Susan Pick

Susan Pick is a Mexican psychologist and the founder and board president of the Mexican Institute for Family and Population Research (IMIFAP) (commonly known as "Yo quiero Yo puedo"), a Mexican organization that has promoted and facilitated wellbeing for people in Mexico and 17 other countries. She has her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of London. For her dissertation, she studied rural Mexico and the way in which social and cultural norms effected decision making and subsequent actions of women there. This research inspired the mission of Yo quiero Yo puedo and led to further investigations into the social barriers that prevent human change and development. Her work is based on three of her teachers and mentors: Robert S. Hartman (theory of value), Martin Fishbein (behavior change) and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (human capabilities) with whom she studied.

She is the author of Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development, which details her studies and her subsequent theory for social change, FrEE (Framework for Enabling Empowerment).[1] She received the “Distinguished International Psychologist Award” from the American Psychological Association in 2002 and the “Distinguished Professional Award” from the International Association of Applied Psychology in 2006.

In 2016, Susan moved into a role as President of the Advisory Board of Yo quiero Yo puedo.

Background

Susan Pick was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico to German refugee parents who had fled the country just before World War II. Pick claims her childhood brought into question for her some of the differences between the social mindset of her European family and that of her Mexican peers. It influenced her interest in social psychology and served as inspiration for her later research.[2]

In 1975, she received her bachelor’s in social psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), and then began Ph.D. research at that school.[3]

Her doctoral thesis research suggests that, although many of the women in these communities liked the idea of family planning, they lacked the possibility of using contraception because they did not know how to use it, lacked access, feared social scrutiny, or, most importantly, believed that they did not have the right to make these decisions about their health. Her study indicated that the women were incapacitated by feelings of guilt, shame, fear, resentment, and prejudice. With these findings, Pick suggested that the reason why many health programs were unsuccessful in reducing unwanted pregnancies was because their sexuality education models did not confront these psychosocial barriers, which were ultimately preventing young women from using contraception.[4][5][6] In 2010, she published her findings and subsequent theory of social change in her book Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development.[7]

Career

Pick began her career as a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) in 1975 . Among the courses she has taught are: research methods, group dynamics, health and development, life skills, competencies for personal agency, and the integration of social and human development [8] .[9]

In 1984, she took a year of sabbatical at Anahuac University. In 1985, she founded the non-government organization IMIFAP (Yo quiero Yo puedo), devoted to bolstering human and social development in Mexico in the areas of health, citizenship, productivity, and education.[10] The FrEE (Framework for Enabling Empowerment), the foundation of all Yo quiero Yo puedo programs, is based on the “Human Capabilities Approach”, developed by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen.[11]

In 1994, Dr. Pick began a two-year project with the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico to develop a degree program focused on the psychosocial aspects of health. In 2005, she participated in another two-year fellowship, this time at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she published works on health promotion and the reduction of poverty, including the book, co-written with Jenna Sirkin, Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development.[12][13][14]

She was co-editor for Revista de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Psicología Social (The Latin American Association Journal for Social Psychology) between 1979 and 1984.[15] Between 1993 and 2003, she did editorial consulting for the International Journal of Psychology,[16] and, in 2006, contributed to the American Journal of Public Health.[17][18]

Awards and honors

Her distinctions include the highest-level membership in the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (Mexico’s National System of Researchers) and the Academia de la Investigación Científica (The Academy of Scientific Research),[19][20] and she served as a member of the Doctoral Committee in the Faculty of Psychology at Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Autonomous University of Nuevo León) from 1998 through 2000.[21] In 1995, she was elected to the Presidency for the International Scientific Committee in the 25th Inter-American Congress for Psychology, and in 1997, she held the Presidency for the First Regional Congress of Psychology for Professionals in Mexico.[22]

In 2001, she received the American Psychological Association's “Distinguished International Psychologist Award” in 2002.[23] In 2005, she received the “Florence Denmark/Gori Gunwald Award for Contributions to Women’s Psychology” from the International Council of Psychologists.[24] In 2006, she received the “Distinguished Professional Award” from the International Association of Applied Psychology[25] as well as the award for “Creators of Social Psychology” from the Mexican Association of Social Psychology.[26]

References
  1. Pick, Susan and Jenna T. Sirkin. Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
  2. Pick and Sirkin, 2010, pg. ix-xii; 11-15
  3. "Susan Pick Profile". Ashoka Innovators for the Public. 2009. Web. 15 julio, 2013. https://www.ashoka.org/node/5794 Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Pick de Weiss, S. (1978) A social psychological study of family planning in Mexico City. Unpublished Thesis, University of London, London.
  5. Isaacs, S., Cairns, G., & Heckel, N. (1985) Population policy: A manual for policymakers and planners. New York: Columbia University.
  6. Wolfson, M. (1987). Changing approaches to population problems. Paris: OECD.
  7. Pick, Susan and Jenna T. Sirkin. Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
  8. "Faculty Page" Faculty of Psychology National Autonomous University of Mexico Web. 15 July 2013 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-01. Retrieved 2013-07-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Course Listings" Faculty of Psychology National Autonomous University of Mexico Web. 15 July 2013. http://www.psicologia.unam.mx/contenidoEstatico/archivo/files/PMDP/Oferta%20Acad.%20Doct.%202012-2%20-%20Semin.%20Teór.%20Psicolog%C3%ADa%20Social%20y%20Ambiental.pdf%5B%5D
  10. "Susan Pick from IMIFAP NGO". Youtube.com. University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. 2 March 2012. Web. 15 July 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0K0YW7DLkw
  11. Pick and Sirkin, 2010, pg. 10-11.
  12. Pick de Weiss, Susan. "La Investigacion en Psicologia Social en Mexico." Revista Latinoamerica de Psicologia vol.18, no.3, (1986): 351-366. Print. Redalyc. Web. 15 July 2013. http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/805/80518301.pdf
  13. Alarcon, Reynaldo. "Medio siglo de psicologia latinoamerica." Interamerican Journal of Psychology Vol. 38, No. 2, 2004, pg 307-316. Print.
  14. Cruz, Julio Eduardo. "Panorámica de la aproximación latinoamericana a la psicología social." Revista Latinoamerica de Psichologia Vol. 22, No. 1, 1990, pg. 11-25. Print. Redalyc. Web. http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=80522102
  15. "Health Psychology's Role in Poverty Reduction." Journal of Health Psychology vol.17, no. 3, (2012). Print. Sage Journals (2013). Web. 15 July 2013.
  16. Georgas, James, Kostas Mylonas, Tsabika Bafiti, Ype H. Poortinga, Sophia Christakopoulou, Cigdem Kagitcibasi, Kyunghwa Kwak, Bilge Ataca, John Berry, Sabiha Orung, Diane Sunar, Neophytos Charalambous, Robin Goodwin, Wen-Zhong Wang, Alois Angleitner, Irena Stepanikova, Susan Pick, Martha Givaudan IV, Irina Zhuravliova-Gionis, Rajani Konantambigi, Michele J. Gelfand, Velislava Marinova, Catherine McBride-Chang & Yasmin Kodiç. "Functional Relationships between the Nuclear and Extended Family". International Journal of Psychology vol. 36 num. 5. (2001). Print. Taylor and Francis Online 21 September 2010. Web. 15 July 2013. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207590143000045#.UcnaIlGx25c
  17. Consulting for American Journal of Public Health
  18. David, H.P. & Susan Pick de Weiss. "Illegal Abortion in Mexico: client perceptions." American Journal of Public Health vol. 80, no. 6, pg. 715-716. (1990). Print. American Journal of Public Health Online. Web. 15 July 2013. http://ajph.aphapublications.org/action/doSearch?action=runSearch&type=advanced&result=true&prevSearch=%2Bauthorsfield%3A(de+Weiss%2C+S+P)
  19. "Investigadores vigentes a enero de 2012 (Current Researchers as of January 2012)". Sistema Nacional de Investigadores CONACyT (CONACyT's National System of Researchers) pg 529. Web. 15 July 2013. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2014-02-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. "Membresía Orden Alfabético (Membership Alphabetical Order)" Academia Mexicana de Ciencias. Web. 15 July 2013. http://www.amc.unam.mx/
  21. Pick, Susan y Lopez, Ana Luisa. "¿Como Investigar en Ciencias Sociales?" (1999). 5ª ED. Mexico. Ed. Trillas. Richard I. Levin. Faculty of Psychology Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon. Web. 15 July 2013. www.psicologia.uanl.mx/programas/.../068p_logicadeinvestigacion.doc "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2013-07-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. Knowles, Michael C. (1998). Regional Congress of Psychology for Professionals in the Americas, International Journal of Psychology, 33:5, 363-366, cite on 365. Taylor & Francis Online. Web. 15 July 2013. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/002075998400259
  23. "Leaders in the Field" (2002) American Psychological Association Print: 33:10, 68. Web: https://www.apa.org/about/awards/div-52-interpsyc?tab=3
  24. International Council of Psychologists. Web. http://icpweb.org/
  25. "International Association of Applied Psychology Awards" (2005) International Association of Applied Psychology Awards Web. https://iaapsy.org/about/awards/#:~:text=Established%20in%201982%2C%20the%20IAAP,of%20the%20practice%20of%20psychology%20%E2%80%9D.
  26. Mexican Association of Social Psychology. Web. https://archive.org/details/premio-amepso-06-Susan-Pick/
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