What does a community psychology student learn?

Blog

We invite Community Psychologists and those engaged in community work to write or re-post their ideas and stories from their work.

Voices of the Youth Climate Justice Movement

Posted in: Blog, Environment
Published in: The Community Psychologist
How do youth view and categorize success? How do they deal with the burnout and frustration that inevitably comes when those most interested in changing the status quo have the least power to fix it? We explore questions regarding youth climate justice successes and challenges, posing them within an intersectional framework.

Community Reclamation through Urban Gardening as a Liberatory Praxis

Posted in: Blog, Environment
Published in: The Community Psychologist
Land reclamation can empower communities, reconnect people to land, and grow towards community liberation and autonomy. Communities are able to partake in revolutionary acts of autonomy and reclamation through the actions of physically reclaiming land in urban landscapes by eradicating colonizer plants with those plants that are Indigenous to their environments.

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
Published in: The Community Psychologist
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 […]

Don’t Throw It Away – Give It Away: Recycling Electronic Tech to Underserved Communities

Posted in: Blog, Poverty and Socioeconomic Status
Published in: The Community Psychologist
Increasing technology access for all is a crucial issue affecting vulnerable populations. Specific interventions focused on increasing access to knowledge about technology, technological skills and development, and technological infrastructure are important for creating a more socially just world and workforce.

Militarism is a Form of Slavery: Community Psychologists take Notice

Posted in: Blog, Veterans
Published in: The Community Psychologist
Psychologists must choose peace over militarism. Militarism wastes funds that should go to public health and puts the world in danger. Psychologists must prioritize addressing racism and discrimination across the world and in their own work settings, organizations and structures.

Rock on! Heavy Metal Therapy Dispels Myths and Provides Support

Posted in: Blog
Online Community Psychology projects for people in alternative subcultures can be effective sources of peer support and promote community action. Heavy Metal Therapy can 1) Provide a forum for support and discussion for listeners who may be struggling with mental health, 2) Improve understanding by sharing ideas and research about the role of metal music […]

How I Used Community Psychology Values to Foster State-Level Change

Posted in: Blog, Public Policy
Published in: The Community Psychologist
Community Psychology aims to use research and action to promote positive change at the individual and systemic levels. Here is how I used Community Psychology values to help influence two major Michigan initiatives.

Were We Critical Friends? Working with Values in Research

Posted in: Blog
Published in: The Community Psychologist
Those working in program delivery often do not have the time to devote to learning new critical frameworks. A more scaffolded approach can make teachable moments by which critical reflection can become a part of the work the organisation does.

Establishing Environmentally Sustainable Practices through Community Engagement: A “Greener” Approach to the “Wicked Problems” of Industrialization

Posted in: Blog, Environment
Published in: The Community Psychologist
We can change our own individualistic lifestyle and adapt a more community-oriented and prosocial approach to environmentally sustainable behavior.

What Does a Community Psychology Student Learn?

Posted in: Blog, History of Community Psychology
Crucial concepts in the field from a Community Psychologist teaching the subject.