The Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) is a national organization dedicated to the advancement of Asian American psychology and advocacy for Asian American communities and their psychological well-being. Its advocacy efforts include the promotion of culturally responsive mental health services for Asian and Asian American communities, the advancement and dissemination of psychological research on Asian Americans, the education and training of Asian American mental health service providers, the development of culturally appropriate mental health policies, and the establishment of professional collaborations and networks within the field of mental health. Founded in December 1972 in the San Francisco Bay Area, the AAPA has grown from a local organization with 10 regular members to a national organization of approximately 600 members in 2006. Parallel to their growth in the United States, Asian Americans constitute approximately 4% to 5% of the doctorates awarded in psychology, according to the National Science Foundation.
尽管AAPA的当代起源,但它的形成还是在歧视的历史背景下以及美国境内的亚裔美国人。自1800年代中期中国移民到达美国,随后来自各种族裔的亚洲移民群体遇到了非常相似的个人,制度和文化形式的种族主义模式。从历史上看,亚裔美国人一直是众多反移民,反国际化和抗危机法的目标。目前,尽管亚裔美国人的种族血统和历史多样化,但仍被视为一个同质的社区,并被刻板地视为“模范少数派”(即,在教育和经济成就方面可能是一个统一成功的种族群体)和“永久外国人”(即,一个不值得信赖的局外人的种族群体)。此外,亚裔美国人继续成为现代种族主义形式的目标,从凶杀和身体攻击到工作场所的玻璃天花板障碍,再到高等教育中的隐性配额。认识到这一共同的歧视历史,受到更大的公民权利和反战运动的启发,主要是日裔美国人和华裔激进主义者在1960年代后期创造了亚裔美国人一词,以团结各种亚裔族裔,以表彰他们的共同经验。更重要的是,全国各地的亚裔美国激进主义者组成了一系列组织,以挑战身心健康,教育和政治等领域的种族不平等。在这种情况下,AAPA是为了承认在心理学中对亚裔美国人问题的忽视以及亚裔美国人心理健康专业人员之间孤立感而形成的。
AAPA的联合创始人是两个兄弟,Derald Wing Sue和Stanley Sue。两人都认识到自己缺乏与亚裔和亚裔美国社区合作的培训,并且缺乏用于精神卫生服务提供者的专业网络。结果,两兄弟开始组织非正式聚会,讨论亚裔美国人的问题及其作为亚裔美国临床医生和学者的角色。D. W. Sue was chosen to be the first president of AAPA out of respect for his status as the older brother, and S. Sue was elected as secretary.在AAPA的最初几天,亚裔美国人的心理学家很少,该组织的许多成员都是社会工作者,辅导员,教育工作者以及其他相关的健康和精神卫生专业人员。此外,与亚裔美国研究和社区领袖等领域的跨学科联盟是AAPA初始形成的关键。的确,S。Sue和D. W. Sue的“华裔美国人个性和心理健康”领域的开创性论文之一于1971年发表在《亚裔美国人研究杂志》(Amary Aniver)杂志上。在组织层面,AAPA从新成立的黑人心理学家协会中汲取了灵感,该协会成立于1968年,也成立于旧金山。尤其是,黑人心理学家和学科诸如种族研究的组织的行动主义启发了AAPA在心理学领域努力寻求组织和系统性转变。
AAPA has been involved at a national level in advocating for greater awareness of both Asian Americans and the issues that affect their psychological well-being. For instance, AAPA has been involved with ensuring the accurate representation of Asian Americans in the U.S. Census and in advocating against English-only language initiatives. Additionally, AAPA leaders have advocated for Asian American issues before President Carter’s Commission on Mental Health, President Clinton’s Race Advisory Board, President George W. Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, as well as authoring portions of the supplement to the Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health. Within psychology, AAPA and its members have been instrumental in fostering the recognition of Asian American issues within the field of psychology in general and in professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Within APA,
AAPA致力于将亚裔美国人纳入各个级别的APA治理,成立少数民族事务委员会和少数民族事务办公室,以及将亚裔美国人纳入社论职位和期刊评论委员会。As a result of this emphasis on leadership development, Asian Americans have been elected to numerous governance boards, committees, task forces, and division leadership positions within APA.Indeed, Richard Suinn, an early AAPA member, was elected as the first Asian American president of APA.Suinn和Alice Chang都在APA董事会任职。此外,AAPA的第一位女总统克里斯汀·伊吉玛·霍尔(Christine Iijima Hall)也担任APA少数民族事务办公室主任。目前,AAPA是国家心理学协会委员会成员,该协会的发展少数族裔少数族裔心理学组织和APA众议员委员会的观察员。
Within NIMH, AAPA has been effective in advocating for Asian American issues since its inception. In particular, the support of K. Patrick Okura, an executive assistant to the director of NIMH and an early member of AAPA’s board of directors, was instrumental to AAPA’s visibility. Okura organized the first Asian American mental health conference in 1972 and was vital in securing NIMH funding for the National Asian American Psychology Training Conference in 1976 under the leadership of Robert Chin and S. Sue. In 1988, the NIMH also provided funding for the National Research Center on Asian American Mental Health, with S. Sue as its first director. Additionally, Okura, along with his wife, Lily, established the Okura Mental Health Leadership Foundation with the reparations money that they received for their internment during World War II. The foundation provides leadership development opportunities to emerging Asian American mental health professionals from a variety of disciplines.
AAPA由从其成员资格中选出的执行委员会领导。The president, vice president, secretary-historian, president-elect, past president, and a four-member board of directors are all elected for 2-year terms.董事会的一名成员被指定为学生代表。此外,以下官员被任命为:会员,通讯,财务事务和新闻通讯的编辑。AAPA领导层的主要重点是在APA大会前一天举办全国代表大会。该公约已成为传播该领域最新研究和最佳实践的一部分事件,各个级别的AAPA成员资格的指导者以及对其成员成就的认可。AAPA每年出版了三次新闻通讯,亚裔美国心理学家,以与其有关事件,问题和职位公告的会员资格进行交流。AAPA还维护了一个活跃的ListServ,向所有对亚裔美国心理学感兴趣的人开放,以及网站。该网站提供有关AAPA,其活动,精神卫生专业人员资源的信息,以及有关各种研究和实践主题的在线论坛。
Currently, AAPA also has two divisions that address issues specific to segments of the professional community: the Division on Women (DoW) and the Division of Students (DoS). The DoW was founded in 1995 under the leadership of Alice Chang. The DoW provides a forum for collaboration and mentorship among Asian American women within the field and provides a platform for the advocacy of women’s issues. Similarly, the DoS was founded in 2006 by a cohort of students under the leadership of Szu-Hui Lee to give voice to, and in recognition of, the large student community within AAPA.
参考:
- 亚裔美国心理学会:https://aapaonline.org/
- Leong,F。T. L.(1995)。亚裔美国心理学的简短历史,第1卷。1.旧金山:亚裔美国心理学会。
- Leong, F. T. L., & Gupta, A. (in press). History and evolution of Asian American psychology. In N. Tewari & A. Alvarez (Eds.), Asian American psychology: Current perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Munsey,C。(2006)。亚洲心理学家的家庭。美国心理学家,37(2),60-62。