Psychopolitical validity:

Wellness and liberation in diverse populations

Isaac Prilleltensky

WELLNESS

Ø What is wellness?

Ø Why do we need wellness?

LIBERATION

Ø What is liberation?

Ø Why do we need liberation?

PSYCHOPOLITICAL VALIDITY

Ø What is psychopolitical validity?

Ø Why do we need psychopolitical validity?

POVERTY

Ø How can we apply it to diverse populations?

Ø Can it help in understanding the experience of poor people?

WHAT IS WELLNESS?

Figure 1:

The Synergy and Balance of Personal, Relational, and Collective Needs in Wellness

WHY DO WE NEED WELLNESS?

Domains	Wellness
	Personal Wellness		Relational Wellness		Collective Wellness
Values	Self-determination and personal growth	Health	Respect for human diversity	Collaboration and democratic participation	Support for community structures	Social justice
Definition	Promotion of ability of children and adults to pursue chosen goals in life	Protection of physical and emotional health	Promotion of respect and appreciation for diverse social identities and for people's ability to define themselves	Promotion of fair processes whereby children and adults can have meaningful input into decisions affecting their lives	Promotion of vital community structures that facilitate the pursuit of personal and communal goals	Promotion of fair and equitable allocation of bargaining powers, obligations, and resources in society
Needs Addressed	Mastery, control, self-efficacy, voice, choice, skills, growth and autonomy	Emotional and physical well-being	Identity, dignity, self-respect, self-esteem, acceptance	Participation, involvement, and mutual responsibility	Sense of community, cohesion, formal support	Economic security, shelter, clothing, nutrition, access to vital health and social services

WHAT IS LIBERATION?

Ø Process of resisting oppressive forces.

Ø As a state, liberation is a condition in which oppressive forces no longer dominate a person or a group.

Ø Liberation may be from psychological and/or political influences.

Ø There is rarely political without psychological liberation, and vice versa.

Ø Repressive cultural codes become internalized and operate as self-regulatory mechanisms, inhibiting defiance of oppressive rules (Moane, 1999).

Ø Process of overcoming internal and external sources of oppression (freedom from), and pursuing well-being (freedom to).

Ø Emancipation from class exploitation, gender domination, and ethnic discrimination.

Ø Overcoming fears, obsessions, or other psychological phenomena that interfere with the experience of well‑being.

Ø Liberation to pursue life satisfaction, in turn, refers to the process of meeting personal, relational, and collective needs.

WHY DO WE NEED LIBERATION?

A Journey of Personal and Political Change

Ecological Level	Values	Oppression (Disempowerment)º	Liberation and Empowerment (Processes to Overcome Oppression and Achieve Wellness) º	Wellness (A State of Personal, Relational, and Collective Wellness)
Self	Personal (self-determination and health)	Internalized, psychological oppression	Conscientization situates personal struggles in the context of larger political and structural forces	Control, choice, self-esteem, competence, independence, political rights, and a positive identity
Others (relationships)	Relational (human diversity, collaboration and democratic participation)	APower over,@ domination of or by others	APower with,@ power sharing, egalitarian relationships, and peer mentoring support individuals and groups= quest for rights, identity, and dignity	Positive and supportive relationships, participation in social, community, and political life
Community and society	Collective (distributive justice, support for community structures)	Oppressive social practices manifested in policies and community settings	Empowering social practices manifested in policies and community settings provide larger structural context for wellness	Access to valued resources such as employment, income, education, and housing

WHAT IS PSYCHOPOLITICAL VALIDITY?

Ø PPV depends on the extent to which research and action take into account power differentials

o At different levels of analysis

o In the psychological and political domains

o In oppression, wellness, and liberation.

Ø Two kinds of PPV

o Epistemic

o Transformational

	Collective	Relational	Personal
Wellness	R O L E
Oppression		O F
Liberation			P O W E R

Guidelines for Epistemic Psychopolitical Validity in Community Psychology Research

Concerns	Domains
	Collective	Relational	Personal
Wellness	Accounts for role of political and economic power in economic prosperity and in creation of social justice institutions	Studies the role of power in creating and sustaining egalitarian relationships, social cohesion, social support, respect for diversity and democratic participation in communities, groups, and families	Studies role of psychological and political power in achieving self-determination, empowerment, health, personal growth, meaning and spirituality
Oppression	Explores role of globalization, colonization and exploitation in suffering of nations and communities	Examines the role of political and psychological power in exclusion and discrimination based on class, gender, age, race, education and ability. Studies conditions leading to lack of support, horizontal violence and fragmentation within oppressed groups	Studies role of powerlessness in learned helplessness, hopelessness, self-deprecation, internalized oppression, shame, mental health problems and addictions
Liberation	Deconstructs ideological norms that lead to acquiescence and studies effective psychopolitical factors in resistance	Studies acts of solidarity and compassion with others who suffer from oppression	Examines sources of strength, resilience, solidarity and development of activism and leadership

Guidelines for Transformational Psychopolitical Validity in Community Psychology Action

Concerns	Domains
	Collective	Relational	Personal
Wellness	Contributes to institutions that support emancipation, human development, peace, protection of environment, and social justice	Contributes to power equalization in relationships and communities. Enriches awareness of subjective and psychological forces preventing solidarity. Builds trust, connection and participation in groups that support social cohesion and social justice	Supports personal empowerment, sociopolitical development, leadership training and solidarity. Contributes to personal and social responsibility and awareness of subjective forces preventing commitment to justice and personal depowerment when in position of privilege
Oppression	Opposes economic colonialism and denial of cultural rights. Decries and resists role of own reference group or nation in oppression of others	Contributes to struggle against in-group and out-group domination and discrimination, sexism and norms of violence. Builds awareness of own prejudice and participation in horizontal violence	Helps to prevent acting out of own oppression on others. Builds awareness of internalized oppression and role of dominant ideology in victim-blaming. Contributes to personal depowerment of people in position of privilege
Liberation	Supports networks of resistance and social change movements. Contributes to structural depowerment of privileged people	Supports resistance against objectification of others. Develops processes of mutual accountability	Helps to resists complacency and collusion with exploitative system. Contributes to struggle to recover personal and political identity

APPLICATION TO THE LIVES OF POOR PEOPLE

Table 1: Synoptic framework for understanding, resisting, and overcoming poverty

Wellness domains and values for progress	Experiences voices of suffering of poor people	Consequences outcomes of health and social science studies	Sources roots of poverty and suffering	Change action needed to promote wellness
Collective Social Justice Institutions that support emancipation and human development Peace Protection of environment	Material deprivation and bare subsistence Exploitation Insecurity, chaos and violence Satisfaction in collective action to help community	Lack of shelter, malnutrition, vulnerability to illness and disability Lack of trust in, and destruction of, vital community structures Threat to income, safety, education, and growth opportunities Join others in struggle against poverty	Economic exploitation and international pressures for structural adjustment Globalization and power differentials Corrupt structures of public protection and inadequate safety nets, primarily in times of crises	Invest in human development and health Resist dominant theory that economic growth is main solution to poverty Join networks of support that focus on personal, relational, and collective domains Strive for democracy and freedoms

Wellness domains and values for progress	Experiences voices of suffering of poor people	Consequences outcomes of health and social science studies	Sources roots of poverty and suffering	Change action needed to promote wellness
Relational Social cohesion, diversity Democratic participation	Exclusion based on class, age, gender, education, race and ability Solidarity and compassion for others who suffer	Lack of support, competition across social groups, isolation, fragmentation Acts of solidarity with other oppressed and poor groups	Dehumanizing Objectification of Aother@ Competition for scarce resources	Power equalization in personal, relational, and collective domains Prevent exclusion through education

Wellness domains and values for progress	Experiences voices of suffering of poor people	Consequences outcomes of health and social science studies	Sources roots of poverty and suffering	Change action needed to promote wellness
Personal Self-determination, mastery and control Health Personal growth Meaning and spirituality	Multiple restrictions in life Physical weakness Shame Powerlessness Strength and resilience	Loss of life opportunities and lack of control Illness, disability and death Lack of dignity Lack of actual and perceived control. Hopelessness Resilience and solidarity	Insufficient material resources, poor nutrition, and continued exposure to risk Power inequalities Learned helplessness, repeated failure to change living conditions	Join social action groups that work to fight poverty and enhance personal empowerment and solidarity at the same time Education to disentangle personal suffering from personal blame

END WITH TWO FIRST PAGES OF CHAPTER ON POVERTY