xxAACP Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 1, Winter 1998
AACP and Ortho: A Natural Alliance
Though many AACP members are familiar with Ortho, it may be helpful to start with a journalistic rendition of Ortho - who, what, where, when and why. Ortho was founded in 1924 by Karl Menninger and a small group of psychiatrists interested in juvenile delinquency. Their intent was to understand and to treat the individual in the social milieu. They took the "Ortho" in Orthopsychiatry from the Greek "to straighten" as they sought to emphasize the need for a preventive approach to mental health. The organization they founded went on to be interdisciplinary and has been able to provide a place for innovations in perspective, modality and social justice. Our most recent mission statement reads:
"Ortho provides a common meeting ground for collaborative study, research and knowledge exchange among individuals from a variety of disciplines engaged in preventive, treatment and advocacy approaches to mental health. The Association fosters developemnt of theory, practice and social action from integrated as well as distinct psychological, biological, social and cultural perspectives. It facilitates a shared commitment to scholarship and clinical expertise in the interest of informing professional practice and public policy. Ortho provides that common meeting ground in its journals -- the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry and Readings -- its newsletter, its Interest Groups and its Annual Meeting."
Having its beginning in 1930, the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry has been a mix of clinical, research, theoretical and policy-oriented articles affecting individuals and families across the life span. Rooted in preventive orientation of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, the Journal is dedicated to inform professional practice and public policy from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
Born in the Depression of the 1930s, the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry expanded the usual fare of the mental health journals to include aspects of employment and economics, culture and religion, public education and criminology. By the 1940s, world events affecting children, highlighted by the war against fascism, augmented clinical insights. In the '50s, the AJO pioneered professional concern about the relation between behavior disorder and social conditions. The social activism and the civil rights and anti-war movements of the '60s were reflected in enduringly valuable articles on community mental health, individual resilience, child rearing, education, poverty and urban issues. As an interdisciplinary journal, it played an important role in the community mental health center movement. At the start of the 1970s, special sections in the Journal highlighted research, intervention and social policy aspects of child abuse, family violence, child custody, cultural competence and a range of issues that are keenly relevant today.
Started 11 years ago, Readings is a different kind of mental health journal as it focuses exclusively on books of interest to mental health professionals of all orientations and disciplines. Each issue includes major essay-reviews, in which practitioners and theorists utililze current books to explicate new concepts and explore enduring problems of concern. In addition, each issue offers comprehensive coverage of professional publishing through a section of brief reviews by specialists drawn from the membership.
While anchored in the mental health literature, Readings reaches out to other areas -- law, sociology, philosophy, political science, literature -- that have a bearing on mental health practice and policy. In addition, Readings features essays accompanied by black-and-white photography that highlights their essential concepts. Some of the mental health figures who have written commissioned essays include Stella Chess, Robert Coles, Matthew Dumont, Leon Eisenberg, Judd Marmor, Salvador Minuchin, Judith Wallerstein and Edward Zigler.
Over the years, there have been various committees, task forces and study groups which have been initiated by like-minded members as a means of exploring and promoting common interests, stimulating new membership, petitioning the board and officers of the Association and taking action on issues of public policy and clinical concern. The present Interest Group (until recently called Study Groups) structure provides opportunity for members to involve themselves in Association activities on a variety of fronts. Interest Groups work, each in its own way, to develop knowledge and data that may influence Association and professional policy. Interest Groups organize regional conferences, contribute to Ortho's publications, promulgate position statements and facilitate networking among mental health professionals within and outside the Association. Interest Groups also play a vital role in the creation of programs for the American Orthopsychiatric Associations's Annual Meeting.
Provision is generally made at Ortho Annual Meetings for convening the individual Interest Groups and for meeting of Interest Group leaders. Group members may maintain contact and undertake projects throughout the year. For example, both the Latino Affairs and Education Groups, whose co-chairs live in New York, have regular meetings and lectures. The Intrest Group on Disability prduced a book. New groups may be formed at the initiative of individual members or by mandate of the board of directors, but in the main Interest Groups are grass-roots member activities formed and fueled by mutual interests in vital issues. For example, recently a new Interest Group has been generated on professional education in the "age of managed care." Currently, there are Ortho Interest Groups active in the following content areas: adolescence, adoption and foster care, aging, disabililty, divorce and family mediation, education, gay and lesbian issues, Latino affairs, prevention and early intervention, racism, and women's issues.
Last, byt not least is Ortho's Annual Meeting. The meeting is an opportunity to learn and to network. The 1998 meeting, its 75th, will take place in Arlington, VA on April 17-19. In the future, it would be great if AACP had an organizational presence at our meeting. Currently, AACP members are active as presenters at the Ortho meeting.
In addition to our President Ezra Griffith, several community-oriented psychiatrists serve on our board: William McFarlane, Matthew Dumont, Ira Lourie, Ellen Bassuk and Elsa Broder. We welcome your interest and collaboration.
Gale Siegel, MSW
Executive Director, AOA
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