More Than Their Circumstances

Written by Ching-Yi Lee, student psychologist

As the workshop began, there was a clear hesitancy; the patrons appeared reserved, and the

interaction felt somewhat constrained - as though people were unsure of how to position themselves in the space. However, as the first icebreaker began, which involved moving

through the room and becoming aware of one’s body in relation to others, I noticed a gradual shift.

As people began to move more freely, there was a visible softening in the room. This

seemed to translate into increased verbal participation, where individuals appeared more

comfortable to speak, laugh, and take up space.

"...engagement cannot simply be“invited” verbally, but it also needs to be facilitated..."

What I found particularly interesting about this shift was how quickly the atmosphere

changed once the body was engaged. It made me reflect on how participation is not only a

cognitive or social process, but also something that is deeply influenced by one’s sense of

comfort, safety, and positioning within a space. In this sense, engagement cannot simply be

“invited” verbally, but it also needs to be facilitated in ways that allow people to feel able to

enter the space, both physically and socially.

Participants were invited to draw and trace their bodies, and I was genuinely surprised by the

level of enjoyment and engagement this activity evoked. There was laughter, curiosity, and

even moments of admiration as individuals observed and represented their own body shapes.

In that moment, the space seemed to shift from one where people are often defined by their

circumstances, to one where they could define themselves.

This became even more evident in the words participants chose to describe themselves. Many

wrote words such as “love”, “peace”, “humanity”, “strong” and “happiness.” I found this

surprising, as I had entered the space with an underlying assumption that their self-

descriptions might reflect the hardships they experience daily. Instead, these responses

suggested that people’s identities are far more complex than the conditions they are living in.

However, this also raised a critical question for me: to what extent are these expressions

reflective of their everyday lived experience, and to what extent are they shaped by the

temporary nature of the workshop space?

"...how individuals see themselves cannot be separated from the structural conditions they are situated in."

According to du Toit et al. (2018), the experience of unemployment is not only shaped by the individual, but by broader societal and community contexts. This suggests that how individuals see themselves cannot be separated from the structural conditions they are situated in. In this light, the positive self-descriptions observed in the workshop may not necessarily contradict their experiences of hardship, but rather exist alongside them. It is

possible that these expressions reflect forms of resilience or meaning-making that develop

within contexts where structural opportunities are limited.

At the same time, one participant’s body map highlighted a more complex internal-external

tension. On the outside, he wrote words such as “useless” and “short man” while on the

inside, he described himself as “strong” and “smart.” When asked about this, he identified the negative descriptors as external perceptions and the positive ones as internal truths.

This interaction stayed with me, as it illustrated how societal narratives can become attached to

individuals, shaping how they are seen and treated. At the same time, it also revealed that these external labels are not always fully internalised, and that individuals may actively hold

onto alternative understandings of themselves.

This reflects another key point raised by du Toit et al. (2018), which is that individuals are

not merely passive recipients of their circumstances, but active agents who interpret and

respond to their environments. However, while individuals may construct meaningful and

positive identities, these identities are still shaped and limited by broader structural

conditions, such as unemployment, social exclusion, and lack of access to resources.

Reference 

du Toit, M., de Witte, H., Rothmann, S., & van den Broeck, A. (2018). Contextual factors and

the experience of unemployment: A review of qualitative studies. South African Journal

of Economic and Management Sciences, 21(1), 11

pages. doi:https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v21i1.2083