ABSTRACT

Social workers and psychologists have understood with some clarity the previously desperate aims and professional activities of each. It is perhaps not inappropriate to suggest that the establishment of committees on professional relations, by the American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers, reflects to some degree their joint recognition of changes in professional identities. The Council of Representatives of American Psychological Association accepted both the invitation of the AAPSW and the recommendation of Division 12 and appointed a Committee on Relations with the Social Work Profession in 1950. The consideration of actual studies of mutual relationships in work settings constituted the agenda of a joint meeting in Philadelphia organized by Mrs. Margaret Williams and Dr. Howard Mitchell, in 1961. Several direct activities related to on-going professional issues were also dealt with, including appearance before the NASW Regional Hearings on Private Practice and informal consultations on matters of legislation for marriage counselors, social workers, and psychologists.