Abstract
Fifty years of psychology in Australia, and going strong. This is the story of a young discipline, determined to make its mark. The commissioning and self-publication of this work by the Australian Psychological Society exemplifies the high energy and corporate self-confidence that has encouraged an exponential growth in psychological services since the Second World War. From being a very rare species in the 1940s, the author informs us that professional practising psychologists in Australia numbered over 8500 by 1994, delivering a service estimated at $1.4 billion.
Cook has performed a fine job in describing this development. He avoids the trap of making this a biography of eminent players and sticks to the task of recording, in scholarly fashion, the political and institutional forces that influenced each developmental phase. Considerable detail is also provided. This sometimes makes the text serve as a factual record rather than having broad interest. Still, some of this detail also helps capture the spirit of the times.
As an honorary office bearer myself over many years, the combination of social and official responsibilities was always an attractive combination, and so it was, apparently, before my time. Carefully recorded for posterity is the following purchase order for a party, in 1960, which 48 people were expected to attend. Wine (2.5 gallons), beer (2.5 dozen), spirits (4 bottles), sherry (6 bottles), and 2 bottles of squash. Thank goodness for the squash!
More seriously, the major battles for recognition are carefully described. The first of these seems quite contemporary, fuelled by the fear of losing traditional ties with England. In 1944 the Australian Branch of the British Psychological Society opened for business, and soon gained parental recognition as ‘a wilful and unmanageable offspring’. Nonetheless, 16 years had to pass before Australian psychologists were prepared to stand alone, and when the final vote in 1960 created the Australian Psychological Society, about 20% of members still voted against such autonomy.
Other aspects of note are the 1949 Code of Ethics that preceded all other national codes for psychologists. The American Psychological Association, for example, established its code in 1952. Also recorded is the fascinating history of professional registration, first enacted by the Victorian State Parliament in 1965. Not that this Parliament cared much about the registration of psychologists per se, but by prescribing the nature of psychological practice they intended to curtail Scientology. It did not work. Legal appeals soon caused Scientology to be recognized as a religion, and therefore exempt from the Act. For psychologists, however, this Act created a crucial level of professional recognition, and the Society ensured this was soon emulated by all other States and Territories.
So, there is much to recommend this history of Australian psychology. Simon Cooke has assembled a great deal of information and packaged it in a coherent and readable way. Inevitably this book will appeal most to people who have played some part in the Australian Psychological Society. But it also has much to offer anybody with an interest in the growth of professional organizations over the past 50 years.