Psychology and Rural Contexts

This book brings together a selection of theoretical reflections, empirical researches and professional experiences to showcase the increasing production of psychological studies in rural contexts developed in Latin America in recent years. Psychology’s tradition of science and eminently urban profession has produced a void of reflections and approaches on important actors of the societies that constitute their existence in rural contexts and in relation – whether of integration, conflicts and contradictions – with urban agents. But a new generation of psychologists are turning their attention to rural contexts, especially in Latin America.

This volume aims to present a selection of these psychological studies and interventions developed in rural contexts from a psychosocial and interdisciplinary perspective, developed together with various social actors who live and work in rural spaces, that have an important relationship with land and nature both in terms of the elaboration of their history, the production of their subjectivities and identity ties with the territory, and the engagement in struggles for the right to land and for public policies that guarantee access to education and health services, technical assistance and infrastructure for its working activities.

The book is divided in five parts, each one dedicated to a dimension of psychosocial studies and interventions in rural contexts: theoretical approaches; mental health and rural populations; social movements, communities and resistance practices; gender relations and subjectivation processes; and environment and sustainability. Chapters in each axis prioritize reports of experiences and research conducted with participatory approaches, producing new perspectives and reflections that contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field of psychology, both regionally and globally.

Jáder Ferreira Leite is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil. He is a member of the Latin American Network of Rural Psychology and is the coordinator of the research group Modes of Subjectivation, Public Policies and Contexts of Vulnerability of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). He graduated in psychology at the State University of Paraíba, Brazil, and holds a PhD in social psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. He holds a PQ2 productivity grant from CNPq and develops research in the field of social psychology based on the following themes: social movements and gender relations in rural contexts and production of meaning about family agriculture.

Magda Dimenstein is a full professor in the Graduate Program in Psychology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil. She holds a degree in Psychology from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil and a PhD in Mental Health from the Psychiatry Institute at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She did postdoctoral training in Mental Health at the Universidad Alcalá de Henares (Spain) and in Collective Health at the Graduate Program in Public Health at the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. She works in the area of collective health with emphasis on mental health, primary and psychosocial care, in urban and rural settings. She is a member of the research group Modes of Subjectivation, Public Policies and Contexts of Vulnerability of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and holds a productivity grant PQ1A from CNPq.

Candida Dantas is an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil and a permanent member of the Graduate Program in Psychology at the same institution. She holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in Psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, a PhD in Social Psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, and a post-doctorate from the Federal University of Ceará. She She is a member of the research group Modes of Subjectivation, Public Policies and Contexts of Vulnerability of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and of the Working Group Subjectivation Policies and Invention of Daily Life of the Brazilian National Association of Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology (ANPEPP). She works mainly on the following themes: gender relations, vulnerability contexts and public policies.

João Paulo Macedo is a professor in the Graduate Programs in Psychology at the Federal University of Delta do Parnaíba, Brazil and at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil. He holds a degree in Psychology from Faculdade Santo Agostinho, Brazil, and a PhD in Psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. He works in the area of Collective Health and Mental Health, focusing on the formation and practice of psychologists in public policies and aspects related to the internalization of the profession and performance in rural contexts. He is a member of the working group Politics of Subjectivation and Invention of Daily Life of the Brazilian National Association of Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology (ANPEPP) and holds a productivity grant PQ2 of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).