Main Currents Of Critical Psychology

Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology is a comprehensive reference work and is the first reference work in English that comprehensively looks at psychological topics from critical as well as international points of view. Thus, it will appeal to all committed to a critical approach across the Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology, for alternative analyses of psychological events, processes, and practices. The Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology provides commentary from expert critical psychologists from around the globe who will compose the entries. The Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology will feature approximately 1,000 invited entries, organized in an easy to use A-Z format. The encyclopedia will be compiled under the direction of the editor who has published widely in the field of critical psychology and due to his international involvements is knowledgeable about the status of critical psychology around the world. The expert contributors will summarize current critical-psychological knowledge and discuss significant topics from a global perspective.

Covering such recent developments as the founding of the American Psychology Society and the impact of connectionism, the author provides a narrative history of psychology that includes the social, political and philosophical contexts which have shaped psychology and which psychology has shaped in turn. A full chapter on the philosophy of science and historiography as they relate to psychology completes the picture. Detailed timelines appear on the end papers to further readers' understanding of the historical contexts of developments in psychology. Chapter ending bibliographies direct students to further reading as well as providing critical discussion of historiographic materials.

This broad-ranging introduction to the diverse strands of critical psychology explores the history, practice and values of psychology, scrutinises a wide range of sub-disciplines, and sets out the major theoretical frameworks.

`Do read this book - it will refresh you if you have not come across critical psychology before. If you are already "critical", this is an excellent, up-to-date overview of the area′ - THE (Times Higher Education) ′An excellent book in all respects - compulsory reading for scholars interested in a socio-political contextual analysis of complex human behaviour′ - Professor David F Marks, City University, London ′The arrival of a Second Edition of this classic is an exciting event. The editors have assembled a world class array of authors to bring students to the forefront of critical scholarship today. Adding to the work′s lustre are fresh new chapters on critical social issues, along with a set of new pedagogical aids. Bravo!′ - Kenneth J. Gergen, Senior Research Professor, Swarthmore College The Second Edition of Critical Psychology extends the original′s comprehensive and accessible critique of mainstream psychology. Fully revised, reconfigured and expanded, the Second Edition explores critical psychology′s continued growth and diversification, offering practical advice, and noting significant theoretical and political dilemmas confronting critical psychologists today. While other texts focus on narrower specialties within critical psychology or on specific theoretical or methodological perspectives, Critical Psychology retains its focus on critical psychology as a whole. Key features of the new edition include: - each chapter now also includes a summary of main points, a glossary of important terms, suggested readings and Internet sites, and questions for discussion - the book′s contributors - most of them new - have thoroughly updated the original chapters and provide multiple perspectives on critical psychology′s core concerns - reflecting recent developments, Parts Three and Four are completely new to this edition. Part Three provides in-depth coverage of critical psychology′s relevance to social justice, focusing on the issues of race, class, gender, disability, colonization/globalization, human rights/social justice in post-conflict settings, and oppression/empowerment in mental health systems. Part Four examines critical psychology practice, from theory, methodology and therapy to community organizing and the politics of resistance.

Something instructive occurred in the process of entitling the present collection. Both editor and publisher sought a simple and succinct rubric for the various pieces of work. But they rapidly and reluctantly reached the consensus that, by either intellectual or marketing criteria, the inser tion of the adjective "psychological" to qualify the noun "development" was a communicative necessity. Much to the chagrin of the develop mental psychologist, the term development still connotes-to the world at large as well as the general community of publishers, librarians, and computer archivists-the modernization of nation states. Inside and outside the university, I find that, when asked, "What are you in terested in?" I am not at liberty to reply, "The concept of development," without being absorbed immediately into a discussion of Third World studies. The approach of the present volume should be taken as an exhortation to psychologists to take the genealogy of "development'' seriously. The history of the discipline is not so different from the histo ry of the word and, as we shall discover, the concern with developmen tal progress cannot easily be separated from the urge for dominion. This volume presents a selection from the recent critical scholarship on psychological development. The emphasis is on rethinking the field of developmental psychology at the level of theory.

Increasingly there have been more and more challenges to received notions of psychological thought and practice. No longer satisfied with old-fashioned positivist approaches, psychologists are following other social sciences in their critiques and methods. Psychology, society and Subjectivity traces the history and development of German critical psychology. Its author, Charles Tolman, charts the initial dissent from mainstream psychology in the late 1960s, to the reconstruction of a psychology that is truly for people, not simply one about people. Drawing on the work of leading figures such as Klaus Holzkamp, Psychology, Society and Subjectivity will need to be read by anyone keen to make psychology relevant without sacrificing its rigour.

Choice Recommended Read Critical psychology has developed over time from different standpoints, and in different cultural contexts, embracing a variety of perspectives. This cutting-edge and comprehensive handbook values and reflects this diversity of approaches to critical psychology today, providing a definitive state-of-the-art account of the field and an opening to the lines of argument that will take it forward in the years to come. The individual chapters by leading and emerging scholars plot the development of a critical perspective on different elements of the host discipline of psychology. The book begins by systematically addressing each separate specialist area of psychology, before going on to consider how aspects of critical psychology transcend the divisions that mark the discipline. The final part of the volume explores the variety of cultural and political standpoints that have made critical psychology such a vibrant contested terrain of debate. The Handbook of Critical Psychology represents a key resource for researchers and practitioners across all relevant disciplines. It will be of particular interest to students and researchers in psychology, psychosocial studies, sociology, social anthropology and cultural studies, and to discourse analysts of different traditions, including those in critical linguistics and political theory.