Emancipatory communitarian psychology.

Comments that I. Prilleltensky's (see record 1997-04451-002) articulation of 4 psychological approaches (traditional, empowering, postmodern, and emancipatory communitarian) in terms of values, assumptions, and practices sets the stage for a fruitful self-examination of psychology. Three further points are made in response to the article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unexamined nonreligious assumptions.

Comments on I. Prilleltensky's (see record 1997-04451-002) discussion of issues in the relation of values to psychotherapy and his proposal of emancipatory communitarian approaches. It is argued that the assumption of agnosticism or atheism within psychology, including the assumption that there should not be a religious or spiritual dimension in emancipatory communitarianism, is unexamined, and no longer needs to be made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empowerment in mainstream psychology: Legitimacy, obstacles, and possibilities.

Argues that if the concept of empowerment is to expand beyond the field of community psychology into more traditional areas of psychology (e.g., social, personality, clinical, and school psychology), its moral and psychological foundations should be more clearly articulated. To advance this proposition, an integrative conceptual model of empowerment is presented. Within this framework, ethical and therapeutic legitimacy of empowering practices, obstacles for their inclusion in mainstream psychology, and possibilities for their future development are explored. Some of the benefits to be derived from the adoption of the concept of empowerment in academic and applied psychology are outlined. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethics, objectivity, and professional authority.

Comments on I. Prilleltensky's account (see record 1997-04451-002) of the moral incertitude of psychology and his framework for examining the field's moral dimensions. Concern is stated regarding the scholastic premise on which the project rests, and it is argued that the issue of values in psychology cannot be divorced from practical questions involving the field's professional authority. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theory and Research on Practices, Theory and Research as Practices: Hermeneutics and Psychological Inquiry.

What are the implications for theory and research in psychology of a hermeneutic perspective that takes practices as its starting point notion? The author addresses this wide-ranging issue by considering a number of specific questions in turn, including, among others, whether the hermeneutic perspective leads to rejecting systematic, quantitative research methods; whether it leads to the conclusion that efforts at theory and research provide us with an understanding of human behavior that is arbitrary; and whether a practices-based perspective points to a way of pursuing inquiry in psychology that is better than proceeding along the lines of mainstream psychology. The answers to these questions include a number of surprises, especially regarding how the hermeneutic perspective contrasts with mainstream psychology and how it differs from social constructionism. The author also identifies challenging issues for adherents of the hermeneutic perspective, including, in particular, issues concerning the limits of what we can know about psychological phenomena. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misassumptions, misadventures, and the misuse of psychology.

The history of psychology reveals tragic episodes of the misuse of psychological concepts and methods. Some of these misassumptions continue to influence the psychology practices of today. The contributions of people who differ from male, Eurocentric norms are not often appreciated, nor are the cultural differences of these individuals or groups either understood or respected. In this address, the author notes some of the pernicious effects and serious implications of misconceptions about difference within contemporary psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Science and morality: The role of values in science and the scientific study of moral phenomena.

This article contributes to the debate over values in science. A critical co-constructivist framework is proposed for conceptualizing the role that debate over values plays in all science. Using the psychological literature on moral development, it is shown that although debate over values is an integral part of all scientific discourse, it plays a more explicit role in fields within the human sciences (e.g., anthropology, psychology, sociology, etc.) that touch on moral phenomena. Debate over values thus raises a central issue for modern science, namely the need to develop consensually agreed-on methods for resolving such debate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moral Implications of Globalization and Identity.

Comments on the article by J. Arnett (see record 2002-18352-003) regarding the psychology of globalization. The author touches on the moral implications of globalization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and Phenomenology: A Clarification.

Controversies are rampant in contemporary psychology concerning the appropriate method for observing consciousness and the role inner experience should play in psychological theorizing. These conflicting orientations reflect, in part, methodological differences between natural science and human science interpretations of psychology. Humanistic psychology and philosophical phenomenology both employ a human science approach to psychology that seeks to explain behavior in terms of a person's subjective existence. Maslow's and Heidegger's formulations are both fulfillment theories in that they specify moral values that suggest how life ought to be lived. Natural science methodology rejects the possibility that moral imperatives can be validated, whereas human science methodology allows phenomenological convictions to justify recommendations about a fulfilled life and a good society. The social role of psychology is analyzed within the framework of phenomenological convictions and scientific truth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thorndike's science of values.

Comments on the article by B. Beatty (see record 1998-12442-007) which concluded that E. L. Thorndike's educational psychology was the beginning of an American behavioristic tradition that sought efficient, scientific solutions to education, moral, and social problems. The present author poses the question of whether science and psychology can reveal a moral code for humankind, or whether facts are incapable of revealing moral truths. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Political goals versus scientific truths: A response to Jackson (2003).

Three fundamental issues separate Jackson's (2003) methodological views from mine. One, whereas he believes an absolute moral view can prevail in a democracy, I assume moral pluralism is an inevitable byproduct of an open society. Two, Jackson feels that psychology can identify a correct moral position, whereas I postulate natural science psychology is only capable of revealing the empirical consequences of competing social policies and their moral implications. Three, Jackson espouses a politically active psychology that from my perspective is antithetical to a democratic and scientific ethic. In sum, Jackson's coupling of science with political advocacy will lead to a mistrust of psychology that will deny a democracy the opportunity to base its social policies on reliable psychological information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From laws of learning to a science of values: Efficiency and morality in Thorndike's educational psychology.

Edward L. Thorndike's educational psychology was the beginning of an American behavioristic tradition that sought efficient, scientific solutions to educational, moral, and social problems. Thorndike used empirical methodology to explain behavior, intellect, and character. After rejecting developmentalism, he combined laws of learning derived from his experiments on animals with quantitative measurement of individual differences in humans to construct a psychology of education. He applied this educational psychology commercially and developed many widely used tests and texts. Thorndike then proposed a science of values that he hoped might be used as a guide for moral assessment and social policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and the moral imperative.

Examines the moral obligations of psychology. An inquiry into the main priorities of academic and professional psychology suggests that contributions to human welfare, its preeminent moral obligation, comes in third after guild issues and professional self-interest, and the pursuit of knowledge. In an effort to reassign moral philosophy a place of prominence and to broaden the ethical discourse of psychology, the authors use the term "moral imperative" (MI). The promotion of the MI entails the exploration of 3 fundamental questions. These concern the extent that the present social order promotes human welfare for everyone, the extent that psychology supports or challenges the present social order, and the contributions that psychology can make to the advent of the "good" society. The MI advances 4 human agency values: self-determination, distributive justice, collaborative and democratic participation, and relationality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Real-time training: Transfer of knowledge through computer-mediated, real-time feedback.

In this article, the author describes an interactive, computer-mediated method/technology for promoting transfer of knowledge, theoretically grounded in cognitive science, that responds specifically to needs outlined by Binder (1993; 1999) and Berger (2004) for integrating cognitive psychology principles and interactive, computer-mediated methods with psychotherapy training. The article provides a context for understanding the process known as Real-Time Training (RTT; Rosenberg, 2000a) by reviewing expertise research literature as applied to clinical training, describing the conceptual framework underlying the development of RTT, reviewing live and computer-mediated supervision methods for clinical training, providing preliminary research validation of RTT, and discussing clinical training and supervision implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the uses of psychological theory and research in the process of ethical inquiry.

The question addressed here is whether psychological theories and empirical data can play any useful role in the normative enterprise of determining what is normal. Work within four approaches to moral psychology is evaluated. Considered here are (a) the taxonomic approach; (b) the dialectical approach; (c) the cognitive-developmental approach; and (d) the constructionist, interactional approach. The philosophical objections to moral psychology are discussed, including (a) the naturalistic fallacy, (b) the implications of teleological and deontological analyses, (c) the problem of scope, (d) confusions in everyday moral language, (e) sociocultural and sociohistorical analysis, and (f) noncognitivism and irrationalism. Two suggestions are offered concerning how empirical evidence may appropriately be introduced into the process of ethical inquiry. First, research may be used to evaluate claims regarding human nature in the moral realm. Second, empirical evidence can be used to assess the factual status of teleological moral claims. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managed Care: Implications for School Psychology. Comment.

Comments on the article by Sanchez and Turner (see record 2003-03405-005) examining the implications for practice and training in psychology in the era of managed care. The current author states that Sanchez and Turner should be commended. Their article amplifies and clarifies critical issues psychologists must consider while practicing within an era increasingly shaped by health insurance policies and practices. Nevertheless, the author feels that several intriguing facets of managed care were not highlighted. Discussion focuses on the impact that reimbursement and managed care is having on school (and clinical) psychologists. The author points out that it is unknown to what extent managed care may (and has) altered psychological services delivered by school psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposing the glosses in Seligman and Fowler's (2011) straw-man arguments.

The author was disappointed to see an entire special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2011) devoted to military psychology, but he was especially concerned about the one-sided moral justifications presented by Seligman and Fowler (2011) in the final article of the issue. The author feels they misrepresented potential objections to their program and dismissed the inherent dangers of cooperation between organized psychology and the military. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Klaus Holzkamp and the rise and decline of German critical psychology.

This history of German Critical Psychology focuses on the works of its most significant representative, Klaus Holzkamp (1927–1995), and reconstructs the development of his ideas, critiques, and results. For historical–systematic reasons his work is divided into a precritical period (until 1968), a critical–emancipatory period (1968–1972), a critical–conceptual period (1973–1983), and a subject–scientific period (1984–1995). Social movements and internal problems of traditional psychology are identified as factors in the rise of his psychology, whereas the decline of Critical Psychology in the 1980s and 1990s is attributed to social developments, limitations of a systematic–foundational framework, and the emergence of alternative critical approaches. Despite these problems the article shows that Holzkamp is an eminent theoretical psychologist who has made significant contributions to psychological knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clients deserve empirically supported treatments, not romanticism.

Comments on the article by K. J. Schneider (see record 1998-00122-001) on clinical psychology that spelled out implications for the entire discipline, elaborated the reasons for the threat to romanticism, the consequences that are associated with it, and the rich and practical advantages for reclaiming romanticism's legacy. The author mentions that romanticism can and should play a significantly greater role in our profession than it currently does. Finally, romanticism is discussed in light of another major alternative to mainstream psychology—postmodernism. The author argues that romanticism does have its place in psychology, but good science should not be sacrificed to revive it, particularly in clinical practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)