He Wero Ano: Don't Just Tell Me, Show Me How Science and Psychology Are Racist in New Zealand

The psychology profession in New Zealand is undergoing a period oftransformation, driven by regulatory reforms. These changes are notably shapedby highly selective opinions, many of which originate outside the professionitself, rather than being rooted in empirical evidence. This approach stands indirect contrast to the principles of the scientist-practitioner model, which haslong underpinned the training and practice of psychology in New Zealand. Arecent report by a research group who call themselves WERO (Working to EndRacism and Oppression) make broad claims, which they fail to substantiate,that racism and oppression is a serious concern in psychology across all levels ofthe discipline. The researchers claim that science itself is a social construct ofwhite Europeans, and that it is this association with perceived white power andprestige alone that justifies the dominance of scientific ways of knowing in thepractice of psychology. This supposed truth is interpreted as an injustice againstwhat they see as Māori ways of knowing. The researchers go on to claim that inorder to irradicate racism and oppression in psychology, Māori ways ofknowing, should be given equal weight, to scientific ways of knowing in thetraining and practice of psychologists in New Zealand. This article addressesand critiques the claims presented in the WERO report, the evidence providedin support of those claims, and the logical - or rather illogical - connectionsestablished between the data and the researchers’ extreme recommendations forchange. Finally, it argues for the maintenance of the scientist-practitioner modelas a way of maintaining professional integrity and boundaries in psychology.