Roderick J. Watts

Sociopolitical Development as an Antidote for Oppression—Theory and Action

Although psychology has an ample vocabulary for describing individual pathologies, the development of theory and concepts for understanding societal pathology remains in its infancy. Because community psychology theory views human behavior in its context, it is essential that interventions not be limited to stress management, personal coping, and similar programming. Interventions should not leave social injustice undiscussed and unchallenged. In this spirit we present a theory of oppression and sociopolitical development that informs an intervention with young, African American men in an urban setting. The five-stage theory highlights the role of Freires notion of “critical consciousness,” a sociopolitical version of critical thinking, in enhancing an awareness of sociopolitical as well as personal forces that influence behavior. The theory also draws on African American social-change traditions and their spiritual aspects. The action section of the study describes the Young Warriors programs use of mass culture (rap videos and film) as stimuli for the development of critical consciousness. Highlights from an empirical investigation of an eight-session high school version of the program will be presented to illustrate the practical challenges and benefits of sociopolitical interventions.

Psychological Aspects of Racism in Organizations

In this study a multilevel conceptual framework is developed for the study of racism in organization as seen by African-Americans. Three levels are defined: institutional racism, racial climate, and personal discrimination. Perceptions of racism on each of these levels are related to racial identity, using the Racial Identity Attitudes Scale, to determine if racial identity is associated with perceptions of racism. The results, based on a sample of Blacks in a state bureaucracy, indicated that racial identity was the best predictor of perceptions of racial climate and personal discrimination. For example: Blacks who reported Pre-Encounter racial identity attitudes (i.e., those who were White-identified and Black-rejective) saw less racism in the workplace, whereas those who endorsed Internalization attitudes (i.e., those who were Black-identified but not anti-White) saw more. In addition, two factors were identified in racial climate: (a) Experience and Intensity of Racism and (b) Management Power and Policy. These themes were consistent with the literature, and they were found throughout the data. Implications for organizational consultation and change are considered, especially the implications of African-American intragroup diversity.

Human diversity and community psychology: Still hazy after all these years

This paper explores the relationship between community psychology and its commitment to issues of human diversity. It is argued that the evolving conception of diversity and the emergence of contextualist/constructionist philosophies of science provide an opportunity to integrate human diversity into research and practice in community psychology. The history of community psychologys involvement with issues of human diversity is outlined, and an ecological perspective is offered as one framework for incorporating diversity issues into the field.

Elements of a psychology of human diversity

Despite new movements in psychology that are supportive of human diversity, there is no general framework for relating significant social-psychological markers like gender, race, age, sexual orientation, and other aspects of human diversity to theory, research, and action in community psychology. This article reviews four perspectives that can contribute to a general psychology of human diversity: the population-specific psychologies (e.g., Asian-American psychology, the psychology of women, African-American psychology), sociopolitical perspectives (emphasizing historical, economic, and systems analysis and the dynamics of oppression), cross-cultural psychology (emphasizing culture, and inter- as well as intragroup methods), and ecological psychology (emphasizing the dynamics of specific settings and the people in them). Using tenets of social constructionist philosophy and an emphasis on social equity and cultural relativism to create a value stance, the relevant concepts from each perspective are discussed. The implications of this emerging diversity-conscious worldview for research, action, and theory in community psychology are also considered.

Community action through manhood development: A look at concepts and concerns from the frontline

Community programs for young African American men have proliferated in the last few years. These manhood development organizations draw on many ideas to improve the life chances of black youngsters. This study identified key themes in manhood development as understood by the activists who work with the young men. Their perspectives were compared to those of African American scholars and community psychologists.

Racial Identity and Preferences for Social Change Strategies among African Americans

Historically, African Americans have struggled against oppression in a variety of ways. Two of the major strategies have been nationalism and inclusionism; the first emphasizing efforts to establish a separate nation, society or path of development, and the second emphasizing efforts to attain equal opportunity within U.S. society. This article describes an exploration of African American preferences for a range of social change tactics related to these general strategies and the relationship between these preferences and racial identity attitudes. The results indicated that assimilation-oriented Blacks were less likely to prefer organized, collective, policy-related strategies than bicultural Blacks. Other findings led to suggested refinements of the nationalist-inclusionist dichotomy and of racial identity attitudes theory.

Contextual Influences in Mental Health Consultation

The origins of mental health consultation as a distinctive profession date back to the 1890s when Lightner Witmer ‘s Philadelphia clinic began involving teachers and family members in the intervention processes of children and adolescents (see Levine & Levine, 1970). Throughout the following 60 years, consultation had a somewhat checkered history in terms of emphasis, and did not evolve a coherent conceptual framework until the writing of Caplan (1959, 1970). However, over the past quarter of a century, consultation has become an integral part of the mental health professions. Consultants report working in a wide range of settings around a variety of problems. Different models of consultation are evolving, research is becoming more sophisticated, and the ethical responsibility of the consultant is receiving increased attention (Dougherty, 1995; Grady, Gibson, & Trickett, 1981; Levin, Trickett, & Hess, 1990; Mannino, Trickett, Shore, Kidder, & Levin, 1986; Trickett, 1993)