The PCUN Paper Series leverages psychological principles, science, and practice to offer timely, objective, and data-based information to the United Nations and other key stakeholders about current and emerging issues facing diverse communities. This series is designed harnessing expertise from the wide ranging field of psychology to identify and promote promising practices and actionable steps in response to global concerns.

Psychological Science Perspectives: Research and Strategies for Navigating the Vividness Effect  – October 2025

Authors: Rachel Quintas, Alla Prokhovnik-Raphique, Bryan Jimenez, Sophia Lonardo, Sabrina Espaillat, Darby Reagan McCusker and Maisie Morrison (editor)

Summary: This article examines how the human tendency to focus on sensational information, known as the vividness effect, distorts global attention, impacting resource allocations during crisis times. Policymakers and advocates must develop mechanisms that counter media biases by strengthening informational integrity and promoting fact-based engagement.

School Refusal in the Wake of COVID-19: The Role of School-Family-Community Partnerships – November 2023

Political Forgiveness and the Healing of Nations – September 2023

Author: Eileen Borris

Summary: If the New Agenda for Peace (NAfP) is to be meaningful, it will need to engage with processes of healing and reconciliation—and especially within the United Nations—if it wants to deliver the global public goal of building peace by addressing and healing the multigenerational legacies of past wounds. Political forgiveness provides a framework where victims and perpetrators (or so-called “others”) can come together to repair what was broken and what was inherited, and lay a new foundation for future generations. This supports a culture of political forgiveness, which can sustain an enduring global peace.

COVID-19 and Immigration Detention: Implications for Mental Health Professionals – April 2023

Author: Kim Barabowski

Summary: Immigrants face a range of deleterious mental and physical health outcomes when held in detention facilities. Mental health professionals can use their expertise to respond to the needs of detained migrants, given increased risks during the COVID-19 pandemic.