Research & Outreach
Research
Research is the foundation of both psychological practice (therapy) and science.
As a practitioner-scientist Dr. Priya E. Maharaj does clinical work as an independent clinical psychologist (e.g. psychological therapies and psychological/psychometric assessments) and is also engaged in scientific research. Psychology is a science-based area of practice and study concerned with the mind, inclusive of many areas like behaviour, thoughts, emotions, communication, memory and many other parts of the human condition. Psychology is a well-organised and scientific discipline that has continued to grow over the last century or so.
Research and scientific evidence provide the justification for different treatments or therapies (what works and what doesn’t) and is also important for progress in other domains like policies and programmes.
If you are interested in research consultation services or research collaboration, please contact Dr. Priya E. Maharaj for more information.
Current/recent research projects
Maharaj, P.E. (2020-2023) Director of research. Under 5 – A socially transformative project concerned with the sexual abuse of children under five years old. Sweet Water Foundation.
Maharaj, P. E. (2019) Quantitative Lead - Child Protection Knowledge Questionnaire Design, Data Analysis and Findings. Sweet Water Foundation, Funded by Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP)
Maharaj, P. E. (2019) Quantitative Lead – Attitudes to LGBT People Questionnaire Design, Data Analysis and Findings. Justice for All (targeted towards equality for LGBT persons). Sweet Water Foundation, Funded by Ministry of Health, Grenada.
Descartes, C., Maharaj P. E. & Pulwarty, H. (2016-2017) Co-Investigator, Aggression among Maltreated Children in Residential Care in Trinidad. Campus Research and Publication Fund, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine
Maharaj, P. E. (2014-2015) Principal Investigator, Dreamscape: Fostering Childhood Dreams through Positive Psychology. The Alpine Project, San Fernando, Trinidad on behalf of The Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development, The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Maharaj, P.E. (2008-2009). Country Researcher for St. Kitts and Nevis and Quantitative Lead, Child Sexual Abuse in the Eastern Caribbean. The Centre for Applied Childhood Studies, School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, UK.
Recent publications
Chapters in books
Maharaj, P. E., Da Breo, H. & Descartes, C. (forthcoming, 2024). Mental Health Beyond the Individual: Caribbean Context, Barriers and Solutions. In Public Health in the Caribbean. Eds. Shalini Pooransingh et al.
Da Breo, H., Descartes, C. & Maharaj, P. E. (forthcoming, 2024). Child abuse in the Caribbean Context: An Overview and Emerging Issues. In Public Health in the Caribbean. Eds. Shalini Pooransingh et al.
Descartes, C. & Maharaj, P. E. (2024). The Psychology of Caribbean Migration: Situated Contexts, Commonalities and Challenges in The Movement of Venezuelans to the Americas and the Caribbean in the 21st Century, W. Wallace (Ed). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Maharaj, P.E., Barclay, N., Descartes, C. & Da Breo, H. (2019). Intimate Partner Violence and Sleep: An Overview of Sleep Disturbances and Interventions in Handbook of Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan (G. Tinney, S. M. Wagers & J. Langhinrichsen-Rohling, section eds.), Springer.
Maharaj, P. E. (2013). The Nature of Paradise in Adele Jones (Ed.) Understanding Child Sexual Abuse: Perspectives from the Caribbean, London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 9781137020048.
Jemmott, E. T. and Maharaj, P. E. (2013). Gendered Sexual Relations and Sexualised Gender Relations in Adele Jones (Ed.) Understanding Child Sexual Abuse: Perspectives from the Caribbean, London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 9781137020048.
Maharaj, P.E. (2009) The Institutionalisation of HIV-AIDS Related Prejudice in HIV-AIDS and Social Work Practice in the Caribbean. Kingston and Miami: Ian Randle Publishers, pp. 3-18. ISBN: 978-976-637-356-6.
Jones, A. D. and Maharaj, P.E. (2009) Disability, Sexuality and HIV in HIV-AIDS and Social Work Practice in the Caribbean. Kingston and Miami: Ian Randle Publishers, pp.139-154. ISBN: 978-976-637-356-6
Books
Jones, A.D, Trotman Jemmott, E., Da Breo H. & Maharaj, P. E. (2016). Treating Child Sexual Abuse in Family, Group and Clinical Settings: Culturally Intelligent Strengths-based Practice for Caribbean and International Contexts. London: Palgrave Macmillan
Jones, A.D, Trotman Jemmott, E., Maharaj, P. E. & Da Breo H. (2015). An Integrated Systems Model for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Perspectives from the Caribbean. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Print ISBN: 9781137377654
Jones, A. D., Padmore, J. A. and Maharaj, P. E. (editors) (2009) HIV-AIDS and Social Work Practice in the Caribbean. Kingston and Miami: Ian Randle Publishers. ISBN: 9789766373566.
Journal articles
Descartes, C.H., Maharaj, P.E., Quammie, M. et al. (2019) It’s Never One Type: the Co-Occurrence of Child Abuse and Neglect among Children Living in Community Residences in Trinidad. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-019-00293-x
Descartes, C., & Maharaj, P. E. (2016). Does the Type of Aggression Matter? The Role of Culture and Context in Understanding Direct and Indirect Aggression among Children and Adolescents. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 9:217, doi: 10.1007/s40653-016-0095-y
Pasura, D., Jones, A.D., Hafner, J.A.H., Maharaj, P.E., Nathaniel, K. & Johnson, E. (2012). Competing Meanings of Childhood and Consequences for Child Sexual Abuse in the Caribbean, Childhood, doi: 10.1177/0907568212462255
Outreach
The Alpine Project
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Dr. Priya E. Maharaj, PhD, CPsychol, CSci, FBPsS, is the founder and operational director of The Alpine Project.
The Alpine Project was founded in 2011. It is a non-governmental organization based in Trinidad and Tobago. The Alpine Project focuses on child welfare, gender based violence and mental health. The organization is committed to collaborative and innovative work through research, advocacy and training in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.
The Alpine Project works to address critical issues, particularly child sexual abuse, the psychological welfare of children, intimate partner violence and mental health advocacy. The Alpine Project has a firm local grounding to translate research into action through various means, including research, advocacy, teaching, training and knowledge dissemination. The Alpine Project won a substantial grant from the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development of Trinidad and Tobago to undertake the project, “Dreamscape: Fostering Childhood Dreams through Art and Positive Psychology” (2014). The Alpine Project’s main regional partner is the Sweet Water Foundation based in Grenada, with which it provides collaborative Caribbean research and action; most notably Project RISE and My Sister's Keeper (psychotherapeutic group-work intervention for girls who have been sexually abused in Grenada). The Alpine Project has also recently partnered with Sweet Water Foundation on the ongoing project "Under 5: A socially transformative project concerned with the sexual abuse of children under five years old".