Methods for Liberation: Critical Consciousness in Action

Abstract

Many Latin American psychologists have chosen social transformation as the main goal for the field of social psychology in its community and political branches. Doing psychology for social transformation means that, whatever the object of psychology as a science is – be it the study of the psyche; of individual or collective behavior; of ideology; of language or verbal behavior; of the so-called cognitive mediating processes; of emotion and motivation; and so on – it will always be at the service of social transformation. Social transformation in this context refers to changes in the dominant structural and cultural institutions of a society seeking more equitable and sustainable social arrangements that satisfy the basic needs of all people. It also is an endless cause as every transformation carries within it the germ of new ones, because there is no such a thing as a perfect society. In this context, social transformation is understood as a result of processes initiated by those who are oppressed by the dominant social structures and cultural narratives of a society. Chief among the forces behind social transformations are the processes of conscientization and problematization.