Chapter 1
Lesson from case study in the textbook:
-social context in which people live can impact their lives
-context provides meaning to behaviour (move from informal settlement to suburbs),
it is the interpretive canvas against which individual and collective behaviour can be
better understood.
- Community Psychology approach built on prevention, promotion, empowerment
and community participation can extend possible interventions to multifaceted
remedial and preventive interventions at several levels -> not only to solve problems
What is Community Psychology?
- Community: people coming together
- Psychology: traditionally concerned with the health of the individual
- Above two concepts are integrated to focus on the study of interaction between
individuals at multiple levels: family, networks of friends, workplace, school,
neighbourhood and social contexts in which people live
-Individual must be understood in terms of these relationships, not in isolation from
Them
-Community Psychology: specialised field that applies to, and interacts with, all
basic areas of psychological knowledge (Social Psychology, Group Dynamics,
Personality Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Critical Psychology -> different
subfields of psychology)
- Community Psychology practice draws on research, intervention principles and the
skills perfected during psychological training
Definitions of Community Psychology
- Community Psychology: concerned with understanding people in the context of
their communities, using a variety of interventions (including prevention, health
promotion and social action) to facilitate change and improve mental health and
social conditions for individuals, groups, organisations and communities
- Approach to understanding and solving community, organisational and societal
problems by applying well-established psychological principles and techniques to
improve wellbeing and effectiveness at the individual, organisational and community
levels, considering values of social justice, inclusiveness and participation, diversity,
collaboration and focus on strengths
-Studies the relationship of individuals with communities and societies
- Integrates research with action, seeks to understand and enhance quality of life for
individuals, communities and societies
-Value-driven, action-oriented field, focused on reducing oppression and supporting
individual, group and collective wellbeing
-Shifts perceptions of psychology away from narrow, intrapsychic theories towards a
holistic appreciation of the complexity of human beings in their contexts
-About working for social change through processes of critical engagement with
people about matters that affect their communities
-Provides a holistic view of mental health, instead of focusing only on individual
positive resilience, wellbeing and adaptation; it focuses on the individual and the
individual's context
-Contributes to improving quality of life by enabling individuals in communities to take
responsibility for, and control their own, mental health within their own specific
,contacts, while considering the interactions between individuals and with the different
levels in their contexts
-Co-facilitation of ideas and indigenous best practice in addressing some of the
psychosocial issues we face
-Agent for change in embracing a sense of community in this melting pot of cultu we
call home
-Study of social, cultural, political, historical and international forces on the wellness -
Agent for change in embracing a sense of community in this melting pot of cultures
we call home
- Study of social, cultural, political, historical and international forces on the wellness
of individuals within their interrelational contexts (family life, work life) of functioning,
with the aim of social emancipation and flourishing
- Key characteristics:
• Social relevance: refers to socially responsive psychological praxis that deals with
the real issues people experience eg. AIDS/HIV/child abuse
• Ecological conceptualisation: people's behaviour is understood in a different way in
terms of the complex interaction with their social and physical environments (eg.
Certain behaviour is appropriate to being in church/lecture)
• Action-orientated to promote health, quality of life and wellbeing: uses
psychological principles and techniques to prevent problems (rather than treating
them after they arise) and promotes healthy functioning for all members of a
community; makes psychological knowledge useful to ordinary people for developing
resources and achieving social change (eg, informing people of diabetes)
Value-driven: promotes values of social justice and collaboration (eg,
community not tolerating crime or pollution)
-Practised in diverse formats, ranging from public health large-scale community
interventions to more critical iterations that bear a social justice, liberator agenda
-Subdiscipline of psychology
-Critical liberatory approach to psychology, as well as one that focuses on ethical
values such as social justice, paying attention to difference, prevention, systemic
frameworks, empowerment and participation
- Provides a lens with which the discipline of Psychology may be evaluated with
respect to social justice
- Focuses on interaction between individual and community, as well as on the
community characteristics, culture and processes that influence the lives of people
- Aims to enhance quality of life through various intervention strategies
-Social Psychology studies the interaction of people, but doesn't have a strong focus
on interventions aimed at improving conditions
- Sociology focuses mainly on the study of community processes, without the
emphasis on individuals and their complex interactions with the social structure
- Social Work focuses more on changing the immediate conditions in which people
live and on supporting legal processes
** differences between community psychology and mainstream psychology
Definition of community
-Refer to people in a specific geographical area and time, a social system, a
construction of a way of life, a socio-political organisation
, - History of South Africa, concept of community was given a specific racial
connotation
During apartheid, community was used to emphasise the differences between
various racial groupings and that each group has its own distinct culture
- Used by Black Consciousness movement to strengthen a sense of solidarity am
black people
- Concept of community thus came to be interpreted as being located in black
townships
- As a result of this, Community Psychology is often understood as working with
disadvantaged, mainly black people
-Concept of community can thus be potentially problematic because it has the
potential to recall apartheid terminology and can create the notion of homogenous or
unified communities
Community as a location
-Traditionally, community= group of people in geopolitical and physical area
-Boundaries demarcate the periphery of neighbourhoods, cities and states and are
easily identified on a map
-Interpersonal relationships in communities based on proximity and shared
experiences
-Community defined in terms of a geographical area can be described with regard to
the following:
• Demographic characteristics: social characteristics of residents in area
(gender social class, family life cycle)
• Land us and quality of housing: development in the area (high density
housing, informal settlements, large farms)
• Infrastructure or formal organisations: planned development of organisations
(schools, shops, churches)
Community as a network of social relationships
- Essential functions of community (socialisation, role fulfilment, goal achievement,
support) are achieved by interacting in groups
- Community: network of relationships, where people share some common
characteristics or values and interests (eg. Uni all students want to get a degree)
- People in social networks need not live in the same geographical area, but can
work together or belong to a social organisation or have virtual contact
- Person feels part of a community if the following characteristics are present:
• Membership: feeling of belonging to a group (sense of community)
• Influence: extent of mutual influence between the person and the group
• Fulfilment of needs: sharing of values and resources in the group in order to satisfy
individual needs
• Shared emotional connection: feeling connected through shared emotional
experiences
- Community may be considered as a social system, with its interacting members
comprising various subsystems within the community
- Subsystems are both interrelated and interdependent as they interact with one
another
Community as a construction of a way of life
