The great psychological dilemma in our schools and colleges.

There are major psychological problems in our schools and colleges around the world and especially, in America. These conflicts entail the absence of "Boarded" school psychologists and their roles related to health care and student behavior. Recent research suggests that the level of dopamine in the blood is significantly related to our crime and delinquency problems, typically associated with the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs and consequently abnormal blood chemistry related to psychophysiology. Dopamine reduction causes reduced or extinguished personal sensitivity to praise and blame related to social group membership; causing loss of self-esteem and self-efficacy.

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The Psychologist in our schools and colleges is responsible for helping personnel, teachers and parents to deal with and understand the behavior of students involved in each of their respective settings. They are concerned with helping individuals in schools to deal with their personal behavior and interpersonal relations and more specifically, in facilitating personal development and adaptations to their aspiring goals and life plans. Additionally, Board certified psychologists serve as consultants and supervisors in the student's health care. These professionals are by far the most important and critical elements in relation to the personal welfare of all individuals, and ultimately the success of our institutions as well. Our dilemma is directly related to the one million high school dropouts in prisons and to the lack of welfare for another million US prison inmates.

Basic School Psychologists

Typically in connection with elementary, middle and high schools, psychologists possessing a master's degree are the most prevalently employed. Their primary function is the administration of individual intelligence tests in connection with the admission for special training. They are skilled in identifying learning problems in relation to vision, foreign language, and non-reading readiness skills; as opposed to determining if limited intelligence qualifies students for special training admission.

Doctoral Level School Psychologist

Psychologists in our schools and colleges have educational training ranging from a bachelor's degree earned at an accredited college or university to those who not only have the doctoral degree but also satisfactorily completing internships, to be qualified for dealing with presenting student behavior and personality problems. This is the usual background of the typical school psychologist in middle and high schools and even most of our state colleges. Their first order of business deals with the learning problems and personal and family adjustment including health care management.

The Boarded School Psychologist

The American Academy of School Psychology, about a decade old, provides special recognition for select school psychologists who have a doctoral degree from a recognized college or university, with an appropriate internship. Then, after four or more years of successful practice, these individuals may seek to obtain the diplomate and be "boarded" not unlike other health care professionals.

Qualifying as a boarded school psychologist is evaluated after appearing before a very select Board of Peers for formal examinations to determine that they possess credentials for such an award. Today however, there are few health care services that do not boast the presence of "boarded" health care professionals. Contrastingly, there are very few high schools or state colleges that have the services of a boarded school psychologist. Even colleges granting doctoral degrees in school psychology seldom have a boarded school psychologist on their staff.

This dilemma results in a lamentable state of affairs and must be corrected if we choose to raise our high schools and state colleges to comparable standards similar to the medical profession. Many parents today refuse to go to clinics for health care unless the overall supervision and care is under the responsibility of a boarded physician. Presently, our schools and colleges operate at unacceptable levels of competency related specifically to the psychological welfare of such students; so this must change immediately if indeed we want our schools to change.

Applied School Psychology in the 21st Century

Psychological and social stressors are a recent element of grave concern in relation to the welfare and success of people, accounting for 75 percent of all patient visits to health care facilities. Additionally, this is critically related to the one million high school drop- outs in prison. Four basic peptides appear in the psychophysiology, the first only discovered in the 1920s (acetycholines), account for dysfunction and social adjustment disharmony.

While neuropsychology is typically associated with one's brain, these four peptides operate "independent of the brain" and these neurotransmitters typically possess minuscule antennae, enabling them to communicate with like, and sometimes unlike, peptides (Goldstein, 1990; Sapolosky, 1994; and Weiner,.. 1992). These peptides serve as the primary basis for understanding the psychological dynamics underlying the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. When an individual excessively uses alcohol or drugs the dopamine content in the blood is lowered. When the dopamine level is lowered the individual looses h/her sensitivity to praise and blame; the means by which an individual maintains self-esteem (relation to others) and even self-efficacy (personal aspirations).

1. Acetylcholines--stimulate digestive process creating "gut mobility."

2. Beta-endorphins--cluster in pituitary gland area and foster feelings of well being.

3. Encephalin--cluster largely in adrenal gland area and associated with pain control.

4. Dopamine--largely in blood stream and serve to determine one's sensitivity to "praise and blame." When drinking alcohol, for example, the level of dopamine is decreased accordingly with the respective loss of sensitivity to "praise and blame." Last year in San Diego, for example, more than 75% of all arrests involved the use of alcohol or drugs, and understanding the role of "dopamine" in their behavior is of basic psychological importance.

Discussion

The problem in psychology is not related to the number of school psychologists with only a master's degree administering IQ tests for special education selection. For the most part, they are doing an excellent job, and must continue as presently practiced. The problem is independent of the many doctoral level school psychologists practicing in the schools and colleges in relation to student psychological problems. They, too, are doing an excellent job in facilitating re-adjustment.

In reality our problem focuses on the fact that there are far to few, and too often, none who hold the diplomate in school psychology. Further, these psychologists are not remotely familiar with a rudimentary understanding of peptides and neurotransmitters. The psychological health education gap related to alcohol and drug problems; as well as real depth knowledge in psychological theory is depleted. In conclusion, few schools today, if any, have on their staff a diplomate in school psychology, and that must change if we are to eliminate the psychological problem that exists.

References

Goldstein, D.S. (1990). Neurotransmitters and stress. Biofeedback and Self-regulation, 15(3), 243-271.

Sapolosky, R.M. (1994). Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.

Weiner, H. (1992). Perturbing the Organism: The Biology of Stressful Experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Russell N. Cassel, Ed.D., ABPP. FAASP. Editor of Education. R.H. Brian Costello, Ph.D., FABFE, ABPS, Faculty, Swinburne Graduate School of Integrative Study.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Russell N. Cassel, 1362 Santa Cruz Court, Chula Vista, CA 91910.