The Mission and Role of Psychology in a Traumatised and Changing Society: The Case of South Africa

At present there is a “crisis” in psychology in South Africa. A mental health investigation has been initiated and a national task force appointed in order to reform the profession in all its aspects. These events are the result of a deep sense of unease about the mission, relevance and image of the profession and an awareness that mainstream psychology is irrelevant to the nature and needs of the majority black population. Presently psychology in South Africa is at a crossroads. This paper identifies the mental health needs of the majority black population and suggests professional training programmes for future psychologists and the utilisation of services and resources in delivery systems. The article also re-defines the psychologist's role in a divided and traumatised society.     

Advocacy Versus Scholarship Revisited: Issues in the Psychology of Women

The apparently contradictory relationship between advocacy and scholarship is examined in this article, which attempts to determine how much of the dilemma is due to the nature of the psychology of women itself and how much is a result of interaction with the social institutions of academia and the structure of psychology as a scientific discipline. Factors which impede the legitimization of new paradigms are discussed from a sociology of knowledge perspective. The additional dilemmas of women as scientists, women as a content area, and feminism as a theoretical conception are also considered. It is suggested that professional legitimacy is a property largely conferred by those outside the field and that collective rather than personal activities will determine the extent to which the psychology of women will affect the field as a whole.     

The affirmation of the scientist-practitioner. A look back at Boulder

In the aftermath of World War II, several influences were paramount in forcing academic psychology to recognize, albeit reluctantly, the coming professionalization of psychology. The federal government, wishing to avoid a repeat of blunders following World War I that led to significant dissatisfaction among veterans, took proactive steps to ensure that mental health needs of the new veterans would be met. The USPHS and the VA were mandated to expand significantly the pool of mental health practitioners, a direction that led not only to the funding of the Boulder conference but also to the development of APA's accreditation program, funded practical and internship arrangements with the VA, and the USPHS grants to academic departments for clinical training. The GI Bill, amended to include payment for graduate education, created tremendous interest in graduate programs in psychology. As a result, psychology programs were inundated with funded applicants, most of whom were interested in the application of psychology to clinical and other applied fields. Graduate psychology departments were mixed in their views of this "blessing." The reality of a separate curriculum for professional training in psychology was a bitter pill for some academic psychologists to swallow. Graduate departments feared that control of their programs would be taken over by external forces and that they would lose their right to determine their own curriculum. Further, they feared the domination of clinical training within their own departments and the effects of such educational emphasis on their traditional experimental programs. The Boulder conference brought together these disparate needs and concerns, although one can argue about how well some points of view were represented with respect to others. It was a time of high anticipation and fear. The conference could easily have ended in failure, with such diverse interests being unable to reach any consensus. There are many letters in the correspondence of committee members that suggest disagreements serious enough to prevent the development of any single model of training. Instead, by most yardsticks that one could apply, the conference succeeded, perhaps beyond the dreams of many of those in attendance who were most invested in a model for professional training. In evaluating the legacy of Boulder, several points are apparent. First, the conference succeeded because 73 individuals were able to agree to some 70 resolutions in 15 days, creating the scientist-practitioner model of professional training. Such consensus was arguably a remarkable achievement. The endorsement of the model by academic units followed with little evident resistance, although it is clear that some Boulder-model programs were developed that bore little resemblance to the model's insistence on significant training in both research and practice. Second, as a response to social and political needs, the conference was clearly a success. The cooperation of the APA, the USPHS, and the VA benefited all three entities. Clinical psychology was given the financial support and backing to advance it as a profession, and the federal government was able to begin the process of securing the personnel needed to address the mental health needs of the nation. The architects of Boulder were clear that their vision of training for professional psychology should be viewed as dynamic and experimental rather than fixed and prescribed. Certainly there are several variants of professional training extant today, yet the overwhelming majority of currently accredited programs in psychology label themselves as "Boulder-model" programs or "scientist-practitioner" programs. Still, new national conferences on professional training in psychology occur with some regularity as participants seek to resolve many of the same concerns debated by those at Boulder. The grand experiment goes on.     

International school psychology: psychology's worldwide portal to children and youth

International school psychology is discussed in reference to scholarly and professional development within psychology, the emergence of an international association of school psychology, its efforts to promote school psychology, prevailing characteristics of school psychologists, and additional efforts needed to further enhance its development. Nine issues that will help shape the future of international school psychology are also identified. The importance of psychology, including school psychology, in promoting children's needs and rights is underscored.     

Historically grounding the practice of psychology: implications for professional training

The author explores 3 ways the history of psychology can be made relevant to professional training in clinical psychology. Focusing on the practitioner-scholar model of clinical professional training, he argues that 3 central facets of historical understanding can be wedded to existing goals of professional training: (a) providing an interdisciplinary context for psychology, (b) addressing concerns about humans in the field, and (c) mediating theory-practice tensions that often exist in professional training. Suggestions are also made for encouraging historical understanding as essential to fostering critical self-reflection among students preparing for careers in professional psychology.     

A personalized account of the development and status of school psychology

School psychology is seen as having both a prehistory and history, with 1944 established as the dividing point. Within this framework, an account is presented of the development of school psychology from about 1952 to the present, as viewed through personal experiences. Implications for the future are noted, and a conception of what school psychology is, or should be, is offered.     

The school psychologist as an organizational boundary role professional

An organizational perspective on the school psychologist's role can provide a basis for integrating disparate activities, reduce ambiguity produced by lack of role consensus, and facilitate more effective role behavior. The school psychologist is herein described as an organizational boundary role professional. Relevant theory and research on this conception are presented and parallels to school psychological practice are drawn. Implications for practice, training, and research in school psychology are also discussed.     

The professional identity of counselling psychologists in health care: a review and call for research

Despite (a) anecdotal evidence which suggests that it is possible to be a counselling psychologist in non-traditional settings, and (b) the potential integration of counselling psychology foci with the medical model, there has been some discussion about whether counselling psychologists who practice in health care settings might experience a change in their professional identity. Professional identity is defined here as a sense of connection to the values and emphases of counselling psychology. The retention of professional identity seems important for counselling psychologists in health care settings. This is considering that the application of counselling psychology principles has the potential to make their contributions unique among mental health professionals in the health care arena. Here, the authors describe the evolution of ‘counselling health psychology’ and address issues of professional identity. Limitations of existing literature are examined. Recommendations for future research are also made.     

Challenges to professional psychology education in the 21st century: response to Peterson

Professional psychology education faces many critical challenges brought about by the major changes occurring in the health care arena. This article shows that professional schools and programs have a good record of responding to these challenges and of taking proactive steps sponding to prepare their graduates for new health care roles and delivery systems. Data on admissions to psychology doctoral training programs demonstrate little support for the toral concerns raised by Donald R. Peterson (2003, this issue) about the preparation of students for graduate training in professional programs. Although quality concerns are important to investigate, such examination best resides with portant the American Psychological Association's Committee on Accreditation, which has the promotion of quality and excellence in professional psychology education and training as its major goal and responsibility.     

Justice as a basic human need

A stark encounter with some of the hostages and their families at the time of a parliamentary coup brought to mind the significance of justice for human development and community discourse. The evidence is presented, the concept of justice explored, human needs defined, and the argument advanced for more psychologists to extend their present academic and professional concerns with aspects of civil and criminal justice to include a concern with the social. The suggestion is that together all three components of justice are sufficiently compelling a component of human welfare to feature in any list of basic needs. Epistemologically they could also be construed as presenting a combined orthogonal domain to be integrated with moral values and be recognised as a stream of the emerging scientist-practitioner-metaphysician model. In raising the topic, attention is paid to the contributions of constitutional and international lawyers, moral philosophers, and a few pioneer psychologists. The hope is that others in such realms as child development, forensic services, industrial/organisational psychology, pastoral psychology, political psychology, and social psychology, might be sufficiently inspired to consider its relevance, undertake requisite training, and redesign their research accordingly.     

Crise de la psychologie et devenir de la psychologie clinique

The field of psychology is crossed by a whole of lines of ruptures which founds it in structural crisis. This crisis finds its stressing in a context in which cleavages grow hollow. Those us will retain of them some of which: 1) dissociation enters psychology like knowing, psychology like exercise and psychology like trade and profession; 2) dissociations enter psychologies cognitive and clinical, between the psychology clinic and the psychoanalysis, between the ideal models and the clinical practices; 3) dissociations between the nomination and the title, the statute and the responsibilities, professional autonomy and the hierarchical tender; 4) dissociations between professional way and university formation, clinical formation and clinical responsibilities; 5) dissociations between transmission of knowing and transmission of a professional identity, between the profile of the recruited teachers and the needs for a professionnal formation. Compared to this context various proposals are projections relating to the constitution of a body of teachers experts, with the installation of a “clinicat” leading to a doctorate of exercise, with the installation of a unit organization, with the precedence of the professionals in the delivery of the right of occupational exercise.     

The moral of the story: The importance of applying an ethics lens to the teaching of positive psychology

In a short-time positive psychology has progressed into a scientific and multidisciplinary field of enquiry. It is now necessary for positive psychology to develop clear practice standards which will be collectively endorsed and upheld by members and those undergoing training in positive psychology. Teachers of positive psychology are in a prime position to disseminate ethical knowledge. Moreover, the objectives of ethics and positive psychology are closely aligned in their focus on achieving optimal outcomes; hence, the pairing of the two is ideal. Consequently, it would be ironic if positive psychology did not explicitly embrace ethical standards in guiding those training for a future in positive psychology. As a professional entity, positive psychology needs to provide more direction and encouragement for teachers, students, scholars and practitioners of positive psychology, and in time, this should be codified and discussed in positive psychology university degrees to promote consistency among its future members.     

Autonomy and morality: A Self-Determination Theory discussion of ethics

Kantian ethics is based on a metaphysical conception of autonomy that may seem difficult to reconcile with the empirically-based science of psychology. I argue that, although not formally developed, a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) perspective of ethics can broaden the field of Kantian-based moral psychology and specify what it means, motivationally, to have autonomy in the application of a moral norm. More specifically, I argue that this is possible when a moral norm is fully endorsed by the self through a process of internalization that is energized by intrinsic motivation and is facilitated by the fulfillment of the basic needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. The conditions of the fulfillment of these needs may even implicitly reveal which norms will be integrated and treated as moral norms. I conclude that SDT offers a motivational approach that is useful in understanding the development of moral norms.     

建立心理学学科门类及学位类别的分析与展望

摘 要 为了促进中国本土化心理学体系建设和心理学学科的整体发展,从中国与发达国家心理学学科管理制度的比较中发现中国心理学学科归属所存在的问题,并在反思中探讨形成问题的原因。通过心理学在现有学科归属中的局限性,心理学成为独立学科门类的可能性,心理学成为独立学科门类后学科新体系的系统性,心理学成为独立学科门类的社会性四个方面的分析与讨论,研究了使心理学成为独立学科门类与学位类别的必要性与可行性。特别是从建设和谐社会的角度对心理学的学科归属、心理学的未来发展、现代社会发展及心理学与其它学科的广泛联系等需要的讨论中,指出中国心理学在专业设置方面隶属于理学和教育学的不足之处,认为这种隶属关系将会制约心理学的发展和学科成熟。提出应该在现有学位体系中增加心理学学科门类与学位类别,使心理学作为一个与理学和教育学并列的独立学科门类。通过改进学位体系让心理学在更大的学科背景中,建设中国本土心理学自身体系,使心理学研究方法更加多样化,为产生众多边缘学科和更好地发挥社会应用功能创造条件,也为今后心理学发展带来许多发展机遇,并在此基础上为展望心理学未来发展提供新的视角。     

Medical Psychology in Greece

The country of Greece is described, and the academic and professional requirements for licensure as a psychologist are reviewed. Several contentious professional issues are reviewed, and the paper describes the major professional associations to which Greek psychologists belong. The practice of psychology in medical settings is emphasized, and the relationships between psychology and psychiatry are reviewed.     

Ekman's basic emotions: Why not love and jealousy?

Paul Ekman's view of the emotions is, we argue, pervasive in psychology and is explicitly shaped to be compatible with evolutionary thinking. Yet, strangely, jealousy and parental love, two emotions that figure prominently in evolutionary psychology, are absent from Ekman's list of the emotions. In this paper we examine why Ekman believes this exclusion is necessary, and what this implies about the limits of his conception of emotion. We propose an alternative way of thinking about emotion that does not exclude jealousy and parental love.     

Dialectical and hermeneutical psychology

Dialectical and hermeneutical contributions to psychology are reviewed separately for the countries Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Then, selected contributions are presented more extensively from the areas of family, socialization, and therapy; behavior therapy; educational psychology; research methods; and general psychology. Particularly in the area of family and socialization, dialectical and hermeneutical approaches have contributed to the application of, and reflection upon, therapy as a research method. The impact of dialectical and hermeneutical thought on Scandinvian psychology is too diverse to talk about any specific school, in either of the two traditions. Some main points of emphasis are, though: the qualitative study of individual cases, particularly through therapy; the focus on the internal unity of individual acts with the historical and material context of the act; the impact of the dominating mode of production upon every sphere of human life; the focus on issues of interpretation, particularly the relation of appearance and essence; and the conception of the object of psychology as a developing individual in a historical world.