Community Psychology
Paradigm
The set of assumptions, concepts, values and practices upon which a discipline or theory is based. (it is more specific than a worldview)
multiple levels of analysis
When you analyze something on multiple levels instead of just "its their fault" then we are able to understand the problem and are able to present multiple solutions. The individual exists within layers of interdependent social and environmental contexts
Isaac Prilleltensky
Within feminist psychology he emphasized collective wellness- health of communities and societies
Error of logical typing
Action is taken at the wrong level of analysis, Inaction (e.g., no funding for homeless programs) or, Misdirected action (e.g., arresting homeless for sleeping on the street
George Fairweather
Conducted peer group interventions with adults with chronic mental illness. Fairweather said that not only do they need to find out what the community is thinking and feeling but they need to help each other and those who have gone through the experience should help others and support each other. Slowly reducing the hierarchy.
African research in community psych
Opposition to apartheid and post-apartheid reconciliation
Top down approach
design by professional or community leaders Ex: Psychotherapy
Swampscott conference
in 1965 psychologists work in communities transforming their ideas; created community psychology because it distinguished itself outside of community mental health and traditional clinical psychology
Focus groups
interview with a group, group not individual is unit of analysis; greater access to shared knowledge, can observe social interaction between individuals, can help with development of a quantitative survey; moderator has less control over the conversation
Bronfenbrenner's nesting doll metaphor
Helps to explain the multiple levels of analysis
Alpha press
Alpha press are objective characteristics of the environment. Alpha press can be measured ( light vs dark, hostility of the environment, etc)
Swampscott Conference (1965)
At conference they saw that they were missing an ecological perspective of the field. They wanted to be a scholarly discipline where they used theory and conducted research. Did not become a field until now. Different from CNH because they departed from the medical model because the absence of illness does not mean healthy. Diagnoses is not bad but the issue is that they do not see what is working well or what is not bad.
Beta press
Beta press are perceived Characteristics of the environment. Beta press is what is perceived (in a hostiLe situation the person is asked if they felt like it was hostile, his perception)
Blaming the Victim
Book by psychologist William Ryan 1971, it critiqued individualistic thinking about social problems; says ecological levels are underused because we only focus on one level to solve a problem (i.e. cannot attribute poverty, drug abuse, educational failure, crime on individual.) Fundamenatal and contextual error stem from this idea.
Marie Jahoda
Broaden thinking about mental illness by defining qualities of positive mental health—a forerunner of current concepts of wellness, RESILLIENCE, and strengths. Advocated identifying conditions that inhibited personal mental health and altering those conditions through prevention and social change. Marie Johoda strongly wrote about unemployment in reference to the Great Depression. It is important to pay attention to not just the negative (people committing suicide) but to the resolve and the hope that people used to stay hardworking and driven. She analyzed the effects that unemployment had on strengths.
Henry Murray
Henry Murray set the foundation for thinking ecologically. He offered the idea of environmental press.
Emory Cohen
Created a Primary Mental Health Project and discussed Early intervention and importance of paraprofessionals. Main contribution was prevention and early intervention (particularly in working with children to prevent long term problems in adults). Focused on wellness rather than psychopathology.
Emory Cowen
Detected early indicators of school maladjustment in students and intervened before full-blown problems appeared
Individual and family wellness focuses on
Development of competencies and coping skills Social support and self-help groups Interventions outside of health care settings Prevention of maladaptive behavior
Respect for Diversity focuses on what?
Diversity as a strength Examining diverse cultures for traditions that promote health Understanding diverse groups and cultures on their own terms Seeking understanding of differences and ways to bridge them
What did Levine hypothesize would happen in conservative times to the solution of problems?
During conservative times, problems are conceptualized in terms of individual factors (e.g., genetics, personality); results in pessimism about potential for solution of social problems (by health professionals or the criminal justice system)
What did Levine hypothesize would happen in progressive times to the solution of problems?
During progressive times, problems are conceptualized in terms of environmental factors (e.g., poverty, lack of educational opportunity); results in optimism about solutions to social problems through social change and improving community life
What are multiple contexts of Community Psychology
Ecological Historical Cultural Sociopolitical
What are the six major approaches to ecological context?
Ecological Principles (Kelly)- Interdependence, Cycling of resources, Succession, Adaptation Ecological Psychology and Behavior Settings (Barker) Activity Settings (O'Donnell) Social Regularities (Seidman) Social Climate (Moos) Environmental Psychology (Craik, Stokols)
Asia research in community psych
Emphasis on cross-cultural models of intervention
Utilitarian individualism
Emphasis on material success, individual ability and effort are the causes of success or failure and individual initiative and self-reliance are highly valued
Expressive individualism
Emphasis on personal well being, self discovery, and self expression. Prioritizes finding yourself and and self-actualization.
Empowerment & Citizen Participation focuses on what?
Enhancing the possibilities for people to control their own lives Peaceful, respectful, collaborative decision-making processes Empowering individuals and communities Organizing grassroots citizen groups, neighborhood groups, coalitions of groups
Principle of Interdependence
Environments consist of multiple related parts, in other words, change made in one area affects multiple others
Environmental Press
Environments provide opportunities and constraints that impact whether individual needs are met or satisfied ex. Woman in a sexist environment might not have the most opportunities. Have alpha and beta press.
Fair share
Equality exists when opportunities and access to resources are distributed equitably. People care for each other and try to minimize extreme inequalities and inability for opportunities.
Fair play
Equality exists when the rules and procedures in the competition for economic and social advancement are thought to be fair and consistent for everyone. This causes large gaps and people assume that the status quo is perfect.
Austin Conference (1975)
Focus was on issues of identity. Multiple levels of analysis emerged as the central and distinguishing emphasis, social action and advocacy efforts to address "isms", prevention of dysfunction and the promotion of social competence, diversity was emphasized as a core value with voices of "minority" groups being present.
Empirical Grounding focuses on what
Focuses on: Role as participant-conceptualizer Multiple research methods (qualitative as well as quantitative) Research that meets and informs community needs Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Musical Chairs
Focusing only on problems within the individual without changing social context is like musical chairs
How does behavior emerge?
From the totality of coexisting factors that make up a dynamic field that has part dependent on each other.
Eric Lindemann
He learned from community members, appreciation of community strengths. Lindemann responded to the fire at the Coconut Grove hotel, which was a first back then, and got to people as early as possible and used crisis points to prevent people from getting so traumatized that they are incapable of work. Advocated for Psychoeducation. He shifted the dialogue on what is Psychological intervention. Lindemann and Klein started a service and raised the question as to why they use a top down system of defining problem and instead they need to go into communities and learn what they believe the problem is and brought their input
Sense of Community focuses on what?
Helping people connect with communities Building and strengthening communities Building connections within and between communities
Levine & Levine Hypothesis
Hypothesis regarding the impact of historical and sociopolitical forces on conceptions of human problems conservative times vs progressive times
Collaboration & Community Strengths focuses on what?
Identifying community resources and assets Recognizing and respecting the wisdom, experience, and expertise that exists in a community Interacting in a non-condescending manner Carefully nurturing the relationship between the psychologist and the community Bringing humility to one's work
Divergent reasoning
Identifying multiple truths in opposing perspectives and that seemingly conflicting viewpoints can co-exist instead of fighting
Context minimization error
Ignoring or discounting the significance of contexts in an individual's life
Empowerment Theory
In Rappaport's 1981 paper he explains the importance of community self-determination
Ecological Levels of Analysis
Individual Microsystem Organization Locality Macrosystem
Seven Core Values of Community Psychology
Individual and Family Wellness Sense of Community Social Justice Citizen Participation-The research that we do needs to be informed by those that have the problem Collaboration and Community Strengths- there is no us vs them Respect for Human Diversity Empirical Grounding- the work that is done is done through analysis.
value conflict
Individuals vs System, Conflicts among individuals/groups, based on divergent values
what are the 5 ecological levels of analysis
Individuals, microsystems, organizations, localities, macrosystems
What does it mean to come from an individualism as a worldview?
It is an ideology that is primarily concerned with personal and economic freedom from restraint. Independence and autonomy are highly valued, competition leads to success, individual rights are emphasized over the collective good, interaction in society is done to achieve personal goals and no strong responsibility for helping others. Huge influence in psychology is to analyze the individual.
What are Ecological Principles, who made them, and how many are there?
Jim Kelly is one of the founders of community psychology and wanted to know characteristics of environments/settings. You need to understand the nature of environments in order to change the environment. His four principles were Interdependence, Cycling of resources, Succession, Adaptation
Empowerment & Citizen Participation
Julian Rappaport and Marc Zimmerman. Values self-determination and the ability of a community to define itself, its problems & issues, and to participate in solutions
Creative Maladjustment
King states that standing up for justice and equality and standing against the prevailing norms of discrimination and the oppressive status quo can appear "abnormal" and that is a problem in society.
What did Kurt Lewin do to understand human behavior in context?
Kurt Lewin (1935) developed "field theory" and offered an equation for understanding human behavior: B = f (P x E) Behavior is a function of the person-environment interaction.
Kurt Lewin
Kurt Lewin analyzes relationships between groups and was focused on the reduction of antisemitism. His effort was to study and intervene in how groups form and follow people like Hitler. How people reduce their voice and defer their logic to follow someone like Hitler. Leader in looking in inter group relations and diversity. Fundamental community psychology theory is precisely illustrated by Kurt Lewin.
Field Theory
Kurt Lewin explains that if you want to study behavior coexisting issues are mutually interdependent, the nature of the environment exists within a context
Stanford University Conference (1955)
Lindemann, Klein and others convened to describe their work, the field of Community Mental Health was created emphasizing community-based services and prevention but met with resistance from advocates of traditional mental health care
Joint Committee on Mental Illness and Mental Health (1959-1961)
Marie Jahoda headed the study of positive mental health; advocated identifying and altering conditions that inhibit mental health and called for an emphasis on prevention
What are key points in MLK speech?
People have Social responsibility (psychologists should be instruments for social change). Focusing on context vs. individual pathology. Appealed to psychologists to "tell it like it is" - disseminate information on the "reality of Negro life". Calls for research within-group vs. comparative. Understanding of urban riots and links economic conditions and discrimination to individual behavior - called for structural changes and a need to study and promote citizen leadership and social action.
Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) Act (1963)
President Kennedy had a special interest in mental health and retardation issues. It changed the way society functioned. The idea where you need to communicate with organizations that are close to humans (schools) in order to prevent and enhance mental health. This made unjust institutionalization end.
What forms of application do Community Psychologists implement
Prevent dysfunction & distress Facilitate empowerment and social justice Promote well-being (personal, relational, collective)
What are change strategies that target Levels of Analisis
Prevention/promotion programs Consultation Alternative settings Mediating structures- Settings that assist people cope with society's stressors Community organizing Participatory Research Advocacy and Policy Research
What are the five Influential Forces in the development of Community Psychology
Preventive perspective on problems Reforms in the mental health system Group dynamics and action research Movements for social change and liberation Societal optimism
Difference between Psychology, Sociology, and Community Psych.
Psychology emphasizes the individual Community Psychology is a shift in perspective for the field of psychology Sociology emphasizes society Comm. Psych emphasizes the connection between the two
WWI, Great Depression
Suicide was at its highest rate during Great Depression. The correlation between the environment and behavior was important and at that time it became even more relevant.
Latin America (Brazil, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Mexico, etc.) research in community psych
Response to oppression, colonialism, and poverty, Strong element of social critique and Rooted in liberation theology, emphasizes social justice and empowerment Paolo Friere (Brazil, educator and activist) Ignacio Martin-Baro (El Salvador, Jesuit priest and psychologist; assasinated in 1989 by Salvadorean army) Irma Serrano-Garcia (Puerto Rico, psychologist and feminist)
Europe research in community psych
Response to political processes (e.g., facism) and social movements
George Albee
Reviewed research on rates of mental disorder and costs of training clinicians and concluded that the US could never train enough professionals to provide treatment for all who needed it
Australia and New Zealand research in community psych
Rights and concerns about indigenous people (Maori & Aboriginal)
Respect for Diversity
Roderick Watts, Ed Trickett Values the variations within and between communities, as well as the diverse social identities and beliefs that exist in a society Values the acceptance of diverse groups as equals where difference does not suggest deviance or pathology
Macrosystem LOA
Sets of communities and/or organizations forming broad and diverse bodies of influence Forms the context within which the other levels function Exercise influence through policies, laws, judicial decisions, customs, ideologies, belief systems, values Examples: Nations, governmental and economic institutions, culture, gender, socioeconomic status (SES) groups, religion, "isms". Macrosystems include population level of analysis defined by a demographic category and institutional level of analysis
Microsystem LOA
Sets of individuals Small group (small enough for face-to-face interactions) environments in which the individual engages in direct, personal interactions with others over time Examples: family, friends, classroom, club, team, staff
Organizational LOA
Sets of microsystems that form a larger whole Individuals may identify with an organization but their involvement and participation is at the level of the microsystem Examples: university, church, corporation, hospital, school
Locality LOA
Sets of organizations & microsystems in a common geographic area Community action often involves organizations working together in coalitions to bring about change in a community Examples: Neighborhood, Small town, Rural Area, City
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism misinterpreted in a hierarchical superioiry/inferiority influence emerged.
Social Justice Focuses
Social, political, and economic factors that impact individuals Avoiding exploitation Ethnic psychologies, feminist psychology, liberation psychology
Fundamental attribution error
Tendency of observers to overestimate the importance of individual characteristics and underestimate the importance of situational factors
Eugenics movement, WWII
The Eugenics movement, caused regression and distortion to the term "survival of the fittest" and after word war 2 there was a rise of optimism. Kurt Lewin was one of the first psychologists to look at inter group relations and that psychology needs to pay attention to how groups interact.
William Ryan
The concept of "blaming the victim" was developed as a critique of individualism. Most people use this everyday. He developed two definitions of equality: Fair play and fair share.
Life Space
The constantly changing psychological field consisting of the totality of the person's internal and external forces
Contexts
The encapsulating environments and social connections within which we live Ex: neighborhoods. The idea of "people in context" is at the core of what a community psychologist studies.
Individual LOA
The individual person and their relationships to the environments in their lives Analysis focuses on how these relationships are expressed in individual behaviors, values, life transitions, stress, coping, and the individual outcomes of community problems Examples: personal beliefs, childhood history, emotional intelligence, marriage, graduation, loss of a loved one, depression, addiction, teen pregnancy
Diunital logic
Uses Both/and framework
Individual and Family Wellness
Values the attainment of optimum health and wellness, not just the absence of disease and distress
Social Justice
Values the fair and equitable allocation of resources, opportunities, and power Distributive justice and Procedural justice Opposed to "isms" and exclusion based on race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
Empirical Grounding
Values the interdependence and integration of systematic research and planful action "Knowledge without action is empty and action without knowledge is ignorant" Centrality of research is what distinguishes community psychology from a social movement or community action group
Sense of Community
Values the significance of connections with others, sense of belongingness and interdependence as essential to mental health
Collaboration & Community Strengths
Values the strengths and knowledge of community members as collaborators in research and action efforts Emphasizes HOW the community psychologist does his/her work
Action research
Wants to create change
Worldview
We become aware of our worldview so that we can affect the way we act. Beliefs about the nature of being, knowing, relating, and how the world works. It influences how we view things and how we think about stuff.
S. Sarason
Worked at the Yale Psycho-Educational Clinic to understand the "culture of the school". Sarason looked at the ecological notion that instead of the problem stemming from the child but from their environment like the culture of their school. He defined community as a supportive network of relationships on which one could depend
second order change
affects the relationships among the members of a group, especially shared goals, roles, rules, and power relationships
first order change
alters, rearranges, or replaces the individual members of a group
Participant observation
careful detail observational written notes; interviews/conversations with citizens: Strenghts: maximizes researcher-community relationship; offers in depth description of participant; not generalizable, researcher influences process under study by being a participant, role conflict because of dual role as participant and researcher
Bottom up approach
originate at grassroots level or amongst citizens Ex: self help groups
Participatory action research
participants take part in all facets of research from conceptualization to data gathering and interpretation
Interviewing
questions are recorded, transcribed, and coded, themes are documented; attends to voice of participants, thick description of issue under study, interviews are more standardized; generalizability of study is limited, time constraints that prevent participation
ecological levels of analysis
shows multiple causes and solutions to problems; describes interactions between individuals and the multiple social systems in which they are embedded; proximal (inner) systems are nested within distal (outer) structures.
Case study
studying one or more individuals in relation to settings, can involve above methods and archival data-from archives or data records; examines in depth a single case, understands nuances of a particular context ; not generalizable and may cause dual role conflicts
Qualitative methods
useful for examining situations, processes, and contexts, and attending to unheard voices of marginalized groups,
