An Analysis of the Discourse Community of Child Psychology

The Discourse Community Of Child Psychology

An Analysis Analysis Of The The Discourse Discourse Community Community Of Child Child Psychology Psychology Maria Montecinos Saint Mary’s College

An Analysis Analysis Of The The Discourse Discourse Community Community Of Child Child Psychology Psychology Introduction

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Psychology is the important understanding of the eha!iors of li!ing "organisms# and consists of the pure ranches and applied ranches $Sharma% 2&1'() The pure ranches formulate principles% theories% and different methods of assessment% *hile the applied ranches approach prolems y applying principles and techni+ues) Child psychology is especially important ecause it deals *ith the most crucial part of life% ages t*o through t*el!e% affecting the future life of indi!iduals) Child psychology% eing a part of the pure ranches% consists of psychologists,eginners and e-perts,*ho *or. *ith formulating principles% theories% and ne* methods to assess eha!iors $Sharma% 2&1'() This understanding of these consistent formulations helps us .no* that child psychology is constantly de!eloping and made me interested as a psychology student to analy/e the discourse community of child psychology) A discourse community has "different ut similar definitions constructed y different thin.ers# and can e descried as a community0group of indi!iduals in a field that try to maintain and e-tend their .no*ledge of the topic they focus on and can usually consist of eginners to e-perts in the field $S*ales% 1&() This analysis *ill not only focus on ho* much people .no* aout child0de!elopmental psychology% ut also on ho* much people .no* aout *hat is happening *ithin child psychology no*) My research has found that there is a huge gap in communications et*een Child psychology and anyone outside of the field% ased on inter!ie*s% sur!eys% and e!en analy/ing genres% or *ays of communicating information such as oo.s% that *ere mostly unaccessile to the community) This .no*ledge is !ery important for the community and people unin!ol!ed *ith the field of psychology can still e affected y it) 3a!ing the aility to see possile methods to treat psychological disorders%


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understanding these methods% and e!en 5ust ha!ing hope y .no*ing *hat is happening can positi!ely impact the community and e crucial for families *ith psychologically affected children) I found it necessary to research ho* much child psychology is impro!ing and ho* much the community actually .no*s aout it) 6ith my findings% I plan to contriute to people reali/ing ho* much the community .no*s aout *hat is happening in psychology) This reali/ation can lead to the understanding that if this discourse community pro!ided more information to the outside community% people could enefit from getting the opportunity to try these ne* treatments) Other fields iology% health sciencemay e!en e ale to contriute to these findings *ith their o*n ideas% rather than findings only circulating *ithin the field and only in!ol!ing psychologists) I *ill also create a *esite to help other psychology students% li.e myself% get ready for this discourse community and understand the genres used and the process for it) 7ollo*ing the introduction% I *ill go through my literature re!ie* to help carefully analy/e ho* genres are used and ho* they are communicated) I *ill also go through my process in researching to help !isuali/ing *here I found all of my information) After I *ill go through my limitations ecause there *ere *ays I *ould ha!e e-panded on my research *ith more time) Then I *ill introduce all of my findings and ring them all together to help support the thesis) 8astly% I *ill conclude ased on my findings for this discourse community of child psychology) 8iterature 9e!ie* The Discourse Community 6ithin Psychology


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Psychology is the understanding of eha!iors among all li!ing organisms) 3a!ing its o*n genres and communicating *ithin and maye outside of its community on the topic of psychology% gi!es psychology its o*n discourse community) Child psychology% eing one of the 1' ranches of the pure ranches% focuses on the study of children from ages t*o through t*el!e $Sharma% 2&1'() Psychology also has the po*er to control *ellness% oppression% and lieration% ut also is affected y political factors and aspects outside of psychology $Prilleltens.y% 2&&:() 3o*e!er% psychology and politics ha!e een separated and this separation is resulting in less control o!er *ellness% oppression% and lieration) The role of psychologists is to put po*er issues efore research and action and encourage a social change y emphasi/ing human *ellness $Prilleltens.y% 2&&:() This idea% along *ith ma.ing the community more .no*ledgeale and raising the possiility of getting ideas from other fields% sho*s ho* important it is for the child psychology field to communicate *ith other fields and people outside of child psychology0general psychology) 9esearch on the Discourse Community of Psychology Prilleltens.y conducted se!eral research pro5ects to understand the discourse community of psychology y analy/ing different factors) 3is ;alue

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on social action% psychologists communicating and associating *ith the outside community% sho*ing the lac. of communication *ith the psychology field and the outside community) This study is !ery similar to the study done y >ergen in 1:=) In his study% he concluded that the goal of any discourse community should e to ma.e .no*ledge reachale to the community and encourage the e-change of this .no*ledge) ergen% 1:=() This research sho*s a similar idea of ho* psychologists should e more in!ol!ed *ith the outside community and also helps sho* ho* a different generation’s !ie*s on this discourse community are !ery similar% oth generations lac.ing the communications et*een the psychology field and outsiders or other fields) >enre Analysis All of these pulishings% not including many more that *ere unaccessile to me% ha!e one e-tremely used0primarily used genre) This genre% research 5ournal article% seems to not only ha!e strict guidelines% ut also a uni+ue le-is) 7rom oser!ing child psychology I found that this genre is most *idely used% so I also decided to analy/e this genre) All of the articles I ha!e found in this genre ha!e had !ery similar sections% a serious language rather than con!ersational% and professional le-is% *ith the e-ception of the >ergen study *hich had e!erything ut the sections) I ha!e analy/ed that the


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purpose of this genre is not to inform the pulic% ut rather to e-change information *ithin the field) I reali/ed this ased on the language that the general community *ould not understand and many of my attempts to access articles I could not ecause I *as not a part of the association or organi/ation of psychologists) This analysis helped me conclude that the purpose of the genre is intended for getting possile input from otherseginners% e-perts% researchersin the field% rather than to gi!e information to the un.no*ledgale community) Also comparing the articles to the one from 1:=%>ergen analysis% the purpose and le-is is similar% ut it *as less strictly structured) This sho*s that psychologists are de!eloping a stricter *ay to communicate information and that instead of including more people%this genre is still intended for the same people and only includes the field of psychology) Methodology Participants $Outside Community( My analysis in!ol!ed oth indi!iduals not associated directly to child psychology and indi!iduals *ho are !ery .no*ledgeale aout child psychology) I sur!eyed fi!e people that aren’t in the field% *ith t*o of them .no*ing a child in their family *ith a psychological disaility) I as.ed them asic +uestions aout child psychology to analy/e ho* much they .no* and I also as.ed them ho* much they hear aout things% *hat they hear% *here they hear or see the information% and ho* it could possily affect them as indi!iduals if they recei!ed more information) This !ariety of +uestions helped me analy/e *hat genre people in the community see% e!en though the most common genre et*een psychologists is research 5ournal articles) This also helped me see *hat type of information the community recei!es% such as asic information% research information%


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or nothing at all) The people sur!eyed had a !ariety of differencesac.grounds% economic statuses% genders% .no*0do not .no* affected indi!idualsto research more accurately) I also didn’t gi!e people a specific time frame in sur!eying and ga!e them a lot of space to *rite e!erything they *anted and elaorate on things) I also inter!ie*ed a professor to also analy/e the genres mainly used and *hat their purposes are) Procedure This analysis too. around three *ee.s in the spring term of 2&1?) The first thing I did *as introduce my analysis efore inter!ie*ing or sur!eying and let e!eryody .no* aout their aility to say no% drop out% and remain anonymous) Also if I felt I got really good0+uotale information I as.ed if they *ere o.ay *ith me +uoting them in my paper) I had a list of +uestions for the sur!eys and a different list for the inter!ie* *ith the professor to help me ans*er the main ideas and put all the information together) 7or the indi!iduals outside of psychology% I created a paper sur!ey for them to fill out and elaorate on +uestions *here they *anted) I as.ed the completely unin!ol!ed people and the people *ho .no* a psychologically affected child the same +uestions to analy/e ho* they feel aout the information they recei!e% ho* much they recei!e% and ho* important they feel getting information is) In the sur!ey I as.ed the +uestions B B B B

Do you .no* a child affected y a psychological condition 6hich one 6hat do you thin. of *hen you hear child psychology Do you .no* aout different ranches of psychology and *hat they do Child0De!elopmental Psychology is a part of the $Applied or Pure


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Creating theories Creating different *ays to assess eha!ior B 6hat ranch of psychology ha!e you heard of most often 6hy do you thin. B 6hat ne* information on either treatments or research ha!e you heard of *ithin child psychology 6here did you get the information you .no* aout child psychology $
These +uestions *ere really helpful and I chose to inter!ie* fi!e people and as. them more +uestions they could elaorate on% rather than as.ing many different people 5ust a fe* short +uestions) 6hile as.ing short +uestions can e really helpful for some research% I felt that gi!ing people the chance to elaorate on ho* they feel aout the information they’re getting and maye e!en reali/e ho* many asic things they don’t .no* *ould e really useful in this analysis on child psychology) I had less +uestions to as. the professor ecause I *anted more elaoration and to e ale to compare the ans*ers thoroughly) I *anted to analy/e from an e-pert’s point of !ie* and *hat she feels the purpose of this discourse community is) The +uestions I made and inter!ie*ed *ith are


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B Is there a process to communicate information from psychology B 6hat is the mostly used genre B Is there intended to e different audiences for different genres and do any of them go to other fields B 6hat usually gets communicated *ith people outside of psychology B Do you see any ne* research or de!elopments *ithin child psychology

These +uestions are !ery useful ecause they help me analy/e the purposes of different genres ased on *hat audiences they are intended for) It also helped me analy/e *hat information gets shared *ith the pulic to compare it to ho* much the pulic sees and ho* much they *ant to see) Also% understanding *hat genre is mainly used and *hat audience it is intended for helps sho* *ho the child psychology community communicates and *hy) I can also compare from this *hat ne* information people *ho are e-perts in the field of psychology get aout child psychology and if the outside community gets any of it) This information is !ery helpful for me to e ale to analy/e ho* anything gets communicated from child psychology) 8imitations 6hile this analysis pro!ed my hypothesis% there are a fe* things I did not get to analy/e thoroughly do to my lac. of time) I *ould ha!e preferaly inter!ie*ed a fe* more professors to recei!e information from different !ie*points and from e-perts *ith different e-periences) I also only sur!eyed people in the area and maye could ha!e sur!eyed people in other states to analy/e etter) It *ould ha!e also een !ery useful to inter!ie* practicing child psychologists% *ho I did not ha!e access to% rather than 5ust general psychology professors) I also *ould ha!e analy/ed different genrestheoretical papers% oo.s% re!ie* papers% ne*spapersmore oser!ingly rather than 5ust research


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articles *hich are the primary genre) Aside from *anting to analy/e more factors% *hich I *ould e really interested in doing for future research% I feel that I ha!e all of the necessary information to fully understand my analysis of child psychology) 7indings

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my sur!eys t*o people out of fi!e .no* a psychologically affected child) Comining all of the sur!eys% most people *ere not only una*are of ne* information% ut are e!en una*are of asic information) 7or the people *ho don’t .no* a psychologically affected child% further from eing in!ol!ed *ith psychology% there *as an e-treme lac. of .no*ledge on the su5ect) These indi!iduals didn’t .no* anything aout different ranches or their purposes% only thin. of counseling *hen they hear of psychology% ha!e not heard anything ne* aout child psychology% and seem una*are of *hat child psychology does y only getting the multiple choice +uestion right) These indi!iduals also are indifferent aout getting more information ecause they don’t .no* a psychologically affected child and are not a part of the field% ut they feel that it could e possily important to people associated *ith it) On the other hand% the t*o people that do .no* a psychologically affected child ADD%

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depending on different indi!iduals) Suellen Co-% one of my sur!eyors% said "more information *ould ma.e me more informed to possily ma.e etter decisions#) I also reali/ed that *hile these people are more informed on child psychology% they don’t get informed aout anything that could e relatale to them or impact the child affected in their family) These people .ne* a lot of asic information ut *ant more information on *hat is happening today in child psychology to e ale to use it) The psychology professor helped contriute to my findings and confirmed that research 5ournal articles are the primary genre) Professor Caitlin Po*ell% a part of the American Psychological Association and *or.s *ith teaching the psychological ethical process% e-plained the communication of psychology o!erall and does not research herselfF so has not gone through the process of communicating herself) She e-plained that e!erything is re!ie*ed thoroughly efore pulishing from *hat she oser!ed) She also e-plained that the genres used in psychology are 5ournal research articles% oo.s% conferences% and ne*s media $maga/ines% online sources% ne*spapers()

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ecause she learned "only general theories and only got ne* information in graduate school#% sho*ing that mainly really in!ol!ed people recei!e ne* information) Aside from .no* the audience for research 5ournal articles% *hich are mainly other eginners and e-perts in psychology% I *anted to find out *hat the goal of this genre *as ased on this audience) She e-plained that this genre instead of summari/ing un.no*n .no*ledge or pre!ious research% it focuses on ne* rather than old information% is ias% and that the main purpose is to e-pand on research) This helps sho* that the primary genre for psychological communications is really intended for people in psychology *ho can contriute to it) Analysis Considering all of the findings% a gap *as found ased on *here the ne* child psychological information is going) Goung and more un.no*ledgale people could also e a reason for the gap% especially ecause the students do not go out of their *ay to learn ne* information and people do not seem to care aout information that they do not feel applies to them) Aside from this factor% the gap seems mainly caused y the audience focus% others in the field and including other ranches in psychology% of psychologists) The main genre is 5ournal research articles and the audience is intended to e other people in the field *ith the goal to e-pand on research) 6hile e-panding this research is definitely necessary% this information should also e a!ailale to people outside the field) Also% e!en though it is important to .eep assessment information only *ithin the field% other information can only e helpful to the community) The people *ho .no* a psychologically affected child are especially interested in getting more information aout *hat is currently happening) The unaffected and unin!ol!ed people


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also feel that e!en though it does not fully apply to them% more .no*ledge can ma.e all of the difference for some people) The psychology professor% the people *ho do not .no* an affected child% and the people *ho do .no* someone psychologically affected ha!e helped pro!e this gap and emphasi/es the importance of at least shrin.ing it) Especially considering that most people do not e!en .no* at least asic information% it is !ery clear that something needs to e done from changing education re+uirements to simply pro!iding easier *ays to access information) Closing this gap *ould increase the .no*ledge of our community and could seriously impact se!eral people) It is !ery important to analy/e the factors affecting this and *hat can e done for it) Conclusion The gap et*een the field of child psychology and the outside community is prominent% ut e!en shrin.ing it can ma.e a !ery large difference for e!eryone in the community) Analy/ing the factors in detail and ho* they can e changed to impro!e this communication *ould e !ery helpful) Also changing class re+uirements y adding psychology *ill help the community .no* the necessary asic information and finding a *ay to ma.e ne* information more accessile to the community definitely has the possiility of shrin.ing this gap) The most important thing is to carefully analy/e the genres and their audiences to change *hat is necessary and ma.e the outside community feel in!ol!ed in these !ery important findings) There is a gap in the communication of child psychology and changing this can help e!eryone)


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9eferences >ergen% H) ) $1:=% March() The Social Constructionist Movement in Modern Psychology ) 9etrie!ed from psycnet)apa)org05ournals0amp0'&0402??)pdf

Prilleltens.y% I) $2&&:() The Role of Power in Wellness, Oppression, and Liberation The Promise Of Psychological "alidity ) 9etrie!ed from

onlinelirary)*iley)com0doi01&)1&&205cop)2&22=0epdf Prilleltens.y% I) $2&&1% Octoer() "alue#$ased Pra%is in Community Psychology Moving Toward Social &ustice and Social 'ction) 9etrie!ed from

onlinelirary)*iley)com0doi01&)1&240A1&1&'1@2&11:0epdf Sharma% A) $2&1?% March '() $ranches of Psychology ()ifferent $ranches of Psychology*) 9etrie!ed from

***)psychologydiscussion)net0ranch0ranchesofpsychology differentranche sofpsychology0='' S*ales% ) $1&() The Concept Of )iscourse Community ) Print

An Analysis of the Discourse Community of Child Psychology

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