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| Resources > Child Psychology |
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Web Sites: American Psychological Association The Association for Child Psychoanalysis |
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Child Psychology--Discipline Profile "Child psychology deals with the personality and behavior of children, typically from conception to puberty…. Child psychology had referred in the past to both normal and abnormal behavior, and has historically included both theory and research concerning the development, rearing and education of children, as well as psychotherapy or counseling of disturbed children. Current usage, however, appears to limit the term to a branch of the science of developmental psychology, its theory and research, while specifying "child clinical" when referring to the practice of child psychology as a profession. Among
the research interests of child psychologists are social and emotional
development, physical growth and motor behavior, learning and intellectual
growth, language development and personality development. Some researchers
restrict their work to a particular age period... Others emphasize
changes across the years in psychological constructs such as cognition,
socialization, aggression, dependency, morality or achievement."
McKinney, J.P. "Child Psychology." In Encyclopedia of Psychology. 2nd ed. Edited by Raymond J. Corsini. New York: J. Wiley & Sons, 1994, 218. "Clinical
Child Psychology is a specialty of professional psychology which
integrates basic tenets of clinical psychology, developmental psychopathology,
and principles of child and family development. Clinical child psychologists
conduct scientific research and provide psychological services to
infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents. The research and services
in Clinical Child Psychology are focused on understanding, preventing,
diagnosing and treating psychological, cognitive, emotional, developmental,
behavioral, and family problems of children. Of particular importance
to clinical child psychologists, is an understanding of the basic
psychological needs of children and the social contexts which influence
child development and adjustment." |