[Examiner - opinion]
A new trend in welfare reform is the reliance
on social psychology to
support a regulatory approach. Groups like Vegan
Outreach and Farm
Sanctuary draw on social psychology theory to make it
appear as if
they are grounding their stances and actions in scientific
research.
But, in actuality, they are pulling on research to support what
they
already do. It's no surprise then, that welfare reform is not
achieving any meaningful change despite foundations in several decades
of
social psychological research. This is an unfortunate waste of a
truly
valuable tool. Social psychology does have much to say in how we
might
effectively advocate, but welfare organizations only twist the
findings
to support their favored (but failing) tactics.
--
full story:
http://www.examiner.com/article/what-social-psychology-can-tell-us-about-abolitionist-social-change