTENTS
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
CONTENTS ix
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 6 73
DVD Supervisory Question 73
Theoretical Specific Supervision and the Case of Julie 73
DVD Transcripts from the Case of Julie 74
Summary 83
Chapter Five Final Discussion Questions 84
References 84
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
x CONTENTS
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
CONTENTS xi
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xii CONTENTS
Index 225
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
About the Authors
Dr. Lori Russell-Chapin was the Chair of the graduate counseling program for 11 years at
Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. Currently, she is a Professor and the Associate Dean of
the College of Education and Health Sciences at Bradley. She continues to teach practicum
and internship, crisis intervention, introduction to the profession, and ethics courses. She
works in private practice with her husband, Ted, and has worked as a clinical supervisor for
many years. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, an NBCC Approved Clini-
cal Supervisor and a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Lori is an award-winning
teacher at Bradley with numerous peer-reviewed journal publications, books, and creative
productions. She and Dr. Allen Ivey are the coauthors of Your Supervised Practicum and
Internship: Field Resources for Turning Theory into Practice.
Dr. Ted Chapin has been the President of Resource Management Services, a comprehensive
consultation and employee assistance program, and Chapin & Russell Associates, a counsel-
ing private practice, for the past 20 years in Peoria, Illinois. He teaches at Bradley University
on a part-time basis as needed. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and marriage and family
therapist.
xiii
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Preface
The Beginnings of This Supervision Text
This supervision book has taken on a life of its own. The reasons are numerous. The first
occurred when a master counselor came to one of the textbook’s authors, Lori, for supervision,
with a look of total puzzlement on his face. His name was Bryan, and he began supervision
before Lori could even ask, “What would you like to work on in supervision today?” He was
shaking his head and exclaiming, “I don’t know what to do with this fairly healthy client!
For years I have been working with mostly chemically addicted male clients. Now I have
a female, nonaddicted person who talks a lot, and I think I am lost in counseling. I haven’t
been lost in a long time.”
Bryan showed Lori his tape, and the genesis for this book began. Lori realized then that
the manner in which she had been doing supervision was effective and efficient for Bryan’s
male addicted clients, but it would not work for this client.
Bryan was kind enough, flexible enough, and confused enough to experiment with differ-
ing supervision styles. He and his client courageously consented to using one of their super-
vision sessions so Lori could demonstrate five different supervision approaches. In the end,
Bryan was asked which approach met his and his client’s supervision needs the most. His
answer was surprising yet understandable. What Bryan needed was not the typical cognitive
behavioral supervision session. His confidence had been tested with a new population. He
was questioning many of his solid addiction counseling skills. Lori used all five supervision
models with his same supervision question: “What am I doing wrong? She just keeps talk-
ing and I don’t feel connected. I want to get her into process but it is too difficult.”
Bryan discussed the benefits of each supervision model, but the approach that seemed
to help Bryan the most this time and responded best to his need and supervision question
was theoretic specific. By modeling back during this supervision session, a variation of an
Empty Chair technique that Bryan tried to use with his client, Bryan realized that his skills
can generalize from population to population and that he needed to relax. Bryan also con-
cluded that supervision over the life span of a counseling career can keep helping profession-
als sharp and less stressed. Bryan and Lori’s videotaping experience was the genesis for this
book; it seemed natural to expand on this idea and format.
Another reason for this type of supervision book is that both authors, Lori and
Ted, practice counseling privately in a group practice. Lori teaches full time at a private,
midwestern university, Bradley University, and is able to consult 8 hours per week at
their private practice. The supervision needs of private practitioners, agency and school
counselors, and graduate students differ, but the need for a supervision book for all
settings seemed apparent.
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xvi PREFACE
individual supervision sessions, Lori is the supervisor. In the group supervision session, Lori
is the supervisee and Ted is the supervisor.
In the world of clinical supervision, there are excellent supervision resources explaining
academic theory and skills. However, it became clear that there were several missing pieces
in the supervision knowledge base. Nowhere were there demonstrations and hands-on
materials to which supervisors, supervisees, and/or students from different settings could turn
when they were lost in the supervisory therapeutic process. Nowhere was there a resource
that could actually demonstrate the differing styles and approaches to clinical supervision.
There are many wonderful books and manuals on supervision, but nowhere was there one
resource where all this information was integrated in a comprehensive manner.
This textbook will also focus on individual and group supervision and offer a strong
knowledge base about supervision. The information gained will aid supervisees and super-
visors in growing at a faster pace and becoming more autonomous in their developmental
journey as helping professionals. Additionally, supervision approaches that will assist the
reader in becoming more versatile, knowledgeable, and flexible will be explored. The
approaches are developed from unique philosophical frameworks underlying the supervision
process. Practical examples from each approach will be offered.
Textbook Outcomes
The reader may also follow along with the DVD using transcripts from the supervisor and
supervisee located in the corresponding chapters. A demonstration of typical community/
agency group supervision can also be accessed through the DVD. In addition, each chapter
will offer reflective exercises so the supervisor and supervisee can practice and expand and
integrate supervision outcomes.
By the time the reader reaches the end of this book, he or she will be able to answer these
questions: What do I need from supervision? What is my supervision style? Why should
supervision continue over the lifespan of a counseling career? How can a supervisor minimize
some of the potentially harmful effects of psychological treatment for a supervisee? Many
additional questions will be answered as well. Each chapter has several reflection questions
offered throughout the chapter topics. The more questions the reader is willing to complete,
the more supervision information can be gleaned from each important supervision chapter.
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
PREFACE xvii
arise in any setting where mental health services are provided. The reader is presented the
problem with a set of discussion questions encouraging further reflection on the particular
ethical dilemma. A short summary of the relevant ethical guidelines is provided, followed by
a suggested course of appropriate action.
Chapter Four, Developmental Supervision Models, is the first of five chapters devoted to
differing supervision models. The discussion begins by offering a common-factor approach
to supervision, identifying common elements throughout all supervision models. The chap-
ter then provides an overview of developmental models of supervision. Each of the supervi-
sion model chapters is formatted describing the Basic Tenets, When to Use, Supervisor’s
Emphasis and Goals, Supervisee Growth Areas, and Limitations. This chapter has the
transcript and DVD supervision session, The Case of Brad, demonstrating the Stoltenberg,
McNeil, and Delworth developmental supervision model. Brad is a master-level social
worker with 25 years of counseling experience. His supervision question was “When my
client sabotages the counseling outcome, what additional strategies could I implement?”
Theoretical Specific Supervision Models is the title for Chapter Five. This chapter
focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of using theoretical specific supervision models.
The five different psychotherapy-based supervision models highlighted are Rogerian, Ratio-
nal Emotive Therapy, psychodynamic, attachment, and feminist supervision models. Each
model is formatted with the same constructs of Basic Tenets, When to Use, Supervisor’s
Emphasis and Goals, Supervisee Growth Areas, and Limitations. Again the transcrip-
tion is included in this chapter for the DVD demonstration using a psychodynamic supervi-
sion model and The Case of Julie. In this DVD segment, Julie is an internship student about
ready to graduate with a Master’s in Counseling. Her supervision question was “How can I
best approach my client’s invitation to hear him sing at the Battle of the Bands?”
Chapter Six, Social Role Supervision Models, provides the benefit of identifying and
emphasizing the varied roles and foci that supervisors need. These supervision models offer
structure and interventions for both the supervisee and supervisor. The models also assist
the supervisory process by emphasizing the importance of interpersonal communication
skills used by the supervisee. Bernard’s Discrimination Supervision Model, Holloway’s
Social Role Supervision Model, and Hawkins and Shohet’s Social Role Supervision Model
showcase this type of supervision, using the same format as in the above chapters.
The DVD supervision demonstration in this chapter utilizes the discrimination
supervision model in The Case of Kevin. This relatively new counselor is a first-tiered,
licensed, master-level counselor. Kevin’s supervision question was “My client has switched
coping mechanisms from cutting to tattooing. Now she wants even healthier coping strate-
gies. How can I assist her in moving in that direction?” To follow along when viewing the
DVD, there is a transcript of the entire session.
In Chapter Seven, Integrated Models of Supervision, the supervision models tend to be
atheoretical and use concepts from other counseling theories that are needed by supervisees.
Integrated supervision models are designed for those who work from multiple theoretical
orientations. Two approaches toward developing an integrated model are technical eclecti-
cism and theoretical integration.
In this chapter the integrated model of microcounseling supervision (MSM) uses the
same written format as previous chapters. MSM utilizes both technical eclecticism and
theoretical integration. This model introduces a standardized approach to supervision
offering the supervisee strengths and areas for improvement. The Counseling Interview
Rating Form (CIRF) is the instrument created for assessment. Follow along using the chapter
transcription for a demonstration of the microcounseling supervision model, an integrated
and competency-based supervision model, in The Case of Cate. Her supervisee’s ques-
tions were twofold: “Susan seems to be doing well in this stage of sobriety. Could you give
some guidelines as to when to push and when to back off ? Once I get to process-oriented
material, what do I do?”
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xviii PREFACE
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
PREFACE xix
presents a 38-year-old female who was referred to counseling by her boss because of
work-related concerns.
Read through each case presentation. They are formatted using a case presentation stan-
dardized guide complete with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis. Analyze the supervisory question
with the case information. Select the “best fit” model for each situation. At the end of each
case are several discussion questions to assist you in decision making. Use only one “best fit”
model from the five supervision models presented in the chapters. The authors’ preferred
choices are presented in Appendix F.
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to all of our supervisors who taught us compassionately how to
counsel, teach, consult, and behave in a professional manner. Thank you for your wisdom.
Your guidance and support makes a world of difference.
We would also like to thank the following persons who assisted us in reviewing this book
in its manuscript form: Jill Pellarin and Lindsay Schmonsees. A special thank you to the
editorial staff at Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning and especially to Seth Dobrin, our main
editor, whose skills and dedication made this textbook a reality.
xxi
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
1
CHAPTER
A Clarifying View
of Supervision 1
Supervision Defined OVERVIEW
The purpose of this chapter is to encour-
Much like counseling theories, supervision approaches have many similarities and dif- age helping professionals to see the over-
ferences. Most supervision models/approaches emphasize the importance of a healthy all benefits of supervision throughout the
supervisee and supervisor relationship, stress the importance of feedback and commu- lifespan of the counseling career, value
nication, and have a variety of supervisor tasks and functions. With that in mind, super- those benefits as a professional neces-
sity, and eventually discover supervision
vision is often defined concisely as a distinctive approach and response to a supervisee’s
approaches that fit their needs. The basic
needs from an expert who has more experience (Russell-Chapin & Ivey, 2004; Bernard tenets and definitions of clinical counsel-
& Goodyear, 2008). Haynes, Corey, and Moulton (2003) add that clinical supervision ing supervision will be presented, along
is a process using consistent observation and evaluation from a trained counseling pro- with the roles, expectations, and func-
fessional who has a specialized body of knowledge and skill. Bernard and Goodyear tions of the supervisor/supervisee.
(2004) offer this definition:
Supervision is an intervention provided by a senior member of a profession to a GOALS
junior member or members of that same profession. This relationship is: evalu- ■ Understand the need for a holistic,
ative, extends over time and has the simultaneous purposes of enhancing the integrative supervision book
professional functioning of the more junior person(s), monitoring the quality of ■ Define supervision and its major
professional services offered to clients that she, he or they see(s), and serving as a components
gatekeeper of those who are to enter a particular profession (p. 8). ■ Explain how clinical supervision is an
integral part of professionalism
Discussion Questions 1
1. What is your definition of supervision? _________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. What do you believe the benefits of supervision might be for you?_____________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.