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COMMENTARY: THE IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGY ON THIRD WORLD DEVELOPMENT
Author(s) -
Serpell Robert
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1080/00207598408247525
Subject(s) - sociocultural evolution , international psychology , indigenous , psychology , relevance (law) , third world , engineering ethics , cultural bias , cultural psychology , social science , social psychology , applied psychology , sociology , political science , asian psychology , development economics , school psychology , law , biology , ecology , economics , engineering
Parts of the basic conceptual framework of Western psychology have been imported, sometimes blindly, into the design of many Third World countries' education, industry, law and health services. Psychology needs to demonstrate its relevance to the particular sociocultural conditions of these countries and to development policy in each of these fields. This requires close collaboration with other social sciences. Theories and techniques developed in Western societies (e.g., pre‐school enrichment and aptitude testing) need to be unpackaged so that Third World policy‐makers can decide which aspects are most relevant to their goals. Revitalization of endogenous cultural development is essential for developing a valid and socially acceptable psychology. This requires both sensitivity to the cultural load of Western psychology and systematic exploration of distinctive indigenous concepts.