Selasa, 22 Oktober 2013

Common Roles of Military Psychologists on the Ground



The military is a select group of citizens who highly trained and
equipped to perform national security tasks in unique and often chaotic
and trauma filled situations. These situations can include the
front-lines of battle, national emergencies, allied assistance, or the
disaster response scenes where they are providing relief-aid for the
host populations of both friendly and enemy nations. Though many
psychologists may have a general understanding with regards to a humans
response to traumatic situations, Military Psychologists are uniquely
trained and experienced specialists in applied science and practice
among this special population. While the soldiers may be providing
direct aid to the victims of events, the Military Psychologists are
providing specialized aid to both soldiers, their families, and the
victims of the events as they cope with the often "normal" response or
reaction to uncommon and abnormal circumstances.
In addition to the specialized roles previously mentioned, military
psychologists often study the dynamics, train people in, and consult on
hostage negotiations. In some cases the psychologists might not be the
one directly handling the hostage situation, but hostage negotiators
find value in resolving the hostage crisis using many of the scientific
principles that are derived from the science of psychology. In addition,
 many of the principles of the scientific discipline of Clinical
Psychology have their roots in the work of the early military
psychologists of World War II.

Another common practice domain for Military psychologists is in
performing Fitness for Duty Evaluations, especially in high risk and
high reliability occupations. The set of unique challenges often
faced by those in the military and the professions of arms such as:
police, strategic security, and protective services personnel, the
ability to perform reliable and accurate fitness for duty evaluations
adds value and maximizes the human capitol investment in the workplace
by optimizing retention of the talents of active and prospective service
 men and women while minimizing risk in many areas including violence,
mishap, and injury potential. The types of Fitness evaluations include
both basic entry examinations and career progression examinations such
as those conducted when individuals are seeking promotion, higher
classification clearance status, and specialized, hazardous, and mission
 critical working conditions. When operational commanders become
concerned about the impact of continuous, critical, and traumatic
operations on those in their command, they often consult with the
Military Psychologist. Military psychologists can assess, diagnose,
treat and recommend the duty status most suitable for the optimal
well-being of the individual, group, and organization. Events that
affect the mental state, resilience or psychological assets and
vulnerabilities of the warrior and the command are where Military
Psychologists are most equipped to meet the unique challenges and
provide expert care and consultation to preserve the behavioral health
of the fighting force. The Fitness Evaluations might lead to command
directed administrative actions or provide the information necessary to
make decisions by a medical board or other tribunal and must be
thoroughly conducted by non-biased individuals with the experience and
training necessary to render a professional opinion that is critical to
key decision makers. Military Psychologists must be well versed in the
art and science of psychology as specialized applied practice
professionals. They must also be highly competent generalists in the
military profession, and be able to understand both professions well
enough to examine human behavior in the context of military operations.
It takes the Psychologist several years beyond the Doctorate to develop
the expertise necessary to understand how to integrate psychology with
the complex needs of the military.
Another very select and infrequent use of Military Psychology is in the
interview of subjects, the interrogation of prisoners, and the vetting
of those who may provide information of operational or intelligence
value that would enhance outcomes of friendly military operations or
reduce friendly and enemy casualties. Psychology's scientific principles
 applied here allow the interviewer, agent, or interrogator to get as
much information as possible through non-invasive means without the need
 to resort to active measures or risk violating the rules of engagement,
 host nation agreements, international and military law or crossing the
threshold of the Geneva Convention's guidelines to which the United
States and its allies subscribe, regardless of the status of many of the
 modern belligerent countries on the international laws and United
Nations agreements.

My Opinion: The Role of Psychologists in the military world was no doubt very important indeed. With the psychologist, the tasks performed by the military will be running smoothly in accordance with the planned strategy, more conditioned and mental health is also very helpful for finding out the causes of the origin of the war opponents.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_psychology

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