EDITORIAL
Some Old,Some New
Oscar A.Barbarin Tulane University
Gary B.Melton
Clemson University and University of the Free State
W ith this issue,the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry ends one era and begins another.For the past5years,
Nancy Felipe Russo of Arizona State University has done double duty as the editor of AJO and the executive officer of its parent organization,the American Orthopsychiatric Asso-ciation(Ortho).This exceptional commitment enabled the con-tinuation of both AJO and Ortho in a manner consistent with their historic values and their distinctive niche in thefield. The contributions of Dr.Russo and her team of associate editors—Jeane Anastas,Wanda Mohr,Andres Pumariega,and Karen Wyche—will continue to be visible in the new volume of AJO,as articles that they reviewed and sometimes invited will fill part of the new volume.More subtly,their continuation of the standards and values that have long typified AJO se
rves as the foundation for our own work and that of a new board of consulting editors for the next5years.
In the current issue,the special section edited by Lisa Good-man and Victoria Banyardfits both of these criteria.The section (like the separately produced but thematically consonant articles by Thema Bryant-Davis and her colleagues and by Lauren Papp) was solicited,reviewed,and accepted under Dr.Russo’s editor-ship.Moreover,the special section reflects the contributions that AJO and Ortho have made to the mental health disciplines—and indeed to the public interest more generally—for many decades. Goodman,Banyard,and their colleagues address the needs and strengths of a disadvantaged population—women in pov-erty—and they examine the consequences of social systems that limit their success.Consistent with AJO’s historic role on the cut-ting edge of mental health practice,the authors also offer chal-lenging ideas about the nature and usefulness of the mental health professions in addressing the needs of low-income women suffering from mental health problems.In particular,they argue that narrowly psychological interventions without attention to the economic and social contexts are insufficient to address low-income women’s feelings of powerlessness.They advocate economic ,microlending)and for collective advocacy aimed at enhancing social justice.
The special section edited by one of us(Melton)on safe, humane,and responsive communities for child
ren and families offers a bridge between old and new.Accepted in principle dur-ing the Russo editorship,the section was completed under our own watch.It also draws on Ortho’s historic emphases on human rights,humane environments,prevention and mitigation of trauma,and the well-being of children and families.Consistent with tradition,the section is derived from an Ortho-sponsored symposium(held in Greenville,SC,in March–April 2009,with co-sponsorship by the International Family Therapy Association,the International Society for Child Indicators,and the Clemson University Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life),and it includes several articles based on Ortho award addresses.As has long been true in Ortho,the articles address mental health in both the most mundane settings of everyday ,school hallways,neighborhood conversations)and the most troubling contexts of international strife,1the human condition(particularly the challenges to social justice)in its various manifestations.
editor barAs these special sections illustrate,we the new co-editors of AJO have inherited a publication that is important and highly respected as an interdisciplinary outlet for work in mental health and social justice.As the new co-editors,we will maintain those aspects of AJO’s operations that have been central to its tradition of scholarship that is at once rigorous,thoughtful,rel-evant to a multidisciplinary audience,and germane to the pur-suit of mental health and social justice.In so doing,we have been join
ed by almost50new consulting editors who are distin-guished scholars committed to Ortho’s values and who are char-acterized by diverse educational,professional,national,and ethnic backgrounds.Like a larger number of occasional ad hoc reviewers,the consulting editors will be contributing their time and expertise in the solicitation and review of manuscripts and in setting the tone for the journal.
Just as transitions typically involve some measure of continu-ity with the past,they also offer an opportunity to be forward looking,in this instance to address emerging issues and to test innovative formats for dissemination of scholarly work.One of the most obvious changes is seen in the journal’s design.The changes that long-time readers of AJO are apt to observe in this regard reflect two processes.First,just as AJO has new editors, it also has a new publisher,Wiley-Blackwell.So part of the change reflects publishing style.Second,working in tandem with 1In addition to the moving accounts of the consequences of ethnic strife in Kosovo by Ferid Agani and his colleagues(reported in this issue),the conferees heard stirring remarks by Jacob Massaquoi of Afri-can Refuge,a Staten Island nonprofit organization that serves immi-grants,asylum seekers,and refugees from horrific political and tribal violence in West Africa in recent years.African Refuge received Ortho’s Max Hayman Award.
American Journal of OrthopsychiatryÓ2010American Orthopsychiatric Association 2010,Vol.80,No.1,1–2DOI:10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01001.x
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the publisher,we sought a new look that would offer some con-tinuity(hence,use of the burgundy color that has long been a part of AJO’s cover)but that would be both‘‘cutting-edge’’and ‘‘friendly’’to readers.So readers will see‘‘clean,’’contemporary fonts and an amount of white space that is unusual for a schol-arly journal.
In the same vein,we are introducing The Community,a ‘‘magazine’’within the journal.Friendly in style and look,The Community will address issues of concern to AJO readers in an authoritative but accessible manner.The title of the section was chosen both to communicate a central theme and tofit the nomenclature common in social networking today.In that regard,we wanted to promote an image from the beginning of a place of lively exchange of views about contemporary issues. Readers of The Community may recognize an‘‘edginess’’that is uncommon in academic journals,but they will also see the same relevancy and thoughtfulness that have long typified AJO.
Each issue of The Community will include not only some pro-vocative essays but also Inside the Beltway,a state-of-the-art commentary by Ortho’s Washington Fellow about the applica-tion of mental health professionals’expertise to important issues of public policy.Thefirst of these columns focuses on problems associated with enforcement of immigration laws,particularly as they relate to children.
Building on a practice started under Dr.Russo’s editorship in collaboration with the Red Toad Road Company,study of each article in The Community will enable Ortho members to receive continuing education credit.With their magazine style,the arti-cles in The Community will be quickly mastered by busy profes-sionals seeking state-of-the-art information presented in an interesting format.
Readers may already have noted our engagement as co-edi-tors,a mode of leadership rarely observed in academic journals. Frankly,we proposed this approach to the Ortho board in part because we enjoy working with each other.We have similar interests,backgrounds,and values.We are both child psycholo-gists who grew up and now live in the U.S.South(in the same eras),who have worked in South Africa(among other societies abroad),who have a strong commitment to work toward more humane and just communities,and who value both careful thought and moral passion.We have both served as president of Ortho,and we did so during a time of organizational transi-tions calling for more than ordinary vision,diplomacy,and investment of time and energy.
At the same time,although our approaches are highly com-patible,they are also complementary.Although we both have worked in interdisciplinary settings throughout our academic careers,our‘‘second’’discipline has differed.Barbarin has been employed in schools of social work for much of his career,and Melton has been based in law schools and policy institutes for much of his wor
k.Hence,our personal networks of collabora-tors overlap little,and both groups will bring fresh insights to the editorial process.
Relying on these slightly different emphases,we will work in tandem on all parts of the journal,but we also will divide pri-mary responsibilities in order to facilitate AJO’s continuing growth and development.In particular,Barbarin will be lead editor for the‘‘traditional’’scholarly articles,although Melton will also assume some of the responsibility as an action editor. Melton will be lead editor for The Community,but Barbarin will contribute ideas about topics and contributors.To launch the section in this issue,both of us have contributed essays. We will be inviting others to write articles for future issues of The Community.
Our efforts to‘‘freshen’’the journal reflect our understanding of the ways that information enters popular and professional discourse and in particular the ways that new ideas andfindings reach policy makers and practitioners(see Melton,1987).The new elements of the AJO format also respond to the rapidly changing landscape in academic publishing.Some even predict the demise of journals as a distinct genre;we believe that con-clusion is premature.Instead,we foresee expanding audiences and new opportunities for dissemination of socially important information,as the digitization of sources formerly available only in print(primarily in the musty stacks of university libraries)and the invention of powerful
search engines enhance access at an extraordinary rate.
In this context,we strive to ensure that the articles in AJO are‘‘hit’’by both professional and lay consumers of informa-tion and ideas about mental health and social justice.We fur-ther intend to continue AJO’s strong tradition of publishing scholarship that is ahead of its time—that presents concepts and theories before they become commonplace in traditional discipline-based journals in the mental health disciplines and education.2
However,the abundance of information available today is sometimes insufficiently sifted to enable readers easily to sepa-rate the wheat from the chaff,to differentiate between rhetoric and fact.The value added by encouraging authors and by selecting and refining their work will help AJO maintain its position as a source of choice on social issues and mental health.As editors,we pledge to safeguard AJO’s tradition as a high-quality,accessible outlet for carefully designed empirical research and cogently reasoned,intellectually provocative cri-tiques on important issues of the day.We invite authors and readers to join with us in such discussions.
Reference
Melton,G.B.(Ed.).(1987).Reforming the law:Impact of child develop-ment research.New York:Guilford.
2The list of topics that AJO helped to launch is legion:for example, humane treatment and civil rights for people with mental illness;psycho-social rehabilitation of juvenile offenders;family therapy;feminist cri-tiques of psychotherapy;grief reactions;coping and resilience; psychological issues in adoption;psychological effects of poverty,rac-ism,violence,and trauma;and substance abuse treatment.
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