Susan Pick

For her dissertation, she studied rural Mexico and the way in which social and cultural norms effected decision making and subsequent actions of women there. This research inspired the mission of Yo quiero Yo puedo and led to further investigations into the social barriers that prevent human change and development. Her work is based on three of her teachers and mentors: Robert S. Hartman (theory of value), Martin Fishbein (behavior change) and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (human capabilities) with whom she studied.

Among the largest funders of the research and programs developed, implemented and evaluated by Pick's group are: Buffet Foundation, European Union, Inter-American Development Bank, GlaxoSmithKline, MacArthur Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Packard Foundation, Population Council, Summit Foundation, Tinker Foundation, United Nations, Bernard van Leer Foundation, World Bank and World Health Organization.

Examples of the impact of Yo quiero Yo puedo programs include:

• Statistically significant reductions in: elementary to secondary school drop-out, number of mistakes in the manufacturing of textiles, acceptance of child marriage, SIDS, unprotected sex among adolescents, acceptance of violence as normative, anxiety levels among recent medical school graduates.
• Statistically significant increases in (all in highly marginalized communities): reported frequency and quality of parent/child communications on difficult subjects, use of Pap smears among adult women, personal hygiene, introduction of healthy nutrition practices, use of critical analysis, use of early stimulation with children, exclusive breastfeeding, work satisfaction, use of latrines, boiling of water, washing of vegetables, uptake of vaccines, identification of violent behaviors, and savings practices.

Pick is co-author (with Jenna Sirkin) of Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development (Oxford University Press), which details her studies and her subsequent theory for social change, FrEE (Framework for Enabling Empowerment).

The Framework for Enabling Intrinsic Empowerment

FrEE stands for Framework for Enabling Intrinic Empowerment. FrEE makes Nobel Prize Laureate Amartya Sen´s Human Capabilities Approach operative from a psychosocial perspective. The capabilities that lead to changes in behaviors (“Doings” in Sen´s terms) are:

1. knowledge (e.g. beliefs and facts regarding nutrition, hygiene, prevention and early detection of health issues, civic education, prevention of school desertion),
2. cognitive, emotional, and social life skills (e.g. decision making, assertive communication, conflict resolution, empathy, self knowledge, management of emotions, critical thought), and
3. reduction of psychosocial barriers (e.g. shame, fear, guilt, prejudice, resentment).

Behaviors change in stages (taken from Prochaska and DiClemente´s Theory of Behavior Change), going from precontemplating change to contemplating it, preparing for action, the action itself, and finally the maintenance of change. As behaviors start to take place, the sense of personal agency becomes increasingly enhanced. As this process evolves, so does a change at a more stable level, namely in the person her or himself (Sen´s “Being functionings”). As the person evolves from being a mere subject of change to being more and more an agent of change, the empowerment felt is one that comes from within the person (Intrinsic Empowerment). It is through these stable changes in the person that the context within which the individual lives, gets impacted. And therefore the prevalent social norms undergo a change leading to expanded individual and collective freedoms and capabilities.

Professor Pick has over 400 publications, the most recent one being “Pinta fuera de la raya: La importancia de saber desobedecer” (“Color outside the lines: The importance of knowing how to disobey”).

In 2016, Susan moved into a role as President of the advisory board of Yo quiero Yo puedo. Yo quiero Yo puedo has been responsible for the development of six national programs in Mexico, namely: a) sexuality education and prevention of unwanted pregnancies, b) school based HIV prevention, c) training and ethics for first through third grade of secondary school, d) breast feeding and early stimulation, d) nutrition of the 300,000 poorest homes, e) prevention of school based violence, and f) quality of care provided by recent graduates from the public medical schools.

Most recently, Professor Pick has been involved in the study of psychedelic psychotherapies and the difference they make to many mental health issues. Her focus is coaching for the establishment of an intention before a psychedelic trip and follow up integration thereafter.

Background

Susan Pick was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico to Jewish German refugee parents who had fled the country just before World War II. Pick claims her childhood brought into question for her some of the differences between the social mindset of her European family and that of her Mexican peers. Specifically, she repeatedly saw her father throw pens and papers on the floor and say “Why on earth do people say 'It fell' instead of taking control and responsibility by saying 'I dropped it and am responsible for picking it up'?" It was these observations, together with attending courses with axiology Professor Robert S. Hartman, that taught her about external vs. internal locus of control as normative and sparked her interest in understanding how to develop programs that could bring about sustainable changes in the quality of life of highly marginalized populations. This was determinant in forming her interest in social psychology and served as inspiration for her later research.

Hartman's emphasis on intrinsic values over those that value pressure to conform/to please others that comes with reliance on systemic values in many cultures were the basis for the establishment and bases of the Yo quiero Yo puedo programs.

In 1975, she received her bachelor's in social psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), and then began Ph.D. research at that school.

Her doctoral thesis research suggests that, although many of the women in these communities liked the idea of family planning, they lacked the possibility of using contraception because they did not know how to use it, lacked access, feared social scrutiny, or, most importantly, believed that they did not have the right to make these decisions about their health. Her study indicated that the women were incapacitated by feelings of guilt, shame, fear, resentment, and prejudice. With these findings, Pick suggested that the reason why many health programs were unsuccessful in reducing unwanted pregnancies was because their sexuality education models did not confront these psychosocial barriers, which were ultimately preventing young women from using contraception. In 2010, she published her findings and subsequent theory of social change in her book Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Human Basis for Sustainable Development.