Abelardo Brenes Brenes
Universidad de Costa Rica
Abstract
This essay argues that Psychology in Costa Rica is facing a fundamental challenge with respect to whether it can contribute to defining the future path of national development through pro-active reflection and dialogue. It also argues that the Colegio Profesional de Psicólogos de Costa Rica has been losing this kind of policy orientation, which was dominant in its early stages and that it is increasingly at the mercy of social demands that are characteristic of a capitalist society that has become inserted in a global order that is leading to a world of increasing inequalities y the destruction of the planetary ecosystem. The essay describes the traits of a culture of violence and of a culture of peace, as a context within which the central argument is illustrated by the example of the current function that the Colegio Profesional de Psicológos de Costa Rica is fulfilling by certifying mental fitness to carry firearms.
Keywords: social violence, peace, Psychology, Costa Rica.
References
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