Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu holds a Ph.D. in life-span developmental psychology. Early in his career, he developed an interest in identifying major gaps in the psychological literature and often addressing them with action research. His focus on children’s rights, young people’s right to participation and education resulted in three ground-breaking books in Turkey. As a true believer of longitudinal research, he teamed with documentary maker Can Candan to produce the first (and only) film documenting the experiences of six young people taking the university entrance exam in Turkey.
Over a decade, he produced several interdisciplinary ground-breaking books. With community psychologist Carl Walker, he edited the very first and only
book on psychosocial consequences of personal debt around the world. In another
edited volume, he offered an in-depth analysis of militarism and martyrdom in Turkey. As a response to the decline of universities and academic precarity regime in Turkey, he edited a book offering an in-depth analysis of for-profit higher education. His latest book documents the struggles of Academics for Peace for over a decade.
His work is strongly aligned with community psychology and peace psychology. He was one of the founders of the European Community Psychology Association and later served as president. In 2024, he was awarded the European Community Psychology Association Contribution to Practice Award. In 2020, he was awarded the Josephine “Scout” Wollman Fuller Award by Psychologists for Social Responsibility for his work on peace and social justice for children. He currently serves as president of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence (Peace Psychology).
As an outspoken public scholar, he writes a Sunday
column focused on children’s rights, well-being and peace in a daily newspaper in Turkey since 2008.
