2010 CPA INVITED SPEAKERS

CPA Invited Speakers

		Meg Barker, Ph.D.,The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom "Rewriting the Rules? Non-monogamies and other adventures in non-normative relationships" Abstract: Societal shifts, particularly increased recognition of same-sex relationships and moves towards gender equality, have altered the ways in which people understand and experience intimate relationships. Distinctions between sexual and emotional closeness and questions over where lines of exclusivity should be drawn have become of key significance. Openly non-monogamous forms of relationship have been hailed, by some, as potentially feminist, socialist and/or queer ways of relating. However, others have argued that such relationships are apolitical, reproducing and reinforcing various axes of oppression. My research focuses on how non-monogamous people present and manage their relationships. An initial survey of members of an on-line polyamorous community revealed a multiplicity of meanings and stories. Particularly there were tensions over whether polyamory was positioned within or separate to monogamy and whether it was supported by discourses of ‘naturalness’ or ‘choice’. In-depth research has examined how non-monogamous structures link with other experiments in power (SM) and gendered dynamics. This paper also will draw on the wider body of quantitative and qualitative psychological research on openly non-monogamous relationships recently collected together by the author for her edited book ‘Understanding Non-monogamies’ (Routledge, forthcoming, 2010). Bio: Dr. Meg Barker is lecturer in psychology at the Open University and a sex and relationship therapist at Guys Hospital. In collaboration with Darren Langdridge, Dr. Barker is co-editor of the journal ‘Psychology & Sexuality’ and has published an edited book on SM and is working on a collection on non-monogamies which will be published in 2010. Meg co-organises the Critical Sexology seminar series and the BiReCon event, which will be international in 2010. She is a conference organiser and website author for the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy and is part of a working party developing British Psychological Society guidelines for counselling with sexual and gender minority clients.
		Ben Levin, OISE, Ph.D., University of Toronto "The place of Evidence in Policy and Programming: How interacting belief systems influence decision makers strengthening research-practice relationships." Abstract: This presentation reflects how to strengthen the connections between research and evidence, on the one hand, and policy and practices, on the other. Beliefs built on bases other than research evidence have dominated human thinking for most of our history. Psychology, as a discipline spanning science and technology, as well as public services such as health, education, and social welfare has a lead role to play in addressing the increased interest in evidence based practice and the important questions that raises including: 1. What works to improve KM? 2. What sorts of infrastructure are needed to support more effective KM? 3. What needs to be done to improve our knowledge about KM itself? 4. What is the real impact of KM in policy and programming decision making?   KM also presents a huge opportunity to improve human society. The fact that research is not now the sole or even, in most cases, the main determinant of people’s beliefs and actions should challenges us to understand how to present these arguments to support the many potentially positive results of its growing influence. Bio: Dr. Levin is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Education Leadership and Policy. He has just completed two and a half years as Deputy Minister of Education for the Province of Ontario. He is a native of the City of Winnipeg who holds a B.A. (Honours) from the University of Manitoba, an Ed. M. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from OISE. From 1999 until September, 2002, he was deputy Minister of Advanced Education and Deputy Minister of Education, Training and Youth for Manitoba, with responsibility for public policy in all areas of education and training. Dr. Levin is widely known for his work in educational reform, educational change, educational policy and politics. His work has been international in scope. His writings examine broad areas of education policy.
		Fathali M Moghaddam, Ph.D., Georgetown University “Replacing Multiculturalism with Omniculturalism to meet the challenge of radicalization, terrorism, and fractured globalization” Abstract: Fractured globalization is resulting in enormous challenges for humankind, particularly radicalization, intergroup conflicts, and terrorism. Psychological evidence demonstrates the poverty of both assimilation and multiculturalism as policies for managing diversity and intergroup relations in a more constructive manner. Omniculturalism is presented as a more promising policy, involving a foundational stage of highlighting and celebrating human commonalities and a secondary stage of focusing on group distinctiveness. Results of a recent study on 2,000 Americans suggest strong support for omniculturalism among majority group members. Bio: Dr. Fathali M. Moghaddam (otherwise known as Ali) is Professor, Department of Psychology, and Director of the Conflict Resolution Program, Department of Government, Georgetown University, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Center on Policy, Education and Research on Terrorism. Dr. Moghaddam was born in Iran, educated in England, and worked for the United Nations and for McGill University, before joining Georgetown University in 1990. Ali returned to Iran in 1979 and was researching there during the hostage taking crisis and the early years of the Iran-Iraq war. He participated in a number of UN projects, including with Afghan refugees in Baluchestan. He has conducted experimental and field research on intergroup relations in numerous cultural contexts and produced award winning publications on conflict, justice, radicalization, and terrorism, including16 books and well over 100 scientific papers. Dr. Moghaddam’s most recent books are “How Globalization Spurs Terrorism” (2008), “Multiculturalism and Intergroup Relations” (2008), and “From the Terrorists’ Point of View” (2006). Dr. Moghaddam’s forthcoming book is entitled “The New Global Insecurity” (Jan 2010). His ongoing research explores ‘Omniculturalism’ as a policy for managing diversity and defeating fanaticism, superior to both multiculturalism and assimilation policies.
		Donald M Taylor, Ph.D., McGill University "Making a River Flow Back Up a Mountain: Survey Research as a Vehicle for Constructive Change in Disadvantaged Cultural Communities" Abstract: Psychology is a discipline whose success has been driven by the laboratory experiment. Nevertheless, for a long time, cultural, social, personality and clinical psychology have been criticized for not addressing social and psychological problems through more real-life field research methods. My own theorizing and research focuses on the challenges confronting disadvantaged groups such as visible minority cultural and Aboriginal groups. I will present our new community based research methodology that is designed to help real people, in real communities, with real personal and social problems.  Bio: Donald M. Taylor is professor of Psychology at McGill University, Montreal. He has published both scientific articles, and books arising from projects in a variety of cultural settings including South Africa, Indonesia, Philippines, India and the United States. By far his longest term research and teaching commitment has been with Aboriginal peoples with a special focus on the Inuit of Arctic Quebec (Nunavik). His most recent book is entitled “The Quest for Identity” and is published by Praeger.
		Christopher D. Webster, Ph.D., Private Practice   "From Flipping Coins to Looking at Both Sides of Them: Assessing Violence Risks and Strengths over the Short-Term" Abstract: Evaluations of violence risk should consider the client’s strengths as well as their weaknesses. Although the use of risk-focused scales, such as the Historical-Clinical-Risk-20 (HCR-20) or the Hare Psychopathy-Checklist (PCL-R), do not preclude an emphasis on client strengths, it is not possible to include preventive factors directly within these scales. Over the past few years, a group of Canadian colleagues have evolved a scheme called the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START). The scheme continues a reliance on historical factors typical in other structured risk tools, but the main emphasis is on dynamic variables. Generally the evaluation is expected to “hold up” for only a limited time period - approximately three months. In the START, 20 items are scored 0, 1, or 2 for “vulnerabilities” (i.e., risks) and evaluators also score the very same items (e.g., insight, material resources, and rule adherence) for strengths on a separate 0, 1, or 2 scale. The START invites assessors to assess possible risks including self-harm, suicide, and unauthorized leave. The initial research on START has found that declines in risk are associated with increases in strength. These findings have major implications for risk management planning. Bio: Dr. Webster is a giant in the field of forensic psychology. He deserves a place in history for leading the transformation of psychological risk assessment from the dark ages of unstructured professional opinion to evidence-based practice. As leader of a small, committed group of practitioners who refused to be complacent with the status quo, he developed many of the most popular risk assessment tools currently in use today: The HCR-20, the Sexual Violence Risk-20, Spousal Assault Risk Assessment, and the Fitness Interview. Translations of the HCR-20 have been published in French, Dutch, German and Swedish. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and winner of the 2002 Career Achievement Award from the Clinical Division of the American Psychological Association, and the 2010 Career Contribution Award from the Criminal Justice section of the Canadian Psychological Association.