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APA 2009

Richard Althouse, Ph.D.

Psychologists need to be more involved in our criminal justice system!

That was the clear message with which I left the APA annual convention  for 2009, held in Toronto, Ontario, August 6^th through August 9^th, at the Metro Toronto Convention Center.  While attendance estimates varied, there was a general sense that it was 5-7 thousand less than in previous years, undoubtedly owing to economic pressures.However, despite the inconvenient physical layout for the convention, it was still attended by numerous thousands.There were many exhibitors, primarily publishers, ample presentations, and poster exhibits from which to choose based on one’s interests.

SAGE Marketing Manager Tina Papatsos and I are at their booth promoting  SAGE publications, literature on IACFP, and  the journal Criminal Justice and Behavior. Tina and her staff were exceedingly helpful and gracious despite the warm and generally stuffy conditions in the exhibitors’ area.

 It was great to be able to meet with various graduate students at their poster sessions, discuss their research, and promote their participation in our association. In this picture, Robin Rainwater (to my left), a Ph.D. candidate at Alliant International University in Fresno, is explaining some of the ironic outcomes of California’s public policy regarding sex offenders as she promoted a need for empirically guided public policy. Hopefully, we will be hearing more from her  in the future!

For those interested in correctional and forensic issues, there were a number of informative and thought-provoking workshops, presentations, and poster sessions from which to choose, including Joel Dvoskin (the need to apply psychological science to enhance crime prevention, prison treatment, and post-release parole), Steve Wormith (challenges of offender risk/need assessments), and Martin Seligman (positive psychology), as well as poster sessions sponsored by both Division 18 and Division 41 with many excellent examples of thoughtful research into correctional issues by graduate students from around the country.

The clear conference message for those working in correctional settings was that there is a great need for increased participation of psychologists in criminal justice systems here and abroad, and hopefully there will be many folks working to that end during the coming year!