actually study these Flashcards
individualistic vs structural
ex: homelessness/poverty
Individualistic beliefs attribute poverty to the poor people themselves (personal problems) like lack of ability, effort, and morals.
Structuralist beliefs locate the causes in the social and economic systems (social problems) like lack of opportunities, discrimination, and exploitation of poor people.
first order change
Alters, rearranges, or replaces the individual members of a group
Ex: Volunteering at a local homeless shelter
only individual attempts to make a change
can be reversed or stopped
second order change
Changing those relationships, especially changing shared goals, roles, rules, and power relationships
ex: making sure there is more affordable housing available in a community
- irreversible
- changing the social systems that contribute to problems
- larger scale
ecological levels
levels of analysis
- microsystems
- localities
- organizations
- macrosystems
microsystems
environments in which the person repeatedly engages in direct personal interaction with others; families, classrooms, friendship, athletic teams, etc → individuals form interpersonal relationships, assume social roles, and share activities
localities
have governments, local economies, media, systems of social, educational and health services, and other institutions that influence individual quality of life; neighborhood or town
organizations
larger than microsystems and have formal structure: title, mission, policies, work times
macrosystems
largest level of analysis; exercise influence through policies and specific decisions; societies, cultures, political parties, social movements, corporations, labor unions, government, etc
linking science
when community psychology looks for relationships among factors across micro to macro levels of analysis to construct a more comprehensive understanding of what can influence an individual’s health and well- being
linking practice
when community psychology brings together multiple stakeholders, some of whom are often overlooked, to address community issues
blaming the victim
by William Ryan → 1971 book
- Questioned whether researchers, policymakers or others who have never directly experienced a social problem have the best viewpoint for analyzing it
top-down approaches
Reflect the life experiences, worldviews, and interests of the powerful and usually preserve the existing power structure
Overlook the strengths of a community
bottom-up approaches
Reflect attempts by ordinary people to assert control over their everyday lives
Reflect the experiences and ideas of people most affected by a community or social problem
participant observation
The method of choice for a researcher seeking maximum insider knowledge and depth of experience in a community
Ex: walking dog and interacting with dog walkers because you want to study dog walkers
Ex: interested in studying gangs so you join one
strengths and limitations to participant observation
Strengths
- Uses the research-community relationship and affords thick description of many aspects of community life
Limitations
- The focus on one setting necessarily means that generalizability to other settings is a problem
- Concerns for whether the researcher’s experiences and records are representative of the setting and its dynamics
qualitative interviewing
Interviewing a sample of individuals; interview is often open-ended ro minimally structured to prompt participants’ describing their experiences in their words
strengths and limitations to qualitative interviewing
Strengths
Allows flexible exploration of the phenomenon of interest and discovery of aspects not anticipated by the researcher
Based in a strong relationship
Limitations
Insights developed from interviews are less direct than those from participant observation
focus groups
An interview with a group
Generates thick description and qualitative information in response to questions or discussion topics possessed by a moderator
strengths and limitations to focus groups
Strengths
- Researchers can structure discussion and learn about topics of interest and personal experiences of others more easily than with participant observation
- Allow greater access to shared knowledge and mutual discussion
Limitations
- Focus group moderator has less flexibility to ask for elaboration, control changes of topic, or learn about individuals in depth than an interview of individuals
case studies
Usually conducted on individuals in clinical psychology
Can study an individual in relation to the settings in that person’s life
strengths and limitations to case studies
Strengths
Excellent for understanding the nuances of control, social, or community contexts
Limitations
Generalizability of findings to other settings is uncertain
randomized experiments
participants are randomly assigned to experimental or control groups
strengths and limitations of randomized experiments
Strengths
With greater control over confounding factors, researchers can make more confident interpretations of its effects
Limitations
Experiments require substantial prior knowledge of the context to propose social innovations
nonequivalent comparison group designs
Used whenever assignment to experimental or comparison condition is something other than random
strengths and limitations of nonequivalent comparison group designs
Strengths
Practical and less intrusive than randomized experiments
Limitations
Control of confounding factors is much weaker
interrupted time-series design
involves repeated measurement over time of a single case
strengths and limitations of interrupted time-series design
Strengths
Practical; afford understanding of change over time in a specific context
Limitations
Number and timing of measurements in the baseline and experimental periods
risk factors
Characteristics of individuals and situations that are thought to increase the likelihood that a person will experience problematic outcomes, such as personal distress, mental disorders, or behavioral; problems
protective factors
Provide resources for coping and often represent strengths of persons, families, and communities
spirituality and coping
Strategies most related to positive outcomes:
- The perception of a spiritual relationship with a trustworthy and loving God
- Activities such as prayer
Particularly important with stressful, largely uncontrollable situations
Related to positive coping outcomes, even beyond non-spiritual coping methods
Can be positive or negative
May be more useful for those with less access to secular sources of power and resources
snow’s investigation of cholera
Cholera Outbreak in London 1854
Outbreaks of cholera around London
127 people died near Broad Street within a few days
Dominant explanation
- Miasma Theory
- Held that soil polluted with waste products of any kind gave off a ‘miasma’ into the air, which caused many major infectious diseases of the day.
- “Bad air”
Dr. Snow (physician) talked with people in neighborhood and found that cholera came from Broad Street water pump
–> He had removed the pump and the epidemic started to disappear
resiliency
An individual’s capacity to adapt successfully and function competently despite exposure to stress, adversity, or chronic trauma
cumulative-risk hypothesis
This hypothesis recognizes that almost all children can deal with one risk factor in their lives without it increasing their risk of negative outcomes. Most children can handle two risk factors. But when you get up to four risk factors, the chances of a negative outcome increase exponentially. It is not the presence of risk in a child’s life that results in negative outcomes; it is the level of cumulative risk.
ordinary magic
Maston and Powell emphasize that resilience arises from this
While these individuals are facing extraordinary adversity, they overcome that adversity through resources and relationships that are part of normal, everyday life
