Candidate Statements

STATEMENTS BY CANDIDATES FOR DIVISION OFFICES 2007

PRESIDENT-ELECT

Eduardo I. Diaz, PhD

My candidacy is based on a vision that we have a duty to facilitate the transformation of Peace Psychology research into language that is readily usable by non-psychologists implementing social action initiatives. I have spent many years in the trenches of our domestic justice system, addressing both victims and offenders. I am a Peace Psychology practitioner that is dedicated to serve the poor, disadvantaged and those otherwise victimized by structural violence.

As Executive Director of Miami-Dade County's Independent Review Panel (IRP), I have grown to appreciate the mandate to do "external community fact-finding and dispute resolution" in a manner that values proactive efforts towards violence reduction, community building and constructive conflict actions. I partnered with the Miami-Dade Police Department and the local Community Relations Board to implement the Firm, Fair and Friendly: Police Community Relations Leadership Program. I respect adversarial processes but I am also a strong advocate of restorative justice models of accountability.

Subsequent to a mild heart attack, I have reassessed what is left for me to do and concluded that I want to see more Psychologists visible in the struggle for peace with justice, locally as well as nationally and internationally. If that vision speaks to your condition, I would appreciate your support.


JW P. Heuchert, PhD

I am honored to be nominated to be a candidate for President-Elect of our Division/Society. I have been affiliated with APA since the mid-1980's, but only felt "at home" when I joined the Peace Psychology Division. Since then I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to work for the division in many capacities. If elected as President, I will be pleased take on the greater responsibility for the fulfillment of our shared vision of local and global peace and social justice.

I serve as the editor of our newsletter - Peace Psychology, I serve on the division's Executive Committee, the Publication Committee and I served as the co-chair of the Convention Program for our 2004 meeting in Hawai'i. In these capacities I've been privileged to work with our dynamic leaders, and our dedicated members. I have always been impressed with our members' dedication to our cause of peace and social justice, and the amount of work our members accomplish. I will be pleased to continue to facilitate that work through developing and expanding our organization, and working towards fulfilling the division's strategic objectives. Through the excellent leadership of our division's current and past president's, COR representatives and other Executive Committee -, Working Group -, and committee members, Division 48 has grown in influence and stature. Expanding this legacy means that we need to continue:

I started out as an activist, but now I'm more an academic (teaching; research - peace and personality; writing - eg; a chapter in a recent PsySR book) and a clinician (conflict resolution, inner peace). As editor of Peace Psychology, I more than doubled the number of pages printed, and through a sponsorship, I managed to cut out our printing cost altogether. I have expanded the content to include academic articles and to be more diverse - focusing on a strong representation of women, traditionally underrepresented groups, more international issues and encouraging student members to contribute. I will continue in this vein and will use my experience to build our organization so that it will be a home for peace-minded activists and academics, students and seniors, locals and internationals. We live in a time where we need all hands on deck - that's where I'll be, and encourage others to be.



Representative to APA Council

Hector Betancourt, PhD

Hector Betancourt holds a Ph.D. from UCLA (1983), is a professor of Psychology at Loma Linda University, California, and Universidad de La Frontera, Chile. His main academic interests are the psychological study of peace, conflict and violence, as well as the role of culture and behavior in health inequities. He is a member of APA since 1986 and a Fellow since 2002. As a member of Division 48 Dr. Betancourt has served as Division president, Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee, Chair of the scientific program committee for APA convention, and chair of the Taskforce on Ethnicity. He has also served as SPSSI council member, and PsySR steering committee member and has been in the board of international organizations such as the Inter-American Society of Psychology. As a Division 48 representative to the APA Council of Representatives he would be interested in promoting a more active role of APA in advancing peace and dealing with issues related to the violations of Human Rights. He believes that APA could contribute more than it has done recently to prevent the use of psychology in war related activities such as interrogations, torture, and the "manipulation" of an uninformed public to support war. Division 48 and its members have a great deal to contribute to any APA effort in this area and, if elected, it would be his privilege to contribute in this area. At the same time, he would work with the representatives of other divisions, such as the "divisions for social justice" to enhance APA's support for academic and professional activities relevant to our commitment to social responsibility.


Corann Okorordudu, EdD

I am a professor of developmental psychology at Rowan University where I have served as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and coordinated programs on African American Studies, Women's Studies, and multicultural curriculum transformation.

In seeking re-election as Representative of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence (APA Division 48), I look forward to building upon the challenging but productive past three years of service in that role with Judith Van Hoorn. Working with the Division's Executive Committee, the Divisions for Social Justice, and an alliance within the APA Council of Representatives, we were able to support a number of peace and social justice-related actions of Council and instrumental in developing and presenting the Division's recently approved New Business Item as APA policy: The "2006 APA Resolution Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment."

My previous APA governance experience includes service as: Chair of the Committee on International Perspectives on the Psychology of Women of APA Division 35; Chair of CIRP; President of Division 48; Member of APA's Committee on the Structure and Function of Council; Main UN Representative for APA Division 9 (SPSSI) and Main UN Representative who contributed to the development of APA's successful application for UN accreditation. If elected, I will continue to represent Division 48's strategic goals of promoting the study and implementation of peace and social justice on both national and international levels within the APA Council of Representatives.


Albert Valencia, EdD

No statement submitted


Judith L. Van Hoorn, PhD

As Division 48 Representative to the Council of Representatives for one term I have worked actively to make peace and social justice issues more central to Council's agenda. I ask for your support to be elected for a second term.

I have been involved in the division for many years, engaged first in working groups and as program chair, truly a full-time position. I am a past president of the Division and have served on the Executive Committee for six years. Since its inception, I've been an advisory board member of our journal, Peace and Conflict. I am a Fellow of the Division.

The Council of Representatives is APA's policy-making body. As COR representatives, Corann Okorodudu and I work together to represent the Division regarding APA policy and practice. At each Council session, we participate in various Caucuses and meet with representatives from the Divisions for Social Justice (DSJ) to build support for peace and social justice agenda items. We have spoken frequently on the floor of Council to underscore Division 48's positions, not only on issues of direct violence, but issues of structural violence, such as poverty and discrimination. In addition to co-sponsoring various resolutions and actions, we have been "movers" for the following resolution and task force proposals:

  1. American Psychological Association 2006 Resolution Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Although APA had human rights resolutions, this general resolution serves as the umbrella APA policy statement. It is the first to emphasize APA's role and responsibilities as a NGO at the U.N. and, consequently, places UN Conventions and relevant international human rights instruments at the heart of APA policy (written with Linda Woolf and the assistance of numerous members of this division.) The items below draw upon the 2006 Resolution. Note: It was intended that subsequent resolutions would address specific contexts. For example, I am one of the co-sponsors of a resolution under consideration that calls upon APA to support a moratorium on psychologists' participation as interrogators at U.S. detention centers.

  2. A proposal for the establishment of a Task Force on the Psychosocial Effects of War on Children and Families who are Refugees in the U.S. (written with Linda Woolf). We collaborated with representatives from the Division of School Psychology (Division16) who joined us as the "movers" of this action. (In-Progress)

  3. A proposal for the establishment for a Task Force on Alleviating the Psychological Risk Factors for Immigrants. We joined representatives from the Society for the Psychology of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45) and the representative from Puerto Rico as movers of this proposal. (In-Progress)

In addition to my work with Division 48, I have been active in international, national, and local organizations to promote peace and justice. I am past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility and a member of the Steering Committee. My scholarship has focused on peace psychology as it relates to children's development. I have co-authored many publications and several books, the latest published in 2006.



MEMBER AT LARGE

Judy B. Kuriansky, PhD, Columbia University Teachers College Department of Clinical Psychology

With war so prevalent in our lives today, Division 48 is more important than ever - to members, potential members, APA and the public. That's why I would be honored and devoted to serve as Member at Large for the division. As the Division's Member-at-Large, I would:

  1. represent members' interests on the Executive Committee;

  2. undertake responsibilities, tasks or projects to further the Division's mission, including on issues like increasing membership, involving students, highlighting member's work, defining the division stance on topics like treatment of prisoners, torture, and related issues.

  3. contribute to the division as media liaison, developing projects to feature the work of division members.

I am very dedicated to the mission and growth of the division and to colleagues in the division and have fully enjoyed my role as media advisor. The Katrina fundraiser Joan Gildemeister and I developed for Division 48, presented at APA in New Orleans, was highly successful and received great appreciation from state officials in supporting wellness workshops for hurricane survivors. It is a good model of how the division can serve the community and further trauma recovery and social welfare.

As Member-at-Large for the division, I can utilize my extensive experience working on professional association boards, including as Member at Large for the Committee on Mental Health of the United Nations NGO./ Department of Public Information; main representative to the United Nations for two international organizations; past president of the American Women in Radio and Television in New York and Foundation Board co-chair; as well as Board member of various public interest groups.

The mission of our Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence coincides with my life work, starting from the age of eight when my parents asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said, "I want to work for world peace." For many years, I have done disaster relief around the country and the world; participated on world councils about disaster prevention and intervention; done research projects about recovery post 9'11, post SARS in China and post-tsunami in Sri Lanka; and written many articles about peace and trauma recovery, as well as two books about peacebuilding in the Middle East. In my dedication to that childhood dream, I have done seminars and workshops about peacebuilding and reconciliation around the world, from South America to Asia, and from Israel to Iran and India. In my role at the United Nations, I have created cooperations with important disaster risk reduction programs, lobbied world governments about mental health, and moderated many panels about global security, including on "Achieving Collective Security: Partnerships to prevent fear, violence, genocide, and terrorism through targeting the MDG goals." Besides clinical work and research, I am very involved in mentoring and teaching, and supervise many student projects related to peace, including supporting student participation in APA activities and world conferences related to peacebuilding. This perspective fuels my dedication to the mission of Division 48 which I would serve as Member-at-Large.


Virginia V. Ryan, MS (ABD)

If elected, I will happily bring my experience as the oldest living graduate student interested in violence prevention to Division 48 as Member at Large.

For the past seven years, I have served on the board of Healthy Capital District Initiative in Albany, NY. This group of health providers: hospitals, HMOs, health departments and county government in the tri-county region, determined that violence was among four top health problems in the area.

As an associate professor of psychology at the Sage Colleges, I was invited to chair a team promoting violence prevention. Two activities that generated public response were three years of region-wide "Two Weeks of Nonviolence" in which schools and other institutions sponsored activities devoted to violence reduction and three years of Global Challenge in which local schools showcased original song and dance routines depicting how students can overcome violence in schools.

Simultaneously, I have been involved in APA's ACT Against Violence, a violence-prevention training program teaching adults to model nonviolent behavior as they discipline children, help them to manage anger, solve conflict, and counter the effects of media violence. I have participated in APA's nation-wide evaluation of "Parents Raising Safe Kids", an eight-week violence-prevention parent-training program in which preliminary findings show attitude change against spanking as the discipline method of choice.

Recognizing that raising safe children requires safe communities, I intend to promote awareness that violence is a serious public health problem requiring united community effort providing evidence-based violence prevention programs.


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