Dr. Michelle Twali: Psychological Needs in Response to Historical and Systemic Violence

Collective violence and oppression continue to persist worldwide, despite many efforts
towards equality and social change. Dr. Twali’s research takes a multi-level and mixed
methods approach to understand how collective violence and oppression in diverse
contexts shape the lives of members of groups targeted by the violence. In this talk, Dr.
Twali will explore the psychological needs (e.g., need for acknowledgment, need for
power) experienced by members of groups that experienced historical trauma, some of
whom continue to experience collective violence and structural inequality (e.g., Black
Americans, Palestinians, Armenian Americans and Jewish Americans). She will discuss
the different ways of meeting those needs, which require synergistic efforts of enhancing
psychological resources and structural redress. The implications for this research for
informing the development of interventions and policies that promote equitable societies
will be also discussed.