Where is psychology?
by Garland Y. (Gary) DeNelsky, Ph.D. Where is psychology when crucial foreign policy decisions are made? Are the boundaries of psychology limited to the clinic, the university, the school, the hospital, and the business? Is the knowledge gained by thousands of educated and experienced clinicians and researchers of human behavior so esoteric and impractical that it is of little use to our foreign policy experts? Looking at the recent governmental decisions made regarding Yugoslavia, it would appear that our leaders received no input whatever from experts in behavioral science or chose to ignore what input they did receive. Although our intentions in Yugoslavia are laudable–to stop the suffering and bloodshed–the implementation of these intentions has unleashed a tragic chain of events. Our leadership ignored options that remained before dropping bombs on military as well as other targets. It overlooked research and clinical experience that should guide the negotiating process. Here ar
