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Summary Community Psychology
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UNIT 1: HISTORY AND SCHOOLS OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGYThe development and history of communities and psychology
• Communities emerged as nomadic (travelling) or agricultural (pastoral) groups.
• Superior groups established empires by occupying neighbouring lands and subjugating their inhabitants.
• Globalisation emerged through oceanic trade routes
• The rise of modernity and industrialisation in the 17th century led to increased production and
consumption in the West
• The transition from sail ships to steam engines and fossil fuel-powered electricity changed human
civilizations and communities.
• Industrialisation led to changes in natural ecology through large-scale farming, road and rail
infrastructure, and increased toxic pollutants.
• These changes led to scientific and economic advances but also increased personal, social, and
environmental stressors.
• Psychology was stablished 150 years ago as an independent Western scientific discipline.
• Theorists included Humboldt, Wundt, Pavlov, Freud, James, and Jung.
• Clients were from the wealthy upper class or patients in psychiatric institutions.
• Psychiatry relied heavily on medication and intrapsychic and individualistic psychological methods.
• The biomedical model was the foundation of most psychiatric-psychological interventions.
• Psychology was initially located in a Western or European milieu and predominantly practiced by male
medical practitioners.
• Psychology has expanded to include wider spheres like environment, history, and politics.
The international emergence and development of the community psychology sub -discipline
• Community psychology has existed since humans felt a sense of belonging and groupwork.
• Formalized as a separate sub-discipline at the 1965 Swampscott Conference in Boston, USA.
• The conference emphasized the role of psychology in community mental health.
• Community psychology's origins are linked to mental health reform movements in the US.
• 3 key reform movements: "moral treatment" in the 1800s, "mental hygiene" in the 1900s, and
"deinstitutionalisation" in the 1960s.
• Each movement led to the establishment of specific institutions
• These movements shifted mental illness treatment as a social problem and towards prevention rather
than cure.
• The Swampscott Conference prompted the US to address human rights demands
• The rise of individualism and the potential benefits of mass intervention in community health was
recognized.
• Psychological treatment methods were criticized for their overreliance on the medical model, viewing
psychological problems as individual illnesses, and neglecting complex environmental forces.
• Community psychology's roots are generally tied to the US and Europe
• Participatory and action-oriented community psychology emerged in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin
America, transcending liberal and humanitarian scientific ideologies.
• Stevens speaks of heterogeneous “community psychologies” as opposed to a singular “community
psychology”
• Community psychology is a response to inadequate practices and policies that negatively impact
community living conditions and wellbeing, particularly the marginalized.
THE HISTORY OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY IN SOUTH AFRICA
• Community psychology gained prominence in South Africa in the 1980s
• Concerns over racism, sexism, individualism, and ethnocentrism led to the use of community psychology.
• Community psychology was seen as a solution to the powerlessness felt by progressive psychologists
,during political upheaval.
• During oppressive regimes, psychology was used to justify oppressive policies
• The rise of community psychology as a sub-discipline in SA= response to these oppressive practices.
• People organized into working groups to combat state oppression, forming community organizations,
projects, unions, and intervention groups.
• Community-centred organizations and projects significantly impacted South African communities
E.g. of community-centred organisations that contributed to the establishment of community psychology in
SA
EPISTEMOLOGAL DIFFERENCES IN UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT “COMMUNITY”
• Psychology texts present Western and non-Western indigenous epistemologies
• These epistemologies represent European and non-Western knowledge and values.
• Exploring community psychology through mainstream modern psychology, biomedical model, African
view of psychology, and critical approach.
❖ Mainstream modern psychology
• Western view of reality, viewing it as an objective, universal science.
• It disregards contextual particularities like sex, race, culture, and others' values and meanings.
• Western scientific methods claim to produce objective knowledge without considering the role of the
,observer or researcher.
• This approach leads to the idea that the psychologist is the expert
• The expert can claim to have more knowledge than the individuals themselves
• Western culture is dominated by individualism, prioritizing individual wellbeing
• Mainstream modern psychology is based on the world views of white middle class members
❖ The biomedical model
• Aligned with Western medicine, emphasizing individual as the unit of analysis. focuses on the individual
as the unit of analysis and emphasises the influence of biological factors (brain) on human behaviour.
• Views psychological challenges as brain diseases.
• relies on the assumptions of cause and effect, focusing on curing individuals already ill.
• Interprets mental or psychological illness as having an underlying biological cause.
• Assumes treatment through pharmacological means.
• Believes that a psychologist can prescribe treatment quickly.
• Pharmaceutical products may be prescribed by psychiatrists and medical practitioners
❖ African psychology
• Views the world as a hierarchy of beings, with ancestors playing a crucial role.
• Views the universe as organic and ecological, with little distinction between nature and culture.
• holistic view of life as a cosmic unity.
• Knowledge is gained through participation and connection, not separation and abstraction.
• Life is viewed as communal, with personhood defined in relation to the community, not the self.
• Parental responsibilities reside with the father, mother, extended family, and community.
• Individuals and communities are interdependent.
• Perspectives are continuously changing
❖ The critical approach to psychology
• focuses on social change and incorporates a radical psychology of liberation.
• key in understanding values, meanings, and their influence on knowledge.
• It locates human values, motivations, and behaviours in their cultural and class contexts.
• addresses issues like illiteracy, family system disintegration, poverty, and alienation.
• It challenges the view that communities have no influence on traditional psychology.
• questions the foundations of mainstream psychology, arguing it’s not value-free and caters to the
interests of middle- and upper-class white males.
• aims to critique mainstream psychology to make it less oppressive and more accessible to communities.
❖ The African critical perspective on psychology
• Considers differences in languages, philosophies, and world views.
• Assumes existence is concrete and particular, not universal.
• Examines how cultural traditions and social practices shape the human psyche.
• Views the self as a collectivistic or interdependent self, defined by relationships with others.
• Critiques acculturation and marginalization of African and other knowledge systems.
• Aims to address societal issues like HIV/AIDS, illiteracy, and poverty.
• Views culture and world view as a system of meaning, accommodating different world views.
• Psychologies are connected to metaphysical ontologies ordering life into "good" and "bad" and "right"
and "wrong."
THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY
, • Community psychology is a blend of community and psychology.
• Community psychology is linked to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal
3, "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages"
Understanding Western Epistemology
• Western epistemology is not universally accepted, especially in Africa.
• Indigenous people in SA practice their cultural ways of living through an African outlook.
• Understanding different perspectives of knowledge is crucial, and there should be no dominant
viewpoint.
• Community is often interpreted in terms of racial differences due to apartheid
• Students often use the term “community” when they refer to poor, disadvantaged areas
• This over-individualistic view of psychology reflects the biomedical model, which views psychological
health, illness, and disorders as primarily within individuals.
• Western understanding of community: Refers to a group of people with common interests, concerns, or
identities.
• African understanding: Considers a community as three-dimensional, referred to as the "onto-triadic
structure of being."
• 1st dimension: The visible community of the living.
• 2nd dimension: The departed, also known as ancestors.
• 3rd dimension: The yet-to-be-born.
• These three dimensions are interrelated
DEFINING COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY
• Community psychology is a heterogeneous concept with no single definition
• Different approaches in community psychology aim to improve community conditions and psychological
wellbeing.
• community psychology, is interdisciplinary
• community psychology is the study of people in context, aimed at improving community conditions and
promoting psychological wellbeing.
• The term "critical" is added to describe a continuous process of self-reflection, enhancing the
understanding of community psychology.
community psychology places an emphasis on the importance of the local rather than the universal. the
following aspects should be noted:
• epistemicide (the destruction of other people’s knowledge and ways of knowing)
• cultural domination not only involves treating European culture as the centre of civilisation but also
involves seizing other cultures and erasing their contributions to world history.
• Western meta-theories often fail to account for the diverse experiences of the majority of the world.
• These universal claims often impose themselves onto others' world views, experiences, and contexts.
• Cultural colonization occurs when Western nations continue to produce and market psychological
knowledge to the Global South, making contemporary theories and research irrelevant to local
populations.
• This approach should encourage critical thinking.
• The "fallist" movements in South Africa have called for decolonised education, emphasizing the
importance of education approaches and theories relevant to local contexts.
The term “community” encompasses various dimensions and meanings.
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