Psychological illusions

Psychological Illusions: Professionalism and the Abuse of Power Dr. Tana Dineen Presented at the Symposium: (Ab)Using Power: The Canadian Experience Vancouver, B.C. May 7-9, 1998 We are all inclined, when we think of "power" and "abuse" within the context of "psychology," to focus on what we consider to be the abuse of power by individuals within the profession or to apply psychological concepts to identify individuals from other walks of life, such as politicians, celebrities, teachers and coaches, as abusing their power. For instance, when we hear of cases in which professors develop relationships with their students or therapists with their clients, we tend to view these as instances of something inherently immoral and coercive. And, when we think of any profession or any organization or institution, we tend to think in terms of an internal patriarchal power dynamic, citing evidence to support theories of male dominance and control. While these may be issues to address, I want to suggest to you that each of these is like a "tree" that serves to obscure the view of the "forest." And that in staying focused on these issues, we are failing to notice, and to address, a much larger problem. As we express outrage about individual cases of alleged abuse, what we lose sight of is a pervasive and rampant abuse of power by the profession of psychology. It is this abuse of power committed in the name of professionalism that devalues, exploits, trivializes and victimizes people throughout society. Recently I addressed a conference on professional ethics at Texas A&M University and, while there, I had several enjoyable private conversations with the organizer, a professor of Philosophy, a pleasant man who is close to retirement. Amongst the many topics we touched on, two are particularly relevant to today's topic. The first was the concern he expressed about the dramatic change in relating to students. He spoke sadly of how he and other professors now hesitate to interact with any student one-to-one and how painfully aware they have become of how a look can be misinterpreted, a word can be misunderstood, and any action can become a cause for complaint. And secondly, he talked of the impact of the "Americans with Disabilities Act," legislation which, when introduced, was intended to address problems encountered by those who were physically disabled. He saw it now as having become so psychologically stretched, through the use of such loosely applied labels as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), that virtually anyone could qualify for a disability certificate. And, since having a certificate meant holding the professor responsible for a passing grade, he was seeing academic achievement, pride and even honesty being eroded, and feeling quite helpless in the face of demands for special treatment. These are only two examples from the professional life of one academic but they illustrate the noxious influence of psychology in our society and provide a glimpse of "the forest," that is the abuse of influence and power on a larger scale.