Re-envisioning Psychology

This book studies the ideological nature of mainstream scientific psychology. It raises critical questions about the dominant forms of psychological theorization and praxis, based on their validity, social relevance and power privileges. Re-envisioning Psychology critically interrogates scientific images of the mind, individual, gender, development, society and culture that mainstream psychology promotes. The issues taken up in this book revolve around the pivotal concerns of psychologys scientific basis, its dominant quantitative research methodology, the construction of individual as the unit of analysis, the conceptualization of social, cultural and gender in relation to individualism, and the understanding of abnormality as shaped by the discourses of medical science and capitalism. Comprehensive and topical, the book will be useful to students, researchers, and teachers of psychology, applied psychology, social work, gender and women studies, and sociology. It will also be of interest to professional counsellors and psychotherapists.