1st Edition
Psychology Serving Humanity: Proceedings of the 30th International Congress of Psychology Volume 1: Majority World Psychology
This is the first of two volumes collecting the key proceedings of the 30th International Congress of Psychology, the first to be held in Africa in the 123 years of its history. The theme of the conference was "Psychology Serving Humanity", a recognition of psychology's unfulfilled mission in the majority world and a reflection of what that world requires from psychology.
Mainstream Psychology finds its largest number of exponents and leading personalities in the high income countries of the global West. The Other Psychologies, referred to by different names, are scattered across the rest of the world. Some of the names of these other forms of Psychology include indigenous Psychology. The main driver of indigenous and other forms of non-mainstream Psychology is the endeavour to embed the discipline in the dynamics of local societies.
Psychology has entered an interesting era, however. While the dominant philosophy underpinning the discipline remains Western, Psychology in the majority world in 2000s may have reached a tipping point. It took over a hundred years but the 2004 and 2012 International Congresses of Psychology held in China and South Africa heralded a newfound possibility for the discipline. There is an opening of the field to potentially new thought and forms of the practice of Psychology. These proceedings are published in the hope that all psychologists, especially those located in well-resourced institutions in the West, confront the divided reality that characterizes Psychology so as to creatively consider the opportunity opened up by the growing field at the peripheries.
Care was taken when assembling both conference and proceedings to ensure that the entire international psychological community was represented. Volume One contains contributions to Majority World Psychology. Volume Two contains contributions to Western Psychology.
Majority World and Western Psychology: Proceedings of the 30th International Congress of Psychology, Saths Cooper & Kopano Ratele. State-of-the-science in community psychology, Maritzo Montero. Why do we dream? Mark Solms. Children’s drawings of their experience of parentak verbal arguments, Gwatirera Javangwe, Julie Sterwart, Debrah Nhamo & Watch Rapuranganda. Outsourcing Africa’s developmental learning theories and practices, Bame Nsameng. Psychological aspects of trauma and its resolution: The road to national healing in, Zimbabwe, Julia Mutambara, Florence Ngwenya, Jeoffrey Mtemeri, Sibangalizwe Maphosa, Mpikelelo Maseko & Gwatirera Javangwe. The third mental health revolution: Themes, methods and values of community psychology and its relevance in Zimbabwean and African cultural contexts, Mpikelelo Maseko, Levison Maunganidze, Pilot Mudhavazi, Julia Mutambara & Gwatirera Javangwe. How the "Arab Spring" will/can plant the seeds for the Arab community psychologists’ Identity, Mona Amer. Markers of well-being among the Hijras: The male to female transexuals , Seemathini Sivakumar & Manjula Yadiyurshetty. Literacy and metalinguistic skills: A challenge for education in Latin America, Maria Regina Maluf. Mobilising compassionate critical citizenship and psychologies in the service of humanity, Mohamed Seedat. Emotional intelligence and organizational commitment in relation ti intention to stay, Meera Shanker. Integrating work and family: Lessons from women leaders and others, Fanny Cheung & Huimin Miu. The mutability of racism: The new concept of diversity, Kwame Owusu-Bempah. Neuropsychological functioning in spinal-cord-injured patients, Nancy Moodley & Basil Pillay. Theoretical and methodological characteristics of scholarly work on HIV in community psychology, Tanya M. Graham & Amy D. Shirley. Measuring sensitivity towards being the target of upward comparison, Mpho M. Pheko. School children resilience in urban slum area in Bangkok, Thailand, Sompoch Ratioran. Towards sustainable psychology, Girishwar Misra. Critical psychology and public health possibility of a mediating process, Vijay Kuma Yadavendu. Psychology in Indian Tradition, Ramakrishna K. Rao. Perceptions of counsellors’ role performance as a negating factor of guidance services in Nigerian schools, Agatha Ojeme & Egbochuku, E. O. A pilot study: Ayurvedic approach on memory stimulation in the French West Indies, Yenkamala, M., De Rotrou, J. & Smith, A. Shattered consciousness, fractured identity: Black Psychology and the restoration of the African psyche, Wade W. Nobles.
Biography
Saths Cooper is Professor of Psychology at the University of Limpopo in South Africa, President of the International Union of Psychological Science and Vice President of the International Social Science Council.
Kopano Ratele is Professor at the Institute for Social and Health Sciences at the University of South Africa, and Co-Director of the MRC-Unisa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit in South Africa.
‘One of these volumes is dedicated to the works of Western Psychology and the other to Majority World Psychology. The books present an updated, systematic and very well documented panorama of psychology at a global stage, emphasizing scientific research and also applications to social problems of great scope… In summary, the two volumes of Psychology Serving Humanity could be useful for those interested in international psychology, in the recent developments of new fields of research and application, for advanced students, and for many people of other disciplines who wish to know more about the state of psychology and its multiple contributions for understanding human beings, their society and to achieve the utmost development of the potentialities of individuals, families, groups and communities.’ - Ruben Ardila, PsycCRITIQUES, June 2015
