miércoles, 16 de julio de 2008

My last Assignment

For this last assignment i choose an article called "Active Minorities Psychology" of Serge Moscovici.

During the last four decades, two social psychological theories have had tremendous influence on a generation of researchers: the theory of social representations and the theory of active minorities. One scholar, Serge Moscovici, has developed these two theories, but they each lived independently and they were seldom confronted one another. Both theories aim to develop a dynamic perspective in the analysis of social reality and devote themselves to the understanding of social change. They are both interested in conflict which takes place in society and which may allow a reflection on the motivations for action, decision-making and change. Specifically, he pose the question concerning the epistemological relationship between these two theories. In order to answer this question, he first present the most important aspects of each theory and then reflect on their epistemological relationships.This article also presents a theoretical explanation of the dialectic between active minorities and majorities within a community based on our experience of psychosocial community practice. When assessing needs it is usual to detect contradictions between perceptions of problems by community members and the feelings they express about them. This gap establishes the differences between community needs as estimated by experts and those felt by the people. It also has a delaying and paralyzing effect for the participants. It is contended that the processes of naturalization and habituation are responsible for this phenomenon, their ideological nature leading to accept what is problematic as the way things are. Consciousness-raising and problematization are a way to overcome these contradictions, and through them, community organizations may become active minorities. However, contrary to what the study of social influence argues, this does not mean that the active minority always will move the majority, or vice versa; but there is a dialectic between them, in which power, understood as a relationship, plays a basic role. The notions of psychologization, denial, and conversion are analyzed to explain the tension produced and how it affects the perception of needs and the community's reaction to them.

A topic releated to my studies

A topic that i found very interesting this semester it´s really specific. It´s about a paper that y read of Michel Foucault called "The Psychiatry Power" wrote on 1973. Before i talk about this paper i´ll say something about this amasing writer:

Michel Foucault (15 octuber 1926–25 june 1984) was a french philosopher, historian, critic and sociologist. He held a chair at the Collège de France, giving it the title "History of Systems of Thought," and taught at the University of California, Berkeley.
Michel Foucault is best known for his critical studies of social institutions, most notably psychiatry, medicine, the human sciences, and the prison system, as well as for his work on the history of human sexuality. Foucault's work on power, and the relationships among power, knowledge, and discourse, has been widely discussed and applied. In the 1960s Foucault was often associated with the structuralist movement. Foucault later distanced himself from structuralism. Sometimes described as postmodernist, Foucault always rejected the post-structuralist and postmodernist labels.

I like this paper because makes a great critic of psychiatry hopitals and how society created them just to marginalize people that was considered different and could cause a breach of the peace and the status quo. He said that this instituions use repression and violence to keep the order inside (like when they use electroshocks to calm them down).
I´m really agree with Foucault in that point, ´cause this institutions have been working as a real punichment to people that is not considered "normal". I think that if people are sick or need a treatment of a disease, we need to find other ways to help them, we dont have the right of treat them like animal. This society sentence people when they are different, when they think different, ´cause, when people has power, everything different is dangerous. In my opinion, i have to said, that to my, difference is hope.