American Psychological Association

This article describes the American Psychological Association. Do not confuse them with the American Psychiatric Association (also abbreviated to APA ).

The American Psychological Association ( APA ; German: American Psychological Society) is a large North American professional association for psychology . According to its own information, it is the world's largest association of psychologists with almost 130,000 members.

The APA is both a scientific society and professional interest group with the function of a professional association . The organization is based in Washington, DC. It describes its mission as “promoting the generation, dissemination and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives”. With a large membership and an annual budget of over $ 100 million, it is an influential organization and has played a significant role in the history of psychology.

Emergence

At the invitation of G. Stanley Hall , a group of pioneers met on July 8, 1892 at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., To discuss the feasibility of a (professional) organization. Seven people are specifically mentioned (hence “The Group of seven”): G. Stanley Hall from Clark University, George Stuart Fullerton from the University of Pennsylvania, Joseph Jastrow from the University of Wisconsin, William James from Harvard University, George T Ladd from Yale University, James McKeen Cattell from Columbia University, and James Mark Baldwin from the University of Toronto. The first guidelines were drawn up at the first meeting in 1892:

1. that the name should be "American Psychological Association"
2. that the leadership is provided with a council of seven or more members
3. that one of the council be appointed as chairman and another as secretary
4. that they form an executive committee with a member from the next meeting place. It was also decided that only one representative from each institution could have a seat on the Council
5. that the right to nominate members rests with the council with election by the society.
6. that the contribution is $ 3 per year and
7. that a President, Vice-President and Treasurer are elected annually.

Hall, Fullerton and Jastrow were elected as the executive committee. The APA's first president was Granville Stanley Hall and Jastrow was secretary and treasurer. The next meeting was to be held in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania on December 27, 1892.

Including the seven founding members, a total of 31 members were elected as follows at the end of the preparatory meeting: Frank Angell, JM Baldwin, WH Burnham, James McKeen Cattell, Edward Cowles, EB Delabarre, John Dewey, GS Fullerton, BS Gilman (Clark), EH Griffin (Hopkins), GS Hall, JG Hume (Toronto), JH Hyslop (Columbia), William James, J. Jastrow, WO Krohn (Clark), GT Ladd, Herbert Nichols (Harvard), Wm. Noyes (McLean), GTW Patrick , Josiah Royce, EC Sanford, EW Scripture, L. Witmer, WK Wolfe (Nebraska), WT Mills (McGill), H. Münsterberg, AT Ormond (Princeton), E. Pace (Catholic), and EB Titchener. (It is noted in the protocol that the last four were subsequently chosen in the other list and that someone subsequently remembered their existence).

A committee of three was also elected: the President (James), the Secretary-Treasurer (Cattell) and JM Baldwin to draft a constitution and present it in 1894.

The number of members grew steadily.

• 1892 - 031 members
• 1899 - 125 members
• 1916 - 308 members
• 1930 - 530 members
• 1940 - 664 members

In 1926 a new class was introduced: members without voting rights called: associate members . After the introduction these had the greatest growth, so that in 1926 there were 2,079 "associate members".

The APA is subdivided into US states or Canadian provinces and has 53 professional sections as a sub-organization. Over the years, disputes led to the founding of other organizations.

organization

The APA is led by a president who is elected for 12 months. In 2018, this is Jessica Henderson Daniel. They are supported by a twelve-person Board of Directors. The APA has 56 divisions, which are structured according to topics (1: general psychology) or areas (42: psychologists in independent practices).

APA standard

The guidelines for the design of scientific texts published by the American Psychological Association (APA) are referred to as the APA standard (APA style). The APA standard is now available in the seventh edition and is described in the book Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2019, ISBN 978-1433832161 ) published by the APA .

criticism

In 2007, the APA announced that psychologists who participated in the development and training of “innovative interrogation techniques,” such as those used in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib , were making an important contribution to averting damage to the United States. This amounted to a legitimation of so-called white torture , in which the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association had forbidden their members to participate in 2006.

The interrogation techniques used in Guantanamo were designed by Mitchell , Jessen & Associates with the assistance of former President of the American Psychological Association, Joseph Matarazzo, and other psychologists.

In response to growing public pressure, the APA changed its stance in October 2008 and banned psychologists from participating in human rights abuses in prisons. In November 2014, members of the APA commissioned a study by independent researchers into the organization's role in the interrogation programs. According to the report of the investigation, there was a secret cooperation between APA and the Bush administration in support of torture methods. The APA spokeswoman denied the allegations.

Rhea Farberman, APA spokeswoman, stated in January 2014: "A close review of these publicly available materials, as well as our existing guidelines, will clearly show that the APA will not tolerate psychologists participating in torture." It had just become known that APA member John Leso was involved in the interrogation and torture of Mohammed al-Qahtani in Guantánamo. The APA nevertheless refused to exclude him from the APA. APA spokeswoman Rhea Farberman said an APA investigation found no "directly unethical behavior" by Leso.

A new report by a commission of inquiry led by David Hoffman found that Stephen Behnke, head of the APA's ethics department, used psychologists to design and use torture methods such as waterboarding . Benke served in his position with the APA until July 2015 when the APA received the report from the commission. It is not clear whether he resigned or was fired.

See also

• List of Presidents of the American Psychological Association

literature

• James McKeen Cattell: The evolution of the stars and the formation of the earth. In: American Association for the Advancement of Science (Ed.): The Scientific Monthly . tape I , October 1915 ( archive.org ).

Web links

• APA website
• quote according to APA style
• Professional sections of the APA

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About APA. American Psychological Association, 2014, accessed November 1, 2014 . 
2. ↑ About APA. American Psychological Association, 2014, accessed October 25, 2014 : "Our mission is to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives." 
3. ↑ 2013 APA Annual Report. (PDF 3.8 MB) American Psychological Association, July 2014, p. 45 , accessed on November 1, 2014 . 
4. ↑ George Trumbull Ladd - Biography
5. ↑ Early history of the APA (English)
6. ^ APA History
7. ^ APA President. American Psychological Association, 2018, accessed March 1, 2018 . 
8. ^ Rainer Mausfeld : On the shady side . In: Brain & Mind . No. 7-8 , 2009, pp. 54, 55 .
9. ^ American Psychological Association Bolstered CIA Torture Program, Report Says In: The New York Times. April 30, 2015.
10. ^ Spencer Ackermann: US psychology body declines to rebuke member in Guantánamo torture case. In: The Guardian. 22th January 2014.
11. ↑ US torture doctors could face charges after report alleges post-9/11 collusion. In: The Guardian. 22th January 2014; Torture, American-Style: The Role of Money in Interrogations. In: Vanity Fair , July 14, 2015; Commission report: Psychologists and 'Enhanced' Interrogation. In: The New York Times. July 10, 2015.