Kudos to the 'Dirty Dozen'

Thirty-five years ago, a group of practitioners sometimes referred to as the "Dirty Dozen" began a quiet revolution that, after it was all over, transformed APA and organized psychology.

During APA's 1999 Annual Convention in Boston, the work of the Dirty Dozen--and the hundreds of other practitioners who worked to achieve equal representation in APA--was honored at a reception of the Association of Practicing Psychologists (APP), at a business meeting of APA's Div. 42 (Independent Practice) and by the Association for the Advancement of Psychology.

The practitioner movement goes back to the earliest days of APA, but it greatly accelerated after World War II. At that time, the practice of psychology was a relatively new and APA was primarily an organization for academic psychologists. But by the 1950s, practitioners became a larger proportion of the association's membership and sought greater representation and more membership services.

Practitioners and others sympathetic to their cause began to organize, seeking better representation. Many drummed up support at the state level, while the group that came to be called the Dirty Dozen focused on the heart of political power in APA.

"At that time, practitioners didn't have much say in APA's governance," said Rogers H. Wright, PhD, a Dirty Dozen founder who brought together concerned practitioners from around the country. "We needed support at the national level to address our concerns. Primarily, we wanted better training for practitioners and stronger advocacy on Capitol Hill on behalf of psychology."

By the late 60s, the Dirty Dozen--who actually numbered 14 but liked the sound of the moniker--decided that the best way to advance their cause was to get practitioners elected to APA's Council of Representatives and Board of Directors. The Dirty Dozen and their allies spent hundreds of hours telephoning members, urging them to support practitioner candidates.

Their first major victory was in 1973 when Wright was elected to APA's Board of Directors. Then in 1977, Theodore H. Blau, PhD, a practitioner from Tampa, Fla., became APA president.

"You have to realize how difficult it was to get a practitioner elected at that time," explains Stan Moldawksy, PhD, a private practitioner in Chatham, N.J., who has continued the work started by the Dirty Dozen. "The academicians were famous for their books or their research. Practitioners were unknowns."

"We were never interested in throwing the scientists out," adds Nicholas Cummings, PhD, Dirty Dozen member from Reno, Nev. "We just wanted equal representation and for them to take us seriously."

As the proportion of practitioners in APA leadership began to increase, the association's agenda shifted. An external group was established to advocate on psychology's behalf on Capitol Hill, and APA strengthened its ties with state psychological associations. In 1985, APA's council of approved a special assessment from practitioners to promote the practice agenda, and created the APA Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP) to manage the funds.

Individually, the Dirty Dozen have also done well in APA. Among them, eight have served on the Board of Directors, one as chief executive officer and five as APA president.

They are Theodore H. Blau, PhD, Nicholas A. Cummings, PhD, Raymond D. Fowler, PhD, Melvin A Gravitz, PhD, Ernest S. Lawrence, PhD, Marvin Metsky, PhD, Clarence J. Rosecrans, Jr., PhD (deceased), Donald Schultz, PhD (deceased), Max Siegel, PhD (deceased), A. Eugene Shapiro, PhD, Robert D. Weitz, PhD, Jack G. Wiggins, PhD, Rogers H. Wright, PhD, and Francis A. Young, PhD.

During the convention, CAPP and APP presented a resolution honoring the group for "transforming the face of organized psychology to the benefit of all practitioners."

--S. Martin



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