Whether we are speaking
of pastoral psychology as a more or less loosely organized body
of principles which informed the daily work
of increasingly
larger numbers
of ministers educated in the better seminaries, or whether we are talking about pastoral psychology in its more professional
manifestations in the form
of institutional chaplaincies or church - related counseling centers, the sociological origins
of the movement tended to render it ineffective in relating to the specific
problems and life - styles
of the poor.
Then there are those, like me, who see it as the latest
manifestation of a British government who cares not one bit for the vulnerable and which refuses to address very obvious and growing
problems until they become too
large to ignore.