Vocational Psychology and Career Guidance Practice: An International Partnership

Vast changes in the world of work spurred by rapid technological growth and globalization have called for a more inclusive, progressive, and forward thinking conceptualization of vocational theory, practice, training, and policy. Discussions across 8 discussion groups at the 2007 joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association addressed various topics in the field of vocational psychology and career guidance. Several themes emerged that have captured the attention of career scholars and practitioners across the globe: culture and context in theory and practice, research as a process within a contextual system, partnership and collaboration, and social responsibility and public policy.     

Social Psychology in Mexico: A Fifteen-Year Review

This article reviews the development of social psychology in Mexico by summarizing major trends in the field and their representation in La Psicología Social en México [Social Psychology in Mexico] and in the Revista de Psicología Social y Personalidad [Journal of Social Psychology and Personality], both published by the Asociacion Mexicana de Psicologia Social [Mexican Association of Social Psychology, AMEPSO] between 1986 and 1998. Over the years, the Mexican Association of Social Psychology has facilitated the professional advancement of many psychologists, whose diverse research areas include applied psychology, environmental psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, Mexican ethnopsychology, developmental psychology, ecological psychology, personality, and gender relations. Special emphasis is placed on the discussion of the current state of psychological methodology in Mexico and the importance of designing culturally relevant instruments.     

The Background of Discourse Analysis: A New Paradigm in Social Psychology

This article traces the historical developments that lead up to Discursive Social Psychology, eventually resulting in the Hermeneutic—Dialectic Mode. A critical differentiation between Logical Empiricism (LE) and Hermeneutic—Dialectics (HD) is drawn to emphasize the subjective nature of the latter. While HD is not the only approach to Discursive Social Psychology, its subjective nature makes it possible to more deeply explore human behavior.     

A balance theory approach to group problem solving

This paper presents a conceptualization of group problem solving based on Heider's balance theory [Cartwright, D., Harary, F., 1956. Structural balance: a generalization of Heider's theory. Psychological Review 63, 277–292; Heider, F., 1946. Attitudes and cognitive organization. Journal of Psychology 21, 107–112; Heider, F., 1958. The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. Wiley, New York], in which the problem solving process is viewed as a struggle toward increasing structural balance. Balance theory provides a means of representing problems that captures both gestalt restructuring and incremental search aspects of the problem solving process. An experimental method based on a flexible card categorization task operationalizes this conceptual view in a group problem solving situation. Results of an experiment investigating the effects of certain properties of problem structure on group problem solving behavior and performance are reported.     

The Background of Discourse Analysis: A New Paradigm in Social Psychology

This article traces the historical developments that lead up to Discursive Social Psychology, eventually resulting in the Hermeneutic–Dialectic Mode. A critical differentiation between Logical Empiricism (LE) and Hermeneutic–Dialectics (HD) is drawn to emphasize the subjective nature of the latter. While HD is not the only approach to Discursive Social Psychology, its subjective nature makes it possible to more deeply explore human behavior.     

Latin American Psychology in the Interamerican Journal of Psychology in the 1990's

This paper reviews 119 articles by Latin American psychologists, which have been published between 1990–1998 in the Revista Interamericana de Psicologia/Interamerican Journal of Psychology (RIP, ISP). As the official publication of the Interamerican Society of Psychology, the journal plays a prominent role, especially in Latin American psychology. It is concluded that Latin American psychologists have been active in many research areas and are seeking solutions for many pressing societal problems. While interested in a variety of general theoretical issues, Latin American psychologists have focused above all on applied studies.     

Cultural-Historical Activity Theory and Cultural Community Psychology: The Potential for Greater Commonality

Greater commonality for Cultural-Community Psychology (CC) and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) is advocated. The potential for greater commonality is exemplified by a series of examples of the many researchers who now use concepts from both CC and CHAT, including our own career work in culture studies, community development, delinquency, and education. A centering whorl of science is observable in the density of intersections across fields, and research on common propositions, such as the current intersections of intersubjectivity and joint activity, as studied by CC, CHAT, cognitive science, psychoneurology, and intervention theories. Therein exists the promise of a new center of commonality in psychology.     

The Transformation of Psychology in a Post-Apartheid South Africa: An Overview

Certain issues that are being debated in psychology in a post-apartheid South Africa are discussed, namely the development of professional organizations, indigenous healing and psychology, the psychometric movement, and forms of methodological inquiry. It is argued that South African psychology is striving to become more appropriate to the majority of its peoples, whether it be on the professional or research fronts. There is a desire to develop indigenous epistemologies and not to become excessively reliant on Euro-American epistemological traditions. Psychology is struggling to make mental health resources available to all South Africans.     

Nothing to give at all

Abstract

Adlerian psychology has been publicly neglected for many years but has been used covertly in many modern psychologies. Social work theory owes much to Adler's philosophy and many social workers probably unknowingly use it — in whatever guise — as their starting-point. But if Individual Psychology is their spring-board, the casework relationship may be their life-raft — to the detriment of creative and therapeutic work with people. Adler's ideas and social work theory are of value only in so far as they are expressed in the relationship of the worker with the client. For the most part, certainly in statutory agencies, other demands make it difficult for workers to operate from anything other than a defensive position. Therapeutic community practice, in contrast, reflects both Adlerian psychology and the best of social work theory: an egalitarian approach springing from a commitment to self-determination for both clients and workers.     

The Campus Alberta Applied Psychology Counselling Initiative: Web-Based Delivery of a Graduate Professional Training Program

SUMMARY

The Campus Alberta Applied Psychology: Counselling Initiative is a collaboration between three universities in western Canada to offer a predominantly Web-based Master of Counselling program. This paper describes the basic structure of the program, the Web-based delivery system, communication tools employed, and the philosophical, pedagogical, programmatic, and administrative principles and concepts foundation to the development and implementation. Development of curricular content and learning processes have been driven by explicit examination of learner needs, a program-level competency matrix reflective of professional practice standards in the discipline of psychology, and deliberate and continuous formative evaluation and learner engagement in the process.     

The Case of Sybil in the Teaching of Psychology

What do psychology professors today typically tell their students about the case of Sybil (F. R. Schreiber, 1973)--once considered the classic case of multiple personality disorder (MPD), until gradually revealed to be a fraud by new evidence (R. W. Rieber, 1998)? A 14-item survey was completed by a national sample of 125 college psychology teachers. It was found that a sizable minority of teachers discuss MPD (35%) or Sybil (23%) in their classes, 40% continue to regard Sybil as a classic case of MPD, and 83% report being only slightly or not at all familiar with new revelations about the Sybil case. Psychology teachers are offered 5 guidelines for accurately teaching about Sybil today.     

The Impact of Items and Anchors on Parent–Child Reports of Problem Behavior

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that parent and child reports of child behavior and emotional functioning often do not agree in terms of symptom severity or even symptom presence. Given the potential clinical impact that discrepant reports may have on the therapeutic process, a significant amount of research has addressed the factors influencing this observed discrepancy. Traditionally, this research has evaluated the impact of demographic factors on mean differences and obtained correlation coefficients between parent and child reports. The current research improves upon previous research in this area in two ways. First, the current research uses parent and child measures with identical rather than similar items as is commonly found in previous research. Second, the current research moves beyond identifying demographic influences on discrepant reports by explaining observed discrepancies in terms of differences in parent and child perceptions of typical child behavior.David Carlston and Benjamin Ogles are affiliated with Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, USA.Funding for this project was provided by the Ohio Department of Mental Health.     

The Case of Sybil in the Teaching of Psychology

What do psychology professors today typically tell their students about the case of Sybil (F R. Schreiber, 1973}—once considered the classic case of multiple personality disorder (MPD), until gradually revealed to be afraud by new evidence (R. W Rieber, 1998)? A 14-item survey was completed by a national sample of 125 college psychology teachers. It was found that a sizable minority of teachers discussMPD (35%) or Sybil (23%) in their classes, 40% continue to regard Sybil as a classic case of MPD, and83% report being only slightly or not at allfamiliar with new revelations about the Sybil case. Psychology teachers are offered 5 guidelines for accurately teaching about Sybil today.     

Gender differences in moral judgment: Implications for clinical practice

While the potential for gender bias in psychotherapy is commonly recognized, most of the literature addressing this problem has concentrated on the assessment process. Therapists are left with few guidelines regarding the avoidance of bias in ongoing therapeutic relationships. This article reviews alternative explanations of gender difference in moral judgment with particular attention to their clinical relevance. The writer suggests that therapists' conceptions of these differences, as well as their own moral judgment, may be a potent source of gender bias. Understanding these differences is conceivably a powerful means of averting their contaminating effects on clinical theory and practice.     

Socio-structural and individualistic theories of migration. Elements of a comparison of theories]

German contributions to the theory of migration are reviewed. Specifically, the author examines the theory of structural and anomic tension developed by Hoffmann-Nowotny and the action-oriented analysis of the assimilation process developed by Esser. These two theories are compared, and it is noted that although both theories arrive at competing propositions on the theoretical level, there are strong convergences at the level of the derived causal models. The extent to which models involving national choices can overcome the theoretical weaknesses identified in migration research is also considered.     

Discursive psychology as a method of analysis for the study of couple and family therapy

The field of couple and family therapy has benefitted from evidence generated from qualitative approaches. Evidence developed from approaches relying on language and social interaction using naturally occurring recordings of real‐world practice has the benefit of facilitating practice‐based recommendations and informing practice. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of one approach to discourse analysis, Discursive Psychology (DP), demonstrating how a social constructionist framework and focus on discourse can provide an important contribution to the field of therapy. To illustrate the methodological decision‐making process for researchers and/or practitioners who utilize DP, we draw upon a video‐recorded therapeutic session involving Tom Andersen. To conclude, we make recommendations for practitioners using DP to explore and examine therapeutic practice.     

Transitions to Systemic Practice for a Clinical Psychology Trainee

This article provides an individual perspective on encounters with systemic and family therapy ideas during the transition from university training to professional practice as a Clinical Psychology Registrar. Clinical psychology training provides a solid grounding in individually focussed, cognitive and behavioural models of psychotherapy. What may be less developed on entry to practice are the knowledge, procedural skills and reflective competencies needed to understand and respond to challenges in family‐based therapy and in working within complex caregiving systems. Systemic ideas can provide important resources for facilitating these transitions. Trainees may need support not only in gaining knowledge of family therapy models, but also in making a challenging ‘epistemological shift’ (Cullin, 2014) from internalised models of psychopathology to systemic ways of thinking about problems and change. Systemic concepts and support in developing a position of ‘hospitality’ (Larner, 2003) towards competing therapeutic models can also help the trainee be more effective in complex caregiving environments. This article provides examples from my learning as well as reflections on what may help trainees make the transition to professional practice and make use of systemic ideas.     

Towards a more social Social Psychology: The case of meta-stereotypes

Abstract

Based on the review by Gómez, who summarizes recent social-psychological work about meta-stereotypes, this domain of research will be located and discussed in the broader context of current Social Psychology. It is argued that the current work on meta-stereotyping is a prime example for a truly social-psychological approach, as it includes aspects of perspectivity, context-specificity, and of mutual social influence. By providing a more complete picture of the phenomenon of stereotyping in social contexts, research on meta-stereotypes can offer a good theoretical background to derive more efficient interventions towards reducing negative prejudice and improving intergroup relations.