Speakers

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.” According to the website of the American Psychological Association, “APA’s advocacy team works diligently on addressing social justice issues including socioeconomic status, criminal justice, immigration, and civil rights” (Clinton, 2020, https://www.apa.org/international/global-insights/world-day-social-justice). 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.

Discussion

Steven E. Handwerker, PhD, DDiv, peacewk@peacewk.org, The International Association for the Advancement of Human Welfare, Inc., 33 Laurel Ridge Break, Ormond Beach, FL, 32174

A priest, a Talmudic scholar, a reverend, and a minister walk into a conference…for the third year in a row at APA for an interfaith dialogue – this time on social justice. Social justice is a core principle of many religions. Social justice is “the ability to participate equally in social and political life” (Fraser, 2009, cited in Thrift & Sugarman, 2019, p. 12). It refers to the concept of improving diversity, equity, inclusion, access to resources, participation in policymaking, and human rights for groups historically marginalized based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, and disability through the distribution of power (Finnis, 2017; Fuhriman, 2017; Kapila et al., 2016; Soken-Huberty, 2010). Many religions consider social justice to be central to their core missions — a moral imperative. For example, in Christianity, the Bible states that Christians should “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and please the widow's cause” (Isaiah 1:17). In Islam, the Quran says of Muslims that “God commands justice and fair dealing” (Quran 16:90) and “O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice” (Quran 4:135). In Judaism, the Torah declares of Jews that "justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20), and the Tanakh states that Jews should “hate evil and love good, and establish justice at the gate,” and “let justice well up like water, righteousness like an unfailing stream” (Amos 5:15, 24). In Buddhism, the Dalai Lama declared that “I believe in justice and truth, without which there would be no basis for human hope,” and he observed that “all religions try to benefit people, with the same basic message of the need for love and compassion, for justice and honesty, for contentment.” Social justice is clearly important to many religions. Yet most religions have historically been institutions of injustice as well, promoting oppression. Religious dogma has been used for centuries to persecute, oppress, maintain patriarchies, promote authoritarianism, justify racism, rationalize oppression, and support White male privilege. Many religious ideologies justify the oppression of others — often those in the minority. Some scholars have even argued that “religion provides an ideological justification for the existing social order, so that prevailing institutions and arrangements are perceived as legitimate and just, and therefore worth obeying and preserving” (Jost et al., 2014) — that the primary function of religion is to justify the status quo of society and preserve existing injustices. This symposium takes a hard and honest look at how religions promote — and fight against — social justice. A priest, a Talmudic scholar, a reverend, and a minister each discuss how Catholicism, Judaism, progressive Protestant Christianity, and Zen Buddhism approach social justice in their respective religions, and a group of psychologists and students discuss how psychologists support — and fail to support — social justice efforts, from the perspectives of the APA in general and the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Division 36) in particular.