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This book studies the ideological nature of mainstream scientific psychology. It raises critical questions on dominant forms of psychological theorization and praxis based on their validity, social relevance and power privileges.
List of contents
Why Debate Psychology? An Introduction 1. Is Psychology a Science? 2. Should Psychological research be only about numbers? 3. What is ‘social’ about Social Psychology? 4. Where is ‘culture’ in Psychology? 5. How is ‘gender’ treated in Psychology? 6. What is ‘abnormal’ in Clinical Psychology? 7. How to rethink ‘Child’ and ‘Development’ in Psychology?
About the author
Parul Bansal is Associate Professor of Psychology at Lady Shri Ram College for Women, India’s premier liberal arts college, affiliated to the University of Delhi. She received a BA in psychology from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, and an MA and a doctorate degree in psychology from the University of Delhi. Her teaching career spans over 20 years, during which she has served as the Chair of the Department of Psychology at Lady Shri Ram College for Women twice. In addition, she has been actively involved with curriculum development and course writing at the University of Delhi and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). She has to her credit a well-received research text, Youth in Contemporary India: Images of Identity and Social Change, which uses a psychoanalytically informed qualitative research methodology. Her academic and research interests are in psychosocial studies of identity, intimacy, ideology and social change, critical psychology, psychoanalysis and mental health, and qualitative research methodology. She was awarded Shashikala Singh Gold Medal for being a topper of University of Delhi in her Masters. She has also received ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship to conduct her PhD work. She has published in several journals of international repute.
Summary
This book studies the ideological nature of mainstream scientific psychology. It raises critical questions on dominant forms of psychological theorization and praxis based on their validity, social relevance and power privileges.
