Human rights matter to psychology – Psychology matters to human rights

Söderström, K., Hagenaars, P., Wainwright, T., & Wagner, U. (2019). Human rights matter to psychology – Psychology matters to human rights [Editorial]. European Psychologist, 24(2), 99–101. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000365

Abstract

“Human Rights are of crucial importance to everyone in the world, psychologists included”. With this statement the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA, 2013) called for psychologists and their associations to engage in protection and promotion of human rights. EFPA aims to connect psychology with Human Rights in a way that psychology becomes more useful to the Human Rights agenda and Human Rights become an indispensable dimension of psychology. This editorial introduces the articles in the special issue of European Psychologist on human rights and psychology. The articles cover a wide field where human rights thinking and practice can enrich psychology and where psychological ideas can enrich human rights understanding and implementation. They provide inspirational examples of how psychologists can play a significant role in human rights protection and also object lessons on where violations can occur.