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Progress and Challenges in Latin American Psychology

Document elaborated by

Germán Gutiérrez Vice- President - Colombian College of Psychologists

Maria Luisa Ramírez Deputy Director Professional Development and International Affairs

© Colegio Colombiano de Psicólogos

Bogotá, Colombia, 2016

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................... 04

ORGANIZERS .......................................................................................................................................... 08

Local organizers .............................................................................................................................. 09

International Auspice ...................................................................................................................... 10

International Collaboration .............................................................................................................. 11

COMMITTEES .......................................................................................................................................... 12

Regional Academic Committee....................................................................................................... 13

National Academic Committee ....................................................................................................... 15

CAPACITY BUILDING .............................................................................................................................. 16

Capacity Building Agenda ................................................................................................................ 17

Participating Insitutions .................................................................................................................. 18

ROUNDTABLES ...................................................................................................................................... 20

Organizational Capacities ................................................................................................................ 21

Professional Quality ........................................................................................................................ 24

Social Impact ................................................................................................................................... 28

International Visibility ...................................................................................................................... 31

Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 34

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................ 36

Armenia, Colombia Declaration ...................................................................................................... 37

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INTRODUCTION

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Countries in the Latin American region show ample variability in terms of scientific and professional

development, legal status, societal roles and the recognition of Psychology. Some countries have a

long history and strength in these areas whilst others are beginning a process of institutional

consolidation, quality of training and social recognition. Psychologists in Latin America are

increasingly expected to respond to a growing need for psychological services related to health

issues, the lack of education opportunities, social inequality as well as different types of violence,

amongst others, that permeate most countries in the region. 1

The capacity of the psychological community to adequately respond to these demands can at times

be limited by available resources and also by structural factors, legal recognition (or the lack of it)

and the little participation of psychologists in political and technical aspects of policy-making and

program development.

The International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), the International Association of Applied

Psychology (IAAP), and the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP), have

recognized the need to consolidate these and other processes that will enhance the role of

Psychology in diverse societies around the world and a capacity building program has been

developed to fulfill the derived objectives from this need. Thus, in 2014 the Colombian College of

Psychologists received a proposal to organize the 1st Latin American Regional Conference of

Psychology. In the past, similar regional conferences have been organized in China (1995) , South

Africa (1999), India (2001) , United Arab Emirates (2003), Thailand (2005), Jordan (2007), Bulgaria

(2009), Bahamas (2011) and Uganda (2013).

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first meeting that has addressed organizational issues in

professional psychology within the region. National and regional organizations have promoted

important meetings with useful given results. A number of regional organizations such as the

Sociedad Interamericana de Psicología (SIP), the Federación Iberoamericana de Asociaciones de

Psicología (FIAP), and Sinergia, created by the Asociación para el Avance de la Ciencia Psicológica,

have encouraged common understandings and have suggested courses of action. The results,

however, have not been sustained over time, and consequently, there is a need for a more

organized response. Additionally, these meetings have usually discussed the issues of interest of

some countries in the region, and a significant number of countries have not been able to participate

due to organizational or financial issues.

Under the aegis of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), in collaboration with

the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) and the International Association for

Cross - Cultural Psychology (IACCP) the 1st Latin American Regional Conference and the Colombian

1 Gutiérrez, G. & Ramírez, M. L. (2015). El Colegio Colombiano de Psicólogos en el contexto internacional. Noticolpsic, 6, 8-10. http://www.colpsic.org.co/aym_image/files/NotiColpsic%202015.pdf.

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Congress of Psychology took place, organized by the Colombian College of Psychologists (COLPSIC)

and the Colombian Association of Psychology Faculties (ASCOFAPSI) in Armenia, Colombia from

September 2nd to 5th , 2015.

There were around 2,400 attendees from 23 countries. In addition to representatives from countries

in the Latin American region, there were participants from Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan,

South Africa, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States, among other countries. The

academic program included about 800 papers; 60 national and international conferences, 10

debates, 71 symposiums, 54 oral communications, 317 posters and 18 pre-congress workshops that

display the academic production taking place in universities and other governmental and non -

governmental organizations.

The Capacity Building Agenda was held during the Congress and sought to identify capacities, needs

and challenges of psychology in each Latin American country and to carry out specific actions that

promote organizational, professional and representative processes through collaboration among

representatives from a wide range of organizations and countries.

Before the conference, the representatives received reference materials related to the proposed

topics; for example, they received articles of professional organizations in the region and on the

methodology of the meeting.

For this agenda, any preconceived notions of the region were dismissed. It was important to let

countries define themselves as being part of Latin America. Leaders from all the countries around

continental Latin America, some countries in the Caribbean that defined themselves as part of the

region were invited. In many cases more than one organization from each country was invited to

participate. In other cases, individual leaders were invited when no organization was identified or

the invited organization did not respond after several attempts to summon them. Financial aid was

given to all participants who required it.

Representatives from 16 Latin American countries from 40 organizations were able to come

together and share joint experiences and to recognize similarities and differences, to identify their

capabilities, limitations and particular challenges, to look for collaborative strategies to create new

capacities and finally to propose joint actions. Roundtables were developed around relevant topics

related to psychology in the region: organizational capacities, professional quality, social impact and

international visibility.

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The methodology used during the roundtables was an adaptation of the goals set by the Capacity

Building program2 led by the International Union of Psychological Science and the strategies

proposed by the United Nations Development Programme3 :

1) Identifying and engaging actors: to identify leaders and regional organizations that represent

psychology in the region. In some cases, leaders with related functions were identified.

2) Recognizing capacities: to identify the capacities in the region in different thematic areas and to

contextualize the strategy to be used in the following stages taking into account the wide variety

of capacities.

3) Pinpointing needs and problems: to establish local and regional needs and problems; their

identification is key to be able to respond to them effectively.

4) Establishing initiatives and actions: to propose realistic, achievable and measurable actions in a

specific timeframe and with reasonable resource usage. In the future, these proposals are expected

to expand and demonstrate growth in the capacity building program.

5) Monitoring and evaluating actions: to monitor the proposed actions by the workgroup and

specifically by the coordinators.

Each roundtable was coordinated by two experts on a given subject, who organized the roundtable

and briefly presented the main problems in each area to be discussed as well as suggested a work

strategy during the sessions. There were two volunteers who recorded the discussion. There were

three sessions in total; two sessions were oriented by specific topics and the final one was a plenary

meeting with all the participants from the roundtables. Simultaneous translation (Spanish - English

- Spanish) was available during all sessions to facilitate the interaction between attendees.

The "Armenia, Colombia Declaration" was developed derived from the conclusions of the plenary

session.

2 http://www.iupsys.net/files/events-assets/Strategic%20Planning%20for%20Capacity%20Building%20Report%202011.pdf 3 United Nations Development Programme - UNDP (2009). Capacity Development: a UNDP primer. Taken from http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/capacitydevelopment/spanish/Capacity_Development_A_UNDP_Primer_Spanish.pdf

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ORGANIZATIONS

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LOCAL ORGANIZERS

Colombian College of Psychologists – Colpsic

President

Claudia María Sanín Velásquez

National Board Members

Leonidas Castro Camacho

Germán Gutiérrez

Olga Lucía Hoyos de los Ríos

Andrés Manuel Pérez Acosta

Martha Leonor Restrepo Forero

José María Rodríguez Valderrama

Juan Diego Tobón Lotero

Nancy Marina Vargas Espinosa

Colombian Association of Psychology Faculties – Ascofapsi

Board of Directors

President

Gonzalo Tamayo Giraldo

Executive Director

Martha Restrepo Forero

Vice-president

Diego Efrén Rodríguez Cárdenas

Past President

Juan de Jesús Guerrero Guerrero

Secretariat

Liliana Quiñonez Torres

Treasurer

Nohelia Hewitt Ramírez

Member Delegate

Diego Alveiro Restrepo Ochoa

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INTERNATIONAL AUSPICE

International Union of Psychological Science –IUPsyS

Executive Committee

Officers

President

Saths Cooper (South Africa)

Past-President

Rainer K. Silbereisen (Germany)

Vice-President

Tor Levin Hofgaard (Norway)

Secretary General

Ann Watts (South Africa)

Treasurer

Michel Sabourin (Canada)

Members

Oscar A. Barbarin (USA)

Laura Hernández-Guzmán (Mexico)

Pascal Huguet (France)

Pam Maras (UK)

Janak Pandey (India)

Alicia Salvador (Spain)

Kazuo Shigemasu (Japan)

Gonca Soygüt (Turkey)

Ava Thompson (Bahamas)

Jianxin Zhang (China)

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INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

International Association of Applied Psychology- IAAP

Board of Officers

President

Janel Gauthier (Canada)

President-Elect

Christine Roland-Levy (France)

Past-President

José M. Peiró (Spain)

Secretary-General

Buxin Han (China)

Treasurer

Lourdes Munduate (Spain)

Information Technology Coordinator

Milton D. Hakel (USA)

Divisions Coordinator

Lyn Littlefield (Australia)

Communications Coordinator

Christina Sue-Chan (Hong Kong)

International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology - IACCP

Executive Council

President

Patricia Greenfield (USA)

Past President

Yoshi Kashima (Australia)

President- Elect

Fons van de Vijver (Holand)

Secretary-General, Webmaster

William Gabrenya (USA)

Treasurer

Sharon Glazer (USA)

Deputy Secretary-General

David Lackland Sam (Norway)

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COMMITTEES

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REGIONAL ACADEMIC COMMITTEE

Regional Agenda Organization

Germán Gutiérrez (General Coordination)

Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Wilson López López

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

María Luisa Ramírez Rodríguez

Colegio Colombiano de Psicólogos - Colpsic

Assistance and Meeting Summary - Volunteers

Angélica Rodríguez Romero

Universidad de San Buenaventura - Ibagué

David Esteban Aponte Silva

Universidad de San Buenaventura- Medellín extensión Ibagué

Santiago Arboleda Ocampo

Universidad Católica de Colombia- Pereira

Valentina Bedoya Cadavid

Universidad de Manizales

Carlos Andrés López Benavidez

Universidad de San Buenaventura- Medellín

Blanca Nubia Osorio Buitrago

Universidad Antonio Nariño - Armenia

Luisa Daniela Pérez Marín

Universidad de Manizales

Manuela Rocha Ruíz

Universidad de San Buenaventura – Cali

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Liaisons for the Latin American Regional Conference of Psychology

Ava Thompson (Bahamas)

International Union of Psychological Science –IUPsyS

José María Peiró (Spain)

International Association of Applied Psychology- IAAP

Patricia Greenfield (USA)

International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology - IACCP

Members of the Regional Academic Committee

Rubén Ardila (Colombia)

Ezequiel Benito (Argentina)

Guillermo Bernal (Puerto Rico)

Alma Guisela Cárcamo Duarte (Guatemala)

Sandra Castañeda (Mexico)

Ricardo Gorayeb (Brazil)

Hugo Klappenbach (Argentina)

Silvia Koller (Brazil)

Omawole Amerulu Marshall (Republic of Guyana)

Milagros Méndez (Puerto Rico)

Luis Alfredo Padilla-López (Mexico)

Roberto Prado-Alcalá (Mexico)

Alexis Lorenzo Ruiz (Cuba)

Marion Schulmeyer (Bolivia)

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NATIONAL ACADEMIC COMMITTEE

Director

Martha Leonor Restrepo Forero

Asociación Colombiana de Facultades de Psicología - Ascofapsi

Members

María Constanza Aguilar Bustamante

Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino

Claudia Caycedo Espinel

Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz

Germán Gutiérrez

Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Alba Lucía Moreno Vela

Universidad Piloto de Colombia

Edwin Yair Oliveros Ariza

Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores

Julio Ponce de León

Universidad El Bosque

Diana Rodríguez Charry

Universidad Externado de Colombia

María Clara Rodríguez de Bernal

Colegio Colombiano de Psicólogos - Colpsic

Carlos Guillermo Vargas Ordóñez

Universidad Católica de Colombia

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CAPACITY BUILDING

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CAPACITY BUILDING AGENDA

The Capacity Building agenda seeks to assess the capacities of Latin American countries through the

cooperation between diverse national and regional organizations. It focuses on identifying the

needs and challenges of psychology in each country and aims to promote organizational,

professional and representation processes which can lead to the growth of psychology in the

region.

The purpose of the meeting was to promote the strengthening of capacities in Latin American

countries. Regional leaders took part in these sessions and a total of 74 participants, representatives

from 16 Latin American countries and 10 countries from other regions, participated in four

roundtables regarding various topics.

Their general objective was to enhance capacity building in the region by promoting a network of

psychologists. The specific objectives were to identify the capacities in the region as well as the

needs and problems in Latin America, to outline the role of Latin American psychology in a series of

topics and to lay out concrete actions to form initiatives in the region.

During the roundtables, there was a recognition of similarities and differences in the participating

countries regarding their capacities, needs and difficulties related to different thematic areas. Then,

joint actions were proposed to contribute to the effort of strengthening psychology in the region.

Finally, a Declaration was drafted to present the findings, agreements and commitments necessary

to continue working on the program at a national and regional level.

Participating countries from Latin America:

Argentina, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador,

Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

Participating countries from other regions:

Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United

States of America.

Organizing Country: Colombia

City: Armenia

Place: Armenia Hotel – Avenida Bolivar 8-67

Date: September 2nd, 4th and 5th 2015

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PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS

SCOPE / COUNTRY ORGANIZATIONS

INTERNATIONAL International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS)

International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP)

International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)

REGIONAL Sociedad Internamericana de Psicología (SIP)

Federación iberoamericana de Asociaciones de Psicología (FIAP)

Caribbean Alliance of National Psychological Associations (CANPA)

NATIONAL

Argentina Asociación Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento (AACC)

Asociación para el Avance de la Ciencia Psicológica (AACP)

Bolivia Fundación Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra (UPSA)

Brazil A Sociedade Brasileira de Psicologia (SBP)

Universidad Federal de Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)

Chile Universidad de Concepción (UDEC)

Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH)

Colombia

Colegio Colombiano de Psicólogos (COLPSIC)

Asociación Colombiana de Facultades de Psicología (ASCOFAPSI)

Fundación para el Desarrollo Integral en Género y Familia (GENFAMI)

Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz (KLFU)

Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores

Institución Universitaria CESMAG

Universidad Simon Bolivar

Universidad Metropolitana

Costa Rica Psicología Consejo Editorial (Revista Costarricense de Psicología )

Cuba Sociedad Cubana de Psicología

Ecuador Asociacion Ecuatoriana de Psicólogos

El Salvador Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas" (UCA)

Guatemala Colegio de Psicólogos de Guatemala

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Mexico

Sociedad Mexicana de Psicología (SMP)

Consejo Nacional para la Enseñanza e Investigación en Psicología

(CNEIP)

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Paraguay Sociedad Científica Paraguaya de Psicología (SPPs)

Peru Colegio de Psicólogos de Perú

Sociedad Peruana de Evaluación Psicológica ( SPEP)

Puerto Rico Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR)

Spain Consejo General de la Psicología de España (COP)

United States of

America

American Psychological Association (APA )

Center for Disease Control (CDC)

Davidson College

University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)

University of Oklahoma (OU)

University of Tennessee (UTK)

Venezuela Federación de Psicólogos de Venezuela (FPV)

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ROUNDTABLES

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ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITIES

Coordinators

Ezequiel Benito (Argentina)

Claudia María Sanín (Colombia)

Participants

María Constanza Aguilar (Colombia)

Jorge Luis Escobar (Ecuador)

Silvia H. Koller (Brazil)

Doris Montoya Farro (Peru)

Alba Maritza Ochoa (Guatemala)

Cristhian Rodriguez Neyra (Peru)

Odir Rodríguez-Villagra (Costa Rica)

Michel Sabourin (Canada)

Antonio Samaniego (Paraguay)

Francisco Santolaya Ochando (Spain)

Rainer K. Silbereisen (Germany)

Karl Swain (South Africa)

Ava Thompson (Bahamas)

Ann Watts (South Africa)

Guillermo Enrique Yaber Oltra (Venezuela)

Alejandro Zalce (Mexico)

Objectives

This roundtable was brought together as a continuum of a series of previous meetings held

in Buenos Aires, Argentina (October 2014) and Lima, Peru (July 2015). The proposed objetives

were: to identify the current state of psychology-related organizations and the

organizational development in the region (recognition), to interchange experiences among

psychology-related organizations (construction), to search for strategies aiming to benefit

local and regional growth in psychology-related organizations (development), to identify

ways to improve psychology-related organizations through assessing a variety of

organizational components (evaluation), to generate shared resources among psychology-

related organizations and create growth strategies from the available resources from each

organization at a local and regional level (synergy).

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Capacities

There is a recognition of the presence of organizations with a large operational and scientific

capacity, which have achieved high representational levels of regional psychologists,

demonstrating the potential for organizational development.

The presence of regional organizations with the capacity to create productive interactions

to promote the development of local psychology organizations.

Identified Problems

The following issues were acknowledged in the region: a heterogeneous organizational

development, the presence of Latin American coutries where the organizational

development has political restrictions, which may restrict operational capacity and

sustainability. In addition, a lack of systematic, centralized and updated information on the

status of psychology at a regional level is identified.

Action Plan

The proposals seek to promote and improve the governance models of each association and

to facilitate developmental processes. Four operational goals were specified for the action

plan defined in general topics:

Structure, financing and the operation organizations

For organizations to share institutional documents and to identify commonalities and

differences of organizational models using a benckmarking strategy to be able to assess

advantages and disadvantages for each one.

The Observatory of Psychology in Latin America

To establish an online observatory to collect information and indicators on professional and

academic organizations and to give access on search information, and to be able to monitor

goals and achievements of organizations. The observatory would include organizational

indicators to establish a defined process for institutional assessment.

Formation of a working base group

To create a regional group to monitor these initiatives, leading to develop supporting

documents on the importance of the project, seeking institutional support, active

participation and extend the group at a regional level.

Promoting leadership training

To define activities to promote leadership training for psychologists in organizations and

potential leaders at various levels (e.g., political, administrative).

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Complementary Comments

During the meeting, issues related to disciplinary development were included through

guiding questions made to the group.

Professional representation: it refer to the issues on the representation of psychologists in

every country.

What is the representation society has about psychologists? What other professionals are

there engaged in the professional field of psychology without the proper entitlement to do

so? What positioning strategies could be applied to consolidate the profession in each

country?

Institutional strengthening: it refers to the creation of assessment tools regarding goals and

organizational skills.

How can we develop the objectives, strategic plans, mission and vision of our organizations

in a better way? What self-assessment strategies can be developed to measure the degree

of progress? How can we obtain solid evidence on our organizational quality?

Governance: it is focused on the structure and functions.

Are there efficient models for our organizational performance? What references from other

organizations can we implement on our own? What is our governance layout? Is there an

extended presidency? Does the organization have executive areas?

Leadership: It refers to the encouragement of organizational vocations.

How is our organizations regarding organizational changeover? Are we developing active

strategies to promote organizational vocations? What common approaches could be carried

out (for example, leadership courses or workshops) in the organization? Do our leaders have

access to training that can enhance their leadership skills?

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PROFESSIONAL QUALITY

Coordinators

Claudia Caycedo Espinel (Colombia)

Marion Schulmeyer Dávalos (Bolivia)

Participants

Fabricio Balcazar (Colombia / U.S.A.)

Oscar A. Barbarin (U.S.A.)

Alfredo Barrientos Carbajo (Peru)

Ryan Blucker (U.S.A.)

Juan Carlos Canga (Venezuela)

Carlos Contreras (Colombia)

Jaime Luis Díaz Granados (U.S.A.)

Alejandro DÍaz Mujica (Chile)

Linda Escorcia (Colombia)

Kristina Gordon (U.S.A.)

Laura Hernández-Guzmán (Mexico)

Yadira Martinez de Biava (Colombia)

Edwin Yair Oliveros (Colombia)

María Soledad Rivas Lirbina (Peru)

María Clara Rodríguez Bernal (Colombia)

Alexis Lorenzo Ruíz (Cuba)

Rosario Valdés Caraveo (Mexico)

Objectives

The main objective for this roundtable was to identify regional capacities and needs

regarding the quality in training and the professional quality of psychologists in a variety of

contexts. The debate focused on national and international certification processes and

accreditation programs, including their background, policy conditions and identified

problems. It also seeked to develop specific measures and initiatives aimed to improve the

quality of training and the professional quality of psychologists and to identify key factors

requiered to improve capacities at a local and regional level.

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Capacities

There is a recognition of the importance of the existence of quality assurance systems that

can be linked to psychology training. There is a variety of quality control systems in the

region; however, two main levels are identified: (1) a level for an opening program, which in

some countries is given without minimum quality requirements and in other countries the

institution demands minimum quality conditions that are certified by the state through an

academic peer review system to verify their fulfillment. (2) a high-quality accreditation level

can be carried out by a public or private organization with a quality criteria system, an

independent peer review and with the recognition of society and the academic community.

This level has been extended to international accreditation systems and in a few cases was

done through bi-national agreements.

Additionally, certification systems for professional practice quality have been established in

the region. These systems are varied and are based on laws regarding the protection of

professional practice.

Currently, there are national, regional and global initiatives aiming to outline core

competences and in some cases advanced competencies required for professional

psychology that can be compared or merged with existing international projects on

professional competences such as the International Project on Competence in Psychology

(IPCP). There are also initiatives regarding quality assurance for training programs (e.g.,

Mercosur).

Needs

The inequality in the training processes is identified in the region. Such inequality reflects

other processes related to the development of psychology such as the status of research,

regulatory laws, the recognition of the profession, and the economic conditions of the

countries. However, it is necessary to promote growth of the discipline and profession in

some countries through regional cooperation strategies.

Current and future training should provide psychologists with the necessary tools to respond

to changes in society and to have quality performance in a variety of areas. In order to do so,

there is a need to identify the compulsory professional competences and to be able to

connect them with training competences offered by undergraduate and graduate programs.

There is also a need to identify the core competences graduating students should have to

fulfill professional requirements regarding social demands. It is also necessary to do an

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analysis of the results shown from training competences projects (e.g., Tuning Project for

Latin America) and its relation to professional competences projects (e.g., IPCP).

The purpose of the above would be to understand and reduce the gap between these two

levels, to achieve a balance between basic and applied psychology during the training stage,

to identify the specific competencies psychologists sh0uld have in different areas, and to be

able to make curricular adjustments that could respond to these needs.

At a regional level, technical assistance to countries without regulatory systems for quality

training or countries that are at the initial stages of quality assurance or improvement

processes is required. There is also a requirement to initiate a dialog on the need and

feasibility of a regional accreditation model that can promote quality training for

psychologists in the Latin American context.

It is agreed that the quality certification system for training programs must be accompanied

by a professional practice certification system, at a basic level and more specialized levels in

several areas (e.g., health, legal system, education). It should be independent from a training

system and should guarantee the quality of professional practice, not only at an entry level,

but continuously throughout the professional life of a psychologist.

Identified problems

It is estimated that there are approximately 1,500 psychology training programs in Latin

America. There is a recognition of the multiple academic offerings in the region; however,

the programs that count on verifiable minimum requirements by the state are limited, which

can become a problem for society due to the fact that it can have an impact on aspects such

as the quality assurance of psychological services, the social recognition of psychology and

the mobility of psychologists at a national and international level, among others.

It is acknowledged that there is little correspondence between psychology training and

regional problems and there is insufficient expertise of psychologists in some areas, which

could indicate a limitation in relevance and a lack of quality assurance in the professional

practice of such areas.

Quality assurance systems for training and professional practice are not available in all the

countries in the region.

It is pointed out that in this moment online learning programs in the region cannot guarantee

that suitable training or professional skills and competences will be attained according to the

required quality standards.

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Action Plan

The Observatory of Psychology in Latin America

The Observatory should include information on national and regional accreditation

associations, the psychology programs in each country, and the characteristics, scope and

limitation of the profesion. It is also seeking a process of effective communication focused

on the knowledge of best practices and to make available information regarding quality

and training.

Promoting Quality Training

To develop alternatives to promote quality training in psychology programs for countries

with a limited extent in quality control and accreditation. A system of regional support would

allow programs to include criteria and strategies for quality improvement. In the long run, a

plan of quality certification in the region can be initiated as a strategy to ensure different

aspects of quality; focused on giving a scientific foundation to the self-evaluation and

evaluation model and it should count on the support of countries with experience and

consolidated processes.

It also seeks to promote the development of quality criteria and certifications for online

psychology programs as well as specific certification methods for e-learning universitites.

Promoting Competence Systems

To promote the development of basic and advanced competence systems, at a local and

regional levels, from international, regional and local models based on the requirements for

an effective professional practice in different psychological settings.

Complementary Comments

There should be an aim to increase participation in public-policy making to impact

professional practice in collaboration with national, regional, and international

organizations.

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SOCIAL IMPACT

Coordinators

Mauricio Gaborit (El Salvador)

Aldemar Parra Espitia (Colombia)

Participants

Manuel Alejandro Baquero Sierra (Colombia)

Rolando Diaz-Loving (Mexico)

Vicenta Esteve Biot (Spain)

Carlos Gonzalez López Rivera (Peru)

Diana Levya (USA)

Pam Maras (United Kingdom)

Ingrid Mellado Hoyos (Peru)

Isabel Reyes Lagunes (Mexico)

Janak Pandey (India)

José María Peiró Silla (Spain)

Maria Victoria Pérez (Chile)

Jaime Luis Samudio Díaz (Colombia)

Kameron Sheats (USA)

Kazuo Shigemasu (Japan)

Gonca Soygüt Pekak (Turkey)

Yolanda Suárez-Balcázar (Colombia/ USA)

Erika Veloza (Colombia)

Objectives

There was a recognition that public- policy making is a scientific activity, which entails extra-

theoretical interests sucha as the population , economy , politics, among others and that

psychologists have a role in that process. This roundtable focused on recognizing the role of

Latin American psychology regarding the formulation and implementation of evidence-

based public policies. The main objective was to develop an action plan that will enable

regional psychology to have impact in the construction of public policy. There was a

recognition of the problem of regional psychology regarding the intervention and impact on

public policy and it was proposed to develop actions for psychology to be able to participate

in the political and social dynamics of different countries in the region.

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Capacities

In some countries in the region, psychologists participate in the development and evaluation

of public policies in the following ways: (1) consultancy for the development of legislative

and political agendas; (2) implementation of the legislation or government policies

(government officials); (3) consultancy on the legal requirements about rights related to

psychological well-being or topics related to human behavior; (4) contributions on research

that can support the processes mentioned above; (5) development of policies on health and

well-being.

Needs

The following needs were identified: the need to increase the information about

organizational capacities, the need to train leaders in public policy and to formalize a regional

network to work on public policy issues, the need to have suitable criteria in training

programs and to increase its regulation, and the need to enhance networks between

national and international organizations.

Problems

The following issues were acknowledged: there is a lack of knowledge in society regarding

the role of psychologists, and multiple areas of action and application of psychological

knowledge. Moreover, there is a lack of involvement of psychologists in the construction and

implementation of public policies in the region; more training is required for leaders and

psychology programs regarding public policy.

Action Plan

The action plan is divided in the following topics:

Psychology Training programs

To submit a proposal for psychology programs or related organizations to include in

psychology training programs knowledge about public policies, policy standards and training

on how to work with diverse communities, with a transdisciplinary and transcultural

perspective. The teaching methodology, research and evidence should be contextualized

with regional realities for the resulting policies to have an accurate and effective impact in

the context of application, so it may enhance the number of professionals with the needed

practical knowledge related to public policies and the skills to make proposals with social

impact. Likewise, further training is suggested in topics such as communication for public

policy, scientific dissemination of psychology and strategies to promote social appropriation

of psychological science.

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Influence in the design, implementation and evaluation of public policies

To increase and qualify the contribution of psychologists in all the stages of the public policy

cycle. Moreover, this process requires defining regional problems, available resources, and

possible solutions as well as being able to identify the decision makers and policy makers in

different political settings and the creation of dialogue channels between the discipline and

public-policy makers.

Psychological research in context

To create strategies to promote research in Latin America beyond replicating research from

other regions. It aims to generate a contextualized analysis of the region and to create

employment opportunities with greater social impact. It is intended to carry out a systematic

review of the scientific literature to establish what we know about psychology, how

intervention has been done and what is not being acknowledged in social and political

settings.

To build alliances between communities and scientific groups for collective participation in

action and participation processes and to establish research networks in the region, through

the Observatory of Psychology in Latin America. Likewise, to incorporate diverse types of

psychology (e.g. ethnopsychology) and participatory methodologies in regional research, to

strengthen research from a wide perspective and transcultural approach.

It also seeks to encourage interaction with different national, regional and international

organizations that fund research projects connected with public-policy making and to create

a joint effort between universities (public and private ones) and Latin American psychology

entities in order to obtain information on diverse problems in different territories.

Complementary Comments

This roundtable also seeks to bring together communities of experts that can take scientific

and technological dialogs to other experts, the community, and society to promote and

develop social and political mobilization on issues related to psychology in Latin America and

the Caribbean.

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INTERNATIONAL VISIBILITY

Coordinators

Wilson López López (Colombia)

Pablo Enrique Vera-Villaroel (Chile)

Participants

Merry Bullock (USA)

Sandra Castañeda Figueiras (Mexico)

Amanda Clinton (USA)

Saths Cooper (South Africa)

Janel Gauthier (Canada)

Ricardo Gorayeb (Brazil)

Buxin Han (China)

Hugo Klappenbach (Argentina)

Silvia Lima (Guatemala)

Jenny Perez (Chile)

Maria Cristina Richaud (Argentina)

Susana Consuelo Roggero (Peru)

Alicia Salvador (Spain)

José Livia Segovia (Peru)

Antonio Tena Suck (Mexico)

Jianxin Zhang (China)

Objectives

The main objetives proposed for this roundtable were: to identify regional problems and

needs regarding international impact, to recognize the role of Latin American psychology in

the international context, and to develop specific actions at a national and regional level

focused on international visibility.

Capacities

Some organizations have a long tradition of international cooperation although not in all the

countries in the region. There are regional organizations that have the potential to promote

growth in this area, but this has not been done systematically, despite having the human

resources to do so. In this moment, it is possible to promote communication as there are

more efficient tools and immediate communication is available in the region.

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Needs

There is a need to extend the knowledge of psychology developed in the region in

international settings and to increase the presence of Latin American psychology in local,

regional and international contexts; aiming for greater cooperation, resource allocation and

recognition of the academic and professional production of psychologists in the region.

There is a need to promote cooperation at academic and professional levels in order to make

a more efficient use of the limited resources in some countries in the region. It is also required

to have a more effective presence in international decision-making bodies in order to have

attuned policies with the realities and needs of Latin America psychology and to develop

international policies in different organizations that define political guidelines for countries

in Latin America.

More interaction with international organizations is required such as OAS, UN and others

which can play a leading role in the development of psychology and its influence in the

societies of the region. Moreover, there is a need to enhance networks and to create

effective mechanisms to improve connectivity between organizations and individuals.

Problems

The following issues were acknowledged in the region: there is an absence of Latin American

psychology in international contexts and there is a lack of an effective presence in

international decision-making bodies.

Action Plan

The action plan is divided in the following topics:

Collaboration between Local, Regional and International Organizations

To promote effective communication processes between organizations (regional and

international); to strengthen local and regional initiatives by creating joint statements on

common issues. Furthermore, it pursues effective mechanisms and connectivity between

organizations and individuals such as meetings by areas or thematic networks; additionally,

it seeks to encourage meetings between local and regional organizations in order to improve

synergies and promote agreements. These actions can be done with the Roundtable on

Organizational Capacities.

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To develop actions that generate collaboration between Latin American researchers and

other regions of the world around common themes. This can be achieved with regional

organizations such as the Interamerican Society of Psychology (SIP) and international

organizations such as IAAP and IUPsyS.

To increase the participation of Latin American psychologists in international events through

cooperation agreements with the organizing institutions to provide attendance

opportunities for psychologists especially from low-income countries in the region.

Fostering Leadership Training

To promote the identification and the training of leaders; aiming to have a more effective

presence in international decision-making bodies as a strategy to strengthen Latin American

psychology. This should also be done in collaboration with the roundtable of Organizational

Capacities on topics regarding institutional support for leadership to go beyond an individual

level and to have a wider scope and towards institutional strengthening.

Complementary Comments

It was highlighted that areas such as cross-cultural psychology, applied social psychology,

political psychology and others, have not been adequately represented and promoted,

having an important potential for development in the region.

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CONCLUSIONS

The participants in the Capacity Building meeting highlighted the link between the thematic areas

and the development of public policy. There is a recognition of the growing and important role of

psychology in Latin American societies and there is greater participation in public policy related to

quality in training, professional practice, legal status and the social recognition of the profession as

well as the visibility of psychology as a science and as a profession, which is crucial for its

development.

Psychology has grown at an accelerated rate in the region, shown in the large number of training

programs, which are extensive in some countries and moderate in others. This growth has at times

promoted a contradiction with the quality of training and consequently, with the quality of

professional services provided by psychologists in various fields. Therefore, a consensus was made

on the need to promote mechanisms and strategies for quality assurance at those two levels. A

model that could meet these objectives has not been identified; however the interaction between

organizations in the region can help each country find a model that can be suitable taking into their

development, needs and legal possibilities.

This could indicate that an improvement in communication systems and networking at a regional

and international level points towards the right direction and to development. A recognition of Latin

American achievements may have superficial as well as a deeper social components, but beyond

this, such recognition should aim to facilitate the embracement and implementation of international

quality standards, which are essential in today’s globalized world.

All of the above would not be possible if the region did not count on qualified scientific and

professional organizations. Thus, much of the work emerged from this capacity building project

should aim to its construction and consolidation, considering the differences between the countries

in such a diverse region.

This initiative can demostrate its effectiveness if a mechanism for monitoring the actions proposed

by the roundtable participants can be implemented. One of the functions of the organizers is to

facilitate this implementation; however the function of all the participants is to continue to seek the

achievement of the proposed objectives. Therefore, it is necessary to establish synergy with

regional (e.g., SIP, FIAP, CANPA, SYNERGY) and international (e.g., IUPsyS, IAAP, IACCP)

psychological organizations, and with organizations with a more general scope (e.g., UN, OAS).

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Finally, one of the next tasks for the team is to promote this document among individuals and

organizations involved, as well as among those who for various reasons were unable to attend the

1st Latin American Regional Conference of Psychology and the Capacity Building Meeting.

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DECLARATION

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