Humanistic Psychology’s Social Justice Philosophy

Abstract

Racism has held a prominent place in much of psychology discourse, but humanistic psychology may not yet have realized its full potential to contribute in meaningful ways to dialogues about racism. The purpose of this article is to help direct racism and social justice issues to the forefront of humanistic psychology, outlining ways in which humanistic psychologists can draw on their historical values and strengths to develop individual-level and societal interventions to reduce racism, as well as its psychosocial and physical health effects on People of Color. This article discusses a number of domains in the study of racism where humanistic principles have the potential to guide interventions. These domains include internalized racism, race-based traumatic stress as an American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnosis, the role of White individuals in creating and combating racism, the psychosocial costs of racism to White individuals, and the interactions of other forms of oppression with racism. Humanistic psychologists are encouraged to move beyond the walls of academia, engage the community, and reengineer systems that undercut justice for People of Color.