Govt lacks knowledge in psychology: Expert

Govt lacks knowledge in psychology: Expert

JAKARTA (JP): The government lacks the psychological knowledge
needed to face the growing amount of social problems plaguing the
country, a renowned psychologist said.

The newly inducted dean of the University of Indonesia's
School of Psychology, Sarlito Wirawan Sarwono, said the rapid
pace of development provoked complex social problems which
required greater psychological understanding in determining
public policy.

But he acknowledged that compared to 20 years ago the
government's awareness to take into account the psychological
perspective had improved.

He also added that to cope with the social problems would take
some time.

The important thing was the persistent effort by all
academicians, including psychologists, to continue research to
find out solutions for the social problems, Sarlito said.

He admitted that during implementation, a policy would face
many constraints and unexpected factors.

A criminologist of the University of Indonesia, Adrianus
Meliala, shared Sarlito's opinion and said that unexpected
factors could hinder the theoretical concepts of a certain
program.

He cited the presidential instructions on backward villages
program saying that the concept of the program was good, but on
an implementation level, the program was not as good as the
theoretical concept.

Adrianus said the program's noble concept of poverty
alleviation was often corrupted by many bitter "ground level"
elements.

"The fund has been cut by local authorities and targeted
people only receive about 40 percent to 50 percent of it," he
told The Jakarta Post.

This has shown that policy-making and implementation were
delicate and sometimes placed policy makers in a difficult
situation, Adrianus added.

Sarlito was inducted as dean on Wednesday. A prolific writer,
the 53-year-old social psychologist is known for his activities
for teenagers.

He established in 1984 the "Sahabat Remaja", a forum to help
Indonesian youths in their development. Among its programs was
discussion on sex education and family planning for high school
students.

Sarlito received his doctorate degree from the University of
Indonesia in 1978 with a dissertation entitled Differences
between Leaders and Activists in Student Movements: A Study. (10)