Brad Olson
Biographic Data
| ID | 4231700 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brad Olson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brad |
| FAMILY NAME | Olson |
| SIGNATURE | OLSON B |
| AFFILIATIONS | National Louis University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1328-0713 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 116 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Leveraging community psychology to counter harmful policies and foster well‐being in migrant children
Harmful child detention and deportation policies, along with dehumanizing migrant narratives, are part of a global pattern of systemic oppression targeting people on the move. This paper reviews the psychological harms experienced by migrant children caused by detention, separation, and deportation, critiquing the limitations of trauma‐focused, individual therapeutic approaches often adopted by service‐oriented fields. Community psychology princi…
Introduction to the special issue on critical realism
This special issue explores how philosophy of science matters for both research and social action in community psychology. It explores the complex issue of what might be appropriate philosophical bases for community psychology theory, research, and practice. In particular, it focuses on critical realism, a relatively new approach to the philosophy of science. In this introductory article, we start by discussing the importance of philosophy of sci…
Seven key insights from critical realism and their implications for ecological thinking and action in community psychology
This article explores some of the possible links between community psychology and critical realism, a relatively new approach to the philosophy of science that has received little attention from community psychologists. Critical realism is presented in relation to seven key insights that can be linked to fundamental tenets of the ecological approach in community psychology. These insights are: (1) A complex reality exists independently of our ide…
A community psychology for migrant justice
This article explores the magnifying lenses of the COVID‐19 syndemic to highlight how people racialized as migrants and refugees have been—and continue to be—disproportionally harmed. We use empirical evidence collected in our scholarly/activist work in Europe, Africa, South Asia, and the United States to examine migrant injustice as being produced by a combination of power structures and relations working to maintain colonial global orders and i…
The Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous Scale - Short Form
Background: The aim of this research was to examine the psychometrics of a short form version of the multidimensional Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous scale (IAA-SF) by assessing the factor structure, internal consistency, and predictive validity. While there are several existing measures of involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous, many are either unidimensional or are limited in their ability to gather variation in the level of involvement in the…
Qualitative data, psychologists, the profession of psychology, and an ethos of trust
The Roles of Settings in Supporting Immigrants’ Resistance to Injustice and Oppression
In 2018, in response to increasingly oppressive and widespread federal immigration enforcement actions in the United States (U.S.) and around the globe – including family separation, immigration raids, detention, deportation of people who have lived in the country for much of their lives – the Society for Community Research & Action produced a statement on the effects of deportation and forced separation on immigrants, their families, and communi…
Alinsky's mind and spirit, and the modern‐day Industrial Areas Foundation in Texas
Response to Staal “psychological ethics and operational psychology”—fundamental issues and methods
Second response to Staal
Interrogating the ethics of operational psychology
Commissioned amidst allegations of collusion between American Psychological Association officials and Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense officials involved in the enhanced interrogation programme, the July 2015 Hoffman Report documented a decade of collusion between American Psychological Association and Department of Defense officials in unethical national security interrogations. However, interrogation support is but one of n…
Participatory Mixed Methods Research
The What and Why of Effective Substance Abuse Treatment
Predicting Attrition in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders
Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Social Justice Scale (SJS)
The study describes the development of the Social Justice Scale (SJS). Practitioners, educators, students, and other members of the community differ on their attitudes and values regarding social justice. It is important to assess, not only individuals’ attitudes and values around social values, but also other constructs that might be related to social justice behaviors. The implication of Ajzen in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Proce…
Political Orientation and the Psychology of Christian Prayer
The authors of this study examined relations between self-reported political orientation and the content of prayer narratives in a sample of 128 midlife North American Christians. Politically liberal Christians were more likely than politically conservative Christians to emphasize provision in prayer, asking God to provide resources for people and to fulfill human needs. Conservatives, however, were no more likely than liberals to emphasize prote…
A Temporal Model of Community Organizing and Direct Action
Psychology has much to contribute to engagement in community organizing and direct action. Such organizing and action is psychological: it is motivational, cognitive, attitudinal, and emotional. Psychological knowledge is a cost-free resource. It can be used to counter unjust power structures and their tendency to maintain policies and systems of social harm and inequality. A theoretical model of organizing and direct action that integrates knowl…
Higher-order factors of the Big Five predict exploration and threat in life stories
Personality Development
The development of personality across the human life course may be observed from three different standpoints: the person as actor (behaving), agent (striving), and author (narrating). Evident even in infancy, broad differences in social action patterns foreshadow the long-term developmental elaboration of early temperament into adult dispositional traits. Research on personal strivings and other motivational constructs provides a second perspecti…
Generativity, the Big Five, and Psychosocial Adaptation in Midlife Adults
The study examines the extent to which 2 sets of personality variables—(1) dispositional traits (and their facets) within the Big Five taxonomy and (2) the adult developmental construct of generativity—are associated with psychosocial adaptation in midlife adults ( N =128), conceived as the combination of individual well‐being and positive societal involvements. Generativity is conceived as an adult's concern for and commitment to promoting the w…
Latinos and Latinas in Communal Settings
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 Latino/a residents of a mutual help residential recovery program (Oxford House) in order to elicit their experiences of the program’s therapeutic elements. A model of recovery emerged from the analysis including several themes supported by existing literature: personal motivation and readiness to change, mutual help, sober environment, social support, and accountability. Consistent with a broad co…
Increases in Tolerance Within Naturalistic, Intentional Communities
The authors examine differential changes in values of tolerance among 150 participants discharged from inpatient treatment centers, and randomly assigned to either a self‐help‐based, communal living setting (i.e., Oxford House), or usual aftercare. Participants were interviewed every 6 months for a 24‐month period. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to examine the effect of condition (therapeutic communal living versus usual aftercare) o…
A Longitudinal Analysis of Psychiatric Severity upon Outcomes Among Substance Abusers Residing in Self‐Help Settings
A longitudinal analysis of psychiatric severity was conducted with a national sample of recovering substance abusers living in Oxford Houses, which are self‐run, self‐help settings. Outcomes related to residents' psychiatric severity were examined at three follow‐up intervals over one year. Over time, Oxford House residents with high versus low baseline psychiatric severity reported significantly more days using psychiatric medication, decreased …
Family metaphors and moral intuitions
This research examines life-narrative interviews obtained from 128 highly religious and politically active adults to test differences between political conservatives and liberals on (a) implicit family metaphors (G. Lakoff, 2002) and (b) moral intuitions (J. Haidt & C. Joseph, 2004). Content analysis of 12 key scenes in life stories showed that conservatives, as predicted, tended to depict authority figures as strict enforcers of moral rules and …
Substance-Abusing Women and Their Children
Low-level drug offenses are presently the top reason women are sent to jail. Because more than 70% of these incarcerated women are the primary caretakers of children, incarceration has resulted in a sharp rise in foster care demand. Research suggests that incarcerated women who remain with their children are more likely to enter and complete treatment. This paper reviews the effects of incarceration and the available treatment options for substan…
Family metaphors and moral intuitions
This research examines life-narrative interviews obtained from 128 highly religious and politically active adults to test differences between political conservatives and liberals on (a) implicit family metaphors (G. Lakoff, 2002) and (b) moral intuitions (J. Haidt & C. Joseph, 2004). Content analysis of 12 key scenes in life stories showed that conservatives, as predicted, tended to depict authority figures as strict enforcers of moral rules and …
Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Social Justice Scale (SJS)
The study describes the development of the Social Justice Scale (SJS). Practitioners, educators, students, and other members of the community differ on their attitudes and values regarding social justice. It is important to assess, not only individuals’ attitudes and values around social values, but also other constructs that might be related to social justice behaviors. The implication of Ajzen in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Proce…
Communal Housing Settings Enhance Substance Abuse Recovery
Oxford Houses are democratic, mutual help–oriented recovery homes for individuals with substance abuse histories. There are more than 1200 of these houses in the United States, and each home is operated independently by its residents, without help from professional staff. In a recent experiment, 150 individuals in Illinois were randomly assigned to either an Oxford House or usual-care condition (i.e., outpatient treatment or self-help groups) aft…
A Longitudinal Analysis of Psychiatric Severity upon Outcomes Among Substance Abusers Residing in Self‐Help Settings
A longitudinal analysis of psychiatric severity was conducted with a national sample of recovering substance abusers living in Oxford Houses, which are self‐run, self‐help settings. Outcomes related to residents' psychiatric severity were examined at three follow‐up intervals over one year. Over time, Oxford House residents with high versus low baseline psychiatric severity reported significantly more days using psychiatric medication, decreased …
Attitudes toward recovery homes and residents
The present study investigated the attitudes of neighborhood residents toward a particular type of substance abuse recovery home (i.e., Oxford House). Individuals who lived next to these recovery homes versus those who lived a block away were assessed regarding their attitudes toward substance abuse recovery homes and individuals in recovery. The vast majority of those living next to a self-run recovery home knew of the existence of these recover…
A community psychology for migrant justice
This article explores the magnifying lenses of the COVID‐19 syndemic to highlight how people racialized as migrants and refugees have been—and continue to be—disproportionally harmed. We use empirical evidence collected in our scholarly/activist work in Europe, Africa, South Asia, and the United States to examine migrant injustice as being produced by a combination of power structures and relations working to maintain colonial global orders and i…
Interrogating the ethics of operational psychology
Commissioned amidst allegations of collusion between American Psychological Association officials and Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense officials involved in the enhanced interrogation programme, the July 2015 Hoffman Report documented a decade of collusion between American Psychological Association and Department of Defense officials in unethical national security interrogations. However, interrogation support is but one of n…
Higher-order factors of the Big Five predict exploration and threat in life stories
Political Orientation and the Psychology of Christian Prayer
The authors of this study examined relations between self-reported political orientation and the content of prayer narratives in a sample of 128 midlife North American Christians. Politically liberal Christians were more likely than politically conservative Christians to emphasize provision in prayer, asking God to provide resources for people and to fulfill human needs. Conservatives, however, were no more likely than liberals to emphasize prote…
Increasing the Number of Mutual Help Recovery Homes for Substance Abusers
Leveraging community psychology to counter harmful policies and foster well‐being in migrant children
Harmful child detention and deportation policies, along with dehumanizing migrant narratives, are part of a global pattern of systemic oppression targeting people on the move. This paper reviews the psychological harms experienced by migrant children caused by detention, separation, and deportation, critiquing the limitations of trauma‐focused, individual therapeutic approaches often adopted by service‐oriented fields. Community psychology princi…
Introduction to the special issue on critical realism
This special issue explores how philosophy of science matters for both research and social action in community psychology. It explores the complex issue of what might be appropriate philosophical bases for community psychology theory, research, and practice. In particular, it focuses on critical realism, a relatively new approach to the philosophy of science. In this introductory article, we start by discussing the importance of philosophy of sci…
Seven key insights from critical realism and their implications for ecological thinking and action in community psychology
This article explores some of the possible links between community psychology and critical realism, a relatively new approach to the philosophy of science that has received little attention from community psychologists. Critical realism is presented in relation to seven key insights that can be linked to fundamental tenets of the ecological approach in community psychology. These insights are: (1) A complex reality exists independently of our ide…
A Temporal Model of Community Organizing and Direct Action
Psychology has much to contribute to engagement in community organizing and direct action. Such organizing and action is psychological: it is motivational, cognitive, attitudinal, and emotional. Psychological knowledge is a cost-free resource. It can be used to counter unjust power structures and their tendency to maintain policies and systems of social harm and inequality. A theoretical model of organizing and direct action that integrates knowl…
Increases in Tolerance Within Naturalistic, Intentional Communities
The authors examine differential changes in values of tolerance among 150 participants discharged from inpatient treatment centers, and randomly assigned to either a self‐help‐based, communal living setting (i.e., Oxford House), or usual aftercare. Participants were interviewed every 6 months for a 24‐month period. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to examine the effect of condition (therapeutic communal living versus usual aftercare) o…
Latinos and Latinas in Oxford House
Twelve Latinos(as) living in Oxford House, a mutual-help residential program for substance abuse recovery, participated in semi-structured interviews. Coding of the interview transcripts revealed that participants were referred to Oxford House by counselors or 12-step peers. Prior to entering Oxford House, participants had concerns about how the house would operate and about being the only Latino(a) house member. However, they reported overwhelmi…
Attitudes toward recovery homes and residents
The present study investigated the attitudes of neighborhood residents toward a particular type of substance abuse recovery home (i.e., Oxford House). Individuals who lived next to these recovery homes versus those who lived a block away were assessed regarding their attitudes toward substance abuse recovery homes and individuals in recovery. The vast majority of those living next to a self-run recovery home knew of the existence of these recover…
Increasing the Number of Mutual Help Recovery Homes for Substance Abusers
Substance-Abusing Women and Their Children
Low-level drug offenses are presently the top reason women are sent to jail. Because more than 70% of these incarcerated women are the primary caretakers of children, incarceration has resulted in a sharp rise in foster care demand. Research suggests that incarcerated women who remain with their children are more likely to enter and complete treatment. This paper reviews the effects of incarceration and the available treatment options for substan…
Communal Housing Settings Enhance Substance Abuse Recovery
Oxford Houses are democratic, mutual help–oriented recovery homes for individuals with substance abuse histories. There are more than 1200 of these houses in the United States, and each home is operated independently by its residents, without help from professional staff. In a recent experiment, 150 individuals in Illinois were randomly assigned to either an Oxford House or usual-care condition (i.e., outpatient treatment or self-help groups) aft…
A Longitudinal Analysis of Psychiatric Severity upon Outcomes Among Substance Abusers Residing in Self‐Help Settings
A longitudinal analysis of psychiatric severity was conducted with a national sample of recovering substance abusers living in Oxford Houses, which are self‐run, self‐help settings. Outcomes related to residents' psychiatric severity were examined at three follow‐up intervals over one year. Over time, Oxford House residents with high versus low baseline psychiatric severity reported significantly more days using psychiatric medication, decreased …
Family metaphors and moral intuitions
This research examines life-narrative interviews obtained from 128 highly religious and politically active adults to test differences between political conservatives and liberals on (a) implicit family metaphors (G. Lakoff, 2002) and (b) moral intuitions (J. Haidt & C. Joseph, 2004). Content analysis of 12 key scenes in life stories showed that conservatives, as predicted, tended to depict authority figures as strict enforcers of moral rules and …
Latinos and Latinas in Communal Settings
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 Latino/a residents of a mutual help residential recovery program (Oxford House) in order to elicit their experiences of the program’s therapeutic elements. A model of recovery emerged from the analysis including several themes supported by existing literature: personal motivation and readiness to change, mutual help, sober environment, social support, and accountability. Consistent with a broad co…
Increases in Tolerance Within Naturalistic, Intentional Communities
The authors examine differential changes in values of tolerance among 150 participants discharged from inpatient treatment centers, and randomly assigned to either a self‐help‐based, communal living setting (i.e., Oxford House), or usual aftercare. Participants were interviewed every 6 months for a 24‐month period. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to examine the effect of condition (therapeutic communal living versus usual aftercare) o…
Personality Development
The development of personality across the human life course may be observed from three different standpoints: the person as actor (behaving), agent (striving), and author (narrating). Evident even in infancy, broad differences in social action patterns foreshadow the long-term developmental elaboration of early temperament into adult dispositional traits. Research on personal strivings and other motivational constructs provides a second perspecti…
Generativity, the Big Five, and Psychosocial Adaptation in Midlife Adults
The study examines the extent to which 2 sets of personality variables—(1) dispositional traits (and their facets) within the Big Five taxonomy and (2) the adult developmental construct of generativity—are associated with psychosocial adaptation in midlife adults ( N =128), conceived as the combination of individual well‐being and positive societal involvements. Generativity is conceived as an adult's concern for and commitment to promoting the w…
Political Orientation and the Psychology of Christian Prayer
The authors of this study examined relations between self-reported political orientation and the content of prayer narratives in a sample of 128 midlife North American Christians. Politically liberal Christians were more likely than politically conservative Christians to emphasize provision in prayer, asking God to provide resources for people and to fulfill human needs. Conservatives, however, were no more likely than liberals to emphasize prote…
A Temporal Model of Community Organizing and Direct Action
Psychology has much to contribute to engagement in community organizing and direct action. Such organizing and action is psychological: it is motivational, cognitive, attitudinal, and emotional. Psychological knowledge is a cost-free resource. It can be used to counter unjust power structures and their tendency to maintain policies and systems of social harm and inequality. A theoretical model of organizing and direct action that integrates knowl…
Higher-order factors of the Big Five predict exploration and threat in life stories
Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Social Justice Scale (SJS)
The study describes the development of the Social Justice Scale (SJS). Practitioners, educators, students, and other members of the community differ on their attitudes and values regarding social justice. It is important to assess, not only individuals’ attitudes and values around social values, but also other constructs that might be related to social justice behaviors. The implication of Ajzen in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Proce…
Participatory Mixed Methods Research
The What and Why of Effective Substance Abuse Treatment
Predicting Attrition in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders
Interrogating the ethics of operational psychology
Commissioned amidst allegations of collusion between American Psychological Association officials and Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense officials involved in the enhanced interrogation programme, the July 2015 Hoffman Report documented a decade of collusion between American Psychological Association and Department of Defense officials in unethical national security interrogations. However, interrogation support is but one of n…
Response to Staal “psychological ethics and operational psychology”—fundamental issues and methods
Second response to Staal
Alinsky's mind and spirit, and the modern‐day Industrial Areas Foundation in Texas
The Roles of Settings in Supporting Immigrants’ Resistance to Injustice and Oppression
In 2018, in response to increasingly oppressive and widespread federal immigration enforcement actions in the United States (U.S.) and around the globe – including family separation, immigration raids, detention, deportation of people who have lived in the country for much of their lives – the Society for Community Research & Action produced a statement on the effects of deportation and forced separation on immigrants, their families, and communi…
Qualitative data, psychologists, the profession of psychology, and an ethos of trust
The Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous Scale - Short Form
Background: The aim of this research was to examine the psychometrics of a short form version of the multidimensional Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous scale (IAA-SF) by assessing the factor structure, internal consistency, and predictive validity. While there are several existing measures of involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous, many are either unidimensional or are limited in their ability to gather variation in the level of involvement in the…
Psychology (23 works) · Political science (12 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Law (10 works) · Medicine (9 works) · Community Health and Development (8 works) · Psychiatry (8 works) · Health psychology (7 works) · Homelessness and Social Issues (7 works)