In a satirical piece entitled “Psychology Comes to a Halt as Weary Researchers Say the Mind Cannot Possibly Understand Itself,” the Onion reported, in a way that only the Onion can, that psychology as a discipline has come to its official end. Citing the current American Psychological Association (APA)’s President, they maintained that Nadine Kaslow declared “the APA, with its 134,000 members and 54 academic divisions, forever disbanded.”
As a result of recommendations related to the Report of the Independent Review (IR), the APA Board of Directors developed a list of recommended actions that should be taken in response. Among other actions, the board recommended that the Education Directorate “promote a focus on human rights and ethics as a core element of psychology education and training from high school through continuing education offerings.”
The following article by Sam G. McFarland, PhD, is the second of a series of articles related to human rights and ethics.
Late one night in the winter in 1940, in the small French village of Le Chambon, a shivering Jewish woman knocked on the door of André and Magda Trocmé, the local Lutheran minister and his wife. The woman was fleeing from the Nazis and desperate for food and shelter. Magda quickly took her in, fed her and started thinking how to help her. The woman needed false identification papers and a place to hide. Over the next few weeks, Magda and André talked with their parishioners and neighbors and soon the entire village was providing refuge for fleeing Jews. Some were smuggled to safety in Switzerland. Others were given false identities and hidden on nearby farms. Many were children. Despite a murderous Gestapo raid that killed several members of the community, over the next four desperate years, Magda and André led Le Chambon in saving about 3,500 Jews from the Holocaust. When André was arrested and pressed to name all the Jews he had helped, he responded, “We do not know what a Jew is; we only know human beings” (Trocmé, 2007, p. vii).
A goal of education should be to help us transcend our natural egocentrism and ethnocentrism. The Trocmés had clearly transcended both. They were able to value the lives of the Jews they saved as strongly as they valued their own, and they saw them simply as fellow human beings. As Gandhi said, they believed that, “All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family.” Martin Luther King, a follower of Gandhi’s philosophy, added, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
I want our students to embrace the Gandhi and King philosophies. I want them to learn to think about issues, not in terms of how they affect themselves, or members of their own religion, ethnic group or country, but in terms of how they affect all humanity.
When students learn to view themselves and the world as did the Trocmés, Gandhi and King, they will care about human rights. If they do not, they won’t. It really is that simple.
During the last few years, my students and I developed a measure of Gandhi’s belief, called the Identification With All Humanity Scale (IWAH; McFarland, Webb, & Brown, 2012; McFarland, Brown, & Webb, 2013). A sample item reads:
How much do you identify with (that is, feel a part of, feel love toward, have concern for) each of the following?
We have tried to study the roots and effects of caring about human rights, and how Gandhi’s belief in the single human family might be expanded. Among other findings, those scoring high on the IWAH seek to understand the broader world, value American and non-American lives more equally, support human rights more strongly and give more to international charities.
How can the sense of humanity as one family be expanded, and with it, concern for human rights? I suggest three methods that can be used in high school and college psychology classes.
In one study, we asked students to complete the IWAH. Then, we asked them to complete it again as the “most mature and moral person you could imagine anyone being.” For 86 percent of the students, the scores as the “most mature and moral person” were higher than the scores for themselves: The students’ own IWAH item average was about 3 (labeled “somewhat”) on the 5-point scale, but their item average for the “most mature and moral person” was above 4, a full point higher. Many students, it seems, can envision identifying with all humanity as a moral ideal, even if they don’t yet identify with all of humanity.
From that finding, Dewall and Myers (2013) created a valuable classroom exercise: Students complete the IWAH first as themselves, then as an ideal romantic partner and finally as the “most mature and moral person.” The students compare their own three scores, then reflect on the differences, often in small groups. Because students can now grasp identifying with all humanity as an ethical ideal, they can next brainstorm in small groups how their view can be expanded and present their ideas to the class. After a week or two have passed, students complete the IWAH again and observe and reflect on any changes in their scores. A colleague who used this exercise wrote to me that “completing the scale based on how the most mature and moral person would respond was an “aha moment” for many students. This assignment really helped them grasp the point of identifying with all humanity and why it matters.”
We learn so much through stories, and we tend to become like those we admire. There are many people like André and Magda Trocmé, and students who are told their stories (and shown their pictures) are often inspired. Many, like the Trocmés or Paul Rusesabagina, who sheltered and saved more than 1,200 from the Rwandan genocide, risked their own lives. Others risked their fortune, as did Oskar Schindler, who saved about 1,200 of his Jewish employees from the Holocaust. Others devoted their lives to advancing human rights law. In London in 1765, Granville Sharp saw a slave child brutally beaten by his owner and then started the movement that led to outlawing the slave trade. In 1859, Henry Dunant witnessed Europe’s bloodiest battle in a half century and then led in creating both the International Red Cross and the First Geneva Convention to reduce the suffering caused by war. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew who fled the Holocaust, coined the word “genocide” in 1944 and then helped write the Genocide Convention that made genocide an international crime. In 1961, after Peter Benenson read about two Portuguese students who were jailed for drinking a toast to freedom, he started Amnesty International, the most influential human rights organization in the modern world. Learn and share human rights heroes’ stories. Many of your students will develop new and worthy heroes and become more like them.
We can’t care about what we don’t know about. So I encourage teachers to devote one day of their course to having students read and discuss the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You may wonder what teaching human rights has to do with psychology, but this could well be the most important day in your course, one that your students won’t forget.
The Universal Declaration, adopted in December 1948 by the new United Nations, is the foundation for all modern human rights developments. Nevertheless, few students know it. A survey on our campus found only 10 percent of our students could identify it in a multiple-choice quiz. Far fewer know its contents, that it proclaims in bold terms that human rights belong to every human being “without distinction of any kind” (Art. 2). Few know it includes civil and political rights, such as the right to a fair and public trial (Art. 10) and “freedom of thought, conscience and religion” (Art. 18), but it also declares economic and social rights, such as the right to education (Art. 25) and “the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care … in circumstances beyond his control” (Art. 25).
For 20 years, while teaching psychology, I also taught a university honors course on human rights. These high-achieving students usually entered with virtually no prior knowledge of human rights. “I never knew any of that!” was a common reaction to the course. Because I regard human rights as the most important untaught subject in American education, both at the high school and college levels, and knowledge is so low, I recently wrote Human Rights 101: A Brief College-Level Overview (PDF, 483KB) (McFarland, 2015). This 16-page overview of modern human rights, available as a free download, is a resource for teachers and a one- or two-day reading and discussion in any class. A search of its title will lead the viewer to its location on the website of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Human Rights Coalition. Links offer detailed information on every topic.
To conclude, I encourage teachers to try these three methods to encourage their students to expand their concern for all humanity and for human rights.
Dewall, C.N., & Myers, D. (2013). The hidden key to virtuous behavior: We’re all on the same side. APS Observer. Available online athttp://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/ publications/ observer/2013/september-13/teaching-current-directions-in-psychological-science-5.html.
McFarland, S.G. (2015). Human rights 101: A brief college level overview. Available online athttp://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/content_files/AAAS%20Coalition%20Human%20Rights%20101_0.pdf (PDF, 483KB).
McFarland, S, Brown, D., & Webb, M. (2013). “Identification with all humanity” as a moral concept and psychological construct. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 192-196. doi: 10.1177/0963721412471346.
McFarland, S.G., Webb, M., & Brown, D. (2012). All humanity is my ingroup: A measure and studies of identification with all humanity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 830-853. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0028724.
Trocmé, A. (2007/1971). Jesus and the nonviolent revolution. Farmington, Pennsylvania: Plough Publishing House.
Over the last quarter century, as public education has made a hard shift towards “accountability” and increased standardized testing, the trend towards the use of research-based instruction in classrooms has become nearly as ubiquitous as the Scantron sheets students are asked to bubble in multiple times each semester.
Words of wisdom: grad school edition.
I remember graduate school quite well, partly because the memories are still fresh (I got my doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Miami in 2012), partly because it was such a tremendous experience and partly because it has no comparison to anything before or after it. What I learned in graduate school was of course a lot about how to become a better clinician, scientist and community steward.
In previous years, the day that the psychology internship match results were released brought a range of emotions: happiness for those who were moving on to the next phase in their training and a deep sense of frustration that so many students did not get matched because there were not enough positions available.
For Third-Year Students: This year is all about knowing when to plug in and when to unplug. With two years under your belt, you can not only identify your strengths but are also likely to be able to identify the people and places that make you stronger. Make this year about capitalizing on the connections you’ve made, and don’t forget to add a little something new along the way!
(Source: GotCredit on Flickr; some rights reserved)
Develop support systems.
After two years in your doctoral program you are likely to have been exposed to both happy and more trying moments. In those moments you’ve probably taken note of who was with you during those easy and hard times, and how they contributed to your experiences. Remember those people, and keep in touch with those who make you the happiest. Some of these people might be in your own research lab or weekly seminar. Others might be friends of friends who are not in graduate school, but manage to force you out of your apartment on a Saturday night on a strict “no-thinking-about-your-research” policy. Whether in your cohort or off-campus, these are the people who get you through. Know who they are and make time to be with them.
Take a vacation! Or just temporarily vacate.
Take a moment, or get moving…either way find time and space away from work (Source:Willemvdk on Flickr; some rights reserved)
Sometimes a great getaway is just a bike ride rather than an expensive plane ticket, away! Remember to bring along your important people and hit the road. (Source: Kamal Zharif on Flickr; some rights reserved)
It is likely that limited finances and long hours of studying, teaching, data analysis, or conference preparation will all be viable reasons for not taking the breaks we would like to take. It is this writer’s opinion, however, that you don’t need to be 100% settled in life to take a 100% rest. When and however you can, build in time to get away from your program. Getting away does not necessarily need to look like everyone else’s vacation. There are, however two requirements: (1) no checking email (yes, I said it); and (2) leaving the vicinity that you currently live or go to school in. As long as your mind is not on work and you are off the grid, you are resting. For example, even if you do not have the option of going on a trip that requires spending money and a passport, you can still pool your options for going someplace new—even if it is only for a weekend.
Some doctoral students prefer to save for a one-to-two week trip. Others may benefit more from shorter weekend trips. Whichever way you travel, allow yourself the escape. The more able you are to take a break, the easier it will be to look forward to getting back to work with a clear head.
Reposted with permission from the American Psychological Association’s GradPSYCH Blog.
Editor’s Note: This is the third installment of a 4-part series. View part 1, dedicated to the first-year graduate school experience, and part 2, dedicated to the second year.
For Second-Year Students: One year into graduate school, you are likely to meet feelings of adjustment with recognition that you are (somehow) only getting busier. Here are some tips on how to manage your new-found groove while facing even newer challenges and tasks–you can do it! (View Part 1 of this series, dedicated to the first-year graduate school experience.)
Change up where you work.
Studying may not sound like it has much to do with self-care, but after a year in a doctoral program it is as important to continue to stay diligent as it is to make time to play and have fun—this means it is it’s a good idea to match your growing focus with an occasional new discovery, such as a new place to hit the books! There are several gains associated with finding new study spots.
Many students like to find new and interesting places to hit the books. Studying in various locations can help with focus and recall. (Source: Neo II on Flickr. Some rights reserved.)
Research has begun to consistently point to evidence that switching where you work or study can be helpful for your memory, concentration, and performance habits. In addition, finding different places to work familiarizes you with where you live, and can build in organic breaks to your work (for example, a coffee shop closing, the proximity of your local library to a friend’s house or movie theater).
It’s of course important to have a good work space at home and at school, but having other options may allow you to perceive working as less of an inevitable chore and as more of a chance to explore where you live while you develop more flexibility and resilience in your work style. An important disclaimer to this, however, is to be mindful of privacy issues in relation to data, clinical work, and teaching courses!
Begin to shift your focus from “student” to “trainee.”
You are not only a student but a professional in training–don’t be afraid to own it! (Source: University of Exeter on Flickr. Some rights reserved.)
Whether training to become an academic, a public servant, or to work as a clinician, your passion and commitment to your training is your first priority in graduate school. For first year students, this commitment can be daunting to focus on with such primacy amidst moving to a new place, meeting new people, and forging new professional relationships, all while managing a course load. It can feel counter-intuitive (and ultimately can be counterproductive) to try and immediately fully align your priorities to your research, clinical work, or other professional training opportunities during you first year. It may be wise to acquaint yourself with the level of difficulty and expectations around coursework in your doctoral program.
Once you have two terms worth of grades under your belt, however, it is time to make the sometimes awkward shift from over-achieving student to ambitious scholar. This means that caring for yourself while in training will mean caring about what you are there to be trained in.
“Let go of perfectionism. Embrace the stumbles, risks, and uncertain steps forward.
By the time you are a doctoral student, it is likely that you are already a high-achieving student, and consequently the tendency may be for doctoral students to initially care more about their performances in their courses than anything else. You should find, however, that your advisors, supervisors, and mentors care about your professional development and scholarship more than they do about your grades. This means it will be up to you to manage coursework with your other responsibilities.A part of this management will mean letting go of the perfectionism common to aspiring graduate students and embracing the stumbles, risks, and uncertain steps forward affiliated with training on the doctoral level.
Uncertainty will not always make you feel good right away but it is far from your enemy. With your sense of self on one side and social support in the other, lean into your training and allow yourself some distance between you and your image of what it means to be the best student—you have bigger fish to fry.
Reposted with permission from the American Psychological Association’s GradPSYCH Blog.
