Psychology is a science! This is one of those "truths" that undergraduate psychology students are taught on the first day of their introductory classes. The word, "science", often gives the impression of being objective, value free, and having no political bias. However, as Erica Burman critically stated, psychology has always involved social practice, and intentionally, or unintentionally has favored a socially dominant group. Although I had once completely agreed with her, since started working as an academic advisor for Ph. D. candidates struggling to get their papers published and find faculty positions, I have been slightly uncomfortable with this feminist-critical standpoint. Should each psychologist be allowed to conduct research only after the whole process from the research question to methodology, as well as unexpected consequences, both ethical and political, have been taken into consideration? This is a tough question for me, as well as for many mainstream psychologists. As a critical and feminist psychologist, I would like to suggest that psychologists, especially social psychologists--as I am one of them--should realize that our research is situated in one particular society at one particular historical period, which could in turn lead us to the idea that doing psychological research is actually a social practice. As for psychology students, most of whom may eventually become mainstream psychologists, I suggest that airing social concern have to be conducted only in certain situations, for example, through lectures about "the history of Japanese psychology," "psychologists at war" and "Tsunami victims as research subjects," conducted within the framework of existing classes.
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