African/Black Psychology
Journal Entry #1 What is Psychology
What is Psychology and when did it start? Psychology began about 125 years ago, back then it was defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Now it is described as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology has many goals; they are to describe, predict, explain, and control behavior. African/ Black Psychology arose as an alternative to traditional psychology and its goals are different from that of traditional Psychology. Its goals are to describe the nature and limitations of classical psychology, to develop an alternative framework within Black behavior and lastly to liberate the Black mind.
Two of the early and significant Africans to acquire the Eurocentric training in psychology and thus the Eurocentric designation of psychologist were Francis C. Summer and Herman G. Canaday. Both of these men used their training to answer to the circumstances of the African …show more content…
He lived in New York for a year and while he was there he joined the American Colonization Society. He was an active contributor for nearly 40 years and had many important works for African/Black Psychology, one of them being “Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race” (1877). He wanted the preservation of the African culture. He saw the Africa ethos as collective, socialistic, and cooperative while the European ethos were seen as individualistic, materialistic, and harsh. He felt that Africans were capable of achieving anything if properly educated. Basically what Edward was trying to say was that Europeans and Africans had different origins and they each had their own unique gifts and contributions. What he did not like was hierarchical ranking of races. Next we have Francis Cecil Summer. Francis was the first Black person to receive a Ph.D. in psychology. Summer is also known for training a large number of early Black
What is Psychology and when did it start? Psychology began about 125 years ago, back then it was defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Now it is described as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology has many goals; they are to describe, predict, explain, and control behavior. African/ Black Psychology arose as an alternative to traditional psychology and its goals are different from that of traditional Psychology. Its goals are to describe the nature and limitations of classical psychology, to develop an alternative framework within Black behavior and lastly to liberate the Black mind.
Two of the early and significant Africans to acquire the Eurocentric training in psychology and thus the Eurocentric designation of psychologist were Francis C. Summer and Herman G. Canaday. Both of these men used their training to answer to the circumstances of the African …show more content…
He lived in New York for a year and while he was there he joined the American Colonization Society. He was an active contributor for nearly 40 years and had many important works for African/Black Psychology, one of them being “Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race” (1877). He wanted the preservation of the African culture. He saw the Africa ethos as collective, socialistic, and cooperative while the European ethos were seen as individualistic, materialistic, and harsh. He felt that Africans were capable of achieving anything if properly educated. Basically what Edward was trying to say was that Europeans and Africans had different origins and they each had their own unique gifts and contributions. What he did not like was hierarchical ranking of races. Next we have Francis Cecil Summer. Francis was the first Black person to receive a Ph.D. in psychology. Summer is also known for training a large number of early Black