Reader’s Theatre: A Critical Lens for Engaging Psychology Students with Socio-Political Reality

Abstract

Thanks to the intersection of colonialism, late capitalism and neoliberalism, Western medico-scientific approaches dominate psychological training and practice in the global South. Such approaches position patients as passive, encouraging clinicians to impose universalised assumptions in the psychotherapeutic space. Western approaches also undermine any acknowledgement of the socio-cultural, political, and economic causes of distress - such as racism, sexism, and engineered inequality - so prevalent in multicultural and resource-constricted contexts. Taking a transformational and decolonial stance, there is an urgency to develop alternative approaches to address this neglect. In response, this study employs an action research design - with pre- and post-strategy questionnaires and self-study assignments – and explores the usefulness of reader’s theatre for developing awareness of the impact of taken-for-granted socio-political attitudes, norms, and values on subjectivity. Findings reflect that through this strategy students can acknowledge how experiences that do not correspond to socio-politically endorsed discourses lead to feelings of anger and resentment for some, as well as shame and humiliation for others. Employing reader’s theatre may, therefore, be an important step toward the development of clinicians empowered to work in a respectful and socially just manner with the complexities of distress in the global South.