Changing contexts and the field of community psychology

Conclusion The legacy of the Swampscott conference 25 years ago is palpable. The scientific accomplishments have been substantial. The four agendas I have presented for the future development of the field depend upon psychologists as individuals and psychologists as participants in our departments, colleges, universities, professional societies, and peer review panels to reduce the constraints that limit the definition and study of psychological phenomena in community settings (Schneider, 1990). As these constraints are addressed, new social norms can be established to expand and diversify the research process. There are some explicit positive side effects that can occur. A new working social structure can be created for how universities and communities can be resources for each other.The four topics I have presented are agendas for keeping at the task of generating active and expanding scientific traditions. These topics when addressed in the context of collaboration with other disciplines and citizens can develop an empirical base of shared wisdom about how to carry out community psychology research. In these ways the benefits of community psychology research can become more empowering for the public and more and more systemic for the scholar.These comments were presented as an Invited Address at the 2nd annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, June 8, 1990, Dallas, Texas.The following persons took time to read and comment on earlier drafts of these comments. I have benefited very much from their appraisals. Eileen Altman, Daniel Cervone, Seeley Chandler-Kelly, Nancy Dassoff, Penny Foster-Fishman, Steve Goldston, Peter Graves, Kenneth Heller, Robert E. Hess, David Henry, Ira Iscoe, Chris Keys, Benjamin Kleinmuntz, Ed Lichtenstein, Philip Mann, Kyoung Oh, Julian Rappaport, Dan Romer, Lonnie R. Snowden, Joseph P. Stokes, Edison J. Trickett, Abe Wandersman, and Marc Alan Zimmerman.     

Context and process: An ecological view of the interdependence of practice and research: An invited address by James G. Kelly

Summary James G. Kelly has made important and wide-ranging conributions to community psychology. The field is fortunate to have a member with his vision and commitment. In the paper presented here, Jim discusses the advantages that arise when scientists and citizens work as collaborative partners in community research. As with his previous work, his ideas provide new insights into the role of community psychology in and for the community.The Social Ecology Network, chaired by Paul Florin, University of Rhode Island, and Division 27 invited Jim Kelly to give an invited address at the 1985 American Psychological Association meetings in Los Angeles. Paul also invited Jim to suggest several discussants. Jim was interested in having psychologists representing organizational, environmental, and clinical psychology discuss the address. Jim invited Bob Kahn, Dan Stokols, and Harold Raush to be discussants. David Altman's introduction, Jim's address, and the three discussant comments with some small elaborations and revisions are published here. At the address, Bob Kahn's comments were read by Rick Price.The Social Ecology Task Force was estblished in 1978. Its goal is to bring together psychologists and other professionals who have interests in using an ecological perspective in theory and practice (Florin, 1984). Current activities include a newsletter column in the Division 27 newsletter, a resource exchange among Task Force members, and sponsorship of invited lectures on social ecology at annual APA meetings. For additional information contact Paul Florin, Social Ecology Task Force, Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island.     

Agency,communion, and gender as predictors of communication style and being liked in adult male-female dyads

Agency, communion, and gender were compared as predictors of communication style in the conversations of 76 unacquainted pairs of male-female college students. Each dyad was given a popular issue to discuss for 5 min. Agency and communion were measured using Spence and Helmreich's (Masculinity and Femininity: Their Psychological Dimensions, Correlates, and Antecedents, Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1978) Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Self-perceived agency was significantly associated with verbal assertiveness: High-agency persons used fewer indirect statements and fewer passive self-references than low-agency persons. Nonsignificant trends indicated that self-perceived communication tended to be associated with interpersonal involvement: High-communion persons used fewer impersonal references and were liked more than low-communion persons.An earlier version of this paper was presented in the Symposium on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Language and Gender at the 91st annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Anaheim, California, August 1983.Several people contributed to this study in various ways. Conversations with various friends and colleagues were important inspirations for the research. In particular, I would like to thank Robert de Mayo. Gina Ralke, Jorge Reyes, James Bucci, and Mark Michaels were outstanding members of a research team that led to the design and eventual implementation of this study. Ronald Gelb, Donna Brennan, and Lynda Kern also assisted. Nancy Henley is especially appreciated for her support and advice. William McCarthy and an anonymous reviewer made helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Robert I. Watson and the founding of division 26 of the American psychological association

Robert I. Watson was instrumental in the founding of Division 26 of the American Psychological Association (the Division of the History of Psychology). This article traces Watson's involvement in the prehistory of the division and describes his installation as its first president in 1966.     

Howard h. Kendler (1919-2011)

Presents an obituary for Howard H. Kendler. Kendler was born in New York City on June 9, 1919, and died in Santa Barbara, California, on February 17, 2011. Kendler majored in psychology at Brooklyn College, where he was an assistant to Abraham Maslow, the father of humanistic psychology, and did a research project on the psychology of thinking under the supervision of Solomon Asch, a leading Gestalt psychologist. Howard Kendler's career was characterized by insightful experiments and a consistent analysis of the fundamental issues of the nature of our science, its methods, and its role in the community. The breadth of his knowledge and the depth of his thinking on these issues are rare. Although he did not settle these issues, he brought them into clear focus and forcefully advocated for his point of view. He was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Tel-Aviv University and was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He held the offices of president of the Western Psychological Association, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Psychonomic Society, and president of the Division of General Psychology and the Division of Experimental Psychology of the American Psychological Association. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

The Asian Psychological Association founding convention, Bali, Indonesia, 2006

The First Convention of the Asian Psychological Association (APsyA) was held in Bali from 18-20th August 2006. This historic event marked the founding of the APsyA which is the first association in the Asian region with an individual membership spanning the whole field of psychology. The Conference was organized under the presidency of Sarlito Sarwono and was supported institutionally by the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Indonesia, Tarumanagara University, the Catholic University of Indonesia, the Indonesian Police Force, the International Council of Psychologists, Division 52 (International Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and the International Association of Applied Psychology. The Conference attracted over 120 participants from 17 countries; its Scientific Program covered matters such as indigenous Asian psychology, the contributions of psychology towards national development, and special issues in Asia. The principal symposium of the Conference dealt with terrorism and covered research into the psychology of terrorists, the process by which people become terrorists, and the rehabilitation of terrorists.     

Historicizing the Role of Psychologists in the U.S. Military: Introduction to Issue on Coercive Interrogations and the Mental Health Profession

This special issue addresses the disturbing events that emerged in the aftermath of 9/11 in the United States with regard to the role of mental health professionals in coercive interrogations of detainees held in detention centers and military “black sites.” While other professional associations condemned such practices, the American Psychological Association maintained a position of collaboration, despite activist members' protests.

These events will be examined in an effort to reconstitute our history as a profession through the actions of what Freud called “nachtraeglichkeit’, (deferred action) in which the unassimilated experiences of the past relationship between psychology and the military will be used to transform our perceptions and future directions. This introduction also summarizes the papers in this issue. These include a history of the interrogation practices and the controversy within the APA; a history of the long-standing relationship between the profession of psychology and government, military, and intelligence organizations; analyses of the psychology of torture and evidence of how this psychology is manifested in the consulting room; a comparison of psychological structures within the population and mental health professions in the United States today and Argentina during recent totalitarian regimes; and an interview with Robert Lifton, eminent psychohistorian, psychiatrist and political activist.     

Promotion of empirically validated psychotherapies in counselling psychology

The extent to which psychotherapies have empirical support is a long-standing and controversial issue in counselling psychology. Recently, the American Psychological Association Division of Clinical Psychology (Division 12) established a task force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures. The role of the task force was to define empirically validated treatment and make recommendations in relation to methods for educating mental health professionals, third party payers and the public about effective psychotherapies. The findings and recommendations of the task force are brought to the attention of readers. We believe that counselling psychologists should be proactive in the promotion of empirically validated psychotherapies.     

Counselling psychologists in academia: Life satisfaction and work and family role commitments

We examined the life satisfaction of men and women counselling psychology faculty who were Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) members of APA (American Psychological Association). Self-efficacy for multiple role management, coping style, and work-family role orientation were considered as predictors of life satisfaction. Results indicated that men scored significantly higher on employee role and self role self-efficacy as compared to women, and that women as compared to men scored higher on seeking social support coping. No significant sex difference was found for role orientation or life satisfaction. Findings revealed that spouse/partner self-efficacy and problem-solving coping emerged as significant predictors of men and women's life satisfaction and accounted for 31% of the total variance.     

Culture in Asian American Community Psychology: Beyond the East�CWest Binary

In response to a call to better integrate culture in community psychology (O'Donnell in American Journal of Community Psychology 37:1-7 2006), we offer a cultural-community framework to facilitate a collaborative engagement between community psychologists and ethnic minority communities, focusing on Asian American communities as illustrations. Extending Hays' (Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, 2008) ADDRESSING framework for considering cultural influences on a counseling relationship, the proposed framework provides a broad but systematic guidepost for considering three major cultural-ecological influences on Asian American communities: Race and Ethnicity (R), Culture (C), and Immigration and Transnational Ties (I). We provide a sequence of steps that incorporate the ADDRESSING and the RCI frameworks to facilitate the collaborative community-based research or social action.     

Collaboration can improve individual recognition memory: Evidence from immediate and delayed tests

In two experiments, we tested the effects of collaboration on individual recognition memory. In Experiment 1, participants studied pictures and words either for meaning or for surface properties and made recognition memory judgments individually either following group discussion among 3 members (collaborative condition) or in the absence of discussion (noncollaborative condition). Levels of processing and picture superiority effects were replicated, and collaboration significantly increased individual recognition memory. Experiment 2 replicated this positive effect and showed that even though memory sensitivity declined at longer delays (48 h and 1 week), collaboration continued to exert a positive influence. These findings show that (1) consensus is not necessary for producing benefits of collaboration on individual recognition, (2) collaborative facilitation on individual memory is robust, and (3) collaboration enhances individual memory further if conditions predispose individual accuracy in the absence of collaboration. Psychonomic Society, Inc. nt]pra|Parts of the research reported in this article were presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Baltimore.     

The sex-role egalitarianism scale: A measure of attitudes toward equality between the sexes

Two parallel forms of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES) were developed. Each form includes 19 items representing each of five domains of adult living: marital roles, parental roles, employee roles, social-interpersonal-heterosexual roles, and educational roles. To determine the psychometric characteristics of the scales, 367 persons were tested, including police, senior citizens, business undergraduates, and psychology undergraduates. Reliability estimates for domain and total scores ranged from .81 to .97. Correlations between social desirability and SRES scores ranged from –.03 to +.18. Preliminary evidence of validity was derived from the confirmation of two a priori hypotheses: (a) Women scored more egalitarian than men, and psychology students scored more egalitarian than business students; (b) Both student groups scored more egalitarian than senior citizens and police.This research was supported by a Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors Grant from Central Michigan University. A portion of this paper was presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Detroit, April 1981. The authors wish to thank Ann Carey, Tom Blair, and Larry Dennis for their computer assistance.Copies of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale may be obtained from Carole A. Beere, Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48859.     

Military Psychology: Applicable Research1

Many psychologists and social scientists are unaware of the field of military psychology. Although marginally aware of Division 19: Military Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA), a number of psychologists have very mistaken ideas about what military psychology includes and the uses thereof (APA Monitor, 1984). The purpose of this special issue is to present some research conducted under the rubric of military psychology. This issue of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (JASP) may provide some preliminary answers to the frequently asked questions: What is this creature called military psychology? Who does it? What kinds of research are classified as military psychology?What Is Military Psychology?     

Responsible to whom? Responsible for what? Some ethical issues in community intervention

Conclusion Each ethical decision is a blend of general principles and contextual features. Many require compromises between competing values, must be made in the absence of perfect information, and require the courage to confront mistakes.In community intervention, we have seen that adopting a collaborative paradigm imposes the freedom to determine to whom we are responsible for our actions. A rationale was offered for giving priority to the most vulnerable group, even though this strategy leaves us with an accountability gap in which the group to whom we owe primary loyality is least likely to be able to call us to account.When we reject the professional-client paradigm in community psychology, we lose the formal contract as a device for setting the terms and limiting the scope of our responsibility. We do the best reconnaissance we can, but even with careful data-gathering we are condemned to act on the basis of imperfect information. We must follow through on unforseen consequences even when we have no formal role to mandate our perseverence.The community as a setting for psychological intervention faces us, then, with ethical challenges: we work for the well-being of groups too broad to give informed consent to our interventions; we act in collaboration with others, but collaborative action does not free us from professional obligation; we reconnoiter, but reconnaissance does not provide us with perfect information; we may advise while others act, but we cannot walk away from the consequences of their actions. Ethical decision making, in the community as elsewhere, is a creative act in which we invent our profession choice by choice. Editor's Note: The subject of ethics, in the specific context of Community Psychology, deserves our attention. This paper provided us with an opportunity for such attention. My own reactions to it were of sufficient range to lead me to invite commentary from individuals with a range of views. Thanks is extended to the eight authors whose comments immediately follow.The cases in this paper were first presented in talks given to the Canadian Psychological Association and the Ontario Psychological Association. On both occasions, Carole Sinclair made valuable comments on the material; Elaine Campbell and David Colquhoun also contributed to the present formulation of these issues. In the editorial process, three anonymous reviewers made many valuable suggestions. The paper was written while the author was Invited Professor at the University of Montreal.     

Nurse psychologists: A unique group within health psychology

Since the mid-1980s commonalities between nursing and psychology have been explored, with subsequent establishment of a Nursing and Health Psychology Committee within the American Psychological Association's Division 38. A survey was undertaken to study this little-known, unique cadre of individuals with dual preparation in both nursing and psychology. Participants were queried regarding their educational preparations in both disciplines, current employment, theoretical and/or research interests, and current projects. Results of the survey provide information about the characteristics of this group. Dual preparation appears to offer certain advantages for the practice of health psychology.     

The 1928 Carlisle conference: Knight Dunlap and a national laboratory for psychology

In late March 1928, 32 experimental psychologists met in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The National Research Council (NRC) sponsored the conference, which was organized by Knight Dunlap, chair of the NRC's Division of Anthropology and Psychology. The purpose of the Carlisle conference was to examine the status of experimental psychology, and Dunlap used it to propose a national laboratory for psychology, to be created in Washington, DC. This vision clashed with the traditional university-centered research model and the group resisted Dunlap's plan. Dunlap persisted, the eventual result being a National Institute of Psychology, which accomplished little. The Carlisle conference did succeed in being the impetus for small NRC-funded grants-in-aid to researchers, and it set in motion events that eventually led to the American Psychological Association publication manual.     

Procedures for identifying evidence-based psychological treatments for older adults

The authors describe the methods used to identify evidence-based psychological treatments for older adults in this contribution to the special section. Coding teams were assembled to review the literature on several problems relevant to mental health and aging. These teams used the manual developed by the Committee on Science and Practice of the Society for Clinical Psychology (Division 12) of the American Psychological Association that provided definitions of key constructs used in coding. The authors provide an overview of the process followed by the review teams and of some of the issues that emerged to illustrate the steps involved in the coding procedure. Identifying evidence-based treatments is a fundamental aspect of promoting evidence-based practice with older adults; such practice is advocated by most health care disciplines, including psychology.     

Middle East and north Africa regional conference of psychology, dubai, United arab emirates

The first Middle East and North Africa Regional Conference of Psychology (MENA RCP) was held in Dubai. United Arab Emirates, December 13–18, 2003, under the auspices of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), and the International Association for Cross–Cultural Psychology (IACCP). It was organized by a local Conference Committee and by the Yemen Psychological Association (YPA), in collaboration with the Egyptian Association for Psychological Studies (EAPS). High attendance, with participation from 35 countries, including 17 from the neighbouring Middle East and North Africa region, was a major achievement of the conference. Conference participants, many of them leaders of their national psychology associations, who also attended the concomitant National Capacity Building Workshop organized by the IUPsyS, signed an official Declaration to create a Regional Council of Arab Psychological Associations during the coming year and to follow this first MENA Conference with a second conference to be held in Amman. Jordan, in 2005.     

Regional conferences—A capacity‐building mandate: Report on CRCP2011—Building Bridges and Building a Regional Structure

The Caribbean Regional Conference of Psychology was held in Nassau, The Bahamas, from 15 to 18 November 2011, under the auspices of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), and the International Association for Cross‐Cultural Psychology (IACCP). The conference was hosted by the Bahamas Psychological Association, and organized by a committee chaired by Dr Ava Thompson, College of the Bahamas. The CRCP2011 attracted over 400 participants from 37 countries, including 20 nations/territories in the Caribbean. A broad scientific program, organized around six conference themes, addressed strengths and challenges to psychology in the region; the current state of psychological research, assessment, and intervention; historical, cultural, and language influences; and links between Caribbean and global models. Conference outcomes included planning for a series of publications to expand on conference themes and presentations, as well as establishment of a steering group to launch a regional organization to support the science and practice of psychology in the Caribbean.