259 © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2022
G. J. Rich, N. A. Ramkumar (eds.), Psychology in Oceania
and the Caribbean, International and Cultural Psychology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87763-7_18
Chapter 18
Psychology in Guyana and Trinidad
and Tobago
Jaipaul L. Roopnarine, Derek Chadee, and Mark A. Primus
Over the last 40 years, training in the psychological sciences has grown steadily in
Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Institutions of
higher learning, such as the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago,
went from offering a few courses in psychology to granting graduate degrees.
Individual countries have also established national psychological organizations that
partner with the Caribbean Alliance of National Psychological Associations
(CANPA) to sponsor biannual conferences. At the other end of the spectrum are
countries (e.g., Guyana) with fedging programs that are only now offering basic
courses in psychology. In this brief chapter, an attempt is made to provide a glimpse
into what we know about some aspects of psychology in the southernmost Caribbean
countries of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. We begin with a discussion of socio-
historical experiences, pertinent sociodemographic factors, family dynamics, and
religious practices of different ethnic groups in the two countries, before turning our
attention to key mental health challenges, human resources, training programs in
psychology at tertiary institutions of learning, and psychological organizations.
J. L. Roopnarine (*)
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname
e-mail: jroopnar@syr.edu
D. Chadee
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
e-mail: Derek.Chadee@sta.uwi.edu
M. A. Primus
Nazareth College, Rochester, NY, USA
e-mail: mprimus4@naz.edu