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  Critical Psychology: An Introduction

Second edition 2009 Edited by Dennis Fox Isaac Prilleltensky & Stephanie Austin Table of Contents	"The arrival of a second edition of this classic is an exciting event. The editors have assembled a world class array of authors to bring students to the forefront of critical scholarship today. Adding to the work's luster are fresh new chapters on critical social issues, along with a set of new pedagogical aids. Bravo!" Kenneth J. Gergen, Senior Research Professor Swarthmore College "An excellent book in all respects - compulsory reading for scholars interested in a socio-political contextual analysis of complex human behaviour." David F. Marks City University, London
First edition 1997 Edited by Dennis Fox & Isaac Prilleltensky Introductions to all 19 chapters	"It provides a comprehensible and on the whole accessible introduction to the area and therefore is a volume that is to be recommended for third-year undergraduates- but not just before finals, as it will certainly challenge many of their beliefs and values and could confuse them no end." Jeremy Swinson (2000). Mentoring and Tutoring, 8:2 First edition also published in Greek and Indonesian!

Critical Psychology Articles/Chapters/Presentations

My critiques of mainstream psychology's norms, organized psychology's political stances, and more. In some cases critical psychology is tangential to the main point. My other academic papers listed elsewhere are even further removed. Full details in my cv.

• 2019. Tod Sloan’s Struggle. Journal of Critical Psychology, Counseling and Psychotherapy, 4, 217-220. 
• 2019. Parallels, Intersections, and Clashes: Journeys through the Fringes. In A. Borgos, F. Erős, & J. Gyimesi (Eds.), Psychology and Politics: Intersections of Science and Ideology in the History of Psy-Sciences. Budapest: Central European University Press. [2015 Conference]
• 2017. Dialogue. 5th Anniversary Event, Critical Therapy Center, New York, NY. [Invited speaker]
• 2013. Changing Ourselves while Changing Society. Interview in Pokret za Slobodu (Serbian Freedom Fight Movement).
• 2012. Critical Psychology and Social Struggles. Interview in Meydan, Turkish anarchist magazine.
• 2011. Anarchism and Psychology. Theory in Action.
• 2011. Competing Narratives about Competing Narratives: Psychology and Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.
• 2011. Critical and Radical Psychology. Entry in Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology.
• 2010. Critical Psychology, Capitalism, and Transformation. Panel discussion, German Critical Psychology Conference, Free University of Berlin.
• 2010. Critical Psychology in the United States and Canada. German Critical Psychology Conference, Free University of Berlin.
• 2009. Critical Psychology for Social Justice: Concerns and Dilemmas (with Isaac Prilleltensky and Stephanie Austin, book co-editors - introductory chapter to the second edition of Critical Psychology: An Introduction)(pdf)
• 2009. Psychology and the Law: The Crime of Policy and the Search for Justice (with Bruce Arrigo, chapter in Critical Psychology: An Introduction- 2nd ed.)
• 2008. Palestinians Under Siege: A Critical Psychology Perspective on Mental Health and Justice
• 2008. Critical Psychology Issues (conversation hour with Thomas Teo)
• 2008. Confronting Psychology's Power: Comment on Prilleltensky
• 2008. Academic Objectivity, Political Neutrality, and Other Barriers to Israeli-Palestinian Reconciliation
• 2008. History and Trends of Critical Psychology in North America (with Tod Sloan and Stephanie Austin)
• 2007. Psychopolitical Literacy for Wellness and Justice (with Isaac Prilleltensky)
• 2007. Five Social Psychology Essentials
• 2006. The Development of North American Critical Psychology, Plus Questions About its Relevance to Israel
• 2005. Towards Transformative Social Interventions
• 2004. Interview: Critical Psychology and Antiauthoritarianism
• 2003. Awareness is Good, but Action is Better
• 2003. Expanding Critical Psychology's Challenge for Health and Justice
• 2002. The Suitability of Political Debate in Psychology
• 2002. Town Meeting Panel Discussion. Southeastern Ecological Community Conference: Social Justice and Social Change, Knoxville, TN. [Panelist]
• 2002. Wading through Quicksand: Between the Philosophically Desirable and the Psychologically Feasible (with Isaac Prilleltensky)
• 2000. The Critical Psychology Project: Transforming Society and Transforming Psychology (Chapter in Tod Sloan's excellent book, Critical Psychology: Voices for Change, which presents personalized accounts by critical psychologists of what we think made us the way we are and where we think critical psychology should be headed)
• 2001. Organizing Critical Psychologists: The RadPsyNet Experience
• 2001. Challenging Basic Assumptions: The (Potential) Value of Social Science Education.
• 1999. Psycholegal Scholarship's Contribution to False Consciousness About Injustice
• 1998. Comment on Reviews of Critical Psychology: An Introduction
• 1998. Sifting Critical Psychologies for Emancipation and Social Change
• 1998. RadPsyNet, Psychology, and Public Policy
• 1997. Introducing Critical Psychology: Values, Assumptions, and the Status Quo (with Isaac Prilleltensky)
• 1996. The Inescapable Nature of Politics in Psychology: A Response to O'Donohue and Dyslin (with Isaac Prilleltensky)
• 1995. Can the Radical Psychology Network's Critique Make SPSSI More Resilient?
• 1995. Radicalizing Organized Psychology: A Critical Issue for Empowerment and Social Change (with Isaac Prilleltensky)
• 1993. Psychological Jurisprudence and Radical Social Change
• 1993. Will Psychology Pay Attention to its Own Radical Critics? (with Isaac Prilleltensky)
• 1991. Social Science's Limited Role in Resolving Psycholegal Social Problems
• 1985. Psychology, Ideology, Utopia, and the Commons.
• 1985. Achieving Ideological Change Within Psychology
• 1984. Psychology and Controversy: Points for Discussion
• 1984. Need to Re-evaluate Ideologies

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Courses I've taught...

...incorporate critical perspectives on psychology as well as on law and society.

Reading Suggestions

• Critical Psychology Articles Published in the American Psychologist
• Psychology and the Status Quo/Critical Psychology (general)
• Education, Training, Research, & Publication
• Human Nature, Human Origins, & Personality
• Family, Sex Roles, Feminism, Developmental Psychology
• Mental Disorder, Disability, & the Therapeutic State
• Societal Trends (Technology, Community, Individualism, Inequality, Corporations, more)
• Anarchism
• Tragedy of the Commons
• Environment, Communalism, & Utopia
• Power, Oppression, Law, & Social Change

The Radical Psychology Network, which I co-founded, was an international organization of radical/critical psychologists and others. The static website includes old position papers, policy statements, and more. We also had an e-mail discussion list.

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Critical Psychology Teaching Materials

Materials on the RadPsyNet site include syllabi, reading lists, etc.

Studying Critical Psychology

General information and advice about studying critical psychology.

Only a few graduate programs open to one form or another of critical psychology are listed here.
The UK Discourse Unit has a longer list of options around the world.

If you're looking for undergraduate departments, start by looking at schools with related grad programs.

Universities in the US (interesting but not explicitly defined as "critical" - so ask questions!)

• Vanderbilt University's Peabody College has a PhD program in Community Research and Action. This is no longer strictly a community psychology program.
• Duquesne Univerity has a PhD program in clinical psychology: "human science psychology emphasizes qualitative research that explores questions regarding meaning, values, experience, and culture. Similarly, in the field of clinical psychology, human science psychologists incorporate this perspective and its research findings into the practice of psychotherapy." Its undergraduate BA degree also emphasizes psychology conceived as a human science.
• University of California-Santa Cruz says its social psychology PhD program focuses on social justice.
• Pacifica Graduate Institute's MA/PhD in Depth Psychology with Emphasis in Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, and Ecopsychology
• University of West Georgia's PhD. in Consciousness and Society includes three theoretical approaches: Critical, Humanistic & Transpersonal.
• University of Tennessee Center for Applied Phenomenological Research.
• CUNY - City University of New York PhD in Critical Social/Personality Psychology
• Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis - PsyaD in Psychoanalysis and Culture

Non-US Degree Programs

• Master of Science in Psychology and Society (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
• Master of Science in Community & Critical Social Psychology (York St John University, UK)

Critical Psychology Links

• Critical Psychology in a Changing World - Annual Review of Critical Psychology, Volume 10, 2013 - 49 articles on critical psychology around the world!
• Liberation Psychology Network
• Discourse Unit (UK) lots of links, resources, courses, reading materials, more
• RadPsyNet links -- links to many more resources
• Community Psychology UK
• Proyecto de Psicología Crítica
• Initiative Critical Psychology (Vienna) - "Forum for the Critical Analysis of Psychology, Dominace, Patriarchy, Ideology . . ."
• Community and Critical Social Psychology research group (CCSP) UK
• International Society for Theoretical Psychology
• Ignacio Martín-Baró Fund for Mental Health and Human Rights
• Psychologists for Social Responsibility
• Crítica (Ricardo Gonsalves' gateway to critical sites--psychology, pedagogy, theory, more)
• Entelechy: Mind & Culture
• Critical Psychology Teaching Materials (on the RadPsyNet site)
• Critical Psychology Blog/South Africa: Desmond Painter & Martin Terre Blanche
• Dennis Fox's Weblog (mine!)
• Google Search for "critical psychology"
• Critical Psychology Journals
  • Radical Psychology Journal (RadPsyNet's online journal)
  • Subjectivity (formerly International Journal of Critical Psychology)
  • Annual Review of Critical Psychology
  • Theory and Psychology
  • Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology