PSYCHOLOGISTS’ PRIORITIES
:
PREMIUM ON
DEVELOPING UNDERSTANDING OF
SELF
AND OTHERS
DON
DINKMEYER
KEITH
D.
OGBURN
Coral Springs, Fla.
Service Organization
Communication and Motivation Training Institute
Reno Regional Educational
Hutchinson, Kan.
Three types of prevention have been identified: primary, secondary and ter-
tiary. Primary prevention is designed to “forestall the occurrence of disorder,
or
conversely, to promote mental health
.
.
.
[Cowen
&
Zax, 1967, p.
371.”
Secondary
prevention “has as its aim shortening the duration, impact, and negative aft,er
effects of disorder through heavy emphasis on early detection and treatment.
. .
[Cowen
&
Zax, 1967, p,
381.”
An example of secondary prevention from the physical
health model would he checking from time to time for cancer symptoms. When
and if such symptoms appear the patient would he put under treatment immediately
to prevent the disease from becoming more serious.
To
prevent the occurrence
would be primary prevention; an example would be Salk’s polio vaccine. Tertiary
prevention is “targeted
to
disorder which is largely irreversible and its goal is
primarily of keeping impairment minimal
.
.
.
[Cowen
&
Zax, 1967, p.
381.”
Here
the term “prevention” seems
to
be a misnomer.
The challenge of primary prevention is
to
reduce the rate at which new cases
of mental disorder appear. Although preventive work is coming more and more
into vogue, most attempts have been restricted to early detection and treatment
disorder. Although this approach undoubtedly is more effective than tertiary pre-
vention and relieves much pain and suffering, Glidewell (1971) cites the following
data:
“First, the data to be cited show that early detection and treatment have not
yet reduced the rate
of
new cases of infectious disorder. Second, the data show
that in individual human development, failures to accomplish the psycho-
social tasks at one stage of development increased the vulnerability of the
person to failure in accomplishing the tasks required
at
later stages
of
develop-
ment
.
.
.
[p.’172].”
Glidewell generalized from attempts to prevent infectious diseases to the pre-
“Those data show that the human organism goes through a series of stages of
development
:
Each having its sequential development tasks-tasks quite
similar for large proportions
of
individuals. Generally, failure to accomplish
the tasks at one stage influences the approach to, and limits the resources
available
for,
accomplishing the tasks of later stages. In the positive direction,
mastery
of
tasks at one stage
of
development increases the resources for, and
enhances the approaches to, the tasks at the next stage
.
.
.
[p. 1731.”
vention
of
behaviour disorders and stated further:
The need for preventive programs in the school seems well established (Ken-
nedy, 1971). However, the question of how to foster opt’imium development of the
“total” child has not been dealt with adequately in the schools. After detailed
evaluation and assessment of preventive programs, Nichols (1972) found “that