Introduction

As anyone who has worked in a university department containing psychologists knows only too well, there is no one psychology, but different, often highly conflicting, types – for example, behaviourism, social psychology, critical social psychology – with feminists involved in many of the areas. Developmental psychology's status is not clear. As Burman (1994) notes it is considered by some not to be a domain or type of psychology but rather a perspective or an approach encompassing all other areas of psychology. Developmental psychology's main focus has been to study child development and, in that context, the role of mothers and, in more recent decades, fathers and it has been a key aspect of the training of many child welfare practitioners (see Chapter Nine).

This chapter does not aim to offer an overview of psychology as a whole. Rather it explores the literature on the ‘conditions of historical possibility’ for psychology. It then focuses on developmental psychology, and particularly contemporary developments. An important aim of the chapter is to critically engage with the research that appears to have become influential with policy makers.

More ‘critical’ psychologies are discussed in terms of the potential they offer for challenging oppressive gender relations and identities.

The background

As Hollway (1989: 88) argues, it is of central importance to appreciate the foundational belief at the end of the 19th century that psychology is a science. Thus, through its methods, progress towards knowledge is guaranteed. She notes that this begs a supplementary question, which takes us onto the terrain of philosophy: ‘what is the character of that knowledge and how can we know that science guarantees its truthfulness?’ (Hollway, 1989: 88). She argues that this question has not often been posed because psychology, in seeking to establish itself, cut itself off from its roots in philosophy and theology and aligned itself with the spectacular developments in biology that were emerging. This was, for better or ill, in order to achieve control over the human behaviour of others, a point that is explored further later.

It is beyond the scope of this chapter to discuss in any depth the extensive literature about the status of science generally, and specifically the issues posed for knowledge about the social world. However it is useful to provide a brief synopsis.