What is Community Psychology?
Social justice. Action-oriented research. Global in nature. Influencing public policy. Working for empowerment. Multidisciplinary in focus. Celebrating culture. Preventing harm. Behavior in context. Social action. Supporting community strengths. Reducing oppression. Promoting well-being. Scientific inquiry. Honoring human rights. Respecting diversity.
Community psychology goes beyond an individual focus and integrates social, cultural, economic, political, environmental, and international influences to promote positive change, health, and empowerment at individual and systemic levels.
Featured Research
Untested Rape Kits…Why?
Posted in: Criminal Justice | Tags: Featured ResearchIn 2009, approximately 11,000 sexual assault kits (also called “rape kits”) were found in a remote police property storage facility in Detroit, Michigan. The vast majority of these kits had never been tested by a crime laboratory for forensic DNA evidence. This meant that about 11,000 rape victims had sexual assault kits collected at a […]
Preventing Human Trafficking Using Data-driven, Community-based Strategies
Posted in: Public Policy, Violence Prevention | Tags: Featured Research, ResearchA policy brief developed by the Research-to-Policy Collaboration with support from the Society for Community Research and Action. Approximately 40 million people worldwide, including many in the United States, are estimated to be victims of human trafficking — a form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to control both adults […]
The Effects of Deportation on Families and Communities
Posted in: Aging, Children, Youth and Families, Criminal Justice, Marginalized Groups, Public Policy | Tags: Featured ResearchPublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyThe Effects of Deportation on Families and Communities A Policy Statement by the Society for Community Research and Action: Division 27 of the American Psychological Association[1] Prepared by: Regina Day Langhout, University of California at Santa Cruz, Sara L. Buckingham, University of Alaska at Anchorage, Ashmeet Kaur Oberoi, University of Miami, Noé Rubén Chávez, City […]
Letting Go: Why It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye (to our interventions)
Posted in: Prevention Science | Tags: Featured ResearchPublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyNothing lasts forever. De-implementation is the process by which health promotion and prevention-oriented interventions end. How do you know when it is the right time to say sayonara? It can be hard to know when a trusted intervention has run its course. McKay and colleagues identify criteria to decide whether to de-implement and provide structure […]
How We Can Promote “Citizenship” in Communities
Posted in: Marginalized Groups, Mental Health, Public Policy | Tags: Featured Research, ResearchPublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyIf we return to the definition of citizenship as a sense of belonging to a group, we gain an understanding of “community” as more broad than simple geographical proximity, membership, or identification with a group.
Featured New Content
Living Community Psychology-Louis Brown
Posted in: Inspiration | Tags: Featured ContentPublished in: The Community PsychologistFor this installment, we feature Louis Brown of El Paso, Texas. Louis’ original focus, starting in graduate school, was on mental health self-help consumer groups, but his eventual move to a heavily Latino population on the U.S.-Mexico border and to a school of public health, have led to a broadened perspective, to multiple health-related issues, […]
Psychedelics in Recovery
Posted in: Self Help | Tags: Featured ContentPublished in: The Community PsychologistTN: What is the Psychedelics in Recovery group and how does it run? KF: Psychedelics in Recovery (PIR) is a syncretic organization adapting elements of Twelve Step Fellowships (TSFs), most notably: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA), to attract members looking to incorporate the psychedelic experience as part […]
