Wilczyńska, A. (2020). Multidisciplinary perspectives on the psychology of exclusion: From rejection to personal and social harmony. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003124641
Abstract
Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Psychology of Exclusion is a study that explores social exclusion from the perspective of psychophysical and memetic human functioning. The framework which underpins my argument foregrounds interactions between individuals and their environments and describes mental properties in neurochemical, physical and above all cultural terms. These aspects of experience are discussed in relation to individuals’ current lives, but they are also associated with early childhood traumas and intergenerational transmissions. Research on social exclusion shows that – as long as individuals fail to notice that certain mental states and the related perceptions and approaches to reality develop in ways unnoticed and unrecognized by them and their communities – the same response mechanisms continue to operate. This happens because schemas and programs formed on the basis of the primary information which is recorded in the body/mind filter the incoming information/data from the environment from then on. Understanding the properties of the mind and molecular mechanisms may further the design of breakthrough therapies and consequently contribute to reinforcing people’s psychic stability and harmony. The multidisciplinary perspective applied in this book has been prompted by the author’s years-long investment in both psychology and neurochemistry. The book addresses social exclusion at the individual level. In fact, every human being needs to feel as a wanted part of society or any other group. This need is met in a variety of ways, or it remains unsatisfied. The first part of the book features a survey of the literature and research findings and outlines phenomena associated with social exclusion in today’s world. The second part of the study is specifically research-focused. It reports on a research study on social exclusion and factors in coping with exclusion, which was carried out on a sample of teenagers. The third part of the book illuminates the ways in which particular attachment patterns may trigger the trauma of exclusion and vice versa. Part IV assembles educational and therapeutic interventions designed to foster the sense of belonging in manners underpinned by the concepts discussed in the foregoing parts.