Research

Issues

Research

Research within the field of Community Psychology seeks to systematically understand and promote health and empowerment. Research in the field also works to prevent problems in communities, groups, and individuals.

Why Chatting with your Best Friend about how much Fun you had at the Party is Good for You and Your Community’s Health

Posted in: Mental Health | Tags:
Published in:
How much people experience and share positive experiences varies day-to-day.and translating these experiences to resilient cognition differs person-to-person.

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Is it Any of Our Business? How Religious Leaders Understand and Respond to IPV

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Criminal Justice | Tags:
Published in:
Silence surrounding interpersonal violence among church leaders is referred to as the “holy hush.”

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Photograph of urban housing

How Does Exposure to Violence During Adolescence Impact Future Orientation?

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Mental Health | Tags:
Published in:
submitted by A. Simons-Rudolph Exposure to violence (ETV) is associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes including mental distress, suicidal ideation, problematic behaviors, and substance abuse. Individuals with regular exposure to violence may be at higher risk of hopelessness and more likely to avoid consideration of the future in a positive way. Up to […]

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Photograph of unopened rape kits

Untested Rape Kits…Why?

Posted in: Criminal Justice | Tags:
A team of community psychologists, lead by Rebecca Campbell, conducted research to understand why 11,000 sexual assault kits were warehoused and untested in Detroit. Their work has influenced how police departments handle sexual assault kits across the United States.

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Photograph of a woman in a field

Letting Go: Why It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye (to our interventions)

Posted in: Prevention Science | Tags: ,
Published in:
McKay and colleagues identify criteria to decide whether to de-implement an intervention and provide structure for how that de-implementation can happen.

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Preventing Human Trafficking Using Data-driven, Community-based Strategies

Posted in: Public Policy, Violence Prevention | Tags:
A 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 […]

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You Can MAKE Better Mentors

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Marginalized Groups | Tags:
submitted by Amy J. Anderson and Bernadette Sánchez Many low-income youth and youth of color experience inequity in schools, neighborhoods and other communities. This may be attributable to adult biases within these settings. These biases may be heightened when the adult and youth do not share similar social identities, such as ethnicity, gender, or socio-economic status. […]

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Photograph of a younger woman reading with an older woman

Is Community Psychology “Forever Young”? Noting and Addressing the Lack of Community Psychologists in Communities of Aging

Posted in: Aging, History of Community Psychology | Tags:
Published in:
submitted by Elizabeth Kirkwood Between the years 2005 to 2050, the global population of older persons (over age 65) is expected to increase 113%. In continents such as Asia and Africa, the increase is expected to exceed 268% and 307%, respectively. Considering women constitute a majority of the aging population, they may be at an […]

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Photograph of a youth and his coach

Natural Mentoring is Good for ALL Youth

Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Mental Health | Tags:
Published in:
Natural mentors can promote a sense of belonging and prosocial behavior in youth and may be more easily implementable than formalized mentorships.

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How We Can Promote “Citizenship” in Communities

Posted in: Marginalized Groups, Mental Health, Public Policy | Tags:
Published in:
If 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.

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