The history and systems of psychology courses: Origins, political consequences, and alternative constructions.

摘要

Certain writers (Ash, 1983; Furumoto, 1988; Harris, 1980) have argued that most scholarly work in the history of psychology is approached from a narrowly conceived perspective. They argued that psychology's history consists primarily of ceremonial, uncritical and theoretically narrow accounts of the past. Some writers (Furumoto, 1988; Buss, 1986; Cushman, 1990) have expressed concerns that the lack of critical, sociocultural perspectives in examining the past decreases psychology's capacity to assess the political and social functions of psychological theory, research, and practice.; This study examined how the above concerns applied to theoretical directions in history and systems of psychology courses at APA-accredited graduate programs, It was felt that these courses are where most psychologists develop formative understandings about the history of their chosen discipline. This study focused on APA-accredited programs because they have made the history and systems course a required component of the core curriculum. An overarching goal was to examine how various programs have interpreted this general curricular APA mandate. The extent to which these courses included newer sociocultural perspectives was assessed.; Data were collected through an examination of current history and systems course syllabi, a questionnaire mailed to course instructors, and semi-structured telephone interviews conducted with (11) of the questionnaire respondents.; The findings of this study suggested that many graduate-level history and systems courses are taught from a traditional historical perspective. Such a perspective relies primarily on a decontextualized presentation of the 'great men' and intellectual systems of psychology. In many cases, this approach to history is largely ceremonial in nature and may preclude a more critical analysis of psychology's past.; Without theoretically broad historical understandings of its relationship to extradisciplinary social forces, psychology lacks the awareness and flexibility necessary to make thoughtful political choices in the present. A broad awareness of the social effects of past disciplinary choices would give psychology greater flexibility in adapting to future changes in society. Without such critical memory and awareness of its past, psychology can end up being, as historian Franz Samelson has stated, "... at the mercy of the forces of the day."