American Psychological Association

The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA is the worlds largest association of psychologists, with more than 134,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members. Our mission is to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve peoples lives. Our Work APA seeks to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological nowledge to benefit society and improve peoples lives. We do this by: Encouraging the development and application of psychology in the broadest manner. Promoting research in psychology, the improvement of research methods and conditions and the application of research findings. Improving the qualifications and usefulness of psychologists by establishing high standards of ethics, conduct, education and achievement. Increasing and disseminating psychological knowledge through meetings, professional contacts, reports, papers, discussions and publications. Strategic Plan Our strategic plan goals are to maximize the associations organizational effectiveness, expand psychologys role in advancing health and increase recognition of psychology as a science. Governance and Senior Staff Volunteer governance members play a key role in the direction and completion of APAs advocacy, publishing, member service and more. These groups include APAs: Council of Representatives, which has the sole authority to approve policy and appropriate the associations revenue. Board of Directors, elected by the membership, and which acts as the administrative agent of the Council of Representatives. APA president, elected annually by the membership to serve as the face of the association. Committees, boards and task forces, which focus on particular issues in the field. APAs daily operations are overseen by its senior staff at APA headquarters in Washington, D. C. Definition of Psychology Psychology is a diverse discipline, grounded in science, but with nearly boundless applications in everyday life. Some psychologists do basic research, developing theories and testing them through carefully honed research methods involving observation, experimentation and analysis. Other psychologists apply the disciplines scientific knowledge to help people, organizations and communities function better. As psychological research yields new information, whether its developing improved interventions to treat depression or studying how humans interact with machines, these findings become part of the disciplines body of knowledge and are applied in work with patients and clients, in schools, in corporate settings, within the Judicial system, even in professional sports. Psychology is a doctoral-level profession. Psychologists study both normal and abnormal functioning and treat patients with ental and emotional problems. They also study and encourage behaviors that build wellness and emotional resilience. Today, as the link between mind and body is well- recognized, more and more psychologists are teaming witn other health-care providers to provide whole-person health care for patients. APA History The American Psychological Association was founded in 1892 with 31 members and grew quickly after World War II.

Reflective journal on HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Reflective journal on HRM - Essay Example While the HRM have considerable powers over the employees the ethical code amongst these HRM is not constant through out. The article describes the role of HRM in controlling the problems faced by the employees. However if the HRM himself is biased or partial the decision taken by him would not comply with the ethical code of Human Resource practice. This partiality shown by the HRM for their employees can further deepen the problem faced by the company. To solve the issues faced by the employees Dispute Resolution procedures are applied. These Dispute Resolutions help the employees to put forward their issues and get them solved accordingly. However due to the impartialities amongst the HRM the Dispute Resolution system is going through a lot of problems. As emphasized in this article a Dispute Resolution system should always involve neutral judges. The judges here can be referred to as the Human Resource Managers working in the companies. The article emphasizes further on the neutr ality and partially practiced by the Human Resource Managers. The HRM should not have a relationship of any sort with the employees as this may affect the decisions taken by them in regard to the complaints given to them. The article emphasizes on the fact that favoritism should be removed from the Human Resource system as this affects the decisions and further makes the decision unequal to one party. The Human Resource Managers should have a neutral stance towards the weak and the powerful party so that even if the powerful party commits any mistake it is brought back to the terms and conditions applied by the company. Furthermore the article describes the role of the HRM with accordance to the new legislation which was introduced in Australia in 2005. This legislation is known as the Work Choices Act. This legislation has given more powers to the HRM i.e. they can dismiss workers without settling their disputes. This power provided to the HRM could be used in a negative way too as at times the HRM would prefer dismissing the workers rather than settling the issue between the workers. The legislation has provided an edge to the HRM and the employers over the workers. As these powers vested to both the HRM and employers would help them in dismissing the workers without settling their issues. This would affect the overall ethical code of the company. As I personally have experienced having a dispute between my co-workers I think that the Human Resource Manager plays an important role in resolving the disputes and the power vested to them can be used in the negative way. The co-workers who have an understanding with the Human Resource Managers are preferred by them over other workers. As my issue was solved by a HR manager who was neutral, I figured out that HR manager played an important role in resolving the company's problems. However if the HR manager is biased the decisions passed by them would not comply with the ethical code and terms. The HR manager should not be given the powers to dismiss workers as these powers given to them would help them to dismiss the workers directly rather than solving their issues. The HR manager should be selected by the employer with extreme caution as he is the main person in handling the internal issues of the company. The HR manager s

The Recent History and Dynamics of Culture Essay

The Recent History and Dynamics of Culture - Essay Example Spoken communication gave rise to stories, poetry and music in order to make remembering easier and communicating more entertaining. Written language changed the way we use our brains, and the printing press made knowledge available to all who could learn to read. This led to the rise of the middle classes, and to the development of the idea of a separation between the cultured and the masses. Public education was one result of technology and the rising middle class, as society needed to train its best and brightest in order to maintain productivity and growth. The Internet has now eliminated the need for physical books and made this knowledge available to literally anyone in the world with a connection. The common thread here is language, art and communication. Most parts of any culture fall under one of these categories. Law and government seem to be part of culture, but these are simply formal governance of the cultural values society. So culture is, essentially, everything involving more than one person in a society. This includes literature, music, art, value systems, behavioural norms, institutions, and the interpretation and dissemination of each of these. Food, a major part of culture, is both ritual and art. Music and visual arts are products, and also mirrors, of the culture. However, more than anything else, a society’s language and its texts represent it s culture.... (Most Canadians or Australians did not make the cut either.) British and Western Europeans were the sole providers of â€Å"literature†. Cultured people were â€Å"elite†, so anything readily accessible by the masses was not a part of culture. This meant that even though cultured texts, music and art were available to everyone, only the most cultured could truly understand them, if they even read them. It required a great deal of education to read Homer in the original language, or to appreciate Opera without subtitles, or ballet, or to read works of learned men and discuss the myriad values of each. Theoretically, culture includes modern discourses that bridge the various disciplines which include culture as part of their inquiries. Certain critical practices for cultural analysis are used to create that discourse concerning cultural activities, products, and institutions (Jere Paul Surber). It has expanded to this from the very narrow beginnings in Great Britain in th e 18 century. Certain British universities instituted cultural studies in the 1950s. With this kind of base, cultural studies aims for a practical critique of concrete and measurable factors that effect economic and political power. In its beginnings, culture was the pursuit of improvement of person among the aristocracy by virtue of education and practice. One of the first developments of any culture is the appearance of its critics. Critics always try to define what they criticise in order to be able to define its value. This sets them up to be the experts and that attracts people who need to feed their egos. In the late nineteenth century, people like Matthew Arnold saw culture more as a product than an aspect of society. It was something to aspire to as it represented knowledge of the best