Psychology Program Presents

The Local and Global in Psychological Service: A Case of Crisis Center for Women in Post-Socialist Kyrgyzstan

What does psychological counseling look like in the Global South? What shapes professional practice in a post-Soviet country? How is psychological intervention regulated in contemporary Central Asia? Guided by these questions, I conducted a qualitative inquiry in a crisis center for women in Kyrgyzstan, making use of a feminist-inspired methodological tool of Institutional Ethnography (Smith, 1987; 2005).  In this presentation, I share my findings demonstrating how the global standards of human rights protection inform what happens in the offices of the Kyrgyz crisis psychologists as they carry out their frontline work with survivors of domestic violence.  I found that adherence to these global frameworks, through discourses and textual work, might be at odds with the women’s actual obtainment of protection. Puzzled by this contradictory outcome, I explored and analytically mapped the institutional processes and activities which accounted for it. Following the tradition of critical, international and feminist psychology, I hope to demonstrate how the mental health needs of the minority may be routinely overlooked even within programs with the most benevolent agendas.

---

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST/GMT-5

Location: Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium

Subscribe: Save this Event: Subscribe / .ics File