| Abstract: | Given the press of contemporary social problems, psychologists are confronted with opportunities to become agents for social change. The academic, research-oriented training of psychologists does not equip him with the relevant values, knowledge, or skills to become an effective change agent and predisposes: him to reject the role as unscientific or unprofessional. This is true for the clinical, educational, and industrial psychologist as well as for the experimental and comparative psychologist. Professionals are being trained in management schools and departments of applied behavioral science who possess the requisite values, interdisciplinary knowledge, and consultative skills to be effective change agents in large organizations. Their general strategy is to transmit their knowledge and skills to non-professionals in the organization who share their values. Psychologists have typically viewed this activity by non-psychologists as a threat and their response has been characterized more by a defence of the discipline than by a concern for solving problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
