University of Liverpool’s Doctorate in Clinical Psychology cock-up at conference

[Sly Saint]

Just been reading about something that happened in Nov 2019 at the Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology’s (GTiCP) 2019 annual conference.

This is a write-up from attendees:

Racism is Not Entertainment
The Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology annual conference was held in Liverpool between 4th and 6th November 2019. The conference venue was next to the Slavery Museum, a reminder of Liverpool’s three century history as a slave trading port that transported 1.5 million African slaves, half all Britain’s slave trade, across the Atlantic. The three keynotes, a public lecture, workshops and symposia all related to the theme of the conference ‘human rights, social justice and resistance’.

Then came the evening’s “social programme”,......The performance enacted slavery, specifically, a slave auction, over dinner. The audience participated and responded to the invitation by the dancers, to bid for a slave.

The audience was not all White and most of the Black and minority ethnic people (trainees and experts by experience) left the show in disgust, immense distress and outrage.

full blog here http://www.psychchange.org/racism-is-not-entertainment.html

and the subsequent apology:

The University of Liverpool’s Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme hosted the Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology’s (GTiCP) 2019 annual conference and, as an organising committee, we want to recognise and apologise unequivocally for the personal distress that some people experienced following the ‘Capoeira for All’ performance on the evening of 5th November.

full statement here https://www.bps.org.uk/message-all-gticp-2019-conference-delegates

experts in human behaviour eh(?)
[makes me think of the 'Day with the MUPPets']

 

[ScottTriGuy]

experts in human behaviour eh

lol

 

[Denise]

Uh.........
Appalling.
Reprehensible.
(I can't come up with additional publishable words about this. Among other questions - *Where*do these people grow up?)

 

[chrisb]

And Liverpool has always had such a high reputation on the subject of ME....

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

As far as I can see the main distinguishing feature of a doctorate in psychology is that it is neither a doctorate in science (DSc) or a doctorate in philosophy (PhD, DPhil). Somebody must have realised that unlike all other subjects this one does not quite pass muster.

 

[TiredSam]

A statement from the performers:

https://www.capoeiraforall.org/capoeira-for-all-gticp-performance-statement/

 

[adambeyoncelowe]

It strikes me that the performers and the programmers both failed to consider their audience. I would not want to watch this over dinner at the end of a conference.

Perhaps if I'd bought a ticket to a programmed event for which I'd read the blurb and went in prepared... But not simply over dinner as part of a larger programme where the context is inappropriate.

It might also be an issue of Brazilian versus British experiences of race. 48% of Brazilians are of African descent, so they're not a minority in the same way the UK's 3% or so are. A black person in Brazil probably experiences blackness very differently to a black person in Liverpool. Perhaps the dancers didn't interrogate their ideas with this perspective in mind?

But I would ultimately blame the programmers. It's their job to pick what's appropriate and manage expectations. They failed to do that, clearly.