After years of debate and months of intense campaigning, delinkage failed to be approved by the active members although it was favored by almost 60% of those voting. The proposed by-law amendment, which had been passed by both the Executive Council and the Board on Professional Standards, would have extended active membership without the requirement of certification to all graduates of institutes accredited by The American. Under the terms of the amendment, active members who were not certified would have been eligible to vote on all matters except those related to the Board. Certification would still have been a requirement for membership on the Council or Board, for holding elective office in The American, and for designation as a training analyst.
Prior to the vote, which concluded February 4, several hundred members signed letters for or against the proposal that were sent to the entire active membership, and many members participated in telephone campaigns. More than half of those who cast ballots had already taken a public position on the issue. Approval required a two-thirds majority. One thousand thirty nine valid ballots were received postmarked before the deadline. Six hundred ninety two yes votes were needed for approval; six hundred twenty were cast. Four hundred sixteen members voted no, and three abstained. Thirty-five ballots were invalid because the members had failed to follow the instruction to write their name on the return envelope. A number of ballots postmarked after February 4 were also received.
Commenting on the outcome, President George H. Allison said, “I'm surprised by the result and surprised that more members didn't vote. This was a good turnout. Maybe the proponents of the amendment were overconfident. There did seem to be a ground swell in favor from some of the larger institutes. Maybe for that reason the proponents didn't work hard to get out the vote, which is what the opponents did.
“In my view, the changes were not radical inasmuch as they included the two-tiered voting system and retained the certification requirement. It makes me wonder if a significant number of people voted against the amendment because they thought it did not go far enough.
“I'm inclined to think that the issues will eventually have to be dealt with in one way or another since a majority of those voting want the change. The election should not be taken as a sign of opposition to change. Many people who voted against the proposal are still in favor of encouraging younger people to participate in the affairs of The American. I hope the result will not affect voting on the next amendment, to expand eligibility for training to include all those with clinical doctorates.
“I felt that the certification process had to be addressed so that it would be more user friendly without lowering standards.”
Asked about the argument raised in the debate that the Committee on Certification and the requirement for certification together serve to police against theoretical change, Allison said, “I'm aware of that belief, and I think it may have been true at one time, but nowadays my impression is that case writeups from various points of view, including ego psychology-conflict theory, object relations theory, and self psychology are acceptable to the committee. I think we now encompass greater theoretical diversity. Any idea that the
Board is dominated by any one point of view is no longer true, and openness to diversity is increasing in the Board as a whole and in its committees. I have just appointed leading spokesmen of the object relations theory and self psychology to the Search Committee for the next editor of the Journal.
“We intend to put great effort into changing the certification process. We're surveying all the institutes for suggestions for improvements. It is essential that more graduates apply for and achieve certification. We hope that more people will feel that the exam is fair and valid and that our standards of competence are as high as ever.”
Marvin Margolis, Chairman of the Board on Professional Standards, in discussing the issue said, “The vote indicates that a majority of our certified members in favor of granting membership to all graduates of institutes. However, they were unable to persuade the necessary two-thirds of our active members of the wisdom of such a change.
“A new direction is now needed to accomplish this goal. The current leadership of The American believes that, for the present time, further improvement of the certification process would be the best approach to address our membership problem. This view appears to be widely consensual. The Certification Committee over the past years has made many changes to encourage and facilitate our members' passing this peer review of minimal analytic competency. These changes have been made without lowering standards. To help the Certification Committee develop additional procedures that are more welcoming, facilitative, and educational to applicants, a special Task Force on Certification has been appointed to organize a national discussion of certification throughout our institutes and societies. This task force will be cochaired by Dan Buie (Boston) and Morris Peltz (San Francisco). Authur Rosenbaum, Chairman of the Certification Committee, will also serve as a member of the task force. The reports of this task force will be discussed at Board and Council. It will be the Board's responsibility to recommend a final form of this report to the Certification Committee for implementation. I am confident that the revised procedures that will emerge from this discussion will receive broad acceptance within our Association.
“Those who favor a wider inclusion of our graduates in the affairs of The American need not despair over the referendum results. We must work together to find new ways to include a broader number of graduates into the activities of The American. Meanwhile, we can be proud of our recent record of change in The American. The growing inclusion of nonmedical colleagues, women, academics, and candidates into the scientific and organizational affairs of our Association is well under way. This is a time of hope and rededication to our common goals of maintaining and enhancing the high level of psychoanalytic education and practice that has made The American the premier psychoanalytic organization in this country.”