Applying Psychological Science, Benefiting Society
By Roberta Downing, PhD (Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer, APA Public Interest Directorate – Government Relations Office) This holiday season won’t be a cheerful one for over a million unemployed Americans. On December 28th, 1.3 million jobless people will face a harsh cutoff of unemployment insurance. Another 3.5 million workers will be cut off […]
By Carmen Valdez, PhD (Member, APA Committee on Children, Youth, and Families) When many Latino immigrant parents say, “I don’t understand my children!” they are often using the statement literally and figuratively. Many Latino immigrant parents experience a break down in family communication because they only speak Spanish and their children only speak English. The […]
Sequestration is causing considerable suffering for many low-income families. By Roberta Downing, PhD (Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer, APA Public Interest Directorate – Government Relations Office) How is your housing situation? Do you know where you’re going to sleep tonight? What about your meals? Do you know what you (and your children if you […]
By Micah Haskell-Hoehl (Senior Policy Associate, APA Public Interest Directorate – Government Relations Office) To punish or to rehabilitate? That question frames the essence of the debate over criminal and juvenile justice, and it plays out in practice, with new policies always falling somewhere between these two poles. With the 1974 establishment of the Juvenile Justice […]
By Carola Suárez-Orozco, PhD (Professor of Human Development and Psychology at UCLA, Chair of the APA Presidential Task Force on Immigration) What are the implications of growing up in the shadows of our society? Over a million young people in United States live in limbo status, without formal documentation. Many were brought here as young […]
It’s Canadian Media Literacy Week (November 4 to 8, 2013). The official theme of the week: “What’s Being Sold: Helping Kids Make Sense of Marketing Messages” , will encourage educators and parents to talk to children and teens about the marketing they encounter on a daily basis. This is an issue that APA is particularly committed […]
By Susan P. Limber, PhD (Professor of Psychology, Clemson University) In recent years, adults have had a lot to say about bullying. Members of the press have produced thousands of news articles and reports about bullying. Legislators in 49 states have written and rewritten laws requiring school districts to develop policies about bullying. And researchers, […]
By Lacey Rosenbaum, M.Ed. (Director, APA’s Safe and Supportive Schools Project, Office of LGBT Concerns) You cannot escape the headlines: “Bullying may have motivated Nevada school shooter” or “Funeral held for Illinois teen who committed suicide after bullying” or “Two girls arrested on bullying charges after suicide.” What is going on? Do we have a bullying […]
By U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-CA), Founder of Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus In light of the recent government shutdown, it is understandable for the public to view Congress as dysfunctional and unable to compromise, but I want to share with you a bipartisan issue that we do agree on—stopping bullying. The bullying epidemic affects all Americans: […]
By Benjamin Vonachen (Senior Legislative Assistant, PI Government Relations Office) Can evidence-based psychological science be a persuasive voice in immigration reform? The already passionate immigration debate before the U.S. Senate struck an emotional tone when Senator Al Franken (D-MN) took to the floor to address the issue of children/parent separations caused by immigration proceedings. “Over […]
Psychology Benefits Society 