Correctional Psychology and the American Association of Correctional Psychology

Abstract

This revision of the history of correctional psychology begins in the 1960s, a time during which psychologists in correctional institutions had little influence or occupational preparation. Within the American Association of Correctional Psychology at the time, four themes emerged: custody-treatment struggles, job security problems, the development of treatment taxonomies, and professional fragmentation. The field of practice and knowledge was redefined in part in the early 1970s, when the Lake Wales conferences led to new roles and identities for psychologists in corrections and criminal justice and when the journal Criminal Justice and Behavior was started. The current state of correctional psychology stands out in contrast to these early years in the forms of increased academic preparation, more professionalism, and the emergence of the practitioner scholar.