Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

Introduction 7
well-being, increasing empowerment, and preventing the development of problems
of communities, groups, and individuals.
In what is the unique contribution of this book to the Western psychological
literature, Part III addresses the intersection between socially engaged Buddhism
and community psychology and other applied psychologies. The five chapters in
this section discuss the contributions of Buddhism to psychological models of
empowerment, foundational values to guide ecological interventions, ethical
guides for the resolution of environmental problems, principles of integration for
transcending difference, and principles of social action. A discussion of the application
of Buddhist principles of social action to the prevention of ethnic group
conflict, and to community and societal-level change are found in the chapters by
Chappell (Chapter 12), by Dockett and North-Schulte (Chapter 10), and also by
Dockett (Chapter 8).
Empowerment models of social and community change are concerned with
methods for enhancing perceived and actual control over one’s life. Community
psychologist Kathleen H. Dockett adopts such a perspective in “Buddhist
Empowerment: Individual, Organizational, and Societal Transformation.” Using
psychology’s empirically derived models of stress-resistance (Kobasa, 1982) and
of empowering organizations (Maton & Salem, 1995) as a framework, Dockett
draws upon her 12-year case study of Nichiren Buddhism and the Soka Gakkai
International-USA lay Buddhist organization to illustrate the processes and structures
through which Buddhist empowerment may occur. At the level of individual
empowerment, she describes Buddhist philosophies and practices that appear
to promote the development of hardy stress-resistant personality traits, including
a sense of personal control. This process calls for Westerners to make major paradigm
shifts in worldview, the most difficult of which is the belief that we are
totally responsible for and totally in control of our destiny. At the community
setting level, Dockett describes how Buddhist-inspired organizational norms,
structures, and processes may promote empowerment of organizational members,
and lastly she describes how socially engaged Buddhism of various types may
promote societal-level or political empowerment. Dockett points to the commonalities
that exist in the goals, interests, and methods of social change of community
psychology and socially engaged Buddhism, and suggests the potential for
a collaborative partnership where each can inform the other’s understanding of
processes and structures for empowerment.
In “The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Community Psychology,”
community psychologists Leonard A. Jason and John Moritsugu propose that a
synthesis of community psychology and Buddhist philosophy may provide more
comprehensive solutions to the problems of human suffering. They critique major
models of social and community change used in community psychology (social
competence, empowerment, and ecological) and find them lacking in the foundational
values needed to guide our interventions. For example, in the case of