Psychology and the ethics of social policy.

Psychology's ability to resolve or moderate social conflicts stemming from competing moral positions depends on whether psychology is conceptualized as a mental or behavioral science. Knowledge claims from the direct observation of consciousness cannot yield consensual agreement about valid ethical principles or correct social policies. As a behavioral science, psychology is unable to validate moral principles because of the logical impossibility of inferring ethical imperatives from empirical data. Behavioral evidence can nevertheless assist society in choosing among competing social policies by revealing their empirical consequences. To do this successfully, psychology must use natural science methodology with the aim of seeking empirical and theoretical truth, not political goals or ethical ideals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology, research, and social policy.

Contends that although it is important and timely for psychologists to be concerned with the interface between psychological research and social policy, academic and research psychologists may encounter problems in relating or adapting their research to matters of policy. For some researchers, there are few problems because their focus of research has both theoretical and policy relevance (e.g., those exploring the scientific question at hand with relevant populations or in policy-connected settings). However, it is suggested that the larger group of behavioral scientists are engaged in research that is more removed from immediate practicality or policy relatedness. It is argued that the ideal solution is not to promote the wholesale conversion of research scientists to redirect their scientific inquiry so that it deals directly with issues of policy. Rather, suggestions are tendered for the melding of policy concerns into research that maintains its relevance to the discipline and to issues of psychological theory or practice while touching also on issues of relevance to social policy. A classification model of social scientists involved with policy is included. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and social policy for children: Introduction to the section.

The relationship between developmental psychology and social policy has led to work on topics such as the lack of a national policy on children's welfare and research on children, consideration of how judicial and psychological interests may complement each other in the area of children's rights, child advocacy, and the interface between psychology and education. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and manpower policy.

Outlines 5 contributions made by psychology to manpower policy: (1) the public has been encouraged to adopt a more humane attitude toward people who are ineffective; (2) the public has acquired a positive stance toward the amelioration of social and human ills, particularly through reliance on education, but also through other approaches including supportive services; (3) psychology's study of the distribution of human attributes has contributed substantially to the decline in discrimination toward women, Negroes, and others who were formerly beyond the pale; (4) psychology has led to more constructive views and behavior with regard to the rearing of children and development of young people; and (5) psychology has thrown a searchlight on the critical importance of work for individual and social integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and public policy.

Discusses ways to increase the involvement, awareness, knowledge, and education of psychologists in the public policy process. Psychologists have functioned effectively in a variety of roles that are relevant to the policy sector. For example, they are increasingly called upon as expert witnesses. There is a great need for people who can translate the findings of psychology and the behavioral sciences into language and recommendations easily comprehended by the public. Probably the most common role for a psychologist in public policy is that of researcher or evaluator, which uses the psychologist's methodological skill to help policymakers determine whether a program, intervention, or treatment was effective. Psychologists have also increasingly taken positions as administrators in education, health, mental health, welfare, correctional, and human service organizations, where they are directly responsible for the formation and implementation of social policies. Psychologists can also function as activist-collaborators by advocating solutions to social problems. It is concluded that greater involvement of psychology in the public policy process will facilitate the growth of psychological knowledge and the application of that knowledge to the world of which psychology becomes continually a larger part. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Naturalistic ethics and the social sciences.

This article discusses naturalistic ethics and the social sciences. It is noted that some of those who believe science is (or should be) ethically neutral have fallen into a naturalistic fallacy. The author believes that we all have equal cause to reject the naturalistic fallacy and what he calls the "counternaturalistic fallacy," that is, the belief that ethics cannot have a naturalistic basis but must have supernatural origins or sanctions. The fallacy of these points of view are discussed in this article, as well as evolutionary ethics and human nature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A naturalistic study of children's social understanding.

Examined developmental aspects of social understanding in 3 related contexts: a one-to-one interview, a real-life activity group, and related group discussions. 24 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, homogeneous with respect to level of reflective social understanding (as expressed in the interview), were assigned to each of 4 small activity groups. Each group met for 12 consecutive school weeks in adult-supervised after-school cooperative group activities and discussions about group functioning. Discussions from each group meeting were coded for instances of verbally expressed communicative competencies. Results suggest a relation between level of social understanding, reflectively expressed, and frequency of competent communications expressed in the course of the group discussions. Ss' strategies for task-related negotiations were also coded. The number of developmentally advanced strategies was significantly lower for the group of young Ss with low-level reflective social understanding as compared to the other 3 groups. Results are discussed in the context of problems associated with assessing developmental levels of social understanding in natural settings. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of the ethics of personal conscience and the ethics of social responsibility.

Tested the hypothesis that conformity and endorsement of the protestant ethic are positively related to the ethics of social responsibility, as opposed to the ethics of personal conscience. 44 male undergraduates completed macdonald's conformity scale, macdonald's poverty scale, the protestant ethic scale, and the survey of ethical values. Conformity, endorsement of the protestant ethic, and negative attitudes toward the poor were positively associated with the ethics of social responsibility. Results support the hypothesis and R. Hogan's finding "that proponents of the ethics of social responsibility tend to blame people rather than the 'system' for the source of their difficulty . . . " (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and inferences about public policy.

The research literature of psychology may be brought to bear on public policy issues in three ways. First, psychology may be useful in establishing procedures for determining public policy. Second, psychology may be useful in formulating the structure for policy and its implementation. Third, the literature of psychology may be reflected in the actual content of public policy. There are many issues involved in making inferences about public policy from the psychological literature. Among these issues are the generalizability of findings from basic science and problems of overadvocacy on the part of policy consultants. Researchers expect that inferences from the psychological literature would lead to innovations in the policy, but the innovations themselves must be evaluated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology research for environmental policy.

As Environment Minister, I have had the unique opportunity to travel across the country, meeting individual Canadians who are working for the environment in their own communities. As a government, it is our responsibility to ensure that the policies and programs are in place to support their work. It is also our responsibility to try to spur others on to similar action, and to build public support for a sustainable environment. We cannot do this if we do not adequately understand the links between attitude, behaviour, and preservation of our environment. I commend the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science for focussing on the behavioural origins of environmental solutions. I hope that the issues raised in the articles contained herein spur many of you to consider how research can help us answer some of the questions I have raised. The participation of the behavioural sciences is essential, not only to the success of environment protection, but to its very feasibility. Well-conceived research is essential in order to engage and retain public support and thus devise responses that are both environmentally sound and economically possible. Here is a challenge worthy of your expertise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some issues of ethics and social psychology.

Reviews the implications of tightening ethical standards for social psychology, and contends that there is a current shift in the field toward investigating neutral or positive, rather than negative, aspects of human behavior. The major methodological approaches (laboratory experiments, field experiments, role playing, and complex correlational methods) are discussed with respect to the issues of validity of causal inference, ecological validity, and ethics. It is argued that there is a fundamental difference in the perception of the nature of man on the part of humanistic critics and traditional experimental social psychologists that leads to different assessments of the long-term effects of deception research on Ss. Long-term follow-up studies are proposed as a source of empirical information on which investigators and ethics committees may base decisions about the acceptability of the level of risk associated with experimental manipulations. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research centers and social policy.

Discusses the advantages of research institutes over those of individual investigators. The period following World War II marked the emergence of research centers. Some of the worthy objectives for centers and institutes, beyond the reach of the lone researcher, are the opportunity to conduct long-range longitudinal studies, the creation of a professional home for multidisciplinary research, the development or improvement of research methodology and measuring instruments, and a communications center to the general society. As scientists become more interested in public policy, the centers can become a base for such communication. It is concluded that, despite some concerns about the adequacy of research efforts or the ability to attract first-rate minds, research centers appear to be filling an important function in modern-day academia. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survey of the behavioral and social sciences: Psychology.

Attempted to provide a basis for estimating the support for psychological education and science during the next 10 yrs. Results suggest that there are equal numbers of psychologists in 3 areas: those who work with individuals, those who work with institutions, and those concerned with social development and social psychology. The field of psychology continues to attract graduate students. There are 2 approaches to psychology: one is to solve the problems of social issues, and the other is to perform laboratory research on behavioral problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On social psychology and policy analysis.

Responds to criticisms by H. H. Kendler (see record 1984-12071-001), I. J. Mansdorf (see record 1984-12073-001), D. A. Resnick (see record 1984-12082-001), and G. Caplan (see record 1984-12061-001) of the present author's (see record 1983-32571-001) social-psychological assessment of the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, based on an analysis of Yasser Arafat's cognitive style. The author upholds the validity of his use of psychological principles in policy analysis, responds to specific criticisms related to cultural and political realities in the Middle East, and argues that recent political events support his conclusions concerning the readiness of Palestinians to seek peace. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Addiction, ethics and public policy

Addiction affects the lives of all of human kind, either directly or indirectly. The cost to individuals and societies is immense and tackling the problem is as much one for policy makers as clinicians, counsellors and scientists. Ethical issues permeate much of the work of all these groups. The issue of what is right and wrong, morally defensible or morally unacceptable arises at both an individual and societal level. This special issue contains 21 commissioned articles from leading figures in addiction research. To set the scene for these in-depth analyses, this article reports the results of an expert panel survey on addiction, ethics and public policy. A total of 199 people from 24 countries identified as first authors of research papers abstracted in Addiction Abstracts in 1994 and 1995 completed a postal questionnaire asking their views on a range of issues. They were asked to state their position on the issue and to identify what they considered to be the most important factors in the decision. Among the findings of interest were: a majority believed that possession of cannabis should be legal but that possession of 'hard drugs' should be illegal. An overwhelming majority believed that tobacco advertising should be banned, that smoking should be prohibited in public buildings and offices and that the legal age for tobacco sales should be 18 or more. A majority believed that researchers should not accept backing from tobacco companies; opinion on accepting backing from the alcohol industry was more evenly divided. An overwhelming majority believed that drug addicts should be able to attend treatment centres on demand and that some form of methadone maintenance should be available to addicts who want it. The survey should prove a useful resource when debating the issues in policy and research arenas.     

Public policy, ethics, government, and law.

Contends that public policy reflects doubt about the effectiveness of professional self-regulation. Alternatives to professional self-regulation have come to the fore, as documented by increased governmental (licensing) regulation and escalation of legal (malpractice) actions. Endorsement of actions (e.g., through allocation of resources) and proactive efforts to circumvent the development of problems (e.g., planning and prevention) are preferred to legislative regulation. A recommendation of macrointervention (focusing on the child but accepting that he/she is part of the human system) is outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology, public policy, and the evidence for alcohol intoxication.

Discusses the legal requirement that alcoholic beverage purveyors not serve apparently intoxicated persons in terms of the ability of nonmedical observers to detect intoxication. Three experiments tested the ability of 49 members of a university community (aged 18–25 yrs), 12 bartenders (aged 21–39 yrs), and 30 police officers (aged 23–50 yrs) to identify sober, moderately intoxicated, and legally drunk targets after observing them for several minutes. All of the S groups correctly rated the targets' level of intoxication less than 25% of the time, and the accuracy of ratings deteriorated as the targets' level of intoxication increased. Police officers performed somewhat better in an arrest analog than in a laboratory condition, and a subgroup of 5 officers showed a high level of accuracy. Findings indicate that the detection of intoxication requires special skill and that the standard of judgment legally required of bartenders is unreasonable. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology as a general social science course.

Acourse entitled "An Introduction to the Sciences of Human Behavior" which "… represents a serious effort to coordinate and integrate the data of… " psychology, anthropology, and sociology is described. "The orientation is toward problem solving in a scientific sense, but not in the sense of applied science." Research indicates that "… freshmen in the inter-disciplinary course learn as much psychology as sophomores in the traditional course." The course is organized around three lectures and one discussion session a week. A brief resumé of the major psychology topics considered in the course is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)