African/Black Psychology
Journal Entry #1 What is Psychology
What is Psychology and when did it start? Psychology began about 125 years ago, back then it was defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Now it is described as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology has many goals; they are to describe, predict, explain, and control behavior. African/ Black Psychology arose as an alternative to traditional psychology and its goals are different from that of traditional Psychology. Its goals are to describe the nature and limitations of classical psychology, to develop an alternative framework within Black behavior and lastly to liberate the Black mind.
Two of the early and significant Africans to acquire the Eurocentric training in psychology and thus the Eurocentric designation of psychologist were Francis C. Summer and Herman G. Canaday. Both of these men used their training to answer to the circumstances of the African …show more content…
community. They were not considered Afrocentric, but their work was fundamental. Marucs M. Garvey also contributed in early psychological analysis of the African condition in America and through out the world mostly with their UNIA movement. UNIA was one of the largest independent movements of Black people ever developed in America. There was also Carter G.Woodson a black educator-historian. He was a very brilliant man. He contributed in many things but one of them was the “importance of exposure to African history in the mental/psychological liberation of he miseducated Africans of North America.”
Edward Blyden was one of the most important non-psychologists African scholars.
He lived in New York for a year and while he was there he joined the American Colonization Society. He was an active contributor for nearly 40 years and had many important works for African/Black Psychology, one of them being “Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race” (1877). He wanted the preservation of the African culture. He saw the Africa ethos as collective, socialistic, and cooperative while the European ethos were seen as individualistic, materialistic, and harsh. He felt that Africans were capable of achieving anything if properly educated. Basically what Edward was trying to say was that Europeans and Africans had different origins and they each had their own unique gifts and contributions. What he did not like was hierarchical ranking of races. Next we have Francis Cecil Summer. Francis was the first Black person to receive a Ph.D. in psychology. Summer is also known for training a large number of early Black
psychologists.
Another thing is that there are different types of schools in African/Black Psychology. Karenga suggests that there are three different distinct schools in African/Black Psychology. They are the Traditional, Reformist, and the Radical Schools. First we have the Traditional School, which focused on criticizing European/White Psychology. They criticize and identify errors and weaknesses in traditional psychology. Next there is Reformist School here Black Psychologists are attacking racism. It focuses on public change. This is where they begin to advocate for an Afrocentric psychology. Lastly there is the Radical School, which emphasizes on racial-cultural consciousness.
There are many fundamental ideological differences in approaches to African/Black psychology. First there is The Racial Integrationists, the Black-American Nationalism Movement, and lastly the Pan-African Cultural Nationalism Movement. The Racial Integrations camp was the one that responsible for the development of the ABPSI. They believe that the problem with psychology is that white psychologists are racist. The Black-American Movement group believes that race is a supreme and that culture was a separate an irrelevant factor for Africans in America. They did not consider worldview as an essential frame of reference for African/Black Psychology. Finally the Pan-African group thought that race and culture were the foundation of African self-identity and psychological well-being. In conclusion there are five ways in which African/Black Psychology differs from European Psychology. They are there goals, ethical, objectivity conceptual, and political concerns. My outside source for this week is
What is Psychology and when did it start? Psychology began about 125 years ago, back then it was defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Now it is described as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology has many goals; they are to describe, predict, explain, and control behavior. African/ Black Psychology arose as an alternative to traditional psychology and its goals are different from that of traditional Psychology. Its goals are to describe the nature and limitations of classical psychology, to develop an alternative framework within Black behavior and lastly to liberate the Black mind.
Two of the early and significant Africans to acquire the Eurocentric training in psychology and thus the Eurocentric designation of psychologist were Francis C. Summer and Herman G. Canaday. Both of these men used their training to answer to the circumstances of the African …show more content…
community. They were not considered Afrocentric, but their work was fundamental. Marucs M. Garvey also contributed in early psychological analysis of the African condition in America and through out the world mostly with their UNIA movement. UNIA was one of the largest independent movements of Black people ever developed in America. There was also Carter G.Woodson a black educator-historian. He was a very brilliant man. He contributed in many things but one of them was the “importance of exposure to African history in the mental/psychological liberation of he miseducated Africans of North America.”
Edward Blyden was one of the most important non-psychologists African scholars.
He lived in New York for a year and while he was there he joined the American Colonization Society. He was an active contributor for nearly 40 years and had many important works for African/Black Psychology, one of them being “Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race” (1877). He wanted the preservation of the African culture. He saw the Africa ethos as collective, socialistic, and cooperative while the European ethos were seen as individualistic, materialistic, and harsh. He felt that Africans were capable of achieving anything if properly educated. Basically what Edward was trying to say was that Europeans and Africans had different origins and they each had their own unique gifts and contributions. What he did not like was hierarchical ranking of races. Next we have Francis Cecil Summer. Francis was the first Black person to receive a Ph.D. in psychology. Summer is also known for training a large number of early Black
psychologists.
Another thing is that there are different types of schools in African/Black Psychology. Karenga suggests that there are three different distinct schools in African/Black Psychology. They are the Traditional, Reformist, and the Radical Schools. First we have the Traditional School, which focused on criticizing European/White Psychology. They criticize and identify errors and weaknesses in traditional psychology. Next there is Reformist School here Black Psychologists are attacking racism. It focuses on public change. This is where they begin to advocate for an Afrocentric psychology. Lastly there is the Radical School, which emphasizes on racial-cultural consciousness.
There are many fundamental ideological differences in approaches to African/Black psychology. First there is The Racial Integrationists, the Black-American Nationalism Movement, and lastly the Pan-African Cultural Nationalism Movement. The Racial Integrations camp was the one that responsible for the development of the ABPSI. They believe that the problem with psychology is that white psychologists are racist. The Black-American Movement group believes that race is a supreme and that culture was a separate an irrelevant factor for Africans in America. They did not consider worldview as an essential frame of reference for African/Black Psychology. Finally the Pan-African group thought that race and culture were the foundation of African self-identity and psychological well-being. In conclusion there are five ways in which African/Black Psychology differs from European Psychology. They are there goals, ethical, objectivity conceptual, and political concerns. My outside source for this week is