09 Jul Decolonize Personality Theory Paper

PART ONE BELOW (3-4 PAGES)

1.) explore the meaning of decolonization; 2.) identify main challenges in psychology and strategies for growth; 3.) reflect on what you have learned and decide on which strategies you will amplify so that we can move our field to be more inclusive and more representational of the entire human experience.

This paper relates to the study of personality specifically because so many of our frames this semester are focused on explaining behavior solely through a Western European and White American experience. This practice has inherently biased us towards privileging that experience and expecting all people to conform to that standard.  All of the resources to get you started are in the Decolonize Personality Resources link on Blackboard and are linked within this document as well.

(My video guidance for the paper is here: )

Your paper should have two main parts that will follow the format described below by addressing each point:

PART 1: Identifying main challenges in Psychology and designing strategies for growth in our discipline: (2 – 4 pages) (10 points).

WATCH FULL WEBINAR and answer the following questions below:  

1. Dr. Sunil Bhatia:  Dr. Bhatia refers to Dr. Kings call to Psychology in 1967:   – Read this challenge. What are the parts of Dr. Kings call that you feel are most important and impactful? Pick at least two points that Dr. King makes, quote him and explain it in your own words.

2. How does this frame the need for and definition of decolonization? In your own words, describe what decolonizing psychology mean? (Hint: Dr. Bhatia can help you with this)

3. Dr. Jesica Siham Fernandez discusses Participatory Action Research (PAR) (starting at 18:30 in the video): Discuss  in your paper what PAR is.

4. How is PAR a paradigm that supports the decolonization of psychology?

5. Dr. Joseph Gone discusses working in mental health services with American Indian communities (starting around 38:21): Dr. Gone learned from the communities he worked with how discourses of distress contribute to problem drinking amongst American Indians.

6. Discuss in your paper how the inclusion of collective trauma in understanding mental health diagnoses might be important in supporting BIPOC communities.

7. Describe Dr. Gones clear pathological process from his work with Traveling Thunder and the pathogenic aspects of the Whiteman System and what that might mean for understanding the psychological impact of colonization and oppression.

8. How might this approach assist mental health practitioners in serving BIPOC communities    and how might this improve our field as a whole?

PART TWO BELOW ( 2 -3 PAGES)

9. What does it mean to you as a student to explore what you know, the process of knowing and compare this to how you experience the world? In what ways do you feel like your experiences in the world are reflected in what you have learned in the psychology classes you have taken? In what ways have they not been reflected?

10. Why is a written assignment like this important? Name one thing that you learned through this assignment that was challenging to you. Name one thing that you learned that felt liberating and inspiring.

11. In what ways will you carry what you learned from this assignment into other courses that you are taking in Psychology? What are some of the strategies or quotes that you learned through this paper that you would want to amplify in other courses that you take in Psychology?

You must use the link in part one on youtube as well as the below resources:  https://www.communitypsychology.com/demystifying-decolonialization/

https://www.apa.org/international/global-insights/decolonial-psychology

https://www.apa.org/monitor/features/king-challenge