Psychologists hope to make an impact


Richard V. Wagner, Ph.D., psychology professor at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine breaks the peace psychologist's job into three parts: peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peace building. (photo by Lorienne Schulze)

By Phyllis Hanlon

The problem of achieving world peace has baffled theorists since the beginning of time. In a written exchange in 1932, Albert Einstein asked Sigmund Freud, "Is there any way of delivering mankind from the menace of war?" Possibly one of the earliest "peace psychologists," Freud offered psychological explanations for man's propensity toward violence and war. Today, although new theories, tools and research have broadened understanding of the underlying reasons for aggression and non-peaceful conflict resolution, violence continues to leave its handprint not only on global interactions but also in homes, schools and local communities.

In these times of unrest, peace psychologists armed with academic insight, research and personal involvement are struggling to find answers.

David Adams, Ph.D., of Branford, Conn. has pursued peace as a psychologist in all three areas. After researching the brain mechanisms of aggression for 25 years, he eased out of academia and assumed a post at the United Nations where he directed the International Year of the Culture of Peace and helped design its cornerstone program. During his decade with the UN, he traveled to foreign countries in turmoil. "We set up programs in El Salvador and Mozambique alongside the peacekeeping forces that were sent in to help resolve those conflicts," he says.

Retired, Adams promotes peace through the Internet with scientific information intended to educate the public about the links between all types of violence. "There is good data available showing that there is a very strong causal, correlational relationship between international and local violence," Adams says.

Richard V. Wagner, Ph.D., psychology professor at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine says that peace psychologists operate within a multi-faceted model. "We not only see direct violence, but we also look at structural violence, which is a social, political, economic system that can literally cause violence in the form of poverty against people or can set up a political system that violates people's human rights," he says. "Those kinds of social structures can then lead to direct violence, can make people so frustrated that they will rise up and you'll have international, ethnic warfare."

Wagner breaks the peace psychologist's job into three major tasks: peacekeeping, peacemaking and peace building. "The one we really would like to spend most of our energy on is peace building - setting up structures and conditions that lead to people no longer needing to feel like they're in conflict with one another," Wagner says.

Retired chair of Maine's Peace and Social Justice Committee, Peter Rees, Ph.D. of Ellsworth, through the Hancock County Community Network, continues educating the general public in the image of enemy formation, conflict resolution and how anxiety about the end of the world affects families and children.

HCCN, a network of peace, justice and environmental activists, focuses on local problems from homelessness and domestic abuse to school violence and rape and also keeps close watch on international justice issues.

Previously a school psychologist, Rees also coordinates teams for 25 schools in his county as part of a School Civil Rights Team project, designed to improve the school climate.

Some peace psychologists bring their passion to local rallies and vigils, as is the case for David Diamond, Ph.D., of Rochester, NH. In his search for non-violent answers to conflict, whether on a local, national or international level, he applies his basic values as a psychologist to the political arena. "I think there's an obvious parallel between clinical work and peace activism," he says. He urges greater emphasis on rational, loving, thoughtful, empathic tendencies to produce a positive effect for future issues.

Although a clinical psychologist and peace activist, Diamond notes the importance of academic research in the quest for answers. "Studies that describe the 'dark side' of human nature and its relevance to issues of war and peace add academic respectability to the basic humanitarian and spiritual opposition to war," he says.

In fall 2004, the University of Massachusetts Amherst will launch a doctoral training program in peace psychology, the first program of its kind, according to Ervin Staub, Ph.D., director of the Ph.D. concentration in the Psychology of Peace and the Prevention of Violence program.

The program will teach others how to help begin the generative process. "Its aim is to train young people who can do relevant research on the prevention of violence and the promotion of peaceful, harmonious relationships between groups and individuals," he says. Additionally, the concentration will enable those interested in engaging in real world situations to enrich personal knowledge, add to direct observations in their research area and learn the rudiments of applying their knowledge.

Clark University in Worcester, Mass., currently offers undergraduate students a peace studies program. Students can use their knowledge to pursue graduate work ranging from international law to mediation, according to Joseph de Rivera, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the university. "Or it could involve some sort of practice, either in the school system with non-violence or a clinical practice with a peace psychology component to it."

An occasional participant in rallies, de Rivera focuses most of his peace activities in the classroom and on research. He concentrates on ways to educate students regarding new and effective tools for resolving conflict and restoring peace. "Most people haven't heard about all these wonderful new tools we've got, like restorative justice, that whole program of non-violently helping people who've been victimized and helping the people who victimize them." He adds that more public teaching beyond the scope of a university where adults can be reached would enhance efforts to move toward a more peaceful society.

Peace psychology may most aptly be connected with international conflict. M. Brinton Lykes, Ph.D., M.Div., professor in the counseling and developmental psychology program at Boston College, spends much of her time in Central America, Chile, Argentina and South Africa and worked briefly in Northern Ireland. Focusing on transitions from war and its after-effects, Lykes helps war victims identify social issues and then design responses that address these injustices and build alternative systems and social structures. In the United States, she uses a similar strategy to assist urban immigrant middle school children in dealing with community violence.

Lykes' divinity degree has influenced her role as psychologist. "The roots of my interest in psychology have come out of liberation theology," she says. "A lot of my interest is around social transformation and the possibility of redressing economic and social inequalities to support the majority population." She reports that, although she has seen some inroads in war-torn countries, significant work remains. "They are tiny drops in a huge ocean of injustice and ongoing violence," she says. Part of the work she does abroad involves training paraprofessionals so they, in turn, can provide community mental health resources to indigenous people.

To fully comprehend the issue of peace psychology, de Rivera suggests that an interdisciplinary approach be used. "I think it's really important for a person trying to understand how we can achieve peace to understand a little bit about other fields," he says. " I see peace psychology as a dimension of a much larger picture involving economics, history, sociology and international development."

Rees points out that peace psychologists, or anyone else for that matter, will never completely "fix" the world's social problems. "We have to think of this work as we think of doing our dishes. Every day there are more dirty dishes. You can't do them once and for all," he says. "It's just a process of continuing to clean up messes and hopefully make a little progress."

Psychologists hope to make an impact (March 2003 Issue)

Psychologists hope to make an impact
(March 2003 Issue)