Peer-reviewed articles by Peiwei Li
Qualitative Inquiry, 2020
In this article, we explore the concept of validity as it applies to transformative experiences, ... more In this article, we explore the concept of validity as it applies to transformative experiences, asking how can we know
when individuals are transformed as the result of some experience? What criteria or principles might be used to assess
the validity of claims made about transformation? We suggest that validity in this context—what we call transformative
validity—must transcend existing understandings that emphasize validity as a “thing” to be “achieved.” Instead, we introduce
a new conceptualization of validity to the qualitative inquiry community: We suggest that transformative validity is best
conceptualized as a process that centers intersubjectivity, dialogue, and recognition and is always open and rooted in
uncertainty.
We are in an era that calls for increasing "training" in educational research methodologies. When... more We are in an era that calls for increasing "training" in educational research methodologies. When the National Research Council (2004) calls for training in educational research that is "rigorous" and "relevant," the focus strongly emphasizes WHAT should be taught instead of WHO is being engaged in the learning. Similarly, most of the research on teaching educational inquiry explores the "what" and not the "who" of the learning. In contrast, we explore conceptualizations of "research" as expressed by graduate students in a research methodology course, as well as the way that student narratives illustrate their own identity claims in relation to research. We develop the analytical concept of "pragmatic fissures" to explain the tension often present between the way students conceptualize research and the way they perceive themselves in relation to the research process. We suggest that these pragmatic fissures provide an opportunity for expanding pedagogical approaches to course delivery, as well as approaches to methodology textbook design. In the spirit of post-perspectives aimed at challenging the "methods" approach to research learning (St. Pierre, 2014), we welcome an opportunity for thinking about research instruction as more locally and organically connected to the lived experiences and conceptual make-up of students engaged in the learning process.
Action research design blurs the traditional distinction between researchers and practitioners, a... more Action research design blurs the traditional distinction between researchers and practitioners, and effectively shortens the distance of the transformation from academic findings to daily practices. This research case features a critical action research project that focused on understanding graduate students’ perception of and how they position themselves in relation to “research.” We demonstrate how this research design manifests in the form of collaboration among four co-researchers/practitioners and highlights methodological and practical insights and challenges that we face at the intersection of action research and collaborative research. Findings from the study reveal the tension between the way students conceptualize research and the way they perceive themselves in relation to the research process, which we describe as “pragmatic fissures”. Our findings provide an opportunity for expanding pedagogical approaches to course delivery as well as developing innovative methodology textbook designs, echoing the emphasis of praxis in action research.
Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 2016
Qualitative data analysis software (QDAS) has become increasingly popular among researchers. Howe... more Qualitative data analysis software (QDAS) has become increasingly popular among researchers. However, very few discussions have developed regarding the effect of QDAS on the validity of qualitative data analysis. It is a pressing issue, especially because the recent proliferation of conceptualizations of validity has challenged, and to some degree undermined, the taken-for-granted connection between the methodologically neutral understanding of validity and QDAS. This article suggests an alternative framework for examining the relationship between validity and the use of QDAS. Shifting the analytic focus from instrumentality and efficiency of QDAS to the research practice itself, we propose that qualitative researchers should formulate a "reflective space" at the intersection of their methodological approach, the built-in validity structure of QDAS and the specific research context, in order to make deliberative and reflective methodological decisions. We illustrate this new framework through discussion of a collaborative action research project.
Journal of Counseling & Development, 2011
The authors provide a template for counseling researchers who are interested in quantitatively ag... more The authors provide a template for counseling researchers who are interested in quantitatively aggregating research findings. Meta-analytic studies can provide relevant information to the counseling field by systematically synthesizing studies performed by researchers from diverse fields. Methodologically sound meta-analyses require careful planning, diligent literature searches, detailed coding of study information, and knowledge of meta-analyfic approaches to statistical analyses. The authors provide steps to guide counseling researchers in conducting meta-analyfic reviews.
International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 2013
Abstract Using a mixed-methods survey design that was predominantly quantitative, this study expl... more Abstract Using a mixed-methods survey design that was predominantly quantitative, this study explored Asian international students' willingness to seek counseling. Participants were 177 Asian international students recruited from a US Midwestern University. After ...
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2012
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family cohesion and suicide ide... more The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family cohesion and suicide ideation in a national, adult community sample of Asian Ame ricans (N = 2072). The data for this study was drawn from the National Latino Asian Ame rican Study, the first national epidemiological study of Asian Americans? mental healt h. The results indicate that family cohesion was negatively related to suicide ideation . In addition, English proficiency moderated the relationship between family cohesion and suicide ideation. Family cohesion was more strongly related to suicide ideation among low English proficiency Asian Americans than among high English proficiency Asia n Americans. Further, the findings are consistent with a model in which the relati onship between family cohesion and suicide ideation was partially mediated by psycholog ical distress. Practical implications of the results are discussed in terms of how me ntal health professionals can help strengthen family cohesion and prevent suicide ideation a mong Asian Americans.
Personality and Individual Differences, 2011
This study examined the relationships among Chinese Singaporeans' lay beliefs about subjective we... more This study examined the relationships among Chinese Singaporeans' lay beliefs about subjective wellbeing, adherence to Asian values (as measured by the Asian American Values Scale), and self-reported subjective well-being (as measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Short Form). Participants were 210 undergraduate students of Chinese descent (mean age = 21.01 years) in a Singaporean university. Participants provided responses to an openended question about what it means to be happy. Participants' responses were coded according to whether they endorsed positivity beliefs and dialectical beliefs about happiness. Positivity beliefs were positively related to life satisfaction, but only among those with low adherence to Asian values. Among participants who strongly adhered to Asian values, positivity beliefs were not significantly related to life satisfaction. Beliefs about happiness were not related to negative affect. However, participants who endorsed dialectical beliefs reported less positive affect.
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2011
Mental health concerns can exacerbate the progression and transmission of HIV/ AIDS. Thus there h... more Mental health concerns can exacerbate the progression and transmission of HIV/ AIDS. Thus there have been calls for increased research and integration of mental health care into HIV/AIDS treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease has reached pandemic levels. This qualitative study analyzed the open-ended survey responses of 181 individuals providing HIV/AIDS counseling in Botswana. Several themes emerged regarding the professional identity of counselors, risk of burnout, working conditions and needed resources, the process and provision of counseling in Botswana, as well as training and supervision issues. Implications and recommendations for practice and advocacy are discussed.
Talanta, 2008
Amino acids with different chemical structures have different abilities in terms of increasing th... more Amino acids with different chemical structures have different abilities in terms of increasing the intensity of chemiluminescence (CL) of tris(2,2bipyridine)ruthenium(II) [Ru(bpy) 3 2+ ]. In a flow system, CL caused by the reaction between Ru(bpy) 3 3+ and 15 amino acids was observed, but only tryptophan (Trp) and histidine (His) enhanced the intensity obviously, and so the CL of Trp and His and their molecular groups was studied. A calculation of the ionization potentials (IPs) of their N atom indicated that the CL intensities of these compounds depended on their IPs. In addition, the flow system was used for the determination of Trp and His, and the detection limits were 3 × 10 −8 mol L −1 for His and 2.5 × 10 −9 mol L −1 for Trp. The calibration curves for the two amino acids were 1.0 × 10 −7 to 5.0 × 10 −3 mol L −1 for His and 1.0 × 10 −8 to 1.0 × 10 −4 mol L −1 for Trp. The proposed approach was applied to the determination of His in Ganoderma.
High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Determination of Quinolizidine Alkaloids in Radix Sophora Flavescens Using Tris(2,2?-Bipyridyl)Ruthenium(II) Electrochemiluminescence
Microchimica Acta, 2004
Analytica Chimica Acta, 2002
Electrogenerated chemiluminescences (ECLs) based on tris(2,2 -bipyridine)ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy) 3... more Electrogenerated chemiluminescences (ECLs) based on tris(2,2 -bipyridine)ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy) 3 2+ ) and lupin alkaloids, for instance, sophoridine (SRI), matrine (MT), sophoranol (SR) and sophocarpine (SC) in an aqueous alkaline buffer solution (pH 9.0) are studied. The light emission is mainly caused by an electro-oxidation reaction between tertiary amino group on the alkaloid compounds and Ru(bpy) 3 2+ in a thin layer flow cell equipped with a glassy carbon disc electrode (22.1 mm 2 ) at the potential of +1.50 V (versus Ag/AgCl). The luminescence wavelength of 610 nm confirmed that ECL is caused by Ru(bpy) 3 2+ * to its ground state. ECL intensities of these lupin alkaloids are affected by the substituent character, three-dimensional conformation of hydrogen on -carbon atom. Ionization potentials taken from calculation data further confirm the experimental results. In addition, the factors affecting the determination and HPLC separation of the four alkaloids are also investigated.
Fluorescent response of sol–gel derived ormosils for optical ammonia sensing film
Analytica Chimica Acta, 2004
... The stock standard ammonia solution was prepared by dissolving ammonium chloride in 0.1 mol l... more ... The stock standard ammonia solution was prepared by dissolving ammonium chloride in 0.1 mol l −1 sodium phosphate buffer of pH 8.0. The concentration of free ammonia was calculated by the Henderson–Hasselbach equation, which at pH 8.0 and 25 °C is: 2.2. Apparatus. ...
Doctoral Dissertation by Peiwei Li
Self development toward freedom: Understanding self, identity, spirituality, and emancipatory interest.
This dissertation study focuses on self-development, its connection to spiritual development, and... more This dissertation study focuses on self-development, its connection to spiritual development, and how it relates to the ideas of emancipation and freedom. It features new insights on this topic across three intersecting aspects: a meta-theoretical understanding, a critical qualitative inquiry, and a methodological reflection. Its theoretical contribution centers on the reconstruction of a social theory on self and identity development based on critical theory (i.e., Habermas, 1971, 1981), Hegelian insights (i.e., Hegel, 1977), and Buddhist teachings (i.e., Zen Buddhism). My key argument is that self and identity are intersubjectively structured and maintained. Self-development involves dialectical movements and is oriented toward emancipation and freedom to become and be certain about its true nature.
In my empirical investigation I applied critical qualitative methodology (i.e., Carspecken, 1996) to explore the self and spiritual development of four participants who had engaged in long-term spiritual practice in an open and reflective manner. My main research question is: How are emancipatory interests, in the sense introduced by Habermas (1971), and freedom understood and experienced by people during their journey of self-development and spiritual development? The primary data resource consists of a series of five open-ended interviews with each participant, and I used thematic, reconstructive, and structural analysis to identify themes, movements, and underlying structures and narrative patterns. I discovered that all participants did indeed think of their lives in terms of a process of growth with major movements, which led me to explicate those movements and their personal theories related to the core concepts of self, truth, and freedom. Those analyses then support an overarching discussion of themes across participants, as well as an examination of the interactions between participants’ insights and the meta-theory.
Regarding methodological development I investigated the nature of emancipatory knowledge, a fundamental aspect that has stayed largely under-recognized in social inquiry. In particular, I examined the concept of validity in relation to emancipatory knowledge, and how validity can be understood with more precision and depth when it’s situated in critical epistemology. I also explored the capacity of qualitative inquiry to facilitate the emancipatory potential of the participants and the researchers.
Book Chapers by Peiwei Li
Zen and Psychotherapy.
Handbook of Zen, Mindfulness, and Behavioral Health
In recent years there has been an unprecedented influence of Zen Buddhism in Western psychology a... more In recent years there has been an unprecedented influence of Zen Buddhism in Western psychology and psychotherapy. On the surface the two disciplines seem incompatible: Psychotherapy wants to develop the self, whereas Zen tries to get rid of the self. Many may wonder where Buddhism, a 2500 years old Eastern religion, and psychotherapy, a Western invention of psychological treatment, converge and diverge? In this chapter, Peiwei Li, Ph.D. of Springfield College, and Daniel Rodriguez Ramirez, M.Ed of University of California Santa Cruz aim to entertain this very question and provide a multi-layered critical reflection and epistemological critique. We will first provide a brief historical sketch about the synergy between Zen and psychotherapy, which lead to a discussion on a few key concepts that draw resonance and dissonance between Zen and psychotherapy. We argue that although the two traditions grew out of drastically diverging historical roots and manifest in varying forms, they share underlying understanding and aims related to the nature of the self and the process of self-development toward liberation. Grounded in this overarching vision, we will feature specific examples of their cross-fertilization drawing from classical psychotherapy orientations as well as representatives of contemporary mindfulness-based psychotherapy movements. We also include a brief clinical case discussion to illustrate how a Zen informed therapy process might unfold in practice. This chapter will be concluded with a critical examination of the larger sociocultural contexts and system imperatives that might have simultaneously given rise to the popularity of Zen in psychotherapy while subjected it to truncation and objectification.
Conference papers by Peiwei Li
Evidence-Based Practice” from 1993 to 2014: A critical discourse analysis on diverging meanings, discursive effects, and issues of accountability.
“Evidence-based practice” (EBP) has become a buzzword in the field of counseling psychology in th... more “Evidence-based practice” (EBP) has become a buzzword in the field of counseling psychology in the past few decades. Emerging from the increasing demands for accountability from the public, the call to close the gap between research and practice, and the needs to compete with psychiatrists for resources to treat mental illness (Chambless et al, 1993; Reed & Eisman, 2006; McHugh & Barlow, 2010), evidence-based practice quickly becomes a dominant discourse shaping the thoughts and decisions of scholars, practitioners, policy makers, and so on.
Responding to this trend, the American Psychological Association (APA) has created task forces to address related issues and has published two major report articles (i.e., Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological procedures, 1995, and its updates; APA Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice, 2006). The one published in 1995 adheres to the positivist tradition and emphasizes the importance for practitioners to strictly follow treatment manuals supported by results of controlled outcome studies in order to minimize variations among practitioners.
Meanwhile, the other paper (2006) focuses on practitioners’ clinical expertise and ability to integrate the best available research evidence and various contextualized factors in their clinical decision making process. Notably, the former paper gives practitioners significantly less autonomy and power to make clinical decisions than the later, and these two papers are grounded in different views about counselors’ accountability and responsibility. Since APA is the main governing professional organization in counseling psychology and has crucial influence on scholarship, clinical practice, and policy making, we used these two articles as benchmarks to examine the discursive effects of the EBP movement in changing and shaping scholarly conceptions of counselors’ responsibility and accountability.
The objective of this study is twofold. First, guided by Foucault’s post-structuralist theory (Foucault, 1977, 1988), we examined the discourses related to the meanings of “evidence” and EBP, backgrounded in journal articles that cite the aforementioned two articles. Second, we focused on illuminating researchers’ changing conceptualization of counselors’ responsibility and accountability, with the hope that this illumination would lead us to a deeper exploration of counselors’ subjectivity. In light of Foucault’s theory, subjectivity is understood in this project as the effects of discursive practice on individual social actors. EBP as a discursive practice generates contesting meaning of counselors’ responsibility and accountability, which simultaneously redefines the boundaries of counselors’ agency and shapes their subjectivity.
Articles cited these two articles between 1993 and 2014 are identified for a critical discourse analysis. We focused on describing and interpreting the context related to how the researchers cited the two articles and provided possible explanations about the purposes of those citations. Based on the results of this analysis, we inferred how those researchers understood the practitioners’ accountability and responsibility; such discourses in turn give rise to a new subjectivity of the practitioners. Based on these findings, we provide critical reflection and critiques on historical development of and the current discourse on EBP and suggestions for future scholarly dialogues on this important issue.
Enlightenment on the Couch: Compassion and Transformation in Zen and Psychology.
With 2,500 years of history and more than 500 million believers across the world (Pew Research, 2... more With 2,500 years of history and more than 500 million believers across the world (Pew Research, 2012), Buddhism has begun to find fertile ground in the West during the past few decades. Buddhist philosophy and practice have inspired a new movement in psychology, featuring vibrant interdisciplinary research on contemplative and neurological studies, as well as the “third wave” of behavioral psychotherapy initiated by the advancement of Acceptance Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and mindfulness-based psychotherapies (Kahl, Winter, & Schweiger, 2012).
Furthermore, ideas rooted in Buddhism increasingly intersect with mainstream Western culture against the backdrop of a surge in anxiety and a growing search for meaning not provided by technological advancement. Therefore, Buddhism bears insights and implications for the understanding and practice of psychology in a global society, as well as the development of multicultural competency in training.
Within this context, we present a dialogue between a Zen Buddhist priest and a counseling psychologist with the intention of exploring the intersections and synergy between Buddhism and psychology and psychotherapy. We chose a dialogical form to honor the conference theme of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. Given the limited scope of the presentation, we will offer a brief overview of three core concepts in Zen Buddhism (compassion, transformation, and enlightenment) and discuss their corollaries in psychology. We believe the Buddhist understanding of these concepts complements the values and mission of psychotherapy for self-development and liberation. We will discuss how each concept could manifest in the contexts of therapeutic healing, teaching, and training, and share some observations and recommendations based on our professional experiences.
The Complexity of Racism and White Privilege: A critical analysis of the double-edged experience of East Asian international students.
On November 20, 2014, Peter Liang, a NYPD, shot a young African American man, Akai Gurley. Unlike... more On November 20, 2014, Peter Liang, a NYPD, shot a young African American man, Akai Gurley. Unlike the White polices involved in Michael Brown’s and Eric Gardner’s case, Liang was charged. This case sparked protests among Chinese communities as an incident of racism, whereas the undercurrent of internalized White privilege was left unchecked. This complex dynamic of racism and privilege is also relevant to East Asian international students. While being subject to frequent racist experiences, many may also hold economic privilege and internalized White privilege toward other racial minorities. We thus consider this a fertile ground for more nuanced understanding about the intricate dynamics of race, class, and privilege in a transnational and diaspora context (Bhatia and Ram, 2009).
Current literature on international students has largely situated them as passive actors subject to cultural influences such as acculturation, discrimination, and prejudice (e.g. Duru & Poyrazli, 2011; Lee & Ahn, 2011). We argue that those inquiries can be expanded with a new critical horizon through examining how internalized privilege and racism may intersect with the intergroup dynamics among racial minorities. In this critical narrative inquiry guided by critical theory (i.e. Habermas, 1981; McCoy & Rodricks, 2015), we reify this vision through exploring East Asian international students’ experiences and perceptions related to: 1) How racism and privilege manifest in their experiences and perceptions, if any? 2) How their perceptions of “race” may change during cross-cultural experiences? We found a bi-directional dynamics of racism experienced by our participants in relation to other racial groups - a hidden manifestation of White privilege intermingled with experienced racism and prejudice. This creates a double-edged experience of White privilege for the participants. This has important implications for advancing understanding on how White privilege operates to separate people of color, and thus offer insight to better battle it.
When Culture, Race and Gender Collide: A Critical Narrative Inquiry of “Intercultural” Romantic Relationships.
This paper examines how the intricate dynamics of culture, race, and gender manifest in intercult... more This paper examines how the intricate dynamics of culture, race, and gender manifest in intercultural relationships based on empirical findings from a critical narrative inquiry. Intercultural relationships provide a rich context to dynamically examine intercultural (mis)communication, multiple cultural identities, the influence of racial history, cultural practices and beliefs, and gender norms. However, current literature in psychology has largely approached this phenomenon from a traditional cross-cultural framework that tends to be flat and lacks critical analysis on issues of power and privilege. This critical narrative inquiry aims to add a critical angle to challenge and expand this horizon.
Guided by Critical Qualitative Methodology (Carspecken, 1996), this approach draws on Habermasian critical epistemology (Habermas, 1981) that foregrounds the relationships of knowledge and power. In-depth interviews with eight intercultural couples, discussion groups, artifacts and participants’ journals constitute the primary data for analysis. Through critical event analysis (Reissman, 2007), thematic analysis (Rosenthal, 2006), and reconstructive analysis (Carspecken, 1996), we explicate the rather fluid process of how intercultural couples navigate their cultural identities in a given cultural context and how those couples are subject to and simultaneously resist internalized cultural and gender norms including White and male privilege as they shape their identities and experiences.
At the Junction of Epistemological Concerns, Research Ethics, and Validity: Opening up a Dialogue and Meta-reflection.
This paper wrestles with the intersection of epistemological and ethical concerns converged on th... more This paper wrestles with the intersection of epistemological and ethical concerns converged on the issue of validity. What does good research look like? This question taps into the epistemological and ethical domains of research. It compels us to surface assumptions related to researcher’s values and responsibilities (e.g. Fine, Weis, Weseen, & Wong, 2000; Lather, 1986a), issues of representation (e.g. Romero & Walker, 2010), positionality and power (Fine, 1994), reflexivity (Lather, 1993), and the sociocultural political conditions that restrain and facilitate research actions - as well as research’s potential to either reproduce or transform those conditions (Giddens, 1979). I thus argue that ethics is an important epistemological concern in knowledge production, and is inherent to validity.
Regarding ethics and validity, scholars have established a fertile ground to conceptualize sound and ethical research praxis. Lather’s (1986b) notion of catalytic validity directly confronts positivist notion of “neutrality” and channels critical pedagogy’s (Freire, 1973) emphasis on the relevance of transformative potential and responsibility of researchers to engage in consciousness raising. Dennis (2013) took a dialogical approach to emphasize the crucial characteristics of validity toward openness and egalitarian basing Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action (Habermas, 1984; 1987). In particular, Teo (2008; 2010; 2011) coined the term epistemological violence to capture the form of violence when data interpretation in the name of “knowledge” and “science” perpetuates the inferiority of the Other and does harm when viable alternative interpretations are available. Those concepts cut into the center of ethics and the epistemological responsibility for the researchers.
This paper aims to provide a conversation starter by forging those meta-level epistemological concerns related to research ethics and validity. I hope to engage scholars from similar and different epistemological traditions and methodological practices, to dialogue and reflect on issues related to research conceptualization, process, representation, and impact on the ethical ground.
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Peer-reviewed articles by Peiwei Li
when individuals are transformed as the result of some experience? What criteria or principles might be used to assess
the validity of claims made about transformation? We suggest that validity in this context—what we call transformative
validity—must transcend existing understandings that emphasize validity as a “thing” to be “achieved.” Instead, we introduce
a new conceptualization of validity to the qualitative inquiry community: We suggest that transformative validity is best
conceptualized as a process that centers intersubjectivity, dialogue, and recognition and is always open and rooted in
uncertainty.
Doctoral Dissertation by Peiwei Li
In my empirical investigation I applied critical qualitative methodology (i.e., Carspecken, 1996) to explore the self and spiritual development of four participants who had engaged in long-term spiritual practice in an open and reflective manner. My main research question is: How are emancipatory interests, in the sense introduced by Habermas (1971), and freedom understood and experienced by people during their journey of self-development and spiritual development? The primary data resource consists of a series of five open-ended interviews with each participant, and I used thematic, reconstructive, and structural analysis to identify themes, movements, and underlying structures and narrative patterns. I discovered that all participants did indeed think of their lives in terms of a process of growth with major movements, which led me to explicate those movements and their personal theories related to the core concepts of self, truth, and freedom. Those analyses then support an overarching discussion of themes across participants, as well as an examination of the interactions between participants’ insights and the meta-theory.
Regarding methodological development I investigated the nature of emancipatory knowledge, a fundamental aspect that has stayed largely under-recognized in social inquiry. In particular, I examined the concept of validity in relation to emancipatory knowledge, and how validity can be understood with more precision and depth when it’s situated in critical epistemology. I also explored the capacity of qualitative inquiry to facilitate the emancipatory potential of the participants and the researchers.
Book Chapers by Peiwei Li
Conference papers by Peiwei Li
Responding to this trend, the American Psychological Association (APA) has created task forces to address related issues and has published two major report articles (i.e., Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological procedures, 1995, and its updates; APA Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice, 2006). The one published in 1995 adheres to the positivist tradition and emphasizes the importance for practitioners to strictly follow treatment manuals supported by results of controlled outcome studies in order to minimize variations among practitioners.
Meanwhile, the other paper (2006) focuses on practitioners’ clinical expertise and ability to integrate the best available research evidence and various contextualized factors in their clinical decision making process. Notably, the former paper gives practitioners significantly less autonomy and power to make clinical decisions than the later, and these two papers are grounded in different views about counselors’ accountability and responsibility. Since APA is the main governing professional organization in counseling psychology and has crucial influence on scholarship, clinical practice, and policy making, we used these two articles as benchmarks to examine the discursive effects of the EBP movement in changing and shaping scholarly conceptions of counselors’ responsibility and accountability.
The objective of this study is twofold. First, guided by Foucault’s post-structuralist theory (Foucault, 1977, 1988), we examined the discourses related to the meanings of “evidence” and EBP, backgrounded in journal articles that cite the aforementioned two articles. Second, we focused on illuminating researchers’ changing conceptualization of counselors’ responsibility and accountability, with the hope that this illumination would lead us to a deeper exploration of counselors’ subjectivity. In light of Foucault’s theory, subjectivity is understood in this project as the effects of discursive practice on individual social actors. EBP as a discursive practice generates contesting meaning of counselors’ responsibility and accountability, which simultaneously redefines the boundaries of counselors’ agency and shapes their subjectivity.
Articles cited these two articles between 1993 and 2014 are identified for a critical discourse analysis. We focused on describing and interpreting the context related to how the researchers cited the two articles and provided possible explanations about the purposes of those citations. Based on the results of this analysis, we inferred how those researchers understood the practitioners’ accountability and responsibility; such discourses in turn give rise to a new subjectivity of the practitioners. Based on these findings, we provide critical reflection and critiques on historical development of and the current discourse on EBP and suggestions for future scholarly dialogues on this important issue.
Furthermore, ideas rooted in Buddhism increasingly intersect with mainstream Western culture against the backdrop of a surge in anxiety and a growing search for meaning not provided by technological advancement. Therefore, Buddhism bears insights and implications for the understanding and practice of psychology in a global society, as well as the development of multicultural competency in training.
Within this context, we present a dialogue between a Zen Buddhist priest and a counseling psychologist with the intention of exploring the intersections and synergy between Buddhism and psychology and psychotherapy. We chose a dialogical form to honor the conference theme of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. Given the limited scope of the presentation, we will offer a brief overview of three core concepts in Zen Buddhism (compassion, transformation, and enlightenment) and discuss their corollaries in psychology. We believe the Buddhist understanding of these concepts complements the values and mission of psychotherapy for self-development and liberation. We will discuss how each concept could manifest in the contexts of therapeutic healing, teaching, and training, and share some observations and recommendations based on our professional experiences.
Current literature on international students has largely situated them as passive actors subject to cultural influences such as acculturation, discrimination, and prejudice (e.g. Duru & Poyrazli, 2011; Lee & Ahn, 2011). We argue that those inquiries can be expanded with a new critical horizon through examining how internalized privilege and racism may intersect with the intergroup dynamics among racial minorities. In this critical narrative inquiry guided by critical theory (i.e. Habermas, 1981; McCoy & Rodricks, 2015), we reify this vision through exploring East Asian international students’ experiences and perceptions related to: 1) How racism and privilege manifest in their experiences and perceptions, if any? 2) How their perceptions of “race” may change during cross-cultural experiences? We found a bi-directional dynamics of racism experienced by our participants in relation to other racial groups - a hidden manifestation of White privilege intermingled with experienced racism and prejudice. This creates a double-edged experience of White privilege for the participants. This has important implications for advancing understanding on how White privilege operates to separate people of color, and thus offer insight to better battle it.
Guided by Critical Qualitative Methodology (Carspecken, 1996), this approach draws on Habermasian critical epistemology (Habermas, 1981) that foregrounds the relationships of knowledge and power. In-depth interviews with eight intercultural couples, discussion groups, artifacts and participants’ journals constitute the primary data for analysis. Through critical event analysis (Reissman, 2007), thematic analysis (Rosenthal, 2006), and reconstructive analysis (Carspecken, 1996), we explicate the rather fluid process of how intercultural couples navigate their cultural identities in a given cultural context and how those couples are subject to and simultaneously resist internalized cultural and gender norms including White and male privilege as they shape their identities and experiences.
Regarding ethics and validity, scholars have established a fertile ground to conceptualize sound and ethical research praxis. Lather’s (1986b) notion of catalytic validity directly confronts positivist notion of “neutrality” and channels critical pedagogy’s (Freire, 1973) emphasis on the relevance of transformative potential and responsibility of researchers to engage in consciousness raising. Dennis (2013) took a dialogical approach to emphasize the crucial characteristics of validity toward openness and egalitarian basing Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action (Habermas, 1984; 1987). In particular, Teo (2008; 2010; 2011) coined the term epistemological violence to capture the form of violence when data interpretation in the name of “knowledge” and “science” perpetuates the inferiority of the Other and does harm when viable alternative interpretations are available. Those concepts cut into the center of ethics and the epistemological responsibility for the researchers.
This paper aims to provide a conversation starter by forging those meta-level epistemological concerns related to research ethics and validity. I hope to engage scholars from similar and different epistemological traditions and methodological practices, to dialogue and reflect on issues related to research conceptualization, process, representation, and impact on the ethical ground.