Journal of Health Psychology

The field of critical psychology is exerting an influence in the way various sub-disciplines within psychology operate. In this article we use a critical psychology framework to review the field of health psychology. Through the use of values, assumptions and practices we review progress in health psychology and offer recommendations for aligning contemporary practices with current thinking in critical psychology. We discuss typical expectations, critical formulations and critical practice for interventions with individuals, groups and communities along these dimensions.

Emphasis has been placed on the importance of the participation of socially excluded groups in local initiatives to reduce health inequalities in England, in `partnerships' with government. We examine potential obstacles to such participation through a case study of factors shaping local participation by residents of a deprived multi-ethnic area who describe themselves as Pakistani. We draw on three-hour interviews with 26 men and women, aged 15—67 years. Assuming that a sense of common identification is a precondition for participation in local community networks, we examine how the construction of Pakistani identities, within conditions of material and symbolic social exclusion, constrains the likelihood of widespread, representative local participation by Pakistani people in our local area of interest. No matter how significant a category such as `Pakistani' might be in statistical analyses of health inequalities, an epidemiological category of this nature cannot simply be `mapped' onto policy recommendations.

We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey to explore the relationship of birth control conspiracy beliefs and perceived discrimination to contraceptive attitudes and behavior among a sample of African Americans (aged 18—45) in the USA (N = 71). Results indicated that a large percentage of respondents perceived discrimination targeted at African American women and endorsed birth control conspiracy beliefs, and that a significant proportion of female respondents perceived discrimination when getting family planning or contraceptive services. Stronger conspiracy beliefs and greater perceived discrimination were associated with negative attitudes toward contraceptive methods, particularly birth control pills, and with contraceptive behavior and intentions. Our findings suggest that conspiracy beliefs and perceived discrimination may play an important role in African Americans' attitudes toward and use of contraceptive methods.