Justice and Human Development

Psychologists have studied certain elements of wellness, and various aspects of fairness, but they have seldom studied the interaction between the two. As a result, it is not surprising that there is a paucity of educational, community, clinical and social interventions to promote wellness and fairness in concert. In this paper I present a framework of justice consisting of substantive and contextual types. Distributive and procedural justice constitute the two main types of justice. Interpersonal, organizational, cultural and communal justice are contextual types which embed within them the two substantive aspects of justice. I explore how these various kinds of justice impact human development across six facets of well-being: interpersonal, communal, occupational, physical, psychological and economic. I claim that for children and adults to achieve optimal human development, these facets of well-being must be supported by various types of justice

Promoting Strengths, Prevention, Empowerment, and Community Change Through Organizational Development: Lessons for Research, Theory, and Practice

SPEC Learning and Changing by Doing is a three-year, action research and organizational change project designed to ultimately promote social justice and well-being in the community. SPEC is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Prevention, Empowerment, and Community Change. The project consists of five organizations tackling internal organizational change in order to better promote justice and well-being in their respective constituencies. In this paper we present a formative evaluation of this multicase study of organizational change in human services. This paper contributes to the empirical and theoretical literature on organizational change in the nonprofit human service milieu

Identity and Oppression: Differential Responses to an In-Between Status

Oppression operates at various levels, with varying degrees of negativity, and groups respond in markedly different ways. In this paper, the in-between status of the colored South African group is used to illustrate issues of identity and oppression under the Apartheid system—and differing ways in which oppression was experienced and used. The colored group had many social advantages over Blacks, but were also used to oppress that group. Habituation, accommodation, and relative advantage were identified as dynamics within the broader context of power and privilege that contributed to cultural and psychological marginality and status ambivalence of the coloreds. These processes must be understood within the historical, social, and political context of the community. What is evident from the data is that groups and individuals can take up various positions along a continuum of oppressor—oppressed, depending upon the contexts, time, and social and legal relationships involved in their interactions

The value of grounded theory for disentangling inequalities in maternal-child healthcare in contexts of diversity : a psycho-sociopolitical approach

Adopting a psycho-sociopolitical approach, the present paper describes the results of a community-based participatory needs assessment focusing on the perceived needs of women of reproductive age as users of primary healthcare in contexts of migration-driven diversity and socioeconomic vulnerability in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon. The investigation comprised 64 in-depth interviews with women, including natives and immigrants to Portugal from the main origin countries in the context under study (Brazil, Cape Verde, and other Portuguese- speaking African countries) and a survey of 125 women, again natives and immigrants from these countries. The central role of qualitative methodology and grounded theory, in the framework of a multi-method research, allowed understanding the needs of women as embedded in contexts characterized by asymmetrical power relations, in terms of unequal opportunities and resources, at multiple interrelated ecological levels (personal, relational, organizational, community, socioeconomic, health system/policy, cultural/migration). The priority perceived needs of women were primarily related to socioeconomic disadvantage, severely aggravated in the current contexts of crisis; and factors at the health system level, mainly unequal access to family doctors, excessive waiting lists, and increases in the direct costs of healthcare. Results allow questioning the adequacy of cultural competence approaches for the reduction of inequalities in maternal-child healthcare in the context under study, showing the critical and innovative value of qualitative methodology and grounded theory in research on social justice and health in contexts of diversity characterized by unequal power dynamics.FP7 -Seventh Framework Programme(FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF

The I COPPE Scale Short Form for measuring multidimensional well-being: Construct validity and reliability from US, Argentinian, and Italian large samples

The aim of this study is to present a short form of the I COPPE scale of multidimensional well‐being. We conducted two studies, which include four samples collected across three countries, namely United States, Argentina, and Italy. In the pilot study we tested during the data analysis phase whether it was feasible to reduce the full I COPPE scale by omitting the items dealing with past well‐being. Prompted by the positive results of the pilot study, we launched a final validation study with a sample of 2682 Italian people who completed the I COPPE scale short form, which is designed without items referring to past well‐being. Results from a series of confirmatory factor analyses show that the I COPPE scale short form presents acceptable levels of construct validity and reliability. Moreover, the 7‐factor correlated‐trait model proved to be the best fit for the data. We discuss advantaged of using the I COPPE scale short form along with limitations and future recommendations

Career capital in global Kaleidoscope Careers: the role of HRM

The results of this qualitative study of international talent show that although the acquisition of career capital through international assignments is perceived to be desirable both from an individual and organisational perspective, the global mobility needs and preferences of these two parties rarely coincide. This is due to the fact that individual mobility requirements come in cycles aligned to life cycle stages whereas organisational mobility needs ebb and flow like waves in response to perceived threats and opportunities. This presents opportunities and challenges for individuals in the acquisition and utilisation of career capital to balance work and non-work related demands in their global Kaleidoscope Careers. The role of HRM is to facilitate this process through mentoring, networking and other opportunities to engage in storying enabling employees to accommodate their changing needs at different life cycle stages. Failure to offer such support can manifest itself in demotivation, business performance issues as well as difficulties in terms of diversity and inclusion. Thus this paper offers a contribution to academic literature in the field of career theory as well as international Human Resource Management professional practice

Liberation-focused Community Outreach: A Qualitative Exploration of Peer Group Supervision during Disaster Response

While it is clear that community outreach and disaster response must include cultural and social justice competence, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the process by which this can occur. Guided by liberation psychology, this qualitative study examined the peer group supervision process of psychologists and counselors providing outreach to Haitian communities in Florida after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The findings suggest that peer supervision generated a cyclical process in which the practitioners focused on both content and process themes that were salient to the community outreach. During supervision, practitioners used content information on the community\u27s culture, strengths, and sociopolitical issues to conceptualize the community\u27s experiences and needs. This content informed the outreach process, including the practitioners’ roles and the ways in which they connected and developed respectful relationships with the community. Ongoing peer supervision appeared to facilitate a liberation-focused community outreach and increase consciousness among the practitioners

Disrupting the dynamics of oppression in intercultural research and practice

In this special issue we focus on exploring the tensions, challenges and possibilities for working in contexts where relationships between groups are characterized by dominance and resistance. Some of the impetus lies in our own struggles and frustrations with models, guidelines and ‘recipes’ that have been developed to guide sensitive, competent and empowering research and practice across boundaries of ‘race’, ethnicity and culture. These models and guidelines are often framed as tools that will enable culturally competent transactions across these boundaries

Psychology for the Common Good: The Interdependence of Citizenship, Justice, and Well-being across the Globe

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