Category Archives: APA

Teachable Moments about Policing from Ferguson, Missouri

FergusonBy Tom Tyler, PhD (Professor of Law and Psychology, Yale Law School)

Ferguson represents another step in the escalating failure of the “broken windows” view of crime that has gained ascendancy during the past generation.  Under this approach, the police seek to maintain order by focusing upon arresting those who are committing minor crimes. This justifies the widespread practice of repeatedly stopping, questioning, frisking and often detaining and arresting members of the community, in particular the African-American community, and leads to the same type of hostility toward police officers that has become so visible in New York City in recent years.  Worse yet, it seems the police in cities like Ferguson have moved beyond the original broken windows model which focuses upon arresting people committing life-style crimes and have dropped any pretext of stopping only those who are actually involved in criminal activity.  Instead the police repeatedly stop innocent community residents on the streets to create feelings of fear, which they believe deters criminal behavior.  Why is this bad?

How can the police build trust?  I have conducted a number of studies of popular legitimacy which examine why people do or do not trust the police in their community.  These studies consistently show that the most important issue to public evaluations of the police is whether they believe that the police are exercising their authority fairly.  This means that they are not making decisions about who to stop based upon race; that they are willing to listen to people when they stop them; apply the law consistently and without prejudice and take time to explain the reasons for their actions.  Most importantly, the police need to treat people in the community respectfully and with courtesy.  When the police do these things they build trust.  In other words, we know how the police can build trust in communities, White or minority.  If people see the police acting with justice, they respond with trust.

Of course, there are limits, and even respectful treatment gives way to distrust in the face of repeated police stops of people who are not engaged in wrongdoing.  Two facts emerge from empirical research on the impact of policies involving widespread street stops.  First, such stop, question and frisk policies increase crime by undermining police legitimacy. Jeffrey Fagan and I recently studied young men in New York City and found that those who mistrusted the police were twice as likely to be engaged in criminal activity.  Second they increase hostility and lead to a greater likelihood of conflict when the police deal with community members on the street and when the community reacts to police actions such as the Brown shooting.  Such anger produces precisely the type of unrest so visible in Ferguson.  As so many of the marchers in that community have suggested, if people do not experience justice when they deal with the police, there will be no peace.

This article was re-posted from APA’s Psychology Benefits Society Blog.

A few members of the committee formerly known as CLGBTC strike a pose at APA's 2014 Convention in DC, from left: Natalie Alizaga, Nick Grant, and Julia Benjamin.

What’s in a Name? An Inclusive Name for an Inclusive Committee

A few members of the committee formerly known as CLGBTC strike a pose at APA's 2014 Convention in DC, from left: Natalie Alizaga, Nick Grant, and Julia Benjamin.

A few members of the committee formerly known as CLGBTC strike a pose at APA’s 2014 Convention in DC, from left: Natalie Alizaga, Nick Grant, and Julia Benjamin. (Source: the author).

The APAGS Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns disagrees with Juliet’s assertion in Romeo and Juliet that “a rose by any name would smell as sweet.” Research indicates names do have the power to affect the way we perceive and interact with reality and the way we see ourselves and those around us.

Our committee believes in the importance of names—which is why we changed ours.

  • Our name started as the “Task Force on Sexual Minority Concerns,” which then changed to the “Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns.”
  • In 2001, we became the “Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns.”
  • Over the past few years, the committee has become aware that individuals are increasingly using labels beyond “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual” and “transgender” to describe themselves. We contemplated incorporating additional specific identities to our name, but felt the “alphabet soup” created by the acronym used to represent those identities would be increasingly unwieldy and confusing.
  • After much discussion regarding how to shift our committee name to represent the diversity of our student members, we decided to change our name in September 2014 to the “Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.”

This mirrors what’s happening outside of APAGS. Some groups have begun shifting away from adding more letters to their acronyms and toward using more inclusive phrases like “Gender and Sexual Diversity.” This can be seen elsewhere in APA; in March 2014, APA Division 44 (Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues) launched a new quarterly peer-reviewed publication titled Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.

When we introduced the idea of our own name change to the full APAGS committee, it was unanimously and enthusiastically approved. Thus, as the new Chair of this committee, I am very excited to present to you the “Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity!”

I am very excited to present to you the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity!

Since its foundation 22 years ago, this group has worked to support graduate students who identify within the spectrum of sexual orientation and gender diversity by advocating for their concerns and providing educational, personal, and professional development opportunities. That hasn’t changed, but our name has.

Our website will show our new name soon, but we wanted to let you all know even quicker! Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in getting involved with the committee or if there are ways we can support you in your graduate training. We are here for you.

Fun with data: Internship Stipends, cost of living, and practicum hours

Many graduate students in clinical, counseling and school psychology programs are preparing applications to internship positions across the country this fall. The internship component has been a requirement to earn a doctoral degree in these programs for decades. And every year the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation (CoA) collects data on students in accredited doctoral and internship programs.

Let’s have some fun with those data!

The first chart shows the mean and standard deviation of stipends from APA accredited internships from 1998 to 2012. Click the chart to magnify it:

Intern Stipends

Since 1998, the mean stipend for clinical, counseling, and school psychology interns has increased steadily. In fact, the stipends one standard deviation below the mean have increased by almost $5,000. (Source.)

While internship stipends have generally been increasing, do they cover the cost of living? My second chart presents the percent change in the median internship stipend and the percent change in the consumer price index (CPI) from year to year:

Stipends vs CPI

As you can see, the percent change in median stipend amount is greater than the percent change in CPI for some years but not others. It seems that although many stipends cover the cost of living, the percent change in stipend amounts is not always in pace with this marker of inflation (source). The good news? The 1998 mean intern stipend, adjusted for inflation, still beats the amount one would expect to earn in adjusted dollars for 2012 by nearly $1,500.

The percent change in stipend amounts is not always in pace with this marker of inflation.

Beyond stipends, I decided to look at the trends in practicum hours reported by internship applicants. In particular, I wondered if the internship crisis was leading to greater accumulation of hours by students who desire to appear more competitive. This third chart shows practicum hours of applicants from 2006 to 2012, broken into supervision and assessment/intervention categories:

Practicum Hours

It appears that the trends in supervision and in assessment/intervention hours are similar between the APA mean (blue) and APPIC median (red) hours. If we look at the most recent data, it appears that median hours are increasing over time. Students applied to internships with 18% more intervention/assessment hours in the eight years between 2006 and 2013.

It appears that median hours are increasing over time.

(Sources: Mean practicum hours are reported by APA, though public release of data in this area ceased in 2010. Median hours are reported by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, or APPIC. It is important to note that APA accredits some doctoral and internship programs, almost all of which send students through the APPIC national match. APPIC data report students from accredited and unaccredited doctoral programs vying for accredited and unaccredited internships.)

Any thoughts on the data I presented? Are you surprised by the trends? Do any possible interpretations come to mind? I welcome you to comment on this post!

Join the APA Student Twitter Team!

For those of you going to 2014 Convention in Washington D.C., APAGS would love to hear about your experience. As a member of the APA Student Twitter Team, you can share your thoughts and impressions about your experiences while at Convention. If you are at a session you find interesting, why not let other Convention attendees know? If you just met a psychologist whose research you admire, then share your excitement!

Example tweet. This could be you!

Example tweet. This could be you!

Throughout Convention, tweets from team members and others using the #APA2014 and #APATwitterTeam hashtags will be displayed on a large tweetwall for all attendees to see.

Perks of being a Twitter Team member include:

  • an exclusive ribbon
  •  an invitation to a social event with food and a chance to win some great prizes (GoPro camera, tablet, and more)!

All you need is an open and active Twitter account. To apply, please click here.

Go Team! College Athletes and LGBTQ Health

Editor’s note: This post coincides with LGBT Health Awareness Week, March 23-29, 2014. It was written by Julia Benjamin, a member of the APAGS Committee on LGBT Concerns. Stay tuned for the second post in this series later this week.

Are we as supportive of LGBT players in sports as we could be? (Source: "Luke Lewis, Penrith Panther and NSW Blues" by Acon Online on Flickr. Some rights reserved.)

Are we as supportive of LGBT players in sports as we could be? (Source: “Luke Lewis, Penrith Panther and NSW Blues” by Acon Online on Flickr. Some rights reserved.)

When members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested openly gay University of Missouri football player Michael Sam, over one thousand Mizzou students formed a human chain around campus to support Sam and block the protest. This show of solidarity stands in contrast to the traditional locker room culture of homophobia that was recently highlighted by the bullying of former Miami Dolphins player Jonathan Martin. In light of this tension between heteronormative locker room culture and shifting national levels of LGBTQ acceptance, what are the health implications of identifying as both a student athlete and as LGBTQ?

Meyer’s theory of minority stress posits that LGB individuals experience more mental illness due to constant environmental prejudice. A recent national study supports this theory; LGBTQ individuals who live in communities with negative attitudes toward them were found to have shorter lifespans. In particular, deaths associated with stress, like suicide and cardiovascular disease, were higher for LGBTQ individuals living in high-stigma areas.

Minority stress may be especially high for student athletes. According to Campus Pride’s 2012 LGBTQ National College Athlete Report, twice as many LGBTQ student-athletes reported experiencing harassment as their straight peers. They also reported experiencing a more-negative overall climate that was detrimental to their academic success.  Additionally, studies indicate that stress may be stronger for male-identified LGBTQ students because male student athletes have been found to hold more negative LGBTQ attitudes than females.

However, there is cause to be optimistic about the future of the mental and physical health of LGBTQ student athletes:

  • In the past few months, several college athletes have received support after publicly coming out, including All-American University of Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam, Notre Dame tennis player Matt Dooley, and Drew University baseball captain Matt Kaplon.
  • Many college communities and athletic departments are becoming more accepting of LGBTQ individuals. New research has indicated that a majority of college coaches and athletic trainers hold positive attitudes toward lesbian and gay athletes.
  • National organizations like Go!Athletes, Outsports, and You Can Play work to support and empower gay student athletes.
  • Acceptance of gay athletes appears to be infusing professional sports as well. In a recent ESPN poll of NFL football players, 86% indicated that a player’s sexual orientation did not matter to them and 75% said that they would be comfortable showering around a gay teammate.
  • Studies show that knowing someone who identifies as LGBTQ leads to greater acceptance.

As more college athletes come out and as campus communities encourage awareness, support, and inclusive language and policies, it is inevitable that college locker rooms will become healthier and safer spaces for all athletes.