Professor Derek Chadee
Derek Chadee is Professor of Social Psychology. He began his term as Deputy Principal at the St. Augustine Campus in October 2024.
Academic Career
Professor Derek Chadee, a Fulbright Scholar, joined the St. Augustine Campus of The UWI in 1995 as an Assistant Lecturer. He was awarded tenure in 2002 and was promoted to Professor of Social Psychology in 2013.
As Coordinator of the Psychology Programme, he developed the B.Sc. Psychology Special, M.Sc. Applied Psychology and M.Phil./Ph.D. Psychology programmes which he directed within the Faculty of Social Sciences. His high standards in research, publications, teaching, and research collaboration have been evident throughout his career. His robust research agenda has focussed on the psychology of fear of crime with a current research interest in general fear, antecedents of emotions, copycat behaviour, media influence on perception, and social psychological theories.
Professor Chadee's Professorial Inaugural Lecture - 2015
Research
Professor Chadee has more than 70 published books, journal articles and book chapters. He has published in internationally respected peer-refereed journals, a few of which being the British Journal of Criminology; Crime Media and Culture; International Review of Victimology; Journal of Interpersonal Violence; Applied Social Psychology; Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology; Psychology of Popular Media Culture – among others. His latest books are Positive Psychology (Palgrave 2021) and Theories in Social Psychology (2nd edition Wiley-Blackwell, 2022). The last publication is a unique contribution to the literature since, in the last 50 years, there had been no book on the international market that focused explicitly on theories in social psychology prior to its initial publication.
His firm belief that university advocacy is an essential tool to bring about change and guide ever-changing Caribbean societies is reflected in the results of his research with governmental agencies. That advocacy research has included Crime Victimization and Fear of Crime; Discrimination and Stigmatization: HIV/AIDS; Effects of Gambling in Trinidad and Tobago; and Social Norms and Values in Trinidad and Tobago.
Public Service
Professor Chadee currently serves on the Mediation Board of Trinidad and Tobago.
