Pioneers in Peace Psychology: Dorothy Day Ciarlo

• Published in: Peace and conflict 2009-10, Vol.15 (4), p.325-341
• Main Authors: McKay, Susan A, Wessells, Michael G, Roe, Mícheál D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activism; Female; Human; Offenders; Peace; Psychologists; Psychology
• ISSN: 1078-1919; 1532-7949
• DOI: 10.1080/10781910903206732

Dorothy Day Ciarlo, Ph.D., now retired, is a clinical psychologist. After graduating in 1955, she worked for one year before enrolling in graduate school at the University of Chicago. Dorothy received her Ph.D. in psychology in 1960. Given those times when women had made few inroads into academia, she chose a career in clinical psychology, which she considered a more socially acceptable choice for a woman in that era. Dorothy worked as a clinical psychologist until her retirement in 1996–first in community mental health centers, where she became clinical director; and, in 1980, as a psychologist in private practice. Post retirement, she began to collect personal narratives of retired workers from Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant and other people centrally involved with the plant, including protesters. In gathering oral histories, she gained an understanding of the psychological aspects of the legacy of nuclear weapons production. Throughout her career years, Dorothy combined clinical work, activism, and parenting. She felt the intersection of all these aspects of her activity made her life richer and brought special meaning to her life as a parent. Her perspective is that peace psychology is not merely the prevention of war but has to do with all kinds of ways in which people are either going to get along or not get along with each other and with their environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)