As you know, economic inequity has devastating effects on the lives of many. The field of psychology is playing an increasingly important role in our understanding of the psychological effects of scarcity and the barriers faced by people who experience low-income and economic marginalization (LIEM). Psychologists have also been instrumental in contextualizing and addressing the intersectional nature of economic inequity and injustice, raising awareness that economic injustice and systemic racism are deeply entangled.
We are proposing a new APA division centered on economic justice, to help and support psychologists fight economic marginalization. We are calling this new division: The Division of Economic Justice, Poverty, and Social Class Issues (DEPSCI). We hope to create a centralized space for SES issues in psychology, increase collaboration among psychologists within this important topic, raise awareness to the importance of social class issues within psychology and the relationship between economic marginalization and systemic racism, consolidate research efforts related to financial stress, and work to reduce barriers for people impacted by LIEM entering the field. Review our petition for the creation of a new division, as well as our goals.
The next stage involves gathering petition signatures from APA members in support of the creation of the new division. This is quite a task, as we must gather signatures from 1% of all APA nonstudent members (approximately 750 people) in order to move forward. We would like to ask you to support this new division by forwarding this statement to spread the word about the division in formation. We are also asking that you encourage your division members to sign our petition.
We strongly believe our new proposed division would be an asset to APA structure, with great potential for collaboration and partnership with other divisions. Economic marginalization, poverty, and social class issues intersect with psychological functioning in a variety of ways, and it is an important part of our work as researchers, advocates, clinicians, and consultants. Further, the intersection between economic inequity and systemic racism is deeply entangled and we believe that establishing a division focused on reducing economic inequity and promoting economic justice would be in line with the APA Resolution on Harnessing Psychology to Combat Racism (2021) as well as the APA Resolution on the Role of Psychology and APA in Dismantling Systemic Racism Against People of Color in the U.S. (2021).
We hope you consider signing the petition to establish this very important new APA division.
