becker discussion

Under the shade of the fake plastic shrubbery at Second Cup, seven students met for double long espressos and a discussion of institutional terror and social reparation in Chile. In today's article, Therapy with Victims of Political Repression in Chile, Becker and colleagues at the Latin American Institute of Mental Health in Human Rights in Santiago call on mental health workers to take a new approach toward victims traumatized by political violence, arguing for a committed, non-neutral attitude toward their clients' suffering.

The group debated the relationship between healing and remembering, noting - on the one hand - Chile's successful reconciliation commissions - and on the other - that rehashing traumas can reinforce rifts between societal groups, and that complete repression can even correlate with healthier functioning on the individual level. One participant wondered whether psychologists might make unwarranted assumptions about the issues that trauma victims are wanting or ready to discuss. When social norms have been perverted by the State, what norms do people find most useful to return to in the short term? The psychology and IDS majors agreed that a return to normalcy involves addressing both psychic and physical needs - but we remain curious as to which elements field workers tackle first.

moghaddam discussion

Five brave souls converged on a St-Henri apartment for Psych-IDS's first discussion group, using Moghaddam's Implications for Psychology in the Three Worlds to push off our series by reflecting on what, exactly, we mean by applying psychology to development in the first place. Moghaddam argues that the developing world doesn't require the therapeutic approach that adapts individuals to societal demands - his so-called "modulative psychology," which dominates in the developed world - but a new "generative psychology" that helps mould societies to their people's needs instead.

In discussing how indigenous psychologies might differ from those transplanted from the rich West, two participants described their experience with traditional healing in Ghana and Brazil; there was also a sly reminder that maintaining a "skeptical" attitude toward one's own beliefs is a hallmark of the very scientific mindset that we try to stay skeptical of when working overseas. In the end, we need to hear what more people have achieved out there - and we look forward to finding out what steps have been taken in the developing world since Moghaddam's 1990 survey. Accompaniments: tea and self-conscious pumpkin pie.

november study groups

Psych-IDS study groups give students a chance to study the change that psychology can make in the world, in a casual, peer-led setting (read: we argue over articles over tea). Check back at this site over the coming month - we'll be posting comments by the authors and psychologists active in the field, who will be available to continue our discussion in the talkbacks.




Friday, November 10, 2006 - 5 PM
736 Laporte (Place Saint-Henri metro, by the nice park)
Implications for Psychology in the Three Worlds (for password write psych-ids@ssmu.mcgill.ca)
Fathali Moghaddam, Georgetown
Over the years, Moghaddam has built a reputation questioning the ways in which psychology is exported to the Third World. As he wrote us: "National development is fundamentally about change in human thought and action - the UN agencies are now gradually recognizing this through their focus on human development. But few psychologists have given serious attention to change."

Friday, November 24, 2006 - 5 PM
McGill College Second Cup
Therapy with Victims of Political Repression in Chile (for password write psych-ids@ssmu.mcgill.ca)
David Becker et al., Latin American Institute of Mental Health and Human Rights (ILAS)
Becker's work on trauma in Chile and elsewhere "has required radical rethinking of the nature of the therapeutic bond." We hope to take a look at how the arrest of Pinochet has influenced the processes of grief, recovery and reconciliation.