History of Psychology in Australia Term Paper

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Introduction

Dudgeon and Walker (2015) note that “the discipline of psychology in Australia has a history of domination over Indigenous Australians that is still evident today” (p. 276). This claim gets to the heart of the concept of colonization and its role in the application of psychology, particularly with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia—i.e., Indigenous Australians. However, as Australia today is more than the sum of its parts, the history of psychology in Australia reveals a much more complex phenomenon at work. This paper will 1) provide a brief history of psychology in Australia, 2) discuss the degree to which psychology has been imported from other countries to Australia, 3) identify the nature and scope of psychology in Australia, 4) describe major issues and concerns addressed by psychologists in Australia, 5) acknowledge unique contributions and practices of psychologists from Australia; 6) evaluate the general status of psychology in Australia, as well as the methods for preparing to be a psychologist in Australia, 7) present major theoretical orientations of psychologists and research trends in Australia, and 8) discuss the professional organizations and codes of ethics that Australian Psychologists must adhere to.

Basic Description of Findings

Brief History

Established in 1788 as a British colony, Australia followed in the footsteps of the English, the Germans and later the Americans in the field of psychology. In the 19th century, Australia’s universities focused on moral philosophy as a prelude to the study of what would become psychology in the 20th century. The Mental Science and Education Section of the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science received an address from Henry Laurie in 1893, in which Laurie gave a definition of psychology: “the science of the facts of the mind…like other natural sciences” (Taft, 1982, p. 31). The first lay psychoanalyst appeared in Australia in 1953: her name was Ivy Bennett. She had trained under the British Psychoanalytical Society (Vickers, 2017). 1970 was the year in which counseling psychology began to be taken seriously in Australia (Di Mattia & Grant, 2016). That was the year the Rose Committee report was issued in which it was advised that counseling psychologists focus on all populations. Training began in 1975 at La Trobe University: school counseling, psychotherapy, group therapy and research were all foci of the curriculum. Jay Birnbrauer played a leading role “in the formation of the Australian Behaviour Modification Association (known today as the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy) in the 1970s” (Jones, Ralph & Mazzucchelli, 2017, p. 279). Birnbrauer studied behaviorism under Skinner in America and brought the theory to Australia. Through men like Laurie, Rose and Birnbrauer, the discipline of psychology in Australia blossomed into a full-fledged reality.

Imported Psychology

The degree to which psychology has been imported from other countries to Australia is quite high. The British were the main conduits through which psychology came to Australia. Germans, however, serving as they did as the ultimate source of the study of psychology, also played a role. As the American institutions picked up where the Germans left off after WWII, the Australians imported much of their psychological input from the U.S. as well. The Australian branch of the British Psychological Society appeared in 1944, showing that the very seed of psychology in Australia came from England (Allan, 2018). As Australia was not a main center of culture or learning on the world’s stage, it essentially borrowed a great deal of its insights into psychology, while Germany, England and America all contributed in their own way some native approaches to the field (Nixon & Taft, 2013).

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Australia absorbed most of these approaches and did little to advance any of them. Still, though the learning came from outside the nation, the pioneers of psychology were all Australian—i.e., the advancement of the discipline in Australia was a result of Australians themselves promoting the field (Nixon & Taft, 2013). Gradually they would come to make a few small contributions, but by and large the role that Australians played in the discipline was simply to embrace it and implement it in the country.

Nature and Scope

The scope of psychology in Australia is quite broad and ranges from psychoanalysis to behavioral psychology to counseling psychology, community psychology, clinical…

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…focusing on the manner in which this colonization and the colonizing nature of psychology in Australia has impacted native Australians—i.e., Aboriginals—the overall trend within Australia is for professionals to follow in the recommended standards, research, practices and orientations that have been determined as vital by the international community.

Australia’s main contributions to psychology have mainly come on the domestic stage—i.e., by individuals like Birnbrauer, who was a pioneer in applied behavioral sciences in Australia. Birnbrauer advanced this field by leading the way for ABA to be accepted and practiced in Australia—but Birnbrauer was essentially taking knowledge and evidence from the international community and popularizing it in Australia. These were not domestic innovations or unique contributions on the world stage. Australia has not provided such advancements as those and in general has been happy to follow in the international trends set by other professional organization and countries all across the globe.

Australia does provide a method for becoming a professional psychologist and, like in other countries, it requires credentialing from a four year, accredited institution, along with either a Master’s degree or two years of work under the supervision of a registered psychologist. To work in a specialized field of psychology, additional certification is required. This applies to fields such as clinical psychology, sport psychology, health psychology, and so on.

Conclusion

The study of psychology in Australia has a unique history as the state was not an important contributor to the field in the 20th century when most psychological theories were being developed in other parts of the world—i.e., in Germany, the UK and America. It did however receive these theories and develop curricula around them, establish professional organizations to train and guide others interested in pursuing them professionally, and provide ethical codes of conduct and a method by which professionals could become certified and registered. In Australia the most common psychological orientation among professional psychologists is like that of most others in the world—the use of cognitive behavioral therapy in counseling. This allows the psychologist to focus on actions and behaviors that could help the individual to redirect energy to a more positive lifestyle and….....

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