PYC2614 - Community psychology: Building foundations (PYC2614)
Institution
University Of South Africa (Unisa)
There are 4 different essays from 2018 to 2019 with a detailed table of content and in-depth analysis of community psychology. A lot of the questions and answers can help for assignment 2 2020 essay
This essay will extrapolate the essence of community psychology, by discussing the concept of community, from the community
psychology perspective, as well as the perspective of my own community. Moreover, this essay endeavours to consider
community psychology roles, relevant to intervening in community problems related to informal settlements. Finally, the
principles of community psychology, the complex process to solve a problem, as well as social transformation and social justice
in my community will be outlined.
2.1 Who are we as a community?
A common definition of community is, a group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social ties, share
common perspectives and engage together, in geographical locations or settings. The first group of my community moved to
Botswana about 20 years ago. The members of my community. are originally from Sri Lanka. They moved to Botswana for
employment opportunities. Most of my community members. are involved in the field of accountancy and various businesses.
They preferred Botswana of all countries in Africa. due to immense employment opportunities. as it was a developing country.
Majority of my community members. are well settled in Botswana and do not intend on moving back to Sri Lanka. Two things
common among my community members is that. we all share a common language called Sinhalese, the native language of Sri
Lankans and all the community members in my area are Muslims. They all share a common interest of a specific business,
namely motor car dealership.
, My community is unique because. the population is sparse and this aids us in coming together as one big family. Moreover,
because of our culture and tradition. we have numerous celebrations every other weekend and we celebrate all religious
festivals together. although my community members are from diverse cultures. Botswana is a country with abundant resources.
the prominent being the Orapa diamond mine. It is the world’s largest diamond mine by area and makes the country unique.
Community can be defined as a social unit that is linked by a physical or virtual environment, where the members of the unit
feel a sense of belonging and actively engage. Each individual member is drawn together by norms, values, and beliefs to form a
unit. A unity can be made up of people in the same geographical location, as well as people who may be far apart but are
socially interactive online.
2.2 Solving a problem in my community.
Interventions focus on peoples behaviours, and how various changes in the environment, can support those behaviours. It
might be a program, a change in policy or a certain practice. Intervention models refer to, ways of conceptualising and
understanding psychosocial problems based on specific theories, which also propose ways of intervening, to solve such
problems (Naidoo et al., 2013)
The model of intervention, that I would apply to the scenario in question 2.1, would be the ‘social action model’ of intervention.
The social action model uses a strategy, that aims at mobilising people against structures and procedures that hinder wellbeing
(Visser, 2012) This model is based on the importance of structural social inequalities and injustice, as causes of social problems.
As a community psychologist practitioner, I am mandated take on the role of a social change agent, mobiliser and facilitator
with the aim of empowering my community, due to the problem they face in scenario of question 2.1
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I would apply this model and intervene in this community problem, to secure equal distribution of resources to those who are
oppressed or marginalised. This will be done through, active and meaningful participation and advising members of my
community and institution as well as social systems, to engage through empowerment, in order to eradicate the current social
inequalities. I choose this model because, this model facilitates the process of change, while the community works together as a
single unit to bring about the required change. Moreover, this approach presupposes, the existence of an aggrieved or
disadvantaged segment of the population, that needs to be organized, in order to make demands on the larger community for
increased resources or equal treatment. Another reason is that, it aims at creating fundamental changes in the community,
including the redistribution of power and resources and gaining access to decision marking for marginal groups.
Social action intervention, seeks to change legislative mandates of political entities, such as a city council, or the policies and
practices of institutions, such as welfare department or housing authority. Practitioners in the social action area, generally aim
to empower and benefit the poor, the disenfranchised, the oppressed. The style is highly adversarial, and social justice is a
dominant ideal. (Karp, 1998)
The model that I perceive to be irrelevant to be applied to the scenario described in 2.1, would be the mental health and public
health models. These models address health or social problems in a comprehensive way. The public health model takes a
population approach to health promotion and disease prevention and therefore does not apply only to a small community. This
aspect of intervention does not create an impact on the issue at hand, in comparison to the social action model. Moreover, the
mental health model aims to treat and prevent mental disorders within a particular area, positioning the psychologist as the
expert in relation to the communities mental health problems. (Gumani, 2017; 21)
2.3 Principles of community psychology
For every concept theory or method, there are specific basic fundamentals that determine its very nature. These facets are
referred to as principles. There are five basic key principles that characterise, the field of community psychology. The principles
of community psychology that would be considered, when addressing the community problem in question 2 above, will be
empowerment and respect for diversity. Empowerment is a process that respects, values and enhances people’s ability to
establish control over their lives, is put to practice. Change and growth occurs through informing and empowering individuals
and groups. In addition this process, encourages people to meet their needs and aspirations, in a self-aware and informed way,
which takes advantage of their skills experience and potential. As a community psychology practitioner, employing the
empowerment principle of community psychology is effective in solving to the issue of inconvenient settlements described in
question 2.1. This principle allows people access to resources, role relationships and participation in social and political aspects
in life. (Rappaport, 1997)
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