Critical Psychology Flashcards
What does critical psychology aim to do?
Looks at what psychologist and psychology as discipline are doing
Study the psychology of the psychologist
Politicising all sub-disciplines in Psychology in an explicit way
A movement that challenges psychology to work towards emancipation and social justice, and that opposes the use of psychology that perpetuates oppression and injustice
What is conscientisation?
Process where those who are oppressed develop the ability to critically reflect, plan, and implement change in their communities, developing understanding of effects of oppression and marginalisation and locate their personal distress within a socio-political context
What is scientism?
An excessive admiration and authority to claims made by scientists or an uncritical eagerness to accept any result described as scientific, partly due to it using ‘so-called scientific methods’
Thomas Teo reconstruction, deconstruction and construction?
Reconstruction - critically reconstructs psychological theories, methods, and concepts by theoretical, logical, or historical means
Essential reconstruction aims at understanding the reasons for biases, the concrete sexism, racism, classism, etc, that impact on the idea
Also focus on impact of society, culture or modernity on the psyche
Deconstruction - takes psychological-theoretical or practical construction apart and lays open its elements
Instances of deconstruction maybe be to identify and describe biases/weaknesses of mainstream psychology and its role in serving the interests of the powerful
Construction - development of critical theories, methods, and concepts, and should begin with needs of groups/individuals confronted by phenomena/idea/concept under investigation
What are the 4 aspects of critical psychology according to Parker?
- Is the systematic examination of how some varieties of psychological action and experience are privileged of others, how dominant accounts of ‘psychology’ operate ideologically and the in the service of power
- Study of the ways in which all varieties of psychology are culturally-historically constructed, and of how alternative varieties of Psychology may confirm or resist ideological assumptions in mainstream models
- Study of forms of surveillance and self-evaluation in everyday life and of the ways in which psychological culture operates beyond the boundaries of academic and professional practice
- Explanation of the way everyday ‘ordinary psychology’ structures academic and professional work in psychology and of how everyday activities might provide the basis for resistance to contemporary disciplinary practices
How can psychology been seen to be a cultural historical product?
The ahistorical view of psychology lead us to consider human nature as universal
Certain actions and experiences are privileged/given more status than others
What is feminism?
A diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies
Some versions are critical past and present social relations
Many focus on analysing what they believe to be social constructions of gender and sexuality
Many focus on studying gender inequality and promoting women’s rights, interests, and issues
What defines a psychologist as a feminist?
Reject asymmetrical gender arrangements
Resist requirements of current social structures on the lives of women and men and advocate for activism toward societal change
What are the different versions of how we see women? (Marxist, radical, post-modern, liberal)
Marxist/socialist - see women oppression as part of a class structural inequality, based on economic class
Radical - traditional structures and values of society that defined the roles of men and women and gave feminists and masculinity different values
Post-modern - reject notion of natural distinction between men and women, rather than take gender that really exist, see gender itself, as fairly fluid, contextual, and arbitrary, gender shapes how both men and women understand their experiences and actions
Liberal - believe women are entitled to social, political and economic right equivalent to other groups such as men
Common themes of feminism
Place high value in women - worthy of study in their own right
Need for social change - overly political
Why is there a need for feminist psychology?
History of psychology been a history of poor science
Some psychologists suggest problem not oppression of women by men or patriarchal structures but internalised fear
Psychology has sought a different perspective by listening to women’s voices
Psychology produce large body of work on sex differences
How can we enquiry in gender?
De-emphasis differences or emphasis differences
Both lead to different representation of gender, provide evidence for claim, all knowledge from a standpoint, should examine usefulness and consequence
Alpha bias - exaggerate difference (type 1 error)
Men = rational, women = relatedness
Conceal due to social inequalities and power
Beta bias - minimise difference (type 2 error)
Draw attention from special needs
Men = living standard up 42%
Women = living standard down 73%
Chapter 10
What is critical psychology?
Criticises mainstream psychology for failing to understand that knowledge doesn’t refer to an outside reality, scientific knowledge isn’t cumulative but consists of social constructions and that psychological theories/claims have an impact on the world in which people live
Argue scientific psychology wrongly believes in realism
Say science is a social construction in which scientific statements aren’t fixed ‘truths’ but ever-changing stories that reflect the social-political and cultural world of scientists
Urge psychologists to be aware that their research affects reality - change perception of people and world they live
Teo (2015)
What u it’s all critical psychologists?
Understanding if society based on intersectionalised societal power differentials with consequences for human subjectivity in the conduct of a persons life
