World War II and Clinical Psychology
World War II played a significant role in the development of clinical psychology. It turned clinical psychology from an academic and philosophical discipline to a practical one. Before the Second World War, only a few psychologists worked in the clinical field to handle depression issues. Clinical psychology remained an academic field that people studied and taught in universities with little practice in society. Due to the lack of proper psychological care to the soldiers, World War I left many soldiers traumatized than the military had expected. When World War II began, there were numerous mental treatments accorded to the soldiers to prevent the scenes witnessed in the first war. Although much development of clinical psychology occurred after World War II, the building of its foundation happened during the war. Various practices that occurred during the war marked the development of clinical psychology. They include psychiatric treatment and psychological assessment of the military officers, effects of trauma, the emergence of social psychology, psychological warfare, the GI bill, federal assistance after the war, the VA, and NIMH, among others. This study sought to discuss the contributions of World War II towards clinical psychology.
Psychology during World War II
Development of Psychological Screening, Treatment, and Effects of Trauma
There are numerous activities performed during World War II that marked the beginning of clinical psychology. The first one was the psychological assessment conducted on the soldiers during the war. The psychologists had introduced the evaluation during the First World War. They targeted the screening activities to identify the soldiers who were mentally fit to withstand the stress of engaging in the war. However, there were little screening activities done during the World War as many soldiers left the war under shellshock. They were in pain, often crying as they remembered the traumatizing events that unfolded during the war. As a result of the failures of the psychological assistance during World War I, America thought it wise to introduce the psychological assessment during World War II. The psychologists believed that the evaluation would help in eliminating the men that would quickly break down during the war. It would only allow the psychologically prepared individuals to join the military and engage in the fight to prevent the “shellshock” witnessed in World War I. The process was quite unsuccessful as many soldiers who participated in the war ended up experiencing the same problems seen in World War I.
Despite the failures during World War II, the psychometric testing developed during the war set the path for the improvement in the field in clinical psychology witnessed after the war. Psychological practise becomes more advanced after World War II as people could receive the services in preparation for various situations. The psychologists used the platform developed during World War I to performing various assessments that were unavailable before the war. It was significant growth in the field of clinical psychology.
Although the military officials had hoped at the beginning of the war that screening would help in eliminating the causes of trauma during the war, that did not happen, therefore, they had to resort to psychiatric treatment during the war as soldiers continued to witness the same problems as those of World War I. The war resulted in may mental health issues that required psychiatric interventions. The clinicians reported to psychiatric treatment to help the soldiers who developed psychological problems to return to the frontline during the war. Some of the treatments offered to the soldiers who suffered from the trauma included the administration of sodium pentothal by John Spiegel and Roy Grinker. Such type of psychiatric therapy provided during the war helped in the development of the field as experienced after the war. It helped in developing the psychiatric treatment technics offered to the people suffering from mental illnesses until today. The clinical interventions to trauma have grown in popularity after World War II.
The Second World War further helped in an improved understanding of the effects of trauma. After World War I, the military officers believed that several soldiers who had mental illnesses from the war were abnormal. Therefore, they thought that psychological screening was the best tool for preventing the cases of trauma from World War II. The military officials believed that the screening process would help to identify those who were mentally weak or “abnormal.” Thus, the soldiers who passed the mental screening were healthy enough to withstand the effects of war. However, the screening failed as the soldiers continued to exhibit similar psychological issues during World War II as those witnessed in the previous war. It forced the clinicians to offer psychiatric treatment to the traumatized soldiers to continue with the war. Through the failure of the psychological screening, the psychologists learnt that the mental illnesses affected everyone and not only the abnormal individuals, as previously thought. Hence, the psychologists improved their understanding of the effects of trauma from the World War II experience.
The Emergence of Social Psychology and Psychological Warfare
World War II helped in understanding the significance of environmental factors in mental health. The military officials and the psychologists and psychiatrists learnt about the effects of the social surroundings through the trauma. The soldiers got traumatized as they witnessed scary scenes of the war. They came across the mass bombings and the chemical warfare that they had never experienced before the war. Those who survived the ordeals got mental problems as they became scared and lacked the needed morale and motivation to continue with the war. The psychologists and psychiatrists learnt that social interaction was essential in motivating the soldiers to overcome the trauma. The psychiatrists successfully treated the soldiers through social interaction to enable them to forget about the scary scenes and get the morale needed to continue with the war. The social support provided by the fellow soldiers further helped the affected military personnel as they had to accept the challenges witnessed during the war. Through such social support learnt through World War II, social psychology emerged in the post-war landscape. It helped in the development of psychological assistance to overcame social challenges.
Psychology also offered an excellent weapon for the Allied and Axis forces during the war. The revelation of the importance of psychological support to the soldiers’ mission during the war allowed the troops to either use it for boosting their morale or to hurt the confidence of their opponents. The mental health of the soldiers was the most important aspect required to win the war. The forces would, therefore, send some propaganda to their soldiers to boost their morale and allow them to approach the battle with lots of courage. The messages sent to the soldiers would make them believe in their strength so that they would not get demoralized when approaching their opponents. As a result, the motivated sides would win the war due to a lack of fear in their camps.
Psychology also served as an essential weapon of weakening the opposing forces. The forces would send disturbing messages to the opposing camps leading to loss of morale. When the fear hits the opponents, the troops would attack and win the battle quickly. It was a tactic used by both the Allied and Axis forces during World War II. The technique proved quite pivotal to the troops that had inferior weapons or workforce to their opponents. Psychologists would play with the mentality of the opposing soldiers and act weirdly based on the information they receive. The revelation of the truth would only occur after the battle has ended. The psychologists have continued to use the technique in various ways up to now. Mental health is a critical issue that requires proper handling. Through the experiences learnt in World War II, the world has witnessed psychological techniques used in various fields, including military, business, and sports.
Psychological Development after the War
Following the success in psychological screening and psychiatric treatment during World War II, several developments occurred in clinical psychology after the war. The first was the federal assistance after the warfare. The combat veterans required mental health services following the war. They had suffered from various war-related depressions that needed psychiatric treatment. The soldiers had witnessed their colleagues killed inhumanely. They had also undergone torture and suffering as they survived gunshots, chemical weapons, among others. Many veterans would cry like babies upon remembering the ordeals there had gone through during the war. The federal government felt the pressure to establish resources for mental health that would help them address their needs. The resources put in place by the federal government during this time significantly fueled the development of clinical psychology after the Second World War.
The study of psychology flourished after World War II due to the GI bill that raised the number of individuals allowed to obtain a college education. The law reduced the cost of college education, leading to a high number of people joining colleges. However, the GI bill provided essential money to the veterans that allowed them to seek a college education. They enlisted in various fields, including psychology. The desire of the veterans to help their fellow soldiers on matters of mental health prompted them to join psychology courses in colleges. They sought to become therapists to handle the mental health cases that affect soldiers. Thus, the clinical psychology field blossomed due to the GI bill.
The veterans’ administration (VA) also helped in broadening the clinical psychology scope through the establishment of several VA clinics and hospitals. Several veterans sought mental health and medical treatment from these established VA clinics and hospitals. The psychologists got opportunities for providing treatments through VA. Besides, the established health centers offered training opportunities in psychology for veterans. Through such training, the American Psychological Association found that need to set up clinical psychology training accreditation procedures. The VA offered essential areas for measuring psychiatric treatment program efficacy. The research run through VA further helped inefficacy of the initially developed psychiatric medications. Group therapy becomes popular through VA for psychological disorder treatment. It opened the door for group therapy currently available in clinical psychology.
Another significant step in clinical psychology occurred in 1949 through the establishment of the National Institute of Mental Health. The primary aim f creating NIMH was the provision of experimentation and training in psychology. The establishment of NIMH came through the push for the government to play an essential role in its citizens’ well-being. The American economy boomed after the end of the second world war creating funds for NIMH. Besides, the increased interest in psychology led to broad access to fund by NIMH. Such an increase in NIMH funding, further expanding the scope of clinical psychology. It boosted the research in various fields in psychology, such as social psychology. NIMH also stimulated growth in psychological education as it allowed for the funding of psychology departments in the universities.
World War II Played Unifying and Expanding Factor in Psychology
The field of psychology exponential growth after World War II due to federal funding. The federal government significantly channeled sufficient funds to the field of psychology. Such funds prompted improved education, training, and research in psychology. Before World War II, APA had existed for several decades but only represented the academic segment of psychology. The APA needed the changes that would enable it to accommodate the applied side of psychology, which was under exponential growth after WWII. There was also a growing need to include women and minorities in the field of psychology. The different factions of psychology held a convention in 1943 to form a unity body. The meeting led to the disbandment of the other camps whose members joined APA to form a single organization that would spear the growth in the field. The unity led to the increase in the APA membership by about 300% between 1946 and 1960. Thus, World War II allowed psychology to gain a stable presence in both clinical and practice and academics.
Conclusion
The study evaluated the contribution of World War II to the development of clinical psychology. It established that the psychological assessment and psychiatric treatment offered to the soldiers during WWII helped in developing clinical psychology. Further, the federal funding helped in expanding education in psychology through the GI bill and the establishment of various bodies such as VA and NIMH. The veterans also contributed to the growth of clinical psychology through their interests in helping the soldiers to mitigate the mental health issues. The unity of the psychological bodies to join APA also enabled them to join their forces and push for various reforms in psychology. Thus, clinical psychology underwent an essential growth due to the effects of World War II.