Candidates for APA President
Q5. As APA president, on what specific education issue(s) would you focus?
It is essential that the Graduate Psychology Education Program be retained as part of any future health-care reform law to ensure that the diminishing number of predoctoral internships is at least maintained, if not increased. Other issues of importance include:
Development of more postdoctoral fellowships.
Greater attention to multicultural issues in the light of globalization.
Stronger emphasis on real-world ethics.
Assurance that all psychologists have a solid scientific foundation so that decision-making and public policy are driven by methodologically sound data.
Promoting the opportunity for teaching high school psychology by those with formal graduate training in psychology.
Q6. What actions would you take to enhance the standing and reputation of psychology around the world?
APA's reputation as the world's leading psychological organization has suffered because our scientific, moral and ethical integrity has been compromised. For the past decade, beginning with the furor over the Rind et al child abuse meta-analysis article and spectacular misjudgment with regard to psychologists' involvement in coerced interrogations, among others, we have elevated political expediency over principled policies. As APA president, I pledge to ensure that APA acts with integrity and in accord with basic principles. More positively, I would sponsor a convocation of presidents of all international psychological associations with the goal of using psychology to promote human rights.
