Stephanie Austin
York University, Toronto, Ontario
As graduate students in psychology, we have an important role to play in shaping the
future of our discipline. Because of my passion for psychology (hey, we wouldn’t be
studying for this long if we weren’t passionate!), I have become increasingly
interested in rethinking some of the assumptions we make about the role of psychology in
society and our contributions to the field. My MA thesis, entitled Critical psychology
in action: Recommendations for the practice of critical psychology gave me a chance to
discuss some of the ways in which we could bring about changes in our teaching, research
and community work as psychologists. The questions below give you some examples of what
critical psychologists from 10 different countries around the world had to suggest.
Questions for the promotion of emancipation in teaching
- When I am teaching, do I submit all statements, including my own, to critical scrutiny
while attempting to build a critical psychology that works for the emancipation of
oppressed groups?
- Do the theories I present go beyond the narrow limits of the dominant positivist
paradigm in psychology?
- Do I integrate subordinated forms of knowledge such as success stories from the
anti-psychiatry movement in the course curriculum?
- Do I integrate field trips to community-based initiatives in the course curriculum or
invite guest speakers from these settings to attend class?
Questions for the promotion of emancipation in research
- Do I question the assumptions of empirical and quantitative research in my writing,
teaching and research?
- Have I tried new research paradigms in my psychological research, such as qualitative
research, or participatory action research?
- When I am conducting research in the community, do I engage in a respectful dialogue
with research participants to negotiate the parameters of the research project?
- Do I work to ensure that there is a climate of collaboration and collective ownership of
the research findings so that the recommendations from the research will be implemented?
Critical Questions for the promotion of emancipation in community work
- When I write about the work I do, can I clearly articulate who I am accountable to?
- Do I work in community-based settings so that I am not always surrounded by a privileged
elite population of university students and faculty?
- Do I question sexist, racist, and classist strategies that have been traditionally used
in psychological community interventions?
- Do I take time in my busy academic schedule to enter into dialogue with the people who
are most oppressed by injustice to decide what kind of community work would be most
valuable, meaningful and appropriate?
I hope these questions can inspire some of you to try new things in your work as
psychologists. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like more information
about critical psychology.
This article first appeared in the Winter 2000 Edition of the APAGS Newsletter, Vol.
12(1)
