PSYCHOLOGY, POWER, AND WELL-BEING: Discussion points for APA session Isaac Prilleltensky University of Miami isaac@mia

1. PSYCHOLOGY, POWER, AND WELL-BEING: Discussion points for APA session Isaac Prilleltensky University of Miami isaac@miami.edu www.education.miami.edu/isaac

2. Ecological Model of Well-Being

3. Ecological Model of Well-Being: Some positive and negative factors

5. POWER FOR WHAT? TO PROMOTE WELLNESS AND EMANCIPATION TO OPPRESS SELF AND OTHERS TO RESIST OPPRESSION

6. POWER DEFINED • We can distinguish among power to strive for wellness, power to oppress, and power to resist oppression and strive for liberation. • In each instance, the exercise of power can apply to self, others, and collectives; and can reflect varying degrees of awareness with respect to the impact of one's actions.

7. POWER DEFINED • Whereas people may be oppressed in one context, they may act as oppressors in others. Power affords people multiple identities as individuals seeking wellness, engaging in oppression, or resisting domination.

8. POWER DEFINED • Within a particular context, such as the family or work, individuals may exercise power to facilitate the wellness of some people but not of others. Across contexts, actors may engage in contradictory actions that promote personal or collective wellness in one place but that perpetuate oppressive practices in other settings.

9. POWER DEFINED • The exercise of power varies not only across contexts, but also across time. Within a particular setting or relationship, people may occupy different roles at different times, making the exercise of power a very dynamic process.

10. How Do We Address Power Imbalance in Psychology? • Psychopolitical validity • Epistemic • Transformational

11. Psychopolitical Validity • Psychopolitical validity derives from the consideration of power dynamics in psychological and political domains of health and well-being • The main objective of psychopolitical validity is to infuse in helping professions an awareness of the role of power in justice and well-being.

12. Psychopolitical Validity • In order to attain psychopolitical validity, investigations and interventions would have to meet certain criteria. These criteria have to do with the extent to which research and action incorporate lessons about psychological and political power.

13. Psychopolitical Validity I: Epistemic • This type of validity is achieved by the systematic account of the role of power in political and psychological dynamics affecting phenomena of interest. • Such account needs to consider the role of power in the psychology and politics of well-being, oppression and liberation, at the personal, relational, and collective domains.

14. Psychopolitical Validity II: Transformational • Transformational validity derives from the potential of our actions to promote personal, relational, and collective wellness by reducing power inequalities and increasing political action

15. Table 1 Guidelines for Epistemic Psychopolitical Validity

16. Table 2 Guidelines for Transformational Psychopolitical Validity

17. Before you reply with enthusiasm to our plea for help, you should consider whether you are not merely engaged as magicians to avoid the crisis in the center of the ring. In considering our motives for offering you a role, I think you would do well to consider how much less expensive it is to hire a thousand psychologists than to make even a miniscule change in the social and economic structure ( Judge Bazelon, in the 60s, addressing a group of forensic psychologists).