Kevin A. Harris, PhD, LP, drkevinaharris@gmail.com, Algos Behavioral Health Services, Inc., 2161 NW Military Hwy, Suite 207, San Antonio, TX 78213
Caroline C. Kaufman, MS, carolinekaufman42@gmail.com, Yale School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, 255 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511
Arielle Rubenstein, PhD, arielle.rubenstein@yale.edu, West Haven VA and Yale School of Medicine, 611 Whitney Ave., #2A, New Haven, CT 06511
Psychologists are often called upon to promote social justice. APA President Melba Vasquez called for psychologists to be “proactive in addressing critical social problems.” Justice is one of the aspirational principles of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, and social justice is one of the core principles in the upcoming revision of the APA code of ethics. Some Divisions have begun to champion social justice, while others have been more reluctant to do so. The Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (SPRS), Division 36 of APA, values social justice — but has the opposite reputation. The Social Justice Task Force of SPRS recently formed to promote social justice issues and values within Division 36. This Task Force has set the following 6 intentional goals for SPRS:
Create an inclusive community that fosters belonging for each individual by prioritizing diversity, equity, cultural humility, and dialogue.
Promote scholarship, research, and practice across diverse cultural groups and identities, while prioritizing inclusion of underrepresented or marginalized religious and spiritual groups, traditions, and denominations.
Engage, support, and amplify underrepresented or marginalized voices who will lead scholarship, practice, and advocacy.
Provide resources for collaborative efforts toward social justice across individuals, divisions, and professions.
Generate data from the science of psychology to counter the use of religious or spiritual beliefs, practices, or systems that perpetuate injustice through stereotypes, biases, prejudice, discrimination, harm, and abuse.
Research and evaluate the role of religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, and communities in cultivating hope and promoting social justice.
A group of psychologists and students discuss how psychologists support — and fail to support — social justice efforts, from the perspectives of the American Psychological Association in general and the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Division 36) in particular.
Caroline Kaufman, Kevin Harris, and Arielle Rubenstein