ALTERNATIVE PSYCHOLOGIES

Fragmentation in Mainstream Psychology

Promise of Discovering Universals

History of Alternative Psychologies

    Western Psychology
    Psychology in the Less-developed World

Liberation Psychology: A Popular Alternative

    Roots in Psychological and Political Theory
    Goal - End Injustice by Confronting Societal Problems

    Processes

        Problematization
        Conscientization
        De-ideologizing

    Applications and Impact

        Ignacio Martín-Baró – El Salvador
        Maritza Montero – Venezuela

Conceptual Core of Alternative Psychologies

    Alternative View of the Person

        Interactive Beings Operating by Chosen Local Norms
        Symbolic (i.e., discursive) Interactions

    Four Propositions

        Collective Meaning-making (vs. individual behavior)

            Role of Language

        Collective Constructive of Reality (vs. individual mind)

            Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development

        Time-dependent Processes (vs. outcomes)

        Normative Explanations (vs. reductionistic causal explanations)

            Multiple Social Identities

DISCUSSION:

➢    Are traditional and alternative psychologies compatible or will they split psychology into a causal science and a normative perspective?

➢    What phenomena can alternative psychologies reasonably be expected to explain and, likewise, to which are they seemingly misapplied?

➢    If alternative psychologies are subjective, socially constructed, and changing, how can they lead to the discovery and replication of genuine universals in human  functioning?