Genuine Doubt and Reflections of Social Inequality in a Practicum Experience

• In Event: 41.084 - Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 41.084-7 - Narratives of Professional Identity Building

Abstract

In this paper, researchers argue that experiences of genuine doubt during a practicum in psychology can lead to a reflection about prejudice, marginalization, and the pertinence of professional education in diminishing social inequality. To support this claim, researchers analyzed the descriptions of significant situations that provoked genuine doubt to 21 fifth year Colombian undergrad psychology practitioners. Through two focus groups, participants described moments of doubt as situations of confusion, anxiety, and frustration that resulted when confronting unexpected conditions of poverty and security, difficulties to connect and share common goals with clients, and problems to communicate with advisors. At the same time, participants acknowledged how their prejudice was connected with beliefs that were fixated by methods of authority.

Authors

• Martha Stella Bonilla Rodriguez

• Clara Ines Palacios Burbano