Social Justice Through Collaborative Research and Action

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.

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Featured New Content

PAR and Photovoice: Using a Decolonized Lens Working with Communities

Posted in: Anti-Racism, Blog | Tags:
Published in:
Given the ubiquitous polarizing gap that has been dividing and driving U.S. political affairs, we have an opportunity to use participatory approaches and listen to those most impacted in innovative ways. Aspects of Participatory Action Research (PAR) can be utilized to support engagement, organizing, and conversations around community issues.

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Resisting State Sanctioned Violence: A Toolkit for Community Organizers

Posted in: Coalition Building, Marginalized Groups | Tags:
Published in:
Marginalized communities have long persisted in the work toward liberation despite continued state-sanctioned violence (SSV). We created a toolkit for organizers, community members, allies, and mental health professionals who want to build individual and community resilience while resisting SSV. We aimed to support marginalized communities through making psychological literature accessible and relevant to community-based through […]

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Photograph of Sindhia Colburn

Beyond Diversity Statements: Necessary Considerations for Designing Health Equity Approaches

Posted in: Anti-Racism, Blog, Healthcare | Tags:
Published in:
What does “anti-racism” look like in healthcare? It is early intervention, affordable, integrated, trauma-informed, and strengths-based.

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Figure 1: considerations for pronoun circles based on student input and trans scholarship related to the practice, with quotations related to the experience described or references to further discussions of the topic.

Drawing on the Experiences of Trans Students to Inform Pronoun Disclosure in Higher Education Settings

Posted in: Blog, Marginalized Groups | Tags:
Published in:
How pronouns are addressed can seriously impact a student’s well-being. I provide some considerations for how an instructor or mentor might approach pronoun disclosure with the goal of increasing comfort and decreasing coercion, based on the experiences of six trans undergraduate students who advised these recommendations through qualitative interviews and text submissions, and my own […]

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Brief Report: Analyzing Radical Self-Care Origins and Community Self-Care Practice

Posted in: Marginalized Groups, Self Help | Tags:
Published in:
It seems very normalized for Black women to make ultimate sacrifices to personal health and wellness for the betterment of others. Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, breast cancer, cervical cancer, fibroid tumors, premature birth rates, sickle cell disease, sexually transmitted diseases, and mental health issues are killing Black women in the United States at disproportionate rates. […]

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photograph of science equal compliance

The Great Replacement Theory: Linkage to The Possessive Investment in Whiteness

Posted in: Marginalized Groups | Tags:
Published in:
How do we begin to make sense out of these continuous attacks on Black and Brown bodies in America? We can decenter whiteness and move equity and inclusion to the forefront. by dismantling conspiracy theories and ideologies that seek to destroy and harm.

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Featured Research

Improving Health Equity Through Improving Data in Community Health Needs Assessments

Posted in: Healthcare | Tags:
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Hospitals, public health, and policy makers seek to reduce health disparities. Community Health Needs Assessments can be more representative of the population to ensure that the data used to make decisions includes populations with the greatest need.

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Indigenous Culture and Wellness: Healing and Wellbeing in the face of Colonization

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Marginalized Groups | Tags:
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Indigenous Peoples are revitalizing our culture and way of life, improving our ability to self-heal. When accounting for an individual’s cultural efficacy in our study, cultural engagement was related to lower levels of anxiety and was significantly related to flourishing mental wellbeing.

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Behavioral Health Screening Improves Provider Confidence to Holistically Serve Clients

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Healthcare, Violence Prevention | Tags:
A domestic violence shelter successfully launched a behavioral health screening program for adults and children who have experienced IPV. Offering behavioral health screening for families who have survived IPV can help determine concerns and get them the services they need to continue their healing journey.

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Photograph of two people sitting by a door

Importance of Social Supports to Resiliency for Youth

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Housing, Poverty and Socioeconomic Status | Tags:
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Informal supports are an important sources of resilience for low-income families who may be excluded from or are reluctant to engage with formal social systems. Social ties can help households withstand threats to their living arrangements and may be a powerful tool in disrupting pathways to behavior problems among teens.

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Bystanders Respond to Microaggressions to Develop Welcoming and Inclusive Workplaces

Posted in: Marginalized Groups | Tags:
Published in:
Repeated exposure to micro-aggressions can have a negative impact on psychological and physical health. Expanding collective organizational capacity to address bias in respectful ways (by promoting active bystanders) has been shown to have an empowering impact and to foster more equitable workplaces.

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Photograph of adult reading to child

Support for Evidence-Based Mentoring for Youth in Foster Care

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families | Tags:
Published in:
Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) is one of very few evidence-based youth mentoring interventions for youth in foster care. FHF has positive effects on youth in foster care and improves the mental health of children with varied relational histories.

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