Liberation psychology
Encyclopedia
Liberation psychology, also known as liberation social psychology or psicología social de la liberación, is an approach to psychological science that aims to understand the psychology of oppressed and impoverished communities by addressing the oppressive sociopolitical structure in which they exist. The central concepts of liberation psychology include: conscientization; realismo-crítico; de-ideologized reality; a social orientation; the preferential option for the oppressed majorities, and methodological eclecticism.
in the 1970s in response to criticisms of traditional psychology, social psychology
specifically. Psychology was critiqued for its 1) view of science as neutral; 2) assertion of universality; 3) societal irrelevance.
In response to theses criticisms, psychologists sought to create a psychological science that addressed social inequalities both in theory and practical application. It is important to note that liberation psychology is not an area of psychology akin to clinical, developmental, or social psychology. However, it is more of a framework that understands psychology through the structures that perpetuate social inequalities. Therefore, individuals using this framework would likely not call themselves “liberation psychologists,” although this term is sometimes used to refer to such individuals.
The term “liberation psychology” (or “psciologia de la liberacion”) first appeared in print in 1976. However, it was later brought into widespread use, and meant to apply to the concepts discussed here, by Ignacio Martín-Baró
and Martiza Montero.
in the 1970s. Ignacio Martín-Baró
is credited as the founder of liberation psychology, and it was further developed by Maritza Montero, amongst others.
Martín-Baró was a Spanish-born Jesuit priest and social psychologist who dedicated his work to addressing the needs of oppressed groups in Latin America, and ultimately was assassinated as a result of his work. Martín-Baró’s book Writings for a Liberation Psychology is a seminal text in the field that discusses the role of psychology as socially transformative.
The social orientation has a particular emphasis on understanding the role of history in shaping current conditions, and the ways in which this history resulted in the oppression of particular communities. Within this orientation, critical examination of the social power structure is crucial. This is necessary in order to understand political and social power as not being interpersonal, but part of a society’s institutional organization.
Liberation psychology further criticizes traditional psychology for its ivory tower approach to understanding phenomena. Unlike traditional approaches, liberation psychology understands the psychologist as part of the emancipatory process for oppressed communities. A bottom-up approach is favored where the community informs the research agenda, rather than the typical up-down approach. Within this framework, the psychologist is charged with understanding the everyday lives of individuals, their history, culture, and communal structure. This then allows the psychologist to work with communities to generate knowledge. Such an idea repositions the psychologist from the ivory tower to within the communities that are being served.
on critical realism
. Although the two ideas are conceptually similar in some ways, they have distinct meanings.
individuals. Unlike traditional psychotherapeutic interventions, this approach reframes LGBT individuals’ psychological issues as resulting from an understandable incorporation of the homonegative attitudes characteristic of the social structures within which such individuals exist.
Traditional psychotherapy may simply recognize the effect of homophobia and its impact on LGBT individuals, but may fail to clear the client of the blame for embracing such views. However, a liberationist psychological approach aims to free the individual of the blame for adopting the homonegative views of the society. Instead, the onus is on the social environment, understanding that individuals simply react to the circumstances in which they exist and are not to blame for their participation in the social structure. Such an approach identifies psychological issues as a product of the environment.
This then frees the LGBT client of feeling flawed for harboring homonegative ideas. They then are able to examine how they are a participant in the social environment and the ways in which they can take responsibility for future actions. Additionally, using the concept of concientización, clients under such a framework are able to examine how changing themselves can challenge the oppressive nature of the larger sociopolitical system.
. The interconnectedness of the personal and political, a fundamental tenant of liberation psychology, is central to black psychology. Furthermore, black psychology is thought of as inherently liberationist as it argues that addressing the psychology of black persons necessitates understanding, and addressing, the history and sociopolitical power structure that has resulted in the global oppression of individuals of African descent.
Proponents of black psychology operate within the social orientation of liberation psychology, contending that Eurocentric ideologies of traditional psychology lack relevance when dealing with black communities. Therefore, an Afrocentric conceptualization that recognizes the unique history of individuals of African-descent is necessary when dealing with such communities. Using a liberation psychology framework, black psychology argues that simply recognizing the distinctiveness of the black experience is inadequate if the psychological theorization used does not come from the communities to which they are applied. Such a position is consistent with Martín-Baró’s assertion that the use of Eurocentric psychological methods is incongruent with the lived experiences of oppressed communities.
Specific congress themes include human rights, social justice, democratization, and creating models for liberation psychology in psychological practice and pedagogy. In recent years, these meetings have become increasingly focused on addressing issues related to poverty and economic inequality.
International congresses on liberation psychology:
Emergence
The core ideas of liberation psychology immerged in Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
in the 1970s in response to criticisms of traditional psychology, social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
specifically. Psychology was critiqued for its 1) view of science as neutral; 2) assertion of universality; 3) societal irrelevance.
- View of science as neutral – The idea that science was devoid of moral elements was considered a flawed framework.
- Assertion of universality – Psychological theories were being produced based on research conducted primarily with white, middle class, undergraduate males. Liberationists questioned the notion that such principles were universal and therefore applicable to all individuals without regard to the consideration of contextual factors.
- Societal irrelevance – Psychology was viewed as failing to generate knowledge that could address social inequalities.
In response to theses criticisms, psychologists sought to create a psychological science that addressed social inequalities both in theory and practical application. It is important to note that liberation psychology is not an area of psychology akin to clinical, developmental, or social psychology. However, it is more of a framework that understands psychology through the structures that perpetuate social inequalities. Therefore, individuals using this framework would likely not call themselves “liberation psychologists,” although this term is sometimes used to refer to such individuals.
The term “liberation psychology” (or “psciologia de la liberacion”) first appeared in print in 1976. However, it was later brought into widespread use, and meant to apply to the concepts discussed here, by Ignacio Martín-Baró
Ignacio Martín-Baró
Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J. was a scholar, social psychologist, philosopher and Jesuit priest...
and Martiza Montero.
Founders
The genesis of liberation psychology began amongst a body of psychologists in Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
in the 1970s. Ignacio Martín-Baró
Ignacio Martín-Baró
Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J. was a scholar, social psychologist, philosopher and Jesuit priest...
is credited as the founder of liberation psychology, and it was further developed by Maritza Montero, amongst others.
Martín-Baró was a Spanish-born Jesuit priest and social psychologist who dedicated his work to addressing the needs of oppressed groups in Latin America, and ultimately was assassinated as a result of his work. Martín-Baró’s book Writings for a Liberation Psychology is a seminal text in the field that discusses the role of psychology as socially transformative.
Key Concepts
The central concepts of liberation psychology include: concientización; realismo-crítico; de-ideologization; a social orientation; the preferential option for the oppressed majorities, and methodological eclecticism.Concientización
The intrinsic connectedness of the individual’s experience and the sociopolitical structure in which the individual exists is a fundamental tenant of liberation psychology and is referred to as concientización (consciousness awareness). Introduced by Paolo Freire, the idea is that an individual’s behavior is not a result of intrapsychic processes as proposed by traditional psychologists. However, it is the result of operating within an oppressive and alienating social structure. Understanding this interconnectedness is of particular importance to understanding the experiences and psychology of oppressed peoples, the power structure to which they are subjugated, and the ways in which this subjugation manifests in their behavior and psychopathology. Martín-Baró argued that the awareness of concientización brings with it the understanding that individual psychology cannot be addressed without also addressing the social structures which contribute to a psychologically distressing environment for marginalized communities.A social orientation
Liberation psychology critiques traditional psychology for its tradition of explaining human behavior independent of the sociopolitical, historical, and cultural context. Martín-Baró argued that a failure of mainstream psychology is the attribution to the individual characteristics that are found in the group. He argued that individual characteristics are a result of interpersonal relations, and to view such individualistically deemphasizes the role of social structures and incorrectly attributes sociopolitical problems to the individual. Liberation psychology addresses this by reorienting the focus from an individual to a social orientation. Using this framework, the behavior of oppressed individuals is conceptualized not through intrapsychic processes, but as a function of the alienating environment.The social orientation has a particular emphasis on understanding the role of history in shaping current conditions, and the ways in which this history resulted in the oppression of particular communities. Within this orientation, critical examination of the social power structure is crucial. This is necessary in order to understand political and social power as not being interpersonal, but part of a society’s institutional organization.
Preferential option for the oppressed majorities
The development of a psychology that is “from” oppressed people rather than “for” oppressed people is the aim of liberation psychologists. Traditional psychology is understood as Eurocentric and is critiqued for ignoring the unique experiences of oppressed individuals. Martín-Baró made a similar argument, critiquing Latin American psychologists for adopting Eurocentric psychological models that were not informed by the social, political, and cultural environment of the impoverished and oppressed, which was the majority of people in 1980’s El Salvador.Liberation psychology further criticizes traditional psychology for its ivory tower approach to understanding phenomena. Unlike traditional approaches, liberation psychology understands the psychologist as part of the emancipatory process for oppressed communities. A bottom-up approach is favored where the community informs the research agenda, rather than the typical up-down approach. Within this framework, the psychologist is charged with understanding the everyday lives of individuals, their history, culture, and communal structure. This then allows the psychologist to work with communities to generate knowledge. Such an idea repositions the psychologist from the ivory tower to within the communities that are being served.
Realismo-crítico
Martín-Baró contended that theories should not define the problems to be explored, but that the problems generate their own theories. This idea is termed realismo-crítico (critical realism). This is contrasted to the traditional approach of addressing problems based on preconceived theorization, idealism-metodológico (methodological idealism). In realismo-crítico, theorization plays a supportive, but not fundamental, role. It should be noted that Martín-Baró’s idea of realism-crítico should not be confused with the work of Roy BhaskarRoy Bhaskar
Roy Bhaskar is a British philosopher, best known as the initiator of the philosophical movement of Critical Realism.-Early life:Bhaskar was born in Teddington, London, the elder of two brothers...
on critical realism
Critical realism
In the philosophy of perception, critical realism is the theory that some of our sense-data can and do accurately represent external objects, properties, and events, while other of our sense-data do not accurately represent any external objects, properties, and events...
. Although the two ideas are conceptually similar in some ways, they have distinct meanings.
De-ideologized reality
Martín-Baró suggested that after exercising realismo-crítico, it is necessary to move toward a de-ideologized reality. Ideology, understood as the ideas that perpetuate the interests of hegemonic groups, maintains the unjust sociopolitical environment. Alternatively, a de-ideologized reality encourages members of marginalized populations to endorse ideologies that promote their own interests and not those of the hegemony.Methodological eclecticism
Research with a liberation psychology framework incorporates methodologies from diverse domains. Traditional methodologies, such as surveys and quantitative analyses, are combined with more novel techniques for psychology, such as qualitative analyses, photography, drama, and textual analysis.Psychotherapeutic applications
Liberation psychology departs from traditional psychological prioritization of the individual and the attribution of an individual’s distress to pathology within the individual. Liberation psychology challenges psychologists to understand the individual within the sociopolitical, cultural, and historical context. Therefore, distress is understood not as intrapsychic but as reactionary to an oppressive environment. In a psychotherapeutic context, this removes the onus of psychological distress solely from the individual and the individual’s immediate circumstances, and reframes the origin of distress as the environment and social structure to which the individual is subjugated. Furthermore, this allows the individual to understand their relationship to the power structure, and the ways in which they participate in it.Liberation psychology and LGBT psychotherapy
Recent work has sought to understand the applied use of liberation psychology in psychotherapy with LGBTLGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
individuals. Unlike traditional psychotherapeutic interventions, this approach reframes LGBT individuals’ psychological issues as resulting from an understandable incorporation of the homonegative attitudes characteristic of the social structures within which such individuals exist.
Traditional psychotherapy may simply recognize the effect of homophobia and its impact on LGBT individuals, but may fail to clear the client of the blame for embracing such views. However, a liberationist psychological approach aims to free the individual of the blame for adopting the homonegative views of the society. Instead, the onus is on the social environment, understanding that individuals simply react to the circumstances in which they exist and are not to blame for their participation in the social structure. Such an approach identifies psychological issues as a product of the environment.
This then frees the LGBT client of feeling flawed for harboring homonegative ideas. They then are able to examine how they are a participant in the social environment and the ways in which they can take responsibility for future actions. Additionally, using the concept of concientización, clients under such a framework are able to examine how changing themselves can challenge the oppressive nature of the larger sociopolitical system.
Black psychology
Some scholars argue that the liberation psychology framework is central to black psychologyBlack psychology
"African Psychology is defined as a system of knowledge concerning the nature of the social universe from the perspectives of African cosmology...
. The interconnectedness of the personal and political, a fundamental tenant of liberation psychology, is central to black psychology. Furthermore, black psychology is thought of as inherently liberationist as it argues that addressing the psychology of black persons necessitates understanding, and addressing, the history and sociopolitical power structure that has resulted in the global oppression of individuals of African descent.
Proponents of black psychology operate within the social orientation of liberation psychology, contending that Eurocentric ideologies of traditional psychology lack relevance when dealing with black communities. Therefore, an Afrocentric conceptualization that recognizes the unique history of individuals of African-descent is necessary when dealing with such communities. Using a liberation psychology framework, black psychology argues that simply recognizing the distinctiveness of the black experience is inadequate if the psychological theorization used does not come from the communities to which they are applied. Such a position is consistent with Martín-Baró’s assertion that the use of Eurocentric psychological methods is incongruent with the lived experiences of oppressed communities.
Moving liberation psychology forward
Over the past decade, international congresses on liberation psychology have been held, primarily at Latin American universities, on the anniversary of Martín-Baró’s death. These congresses have been attended by hundreds of professionals and students, and have been crucial in perpetuating the social justice message of liberation psychology.Specific congress themes include human rights, social justice, democratization, and creating models for liberation psychology in psychological practice and pedagogy. In recent years, these meetings have become increasingly focused on addressing issues related to poverty and economic inequality.
International congresses on liberation psychology:
- 1st, 1998 in Mexico City, Mexico
- 2nd, 1999 in San Salvador, El Salvador
- 3rd, 2000 in Curenavaca, Mexico
- 4th, 2001 in Gutamala City, Guatemala
- 7th, 2005 in Liberia, Costa Rica
- 9th, 2008 in Chiapas, Mexico