BPS Core Textbooks Series

Developed in collaboration with the British Psychological Society

Chapter 25 – Speaking Truth to Power: Community Psychology’s Critical Consciousness

Chapter Summary

This chapter explores the emergence of community psychology as a radical and ethically engaged response to the social and political crises of the twentieth century. Grounded in a commitment to social justice, it traces how psychologists working under conditions of dictatorship, marginalisation, and exile transformed the discipline by refusing to remain neutral in the face of oppression. At the heart of this transformation is the concept of critical consciousness, drawn from Paulo Freire’s liberation pedagogy, and reworked into a psychological framework that foregrounds reflexivity, dialogue, and collective empowerment. The chapter introduces students to foundational figures such as Ignacio Martín-Baró, Carolyn Kagan, and Mark Burton, and demonstrates how their work exemplifies a psychology that speaks truth to power. Epistemological and ontological shifts are examined, especially in relation to participatory action research, community-based intervention, and the dismantling of the traditional expert–subject divide. Through a discussion of power, injustice, and resistance, the chapter invites students to imagine a psychology that is not only critical and inclusive but also transformative. In doing so, it offers a compelling account of how psychology can contribute to community resilience, solidarity, and emancipatory change, especially when it listens to the voices of those historically excluded from its gaze.

Chapter 25 – Quiz

  • Chapter 25 – Flashcards

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  • Chapter 25 – Key Readings

    Comas-Díaz, L., & Torres Rivera, E. (2020). Liberation psychology: Theory, method, practice, and social justice. American Psychological Association. 

    Dutta, U. (2016). Prioritizing the local in an era of globalization: A proposal for decentering community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 58(3-4), 329–338. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12047 

    Kagan, C., Burton, M., Duckett, P., Lawthom, R., & Siddiquee, A. (2020). Critical community psychology: Critical action and social change (Second edition). Routledge. 

    Kessi, S., Suffla, S., & Seedat, M. (2022). Decolonial enactments in community psychology. Springer. 

    Martín-Baró, I., Aron, A., & Corne, S. (1994). Writings for a liberation psychology. Harvard University Press. 

    Mills, J. A., & Harrison, T. (2007). John Rickman, Wilfred Ruprecht Bion, and the origins of the therapeutic community. History of Psychology, 10(1), 22–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/1093-4510.10.1.22 

    Nelson, G. B., & Prilleltensky, I. (2010). Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and well-being (2nd ed). Palgrave Macmillan. 

    Parker, H. (2023). The regional survey movement and popular autoethnography in early 20th-century Britain. History of the Human Sciences, 36(3-4), 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951231167038 

    Pettit, M. (2024). The racial economy of psychological care: Professionalism, social justice, and political action during American psychology’s communitarian moment. History of Psychology, 27(3), 203–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000259 

    Pols, H. (2001), Divergences in American psychiatry during the Depression: Somatic psychiatry, community mental hygiene, and social reconstruction. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 37(4), 369-388. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.1066 

    Rodkey, K. L., & Rodkey, E. N. (2020). Family, friends, and faith-communities: Intellectual community and the benefits of unofficial networks for marginalized scientists. History of Psychology, 23(4), 289–311. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000172 

    Sanscartier, S. (2023). Anatol Rapoport’s social responsibility: Science and antiwar activism; 1960–1970. History of Psychology, 26(1), 29–50. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000223 

    Sonn, C. C., Fox, R., Keast, S., & Rua, M. (2022). Fostering and sustaining transnational solidarities for transformative social change: Advancing community psychology research and action. American Journal of Community Psychology, 69(3-4), 269–282. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12602 

    Wang, J., & Huo, Y. (2023). The diffusion of Bruner’s psychological research in China and its impact. History of Psychology, 26(2), 164–182. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000232

  • Chapter 25 – Reflective Questions

    1. What does it mean to say that psychology is never neutral, and how does community psychology exemplify this principle? 
    2. How does Paulo Freire’s concept of ‘critical consciousness’ influence the theory and practice of community psychology? 
    3. In what ways does community psychology rethink the concept of power, and how is this rethinking reflected in its methods? 
    4. Why is the Marienthal study considered a landmark in socially conscious psychological research? 
    5. How do the lives and work of key individuals like Ignacio Martín-Baró, Carolyn Kagan and Mark Burton illustrate psychology’s potential to contribute to social change?

  • Chapter 25 – Weblinks

    Roughgarden on Evolution of Gender and Sexuality (Video Lecture)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x80WXeP-2vI

     this 1 hour and 20-minute YouTube video lecture presented by Joan Roughgarden presents concepts like sexual selection on the idea of a gender binary, giving students an opportunity to engage with topics that might be relatively new to them, and apply some of the theories discussed in this chapter.

    BBC’s The Human Animal (Academic Article)

    https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/05/17/the-human-animal-bbc/

    This article discusses the work of Desmond Morris, a British zoologist and popular anthropologist. The article discusses the attempts to illuminate human behaviour from a zoological perspective and discusses the documentary series ‘The Human Animal: A personal view of the human species’, and the subsequent book ‘The Naked Ape’ produced by Desmond Morris, on this topic.

    Slavoj Žižek: The Sublime Object of Ideology (YouTube Video)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtIckkHsUQ4

    This 35-minute YouTube video gives students an accessible and clear introduction to the concepts discussed by Slavoj, giving an ideal resource for students trying to understand how these more complicated ideas relate to scientific narratives and how they engage with the current cultural contexts when they’re being applied.

    The gene and its place: An interview with Steven Rose (Interview Transcript)

    https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/sj.embor.7400104

    This interview transcript with Steven Rose, a neurobiologist and the Director of the Brain and Behaviour Research Group at the Open University discusses the concept of critical engagement with the way that genetic research is used, with particular focus on the concept of social control, giving students an opportunity to engage critically with a more contemporary perspective on genetic research.

    Strategies of Human Mating by David Buss. (Academic Paper PDF)

    https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files/2015/09/AmerSciMay1994.pdf

    This PDF gives students access to the original work by David Buss on theories of human sexual strategies and how these account for observations that people worldwide appear to be attracted to the same qualities in the opposite sex. This gives students the opportunity to engage with a primary resource looking at some of the theories discussed in this chapter.

    Richard Lewontin – Biology as Ideology (YouTube Video Lecture)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHQt7zdOcgk

    This 42-minute video provides students with access to the lecture by Richard Lamont and discussing the idea that science has been placed on somewhat of a pedestal and discussing the impacts of genetics on culture in a more real-world context, giving students an opportunity to engage practically with the theories discussed in the chapter.