BUILDING AN ETHICAL ORGANIZATION

Building an Ethical Organization

Building an Ethical Organization

Introduction

The American Psychological Association was established in 1892 as a scientific and professional membership organization for the field of psychology in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., APA comprises 53 divisions, covering the spectrum of psychological specialties (e.g., clinical, experimental, developmental, educational, personality, and social). The association is a corporation governed by a six-member board of directors and a council of representatives. Many of the organization's tasks are carried out by boards and committees (Jonsen, 2005).

Description of APA

The American Psychological Association (APA) was established over a century ago to promote the exploration of psychology through research and clinical practice. This impressive association is the largest and most influential psychological organization today. The American Psychological Association (APA) is the world's largest association of psychologists and is the largest scientific and professional association that represents psychology in the United States. The membership of the APA includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students (Wolfle, 1997). The APA's organizational structure includes 55 divisions representing various subfields in psychology and 60 state, provincial, and territorial psychological associations. The association maintains its headquarters in Washington, DC.

APA Membership

With more than 150,000 members, APA is the largest psychological association in the world. Membership categories include (a) member (i.e., doctorate in psychology from an accredited institution); (b) student affiliate (programs for graduate, undergraduate, and high school students); (c) teacher affiliate (community college or high school teachers); (d) international affiliate (psychologists who live outside the United States and Canada); and (e) fellow (elected status; members who have demonstrated unusual and outstanding contributions or performance in psychology on a national level) (Evans, 1992).

Mission of APA

The APA was formed in 1892 at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Originally comprised of 26 members, its current membership has expanded to more than 150,000. The APA continues to use its size and power to aid psychological practice and research. An excerpt of the APA's mission, found in its bylaws, is as follows:

The objects of the American Psychological Association shall be to advance psychology as a science and profession and as a means of promoting health, education, and human welfare by: the encouragement of psychology in all its branches…the promotion of research in psychology…. the improvement of the qualifications and usefulness of psychologists… the increase and diffusion of psychological knowledge … the promotion of health, education, and the public welfare.

The mission of APA is to advance psychology as a science and profession and as a means of promoting health, education, and human welfare. Five mechanisms are used to accomplish this mission: (a) broadly and liberally encouraging all of the psychological disciplines (specialty areas); (b) promoting psychological research and improving the methods and manner in which these studies are conducted; (c) improving the qualifications and value of psychologists by maintaining high standards for professional conduct, ethics, education, and achievement; (d) maintaining the utmost standards for professional ethics and conduct of members of APA; and (e) increasing and spreading knowledge of psychology through a variety of ...