AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION AND OTHER SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONSto complete a survey that was sent to all SWS
members.
The Society for the Study of Social Problems
(SSSP), founded in 1951, pursued the insider-
outsider strategy as well. The SSSP meets prior to
(often with a day of overlap) the ASA annual
meeting. As the name implies, the topics for ses-
sions and for the divisions deal with social prob-
lems, what sociologists know about them, and
their solutions. The SSSP journal, Social Problems,
is well regarded and well subscribed.
In the 1950s, the ASA centered on positivism
and ‘‘objective’’ scientific pursuits. Twenty years
earlier, a group of ASA members had warned that
the achievement of scientific status and academic
acceptance were hindered by the application of
sociology to social problems. The motion read, in
part: ‘‘The undersigned members, animated by an
ideal of scientific quality rather than of heteroge-
neous quantity, wish to prune the Society of its
excrescences and to intensify its scientific activi-
ties. This may result in a reduction of the members
and revenues of the society, but this is preferable
to having many members whose interest is prima-
rily or exclusively other than scientific’’ (Rhoades
1981, pp. 24–25). The SSSP has been a vital coun-
terpoint to those views, keeping sociology’s leftist
leanings alive.
THE APPLIED SIDEIn 1978, two new sociological associations formed
to meet the needs of sociological practitioners.
The Clinical Sociology Association (CSA), now
called the Sociological Practice Association (SPA),
centered on sociologists engaged in intervention
work with small groups (e.g., family counseling) or
at a macro-level (e.g., community development).
This group emphasized professional training and
credentials. Most of the members were employed
primarily outside of the academe; many felt they
needed additional credentials to meet state licensure
requirements or to receive third-party payments,
or both. The SPA established a rigorous certifica-
tion program, where candidates with a Ph.D. in
sociology and substantial supervised experience in
clinical work, would present their credentials and
make a presentation as part of the application for
certification. Those who passed this review could
use the title Certified Clinical Sociologist.
The Society for Applied Sociology (SAS) was
formed by a group of colleagues in Ohio, most of
whom are primarily academics, but who engage in
extensive consulting and applied work. The core
of the SAS centers on applied social research,
evaluation research, program development, and
other applications of sociological ideas to a variety
of organizational settings. The SAS has worked
extensively with curriculum and program develop-
ment to prepare the next generation of applied
sociologists. The SAS has also focused on the
master’s-level sociologist much more than other
organizations.Both of these practice organizations hold an
annual meeting and sponsor a journal. At various
times in the twenty years of each group, members
have advocated a merger to reduce redundancy,
strengthen the membership base, and use resourc-
es together. One place where the two groups have
worked in tandem is through their joint Commis-
sion on Applied and Clinical Programs, which
accredits sociology programs that meet the exten-
sive criteria set forth by the commission. In this
sense, these applied sociology programs (usually a
part or a track within a regular sociology depart-
ment) are modeling professional programs such as
social work, which have an accrediting mecha-
nism. Both societies held a joint meeting prior to
the ASA meeting in 2000, which may portend
future collaboration.The history of the ASA shows the ebb and flow
in interest in applied sociology, certainly going
back to President Lester Frank Ward, and evident
again with the election of contemporary Presi-
dents William Foote Whyte, Peter Rossi, and Amitai
Etzioni. Within the ASA, there is an active, though
not large, section on sociological practice, drawing
overlapping membership with the SPA and the
SAS. The ASA published a journal, Sociological
Practice Review, as a five-year experiment (1990–
1995) but dropped the publication when there
were insufficient subscribers and few manuscripts.
In the early 1980s, in response to member interest,
the ASA began a certification program, through
which Ph.D.-level sociologists could be certified in
six areas (demography, law and social control,
medical sociology, organizational analysis, social
policy and evaluation research, and social psy-
chology). At the master’s level, sociologists could
take an exam; passing the test would result in