Applying Psychological Science, Benefiting Society
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 David Martin, PhD (Senior Director, APA Office on AIDS) I saw my first AIDS patient in 1983, a time when its etiology was unknown and when everyone—community members and healthcare professionals alike—was terrified about the prospects of contracting a rapidly fatal illness. I remember having to don a hospital gown, gloves, booties, and a […]
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 Roberta Downing, PhD (Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer, APA Public Interest Directorate – Government Relations Office) Did you know that more than half (55%) of recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (formerly “food stamps”) are living below half of the poverty line? That’s an income of about $9,500 for a […]
UPDATE: On February 14, 2014, the NFL’s independent investigator, Ted Wells, released a 144-page report on the allegations of workplace misconduct within the Miami Dolphins that concluded there was a consistent pattern of harassment by Richie Incognito and two additional offensive linemen, Mike Pouncey and John Jerry, of Jonathan Martin and other Dolphins players and […]
By Mili A. Thomas, MA, Debbie Browen, Polina Kitsis, Claire Lisco, and Nadine J. Kaslow, PhD The Grady Nia Project helps abused, suicidal, low-income African American women, many of whom are homeless. They often times live on the streets, go from shelter to shelter, or end up homeless in an effort to escape an abusive […]
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 J. Judd Harbin, PhD (Arkansas) and Melissa J. Grey, PhD (Michigan), APA Division 44 (Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues) Public Policy Committee Members Working matters. In his classic 1974 work titled Working, Studs Terkel observed that, despite the stresses of one’s job duties, working provides a person […]
Psychology Benefits Society 