Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology

2014 Edition
| Editors: Thomas Teo

Oppression

Reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_565
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Introduction

Concern for the impact of oppression on human well-being occupies a central place in critical psychology. Reflecting its roots in Marxism, critical theory, and postmodernism, critical psychology shares with these schools of thought a commitment to engaging in social critique in order to identify ideologies that enslave human beings (Horkheimer, 1975). A core theme of critical psychology is a concern for the impact of structural factors on human well-being and the understanding that individual suffering is based on a person’s position within the societal status quo (Teo, 1998). To achieve liberation, circumstances giving rise to oppression must be identified and eliminated. This process must include an examination of psychology’s witting or unwitting participation in oppressive practices (Prilleltensky, 1989). Parker (1999) identifies an essential element of critical psychology as the systematic investigation of how dominant accounts of psychology operate ideologically and...

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Clinical Psychology Program, Chicago School of Professional PsychologyChicagoUSA