“A colleague once told me that if academics treat their work as entrepreneurs, knowing that time is the greatest asset, then our day becomes much longer. The shared vision of The UWI St. Augustine’s psychology faculty is that our research, teaching, students and outreach will make a significant impact on the lives of citizens and policies in the Caribbean. Our undergraduate Psychology programme, the brainchild of Professor Ramesh Deosaran, began in 1995. As we obtain more faculty and resources, there is a continued expansion and development of the undergraduate and graduate Psychology programmes; making the St. Augustine Campus an excellent base for giving back to the community.”

Dr. Derek Chadee

SENIOR LECTURER
DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES AND
DIRECTOR, ANSA MCAL PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTRE
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
ST. AUGUATINE CAMPUS, TRINIDAD
Tel: (868) 662-2002 ext. 2402 • Email: Derek.Chadee@sta.uwi.edu

PROFILE

Dr. Derek Chadee was appointed as a UWI Lecturer in Psychology in 1997 and rose to the position of Senior Lecturer in 2003. He worked very closely with his mentor Professor Ramesh Deosaran and many of his academic and administrative strengths he attributes to this relationship. In both 2002 and 2003 Dr. Chadee received a CUNY (City University of New York) Exchange grant which allowed him short stays at Hunter College, CUNY. In 2004 Dr. Chadee was the recipient of a Senior Fulbright Research Award, and spent extended periods at University of Central Florida and Hunter College, City University of New York. During this time Dr. Chadee was able to establish a cross-cultural research agenda on the social psychology of fear. He visited the University at Albany, SUNY and helped to faclitate the setting up of a Memoradum of Understanding with University at Albany and The University of the West Indies. The first-ever three-year longitudinal study on Fear of Crime was developed and implemented in Trinidad by Dr. Chadee with his University of Sheffield colleague, Professor Jason Ditton. This research programme has attracted the attention of many colleagues from different universities who are now part of an international collaboration team.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Chadee’s current research interest is in the area of the Social Psychology of Fear which includes research on fear of crime, media images and HIV/AIDS. He has a number of international research collaboration in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe. Apart from his substantive research agenda, Dr. Chadee is also currently undertaking research on social norms, assessing the extent to which youth behaviours are governed by misperceived norms. In addition, he supervises a number of graduate students undertaking research on HIV/AIDS Stigmatization, Decision Making, Social Psychology of Fear of Crime. He is also about to embark on a study to evaluate the effects of gambling in Trinidad and Tobago. Recently Dr. Chadee completed a study on HIV/AIDS Stigmatization for the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC). The data from this study will inform the policies proposed by the NACC.