The American Psychological Association’s Council of Representatives met on Oct. 29 to discuss a range of issues related to APA’s efforts. Several key resolutions were passed and actions were taken during the meeting which Dr. Eugene Borgida, who serves as the Division 8 APA Representative, attended on SPSP’s behalf. Dr. Borgida has shared the following major takeaways related to SPSP’s work.
The APA Council of Representatives passed three historically significant resolutions at the Oct. 29 meeting:
- The Council unanimously passed a resolution apologizing for APA's role in contributing to systemic racism ("Apology to People of Color for the role of the American Psychological Association in promoting, perpetuating, and failing to challenge racism, racial discrimination, and human hierarchy in the United States").
The second resolution, which passed with 99.4% approval, focused on the field of psychology itself taking concrete actions to attenuate and eradicate systemic racism ("Role of Psychology and the APA in dismantling systemic racism against people of color in the United States").
The third resolution, which passed with 100% approval, addressed advancing health equity in psychology with a focus on the relationship between health inequities in the U.S. and structural racism.
As SPSP's representative at the Council meeting, Dr. Borgida voted in favor of all three resolutions.
- The Council also discussed and approved the proposal to add an ombudsperson to APA's Council as a way of improving the climate at Council of Representatives meetings. There will also be an effort to expand interpretive power training for Council representatives. The proposal for an ombudsman and more training both were supported at the Oct. 29 meeting.
- During an In Memoriam portion of the meeting, the Council recognized psychologists Ed Diener and Albert Bandura, who both passed away in 2021. Drs. Diener and Bandura were true pioneers in our field with longtime connections to SPSP, having both been named SPSP Fellows and Division 8 Fellows. Dr. Diener, along with his wife and fellow psychologist Dr. Carol Diener, is the namesake for SPSP’s Diener Award in Social Psychology.
Stay tuned for more updates on the APA Council of Representatives efforts as they intersect with SPSP.
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