Peace Psychology
Peace psychology seeks to apply psychosocial principles to prevent and mitigate direct, structural, and cultural violence and promote harmony and equity in human relations. Two waves of peace psychology research and practice can be delineated. The first wave generated concepts, themes, and perspectives aimed at the prevention of nuclear war and mitigation of intractable conflicts characterized by repeated cycles of violence. The second wave enlarged the scope of peace psychology to include the amelioration of structural violence, the kind of violence that afflicts most of the world’s population and kills people slowly through the deprivation of life-extending human need satisfaction. The most recent iteration of the second wave addresses the cultural violence visited upon formerly colonized countries and calls for the development of theory and praxis informed by emancipatory methodologies.