Abstract
Psychology has so much knowledge to offer to society, via a multitude of service and practice efforts. But it takes carefully orchestrated advocacy to ensure that our knowledge and services reach those who need it, especially children and families in distressed circumstances. Few understand this so well as members of the American Psychological Association’s Division 37: The Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice, and its Section on Child Maltreatment. Division 37 was conceptualized 30 years ago, amid escalating national and international concern about the considerable mental health needs of children and families. Today the Division translates research into policy and action, developing and improving programs and services, and advocating for children and families at the local, state, and federal levels to prod those in power to allocate funds for research and services. The Division promotes the research, practice, and training relevant to child maltreatment and the mental health issues faced by victims. It has addressed various other stressors that impact children and families such as divorce and custody, foster care, drug- and HIV-exposure, homelessness, systemic racism, and other emerging agendas through the work of dedicated members who work tirelessly on task forces and committees. Since its inception, Division 37 members have diligently pursued the mission “to apply psychological knowledge to advocacy, service delivery, and public policies affecting children, youth, and families.”
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.®
Margaret Mead
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
For additional details on the early history of Division 37, see Routh and Culbertson (1996) in Unification through division: Histories of the American Psychological Association.
References
APA Division 37’s Task Force on Advocacy. (2006). APA Division 37’s guide to advocacy: Legislative support for children, youth and families. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/divisions/div37/resources.html.
American Psychological Association. (2013, April 13). Bylaws of the American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/governance/bylaws/.
American Psychological Association. (2013, April 13). Society for child and family policy and practice: Division 37 of the American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/divisions/div37/.
APA Working Group on Children’s Mental Health. (2001). Developing psychology’s national agenda for children’s mental health: APA’s response to the Surgeon General’s action agenda for children’s mental health. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Bottoms, B. L., & Quas, J. A. (Eds.). (2006). Emerging directions in child maltreatment research: Multidisciplinary perspectives on theory, practice, and policy [Special issue]. Journal of Social Issues, 62(4).
Campbell, M. (2000). Committee on children, youth, and families. The Child, Youth, and Family Services Advocate, 23(2), 8–9.
Crockett, D. (2003). Critical issues children face in the 2000s. School Psychology Quarterly, 18, 446–453.
Goodman, G. S. (2006). A modern history and contemporary commentary on child eyewitness memory research. Journal of Social Issues, 62, 653–880.
Grasley, C., Wolfe, D. A., & Wekerle, C. (1999). Empowering youth to end relationship violence. Children’s Services, 2, 209–223.
Holden, E. W., & Brannan, A. M. (2002). Background for the special issue. Children’s Services, 5, 1.
Huang, L., Mcbeth, G., Dodge, J., & Jacobstein, D. (2004). Transforming the workforce in children’s mental health. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 32, 167–187.
Kutash, K., & Rivera, V. R. (1995). Effectiveness of children’s mental health service: A review of the literature. Education and Treatment of Children, 18, 443.
Limber, S. P. (1998). Bringing social science to Capitol Hill: The Congressional Briefing Series of the Consortium in Children, Families, and the Law. The Child, Youth, and Family Services Advocate, 21(1), 3.
Masi, R., & Cooper, J. (2006). Children’s mental health facts for policymakers. New York: National Center for Children in Poverty. Retrieved from http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_687.html
Maton, K. I., Schellenbach, C. J., Leadbeater, B. J., & Solarz, A. L. (2003). Investing in children, youth, families and communities: Strengths-based research and policy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Melton, G. B. (Ed.). (1986). Adolescent abortion: Psychological and legal issues. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Miller-Perrin, C. L. (2000). An introduction to child maltreatment: A five-unit lesson plan for teachers of psychology in secondary schools. Retrieved from Education Resources Information Center.
Miller-Perrin, C. L., & Malloy, L. C. (2007, July 3). Curriculum guide for instruction in child maltreatment. Office of teaching resources in psychology online. Retrieved from http://www.apadiv2.org/otrp/resources/resources.php?category=Child%20Maltreatment
Morris, P. A., & Gennetian, L. (2006). Welfare and antipoverty policy effects on children’s development. In H. E. Fitzgerald, B. M. Lester, & B. Zuckerman (Eds.), The crisis in youth mental health (pp. 231–255). Westport, CT: Praeger.
National Institutes of Mental Health. (2001). Blueprint for change: Research on child and adolescent mental health. Report of the National Advisory Mental Health Council’s Workgroup on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Intervention Development and Deployment. Bethesda, MD: Author.
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2009). Preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and possibilities. Committee on the Prevention of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth, and Young Adults: Research Advances and Promising Interventions. Mary Ellen O’Connell, Thomas Boat, and Kenneth E. Warner, Editors. Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Nightingale, N., & Portwood, S. (1997). Section events at the APA convention. The Child, Youth, and Family Services Quarterly, 20(1), 10–11.
Ondersma, S. J., Chaffin, M., Berliner, L., Cordon, I., Goodman, G. S., & Barnett, D. (2001). Sex with children is abuse: Comment on Rind, Tromovitch, & Bauserman (1998). Psychological Bulletin, 127, 707–714.
Powell, D., & Dunlap, G. (2005). Mental health services for young children. In R. Steele & M. Roberts (Eds.), Handbook of mental health services for children, adolescents, and families (pp. 15–30). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. (2003). Achieving the promise: Transforming mental health care in America. Final Report (DHHS Pub. No. SMA-03-3832). Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Quas, J. A., Bottoms, B. L., & Nuñez, N. (Eds.). (2002). Linking juvenile delinquency and child maltreatment: Causes, correlates, and consequences [Special issue]. Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice, 5, 245–305.
Roberts, M. C., Carlson, C. I., Erickson, M. T., Friedman, R. M., La Greca, A. M., Lemanek, K. L., et al. (1998). A model for training psychologists to provide services for children and adolescents. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 29, 293–299.
Roberts, M. C., Erickson, M. T., & Tuma, J. M. (1985). Addressing the needs: Guidelines for training psychologists to work with children, youth, and families. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 14, 70–79.
Roberts, M.C., & Task Force (Eds.). (1996). Model programs in child and family mental health. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Routh, D. K., & Culbertson, J. L. (1996). A history of Division 37 (Child, Youth, and Family Services). In D. Dewsbury (Ed.), Unification through division: Histories of the American Psychological Association (pp. 195–231). Washington, DC: APA.
Tolan, P. H., & Dodge, K. A. (2005). Children’s mental health as a primary care and concern. American Psychologist, 60, 601–614.
U.S. Public Health Service. (1999). Mental health: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health.
U.S. Public Health Service. (2000). Report of the Surgeon General’s conference on children’s mental health: A national action agenda. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services.
Vargas, L. A. (2000). Task-force update. The Child, Youth, and Family Services Advocate, 23(1), 12.
Weithorn, L. A. (1987). Psychology and child custody determinations: Knowledge, roles, and expertise. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Acknowledgement
For their invaluable contributions to this collective organizational memory, we thank: Mary Campbell, Jan L. Culbertson, Anne McDonald Culp, Carol Falender, Jeffrey Haugaard, Sue Limber, Tom Lyon, Tony Mannarino, Laura Nabors, Cynthia Najdowski, Cindy Perrin, Sharon Portwood, Michael Roberts, Don Routh, Karen Saywitz, Cindy Schellenbach, Carolyn Schroeder, Annie Toro, Luis Vargas, Brian Wilcox, Diane J. Willis, & David Wolfe.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Achilles, G.M., Barrueco, S., Bottoms, B.L. (2013). The Evolving Legacy of the American Psychological Association’s Division 37: Bridging Research, Practice, and Policy to Benefit Children and Families. In: Culp, A. (eds) Child and Family Advocacy. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7456-2_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7456-2_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7455-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7456-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)