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Psychology and culture: exploring clinical psychology in Australia and the Malay Archipelago

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2014

Lennie R.C. Geerlings ,
Claire L. Thompson  and
Anita Lundberg
Lennie R.C. Geerlings*
Affiliation:
James Cook University(Singapore Campus)
Claire L. Thompson
Affiliation:
JCUSingapore
Anita Lundberg
Affiliation:
JCUSingapore
*
address for correspondence: Lennie R. C. Geerlings, Psychology & Anthropology, School of Arts and Social Sciences, James Cook University, Singapore Campus, Singapore574421 email: lennie.geerlings@my.jcu.edu.au
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Abstract

This paper provides landmarks for the study of the historical development and current expansion of academic psychology and clinical psychology education in Australia and three countries of the Malay Archipelago (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore). It reviews literature on the history of clinical psychology, and information from universities and psychological associations, and includes an overview of the current providers and forms of psychology education programmes and their curricula. A critical analysis informed by cultural anthropology indicates that psychology has only to a small extent been adjusted to different cultural contexts, while ‘western’ models of the discipline remain dominant. The neglect of attention to culture in psychology and clinical psychology raises important questions about the future of the discipline in the tropical regions of Australia and the Malay Archipelago.

Keywords

history of psychologycultural anthropologyAustraliaMalay Archipelagotropics
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Tropical Psychology , Volume 4 , 2014 , e4
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014 

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