^#smrgSAHAF Current Crises of Psychology -

Scattered through the literature of psychology can be found many complaints that the discipline is in a state of crisis. The problem for the reader of such attacks in isolation is that different cntics see different crises, and it is often not clear how they relate to each other, what the possible counter-arguments are, and how significant any particular criticism is.

In this book Gordon Westland takes up a refreshingly new position, accepting that the very existence of criticisms, whether justified or not, is the evidence of a 'crisis' in psychology. He offers analyses of the various crises, from the perennial question of the usefulness of psychology, its place among the pure sciences and its underlying philosophy, or the lack of it, to the application of laboratory research to real-life situations, the use of statistical techniques, the divisiveness within the profession (which in itself accounts to some extent for the multiplicity of crises), and to the ethical problems created by the study of human behaviour both in and out of the laboratory. He also has some pertinent and interesting comments to make on the problems created by the pressure to publish research findings in a ‘scientifically' acceptable form.

Each crisis is presented impartially, allowing quotations from the critical literature to speak for themselves, but at the close of each chapter the author offers his own comments on the problems under discussion and suggests certain profitable lines of thought.

The book is intended both for lecturers and students of psychology and also for the interested layman. All readers, however, will enjoy the author's clear, straightforward presentation, which is often witty and entertaining at the expense of the bogus of whatever persuasion.