TY - JOUR
T1 - Contributions of African-Centered (Africentric) Psychology
T2 - A Call for Inclusion in APA-Accredited Graduate Psychology Program Curriculum
AU - Awosogba, Olufunke O.R.
AU - Jackson, Stacey M.
AU - Onwong’a, J. Robina
AU - Cokley, Kevin O.
AU - Holman, Andrea
AU - McClain, Shannon E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Psychological Association
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Over the past few years, there has been increased visibility of, and attention paid to, enduring issues such as racial discrimination toward Black Americans. Black psychologists have been called upon to explain various race-related mental health issues to the public, as well as their colleagues and students. Discussions about how to heal from persistent, intergenerational, oppressive attacks on the African psyche are important, but the theories and treatments in which most practitioners are trained and considered “best practices” are Eurocentric in nature. Africancentered (or Africentric) psychology is a well-established school of thought, predating the philosophies often discussed in Western/American psychology’s History and Systems curriculum, that provides an authentic understanding of the psychology of people of African descent from an African perspective. In this article, we present the historical contention about the lack of inclusion of an African perspective in conceptualizing and addressing the psychological needs of people of African descent, provide an overview of African-centered psychology including its underlying worldview and philosophy, development, and key contributors, and advocate for the inclusion of Africentric psychology in APA-accredited psychology graduate programs.
AB - Over the past few years, there has been increased visibility of, and attention paid to, enduring issues such as racial discrimination toward Black Americans. Black psychologists have been called upon to explain various race-related mental health issues to the public, as well as their colleagues and students. Discussions about how to heal from persistent, intergenerational, oppressive attacks on the African psyche are important, but the theories and treatments in which most practitioners are trained and considered “best practices” are Eurocentric in nature. Africancentered (or Africentric) psychology is a well-established school of thought, predating the philosophies often discussed in Western/American psychology’s History and Systems curriculum, that provides an authentic understanding of the psychology of people of African descent from an African perspective. In this article, we present the historical contention about the lack of inclusion of an African perspective in conceptualizing and addressing the psychological needs of people of African descent, provide an overview of African-centered psychology including its underlying worldview and philosophy, development, and key contributors, and advocate for the inclusion of Africentric psychology in APA-accredited psychology graduate programs.
KW - African-centered psychology
KW - African/Black psychology
KW - Africentric psychology
KW - graduate curriculum
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164233732&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1037/amp0001164
DO - 10.1037/amp0001164
M3 - Article
C2 - 37384500
AN - SCOPUS:85164233732
SN - 0003-066X
VL - 78
SP - 457
EP - 468
JO - American Psychologist
JF - American Psychologist
IS - 4
ER -