Hi
On Thu, 25 Jan 2001, Gary Peterson wrote:
> I must confess I shared Tom Allaway's reaction. I would hope the
> student can differentiate psychological science from these other "shadows"
> that characterize--some would say plague, psychological practice. On the
> other hand, there are serious ways to study whatever these terms are
> referring to, or coming to mean, in pop-culture. Perhaps, various
> counseling programs, health psych degree programs? It's hard to know
> without getting more information about the student's search. Perhaps, a
> program in transpersonal psychology? Perhaps some pastoral programs?
I believe that the shadows are becoming stronger and darker.
Jung is still one of the dominant presences in bookstore
holdings, and I feel there is increasing sympathy for views
traditionally associated with transpersonal psychology. I have
not looked at the recent books by APA on psychology and
spirituality, although the cover for one made much of the fact
that all the authors were practicing faithful as well as
psychologists ... not something that augurs well to me. I think
these views are growing due to a variety of factors, including
the acceptance of alternative epistemologies (i.e., ways of
knowing) advanced by postmodernists (e.g., Gergen),
postcolonialists (e.g., Duran and Duran), feminists radically
critical of science (e.g., Harding), and so on. I suspect that
many people survive our efforts to inculcate scientific thinking
quite unscathed. They mimic all the right words, but are
fundamentally still not committed to a natural science
orientation or somehow maintain the belief that their
non-academic beliefs are independent of their scientific ones.
Best wishes
Jim
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James M. Clark (204) 786-9757
Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax
University of Winnipeg 4L05D
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
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