Paula Joan Caplan (July 7, 1947 – July 21, 2021) was an American

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

, activist, writer, and artist.

Biography

Caplan was an associate at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

's DuBois Institute, director of the Voices of Diversity Project, and a past Fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Previously she had been full professor of psychology, assistant professor of psychiatry, and lecturer in

Women's Studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, as well as head of the Centre for Women's Studies in Education there, and was chosen by the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

as an "eminent woman psychologist". She also taught at Harvard University, Connecticut College, and the University of Rhode Island, gave hundreds of invited addresses, and did more than 1,000 media interviews about social issues. She was the author of ''The Myth of Women's Masochism'', ''Don't Blame Mother'', and a number of other books. Her twelfth and final book was ''When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans'', which won the 2011 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in the Psychology category. Starting in the 1980s, Caplan was concerned that psychiatric diagnoses are unscientific, that giving someone a psychiatric label does not reduce their suffering, and that labeling them carries enormous risks of harm. Caplan outwardly addressed her concerns to the public. In her book, ''They Say You’re Crazy: How the Worlds most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal'', Caplan discusses the nature of diagnosis and how the DSM contributes to the unique faults of psychiatry. She sought to educate the public about the unregulated nature of psychiatric diagnoses and the consequent lack of recourse for people who have been harmed by getting such labels, including how getting a psychiatric diagnosis and label often may stand in the way of recovery. Paula Caplan died on July 21, 2021, in Rockville, Maryland.

Career

Author

Caplan authored twelve books.

References

External links

Paula Joan Caplan Official SiteIn Memoriam: Paula Joan CaplanEnding Harm from Psychiatric DiagnosisThe Welcome Johnny and Jane Home ProjectPapers of Paula J. Caplan, 1973-2006.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caplan, Paula 1947 births 2021 deaths Duke University alumni American women psychologists Psychiatric assessment Radcliffe College alumni People from Springfield, Missouri 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women 20th-century American psychologists

Biography

Career

Author

See also

References

External links