In Science We (Should Not Always) Trust: Decolonizing the Science of Psychology

This paper is intended as an introduction and a call for questioning psychological sciences. Western sciences, especially sciences that focuses on racial and gender “differences,” have served among the most colonizing influences worldwide. Frantz Fanon’s (1959) term “shameful sciences!” especially applies to social Darwinism and eugenics as forms of scientific racism, scientific sexism, and scientific imperialism. In this contribution, I highlight my struggles as a scholar to recognize these scientific narratives, to decolonize my own praxis as a scholar and a psychology clinician, as well as to address the long standing impact of these ideologies in the academy and society. I argue that In Science We (Should Never) Blindly Trust, and share my suggestions for ways to learn, name, and resist racist and sexist ideological sciences

In Science We (Should Not Always) Trust: Decolonizing the Science of Psychology

This paper is intended as an introduction and a call for questioning psychological sciences. Western sciences, especially sciences that focuses on racial and gender “differences,” have served among the most colonizing influences worldwide. Frantz Fanon’s (1959) term “shameful sciences!” especially applies to social Darwinism and eugenics as forms of scientific racism, scientific sexism, and scientific imperialism. In this contribution, I highlight my struggles as a scholar to recognize these scientific narratives, to decolonize my own praxis as a scholar and a psychology clinician, as well as to address the long standing impact of these ideologies in the academy and society. I argue that In Science We (Should Never) Blindly Trust, and share my suggestions for ways to learn, name, and resist racist and sexist ideological sciences

Psychometrically and qualitatively validating a cross-national cumulative measure of fear-based xenophobia

.40. The result, a cross-national 5-item scale measuring fear-based xenophobia, was tested by means of the Three-step Test-Interview (Hak, Van der Veer and Jansen 2008) with 10 students in The Netherlands and 10 students in Norway. The analysis of these qualitative interviews shows that individual respondents’ criteria for the ranking of the scale items strongly depend on the way immigrants are framed. Ranking according to different levels of fear turned out to be only one criterion out of several possible ones used by individual respondents. Keywords Xenophobia . Measurement . Mokken Scale Procedure . Cross-cultural . qualitative validation . Three-Step Test-Intervie

Human Trafficking: A Review for Mental Health Professionals

This article provides a review of current research on human trafficking for mental health practitioners and scholars. In addition to an overview of definitions, causes and processes of trafficking, the article highlights mental health consequences of trafficking along with suggestions for treatment of survivors. Directions for counseling services, prevention, policy work and international involvement are also discussed

Xenophobia: Understanding the Roots and Consequences of Negative Attitudes toward Immigrants

The current xenophobic cultural environment in the United States makes it imperative that psychologists understand the nature of xenophobia and recognize its consequences. This article explores sociological, social psychological, and multicultural research to examine the causes of negative attitudes toward immigrants. Xenophobia is presented as a concept descriptive of a socially observable phenomenon. Historical and contemporary expressions of xenophobia in the United States are examined and compared with cross-cultural scholarship on negative attitudes toward immigrants. Last, suggestions are provided for how counseling psychologists can integrate an understanding of xenophobia into their clinical practice, training, research, and public policy advocacy

Experiencing the Formation of Hybrid Cultural Identities In First- Generation Turkish Immigrants To The United States

The paper is based upon the research that explored the formation of hybrid cultural identities of five first-generation Turkish immigrants to the United States working in the high-technology sector. Postcolonial theoretical perspective was used to conceptualize the formation of hybrid cultural identities in the globalized world, and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was employed to analyze in depth the lived experiences of the participants. The research findings indicated four broad common experiences narrated in the interviews: Shifting Identities, Identities in Comparison, Identities against Power, and Transforming Self. These findings concurred with the postcolonial assumptions that challenged the generalizations of cultural identity in clinical psychology theory and research