BINUS UNIVERSITY Department of Psychology Holds Public Lecture & Press Conference

On 28th September 2018, BINUS UNIVERSITY’s Department of Psychology in collaboration with The Association for International Human Rights Reporting Standards (FIHRRST), held a public lecture at the university’s Alam Sutera campus highlighting their current efforts at developing a psychology program to help inmates in correctional institutions in Indonesia. The lecture was titled ‘The Role of Psychology in Developing Mental Health Programs in Prisons by Civil Society Organizations’ and was attended by some 600 students in addition to the TIFA Foundation — an organization that strives to strengthen the role of civil society in Indonesia — who assisted in funding the program.

Students were shown how the program was being implemented in the Women’s Class II-A prison in Tanggerang, where inmates were provided with training on how to communicate effectively and received trauma-informed correctional care and psychological first aid. It is hoped that if these principles are introduced, prison staff can play a major role in reducing critical incidents, de-escalate situations, and provide counselling designed to promote the understanding of mental health issues. Through this, inmates can better integrate with society when they finish their sentence.

This partnership by BINUS UNIVERSITY highlights the university’s capacity to engage in research initiatives that positively impact community development. Such exposure allows graduates to develop their creative minds and propose viable solutions for a large variety of sectors in Indonesia and abroad.