Counterspaces: Fostering Healthy Identity Development

Issues

We define community broadly and engage in communities of many kinds. Pieces are arranged topically and the list of issue topics is continually expanding.

Using a Community Based Participatory Approach to Develop Parent Education for Parents of LatinX Youth

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Education, Marginalized Groups | Tags: Featured Research
Researchers developed a curriculum to help parents and adolescents resist drugs and address risky behavior. A Community Based Participatory Approach accounted for multiple factors including the individuals, their environment, culture, and societal expectations.

Photograph used with permission from the author.

Touchy Topics Tuesday: An Interracial Dialogue Program Promotes Understanding

Posted in: Anti-Racism, Coalition Building | Tags: Featured Research
Published in: American Journal of Community Psychology
TTT participants engaged in behavioral shifts that can impact the racially segregated status quo. By understanding what motivates people to engage in groups like TTT, we can learn how to bring more people into discussion about racial justice.

Using PBIS to Lower Learning Distractions and Build Greater Organizational Health in Schools

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Education | Tags: Featured Research
Published in: Prevention Science
PBIS has shown effectiveness in Maryland elementary schools. The effectiveness of PBIS is higher in schools starting with lower organizational health scores. PBIS can be applied in other settings; but effectiveness is not yet known.

Intergenerational Care Programs and the Future of Rural Communities

Posted in: Aging, Children, Youth and Families | Tags: Featured Content
Published in: The Community Psychologist
Living in a rural area can come with various challenges. One of the greatest needs for children and older people in rural areas is access to essential services such as long-term care facilities and daycares. Intergenerational care facilities may be an option.

Suicidal Ideation in African American 9th and 10th Graders

Posted in: Anti-Racism, Children, Youth and Families | Tags: Featured Research
Published in: American Journal of Community Psychology
African-American adolescent suicide is a public health issue that stems from systemic racial inequities. A better understanding of how suicidal ideation manifests and the associated risk factors in African American youth helps inform more responsive and effective suicide prevention efforts.

Taking a Strengths-Based Perspective for Community-Level Interventions and Policies with Black Men

Posted in: Marginalized Groups | Tags: Featured Research
Published in: American Journal of Community Psychology
There is a gap in the research on the social-structural and community resources that enhance the resiliency of young Black men in the United States. We must shift our focus to emphasize the strengths and environmental attributes that facilitate the positive development and health of young Black men.

Supports that White Mentors and BIPOC Mentees Need

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Marginalized Groups | Tags: Featured Research
Published in: American Journal of Community Psychology
There is often a mismatch between volunteer mentors’ backgrounds and the diverse youth they serve. Anti-racism training and applying a social justice framework throughout the mentor-mentee relationship may be important to their success.

Immigrants Who Actively Participate in Receiving Communities have Better Mental Health

Posted in: Marginalized Groups, Sense of Community | Tags: Featured Content
Published in: American Journal of Community Psychology
Active community participation is positively associated with a sense of community and adding value which, in turn, increases immigrant wellbeing. Supporting organizations in their outreach to immigrants and promoting their active engagement in the community can contribute to support immigrant mental health.

Including Clinical Psychologists in Assertive Community Treatment Teams

Posted in: Healthcare
ACT Teams provide therapeutic mental health and substance use assessments and interventions. Data supports the integration of clinical psychologists into ACT teams to enhance capacity and provide equitable services. Policy makers and healthcare administrators can include psychologists into ACT teams as a first step to addressing barriers to accessing mental health care.

Counterspaces: Fostering Healthy Identity Development

Posted in: Anti-Racism, Education, Marginalized Groups, Sense of Community | Tags: Featured Content
Published in: American Journal of Community Psychology
The Cultural Identity Project facilitated a space where students spoke to their own empowering actions developing from critical awareness, healing, and solidarity. People with power in any system must work to uproot oppression for spaces to live up to their potential.