IAAP POLICY COMMITTEE REPORT

By John Berry, and Michael Frese, Co-Chairs

At the Board of Directors Meeting in Singapore, an IAAP Policy Committee was established, co-chaired by John Berry and Michael Frese.  This committee has a mandate to identify topics of public concern where applied psychology may be able to contribute to policy analysis and development, and possibility to advocacy and action.  While psychology appears to be relevant to many areas of public life, we believe that this relevance has not been sufficiently articulated by our Association, nor recognised by public agencies.  The goal of the Policy Committee is to enhance our contribution to the debates , the development and the implementation of public policy based ond sound psychological knowledge.

The co-chairs developed a set of topics that concern a wide range of issues that we believe are not now being addressed by applied psychology.  These topics are listed below, where we indicate the current set of working groups and their coordinators.

These working groups have been asked to identify the psychological aspects of the topic, review what is known about the topic in the existing literature, and if possible, propose best policies and practice.  They should also attempt to outline routes for advocacy and practice, where the knowledge base is deemed to be adequate.   If not adequate, the working groups were asked to identify areas of enquiry and research that are needed in order to provide a better foundation for advocacy and action.

Following are the working groups that have been established , and are active:

1.  Active Ageing, Rocio Fernandez-Ballesteros (Spain)

2.  AIDS/HIV Prevention,  Susan Pick (Mexico)

3.   Environment,  David Canter (UK), and Mirilia Bonnes (Italy)

4.   Ethnonational Violence,  Clark McCauley (USA)

5.   Health, Stevan Hobfoll (USA)

6.   Human Capital,  Milton Hakel (USA)

7.   Immigration,  David Sam (Norway)

8.   Indigenous Peoples,  Linda Waimare Nikora (New Zealand)

9.   Status of Women, Florence Denmark (USA)

10.  Unemployment,  Thomas Kieselbach (Germany)

11.  Quality of Life, Juan Jose Sanchez Sosa (Mexico)

We look forward to receiving suggestions for other areas of applied psychology that may have policy relevance.