Community Psychology, 1: History and Principles Flashcards
Eysenck’s research: Psychotherapy effectiveness
Eysenck found that many people on a waiting list improved without therapy, at a statistically equivalent rate to those in therapy. Many previous assertions about the effectiveness of therapy were based on anecdotes, or qualitative studies conducted without comparison groups.
Zeitgeist
German: “the spirit of the times”
Definitions of community psychology - Kloos (2011):
“a different way of thinking about human behavior, with a focus on the community contexts of behavior, it expans the topics for psychological study and intervention.”
Kurt Lewin / Situationism
Lewin, a forerunner of social psychology, is notable for his early emphasis on the interaction of both the person and the person and the environment as determining behavior.
Staffing as an example of the power of context
The level of staffing is related to how new members are treated. In overstaffed environments, they are more likely to be treated as unwelcome, seen as unneeded persons competing for dwindling opportunities. In understaffed situations, more welcoming behaviors are likely to be extended to newcomers.
Setting control
An example of the power of context recognized in learning theory/behaviorism. Setting control refers to cues in the environment that signal which learned associations are currently operative.
Adaptive capacity
An ecological principle stating that individuals with a greater ability to cope with environmental stressors are more likely to survive and more likely to spread across diverse environments.
Therapy or prevention?
Community psychologists emphasize preventative measures, because psychotherapy is expensive and not accessible everywhere.
Community
Persons’ interdependent activities and relationships at multiple interacting levels, e.g., families, neighborhoods, organizations, associations, towns, cities, nations, etc.
Psychological Sense of Community
A measurable attribute of persons consisting of their sense of involvement in group decisions, membership, and emotional bonds.
Secondary vs tertiary prevention
Secondary prevention aims to prevent a problem, at the first sign of onset, from becoming a serious or persistent problem. Tertiary pprevention addresses a problem that is established and aims to minimize its harmful effects. It is most similar to traditional therapy.
Effectiveness of primary prevention
Primary prevention efforts to reduce the onset of psychological problems have been shown effective in several meta-analyses.
Blaming the victim
Finding explanations for traumatic events in the victims behavior or attributes; it helps people (including sometimes the victims) cope by maintaining their ‘belief in a just world’.
Most common research design in the American Journal of Community Psychology
Quasi experimental (a design that has different comparison groups, without random assignment).
Four elements of the Sense of Community
Membership (belonging), Influence (the person’s input matters), Integration (the community helps fulfill the person’s needs), Emotional Connection (sharing existence with others).
