(DOWNLOAD) "Through the Prism of Black Psychology: A Critical Review of Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Africology As Seen Through the Paradigmatic Lens of Black Psychology (Report)" by Journal of Pan African Studies " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Through the Prism of Black Psychology: A Critical Review of Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Africology As Seen Through the Paradigmatic Lens of Black Psychology (Report)
- Author : Journal of Pan African Studies
- Release Date : January 01, 2008
- Genre: Social Science,Books,Nonfiction,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 265 KB
Description
Although Black [African, Africana and/or African American] psychology was identified by Maulana Karenga (1992) as one of the core components in the emerging discipline of Africology [African American, Black, Africana and/or Afro-American Studies], very few of the existing institutes, programs, and departments of Africology include Black psychology as a major part of their curriculum. As a psycho-historical endeavor, a primary concern of Black Psychology is to understand how the historical experiences of being an African in America have impacted African-American psyches. Thus, it is argued here that if the discipline of Africology is attempting to fully understand African American experiences, Africology programs must re-examine the importance of Black psychology and its role in aiding scholars interpret and understand the experiences of people of African descent in America. This paper attempts to address the invisibility of Black psychological theory, research, and practice in Africology by: (1) providing a brief history of the intellectual antecedents to the field of Black Psychology; (2) identifying the social and political context in which Black psychological theory, research and practice emerged; (3) synthesizing the competing definitions, schools of thought, and research agendas in Black Psychology; and (4) demonstrating the relevance and applicability of Black Psychology to the future of Africology in particular, and to the Africana life-world in general. Black Psychology is composed of various schools of thought that reflect the particular theoretical orientations of its practitioners. However, it should be kept in mind that although the compartmentalization of these various schools of thought is useful for conceptualization purposes, there is also much overlapping between the various schools. Karenga (1992) has identified the schools of thought among Black Psychologists as the traditional school, the reformist school and the radical school. According to Karenga (1992), the traditional school is characterized by: (1) its defensive and/or reactive posture; (2) its lack of concern about the existence of and subsequently the development of a Black Psychology as evidenced by its continued support of "traditional" (Eurocentric) psychological models with minor changes; (3) its concern with changing white attitudes; and (4) its being critical without offering alternatives for correcting problems. One of the leading figures in the traditional school as identified by Karenga (1992) is Kenneth Clark who was the first and only black to be president of APA and in collaboration with his wife Mamie Phipps-Clark co-authored the famous doll study that influenced the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Other influential scholars were William Grier and Price Cobbs with their classic text "Black Rage" (1968) and Alvin Poussaint's "Why Blacks Kill Blacks" (1972).