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The American Psychological Association (abbreviated APA) is a professional organization representing psychologists in the U.S., with around 148,000 members and an annual budget of around $70m. The American Psychological Association is occasionally confused with the American Psychiatric Association, which also uses the acronym APA.

Profile

Mission

The APA mission statement is to advance psychology: [1]

  • as a science and profession and
  • as a means of promoting health, education, and human welfare by the encouragement of psychology in all its branches in the broadest and most liberal manner;
  • by the promotion of research in psychology and the improvement of research methods and conditions;
  • by the improvement of the qualifications and usefulness of psychologists through high standards of ethics, conduct, education, and achievement;
  • by the establishment and maintenance of the highest standards of professional ethics and conduct of the members of the Association;
  • by the increase and diffusion of psychological knowledge through meetings, professional contacts, reports, papers, discussions, and publications;
  • thereby to advance scientific interests and inquiry, and the application of research findings to the promotion of health, education, and the public welfare. [2]

Awards

Each year, the APA recognizes top psychologists with the "Distinguished Contributions" Awards; these awards are the highest honors given by the APA, and among the highest honors that a psychologist or psychology researcher can receive.

  • Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology (Early Career / Senior)
  • Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest (Early Career / Senior)
  • Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology
  • Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology
  • Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research
  • Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Practice in the Public Sector
  • Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology
  • The Theodore H. Blau Early Career Award for Outstanding Contribution to Professional Clinical Psychology[3]

The use of "psychologist" as title

APA policy on the use of the title psychologist is contained in the General Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services: "Psychologists have a doctoral degree in psychology from an organized, sequential program in a regionally accredited university or professional school" and suggests "refer[ence] to master's-level positions as counselors, specialists, clinicians, and so forth (rather than as 'psychologists')." A definition of psychology is offered: "the study of the mind and behavior."[4].

The Psychologically Healthy Workplace program

The Psychologically Healthy Workplace is a program sponsored by the American Psychological Association designed to promote better employment practices. The program and award recognizes employers that provide outstanding work environments and programs in five key areas: employee involvement, work-life balance, employee growth and development, and employee recognition. Awards are given at the state and national level. [5][6]

2007 national award winners included: El Nuevo Dia, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Healthwise, Koinonia Homes, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network. [7]

APA style

APA is well known for APA style, a writing style and formatting standard widely used in the social sciences.

Publications

The American Psychologist is the Association's official journal. APA also publishes 68 other journals encompassing most specialty areas in the field, including:[8]

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Journal of Experimental Psychology

PsycINFO

APA maintains an abstract database named PsycINFO. It contains citations and summaries dating from the 1800s, including journal articles, book chapters, books, technical reports, and dissertations within the field of psychology. As of January 2008, PsycINFO has collected information from 2,337 journals.[9] Similar databases operated by other organizations include PsycLit and Psychological Abstracts.

History

Founding

The APA was founded in July 1892 at Clark University by a group of 26 men. Its first president was G. Stanley Hall. There are currently 54 divisions in the APA, [10] and it is affiliated with 60 state, territorial, and Canadian provincial associations [2].

Dominance of clinical psychology

Due to the dominance of clinical psychology in APA, several research-focused groups have broken away from the organization. These include the Psychonomic Society in 1959 (with a primarily cognitive orientation), and the Association for Psychological Science (which changed its name from the American Psychological Society in early 2006) in 1988 (with a broad focus on the science and research of psychology). Within APA, the Science Directorate provides support and voice for psychological scientists. Theodore H. Blau was the first clinician in independent practice to be elected president of the American Psychological Association in 1977.[11]

Controversies

Conversion therapy

Ex-gays and gays who want to change their orientation have protested the policies of the APA, stating that their views on issues such as the immutability of homosexuality have caused real harm to real people and patients.[12] A. Dean Byrd commented "There exists a climate of prejudice in APA against clients -- often people of traditional values -- who wish to decrease their homosexual attractions and develop their heterosexual potential."[13]

Robert Perloff, former president of the American Psychological Association, charged that it is "too politically correct, too bureaucratic, too obeisant to special interests." He stated that APA’s view of conversion therapy is "all wrong. First, the data are not fully in yet. Second, if the client wants a change, listen to the client. Third, you're barring research."[14]

Psychologists advising interrogators

When it emerged that psychologists as part of the Behavioral Science Consultation Team were advising interrogators in Guantánamo and other U.S. facilities on improving the effectiveness of the "Enhanced interrogation techniques", the Association called on the U.S. government to prohibit the use of unethical interrogation techniques and labeled specific techniques as torture.[15] Critics pointed out that the APA declined to advise its members not to participate in such interrogations.[16] This was in contrast to the American Psychiatric Association ban in May, 2006 of all direct participation in interrogations by psychiatrists,[17] and the American Medical Association ban in June 2006 of the direct participation in interrogations of physicians.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ APA's Mission
  2. ↑ Members expand mission statement, student representation, membership category, Monitor on Psychology, Volume 34, No. 3 March 2003
  3. ↑ American Psychological Association, Division 12, The Society of Clinical Psychology. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
  4. ↑ APA: About Us
  5. ↑ Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards, apapractice.org
  6. ↑ Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program website, phwa.org
  7. ↑ 2007 National Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards, phwa.org
  8. ↑ Journals By Title[1]
  9. ↑ PsycINFO Journal Coverage. American Psychological Association (January 2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
  10. ↑ http://www.apa.org/about/division.html
  11. ↑ Noted psychologist Theodore Blau. St. Petersburg Times (February 1 2003). Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
  12. ↑ "APA Convention Targeted for Protest; APA Focused More on Political Correctness Than Helping Patients, Group Says", U.S. Newswire, August, 2006. 
  13. ↑ "Homosexual change is focus of protest", Deseret News, August 12, 2006. 
  14. ↑ Murray, Bridget. "Same office, different aspirations", Monitor on Psychology, 2001-12. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. 
  15. ↑ APA Press Release, August 20, 2007
  16. ↑ Stephen Soldz: Psychologists, Guantánamo, and Torture: A Profession Struggles to Save Its Soul (ZNet, 3 August 2006); Protecting the Torturers Bad Faith and Distortions From the American Psychological Association (Counterpunch, 6 September 2006); Letter to the CEO of the American Psychological Association (OpEdNews.com, 28 November 2006)
  17. ↑ Statement on Interrogation (PDF file)
  18. ↑ New AMA ethical policy opposes direct physician participation in interrogation

External links

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*Some information provided in whole or in part by http://en.wikipedia.org/

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