How does our social identity and the workings of the wider society have an impact on our self-esteem, our self-confidence, our sense of empowerment, our leadership, our social visibility, and the quality of our relationships? This book presents a model for understanding people’s feelings and behaviour in a social as opposed to an individual context. It looks at these through the lens of diversity and social identity, i.e., class, gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, and so on. In particular, it makes a distinction between “oppressed” or “minority” identities and “oppressor” or “dominant” identities.

How oppression and domination operate and their effects on the well-being of people individually and collectively are examined and specific attention is paid to how this affects relationships between people of different identities. This all underpins an understanding of how people can deal with feelings and heal from their hurts. The final sections of the book look at how people can take charge of dealing with their struggles including the processes of human liberation and social change and the place of leadership in bringing about a sustainable and egalitarian future.

The book is aimed at a general readership, at those who wish to understand the origins of the personal struggles they experience. It is also aimed at social, educational, community and mental health workers and health service providers who work with such people.

Dr Seán Ruth is an Organisational Psychologist and author of Leadership & Liberation: A Psychological Approach (Routledge, 2006) and High-Quality Leadership: A Self-Assessment Guide for Individuals and Teams (Veritas, 2006). He specialises in the areas of leadership development, conflict resolution and diversity.

Series: MindYourSelf Imprint: ATRIUM