Community Psychology

Question 1

define community psychology

Answer 1

An emerging branch of applied psychology concerned with understanding people in the context of their communities, using a variety of interventions, to facilitate change and improved mental health and social conditions for individuals, groups, organisations and communities.

Question 2

in community psychology what is regarded as a community

Answer 2

Communities aren’t always geographic: simply refer to groups who have something in common e.g. a religion, economic status, mental disorder etc.

Question 3

what is the main aim of CP

Answer 3

to facilitate change. Addressing associated social and political factors.
“Two central goals of community psychology are (a) the elimination of oppressive social conditions conducive to problems in living and (b) the promotion of wellness

Question 4

name the 3 reasons for the origins of CP

Answer 4

As a reaction to mainstream psychology
2.Also as a contextual response in the USA
3.As a contextual response in SA

Question 5

explain the origins of CP as a reaction to mainstream psychology

Answer 5

CP arose due to a disenchantment with mainstream psychology. May were dissatisfied with its progress.
Particularly critical of the medical model and its decontextualized view of mental illness
Recognition of the limitations of traditional approaches. “community psychologists began to question the value of helping individuals when so many societal structures were inimical to
human welfare. This realization led to calls for social change
Illness is seen as within the individual, who is seen as disordered or deviant in some
way.
- Social, political, and economic factors not taken into account.
- Individuals are instead hospitalised for long periods of time and given invasive
treatments.
- Wanted to improve the well being not only of individuals, but of society as a whole.
Influenced by the success in the field of Public Health. E.g. addressing the cause of Cholera (providing safe drinking water) instead of just treating the symptoms
-Thus saw the importance of addressing the causes and preventing the onset of mental
problems rather than just focusing on treatments
Need to move away from the over-emphasis on individualized therapies and treatments. Aren’t suggesting that such treatments should be completely replaced.
Also a move away from institutionalization towards community-based mental healthcare
-Community Mental Health Act of 1963 = first federal law to encourage community-based mental health care.
- But such programs still used clinical approaches linked to the medical model.

Question 6

explain the origins as a contextual response in the usa

Answer 6

_Rise of community psychology (CP) as a sub-discipline in the 1960s in North America was linked to broader socio-political context of that time – anti-psychiatry movement and socio-political changes.
-An era of social reform. Saw the rise of the civil rights movement, the war on poverty, gender rights etc. Foregrounded value principles such as equality, social action and social justice.
-There was a call for service providers to become political or social activists, rather than remaining silent on issues effecting mental health.
-Empirical studies emerged providing evidence of the relationship between environmental variables and mental health.
-Led to an increasingly critical view of the utility, efficacy and relevance of individual therapeutic modalities.
-Influence and emergence of public health as a discipline gave rise to greater focus on
preventative interventions rather than curative or ameliorative ones

Question 7

explain the origins of CP as a contextual response in SA

Answer 7

CP developed as part of a broad social resistance to the oppressive social engineeringassociated with apartheid.
Early 1980s: academic psychologists first publicly opposed racial disparities in SA society and psychology’s failure to acknowledge or respond to these social conditions.
Also criticised the field of psychology for being complicit in apartheid. Used biased research to support racial regimes, among other things.
Mainstream psychology was also criticised for its exclusive focus on the individual as source of pathology and the object of psychological intervention, in line with the anti-psychiatry movement
OASSSA established in 1983 – aimed to make psychology more accessible and relevant to the needs of the community; recognises the link between politics and mental health; emphasised
the negative impact of apartheid on mental health.
Several groups of psychologists started providing services to victims of political violence and torture.
NGOs also played a crucial role in the development of CP in SA.
Transition to a democratic regime in 1994 brought major changes to SA psychology.
- Upsurge of community interventions and research projects aimed at social
transformation and improving service delivery.
Universities began offering courses on CP. Newly trained psychologists had to complete 1 year of community service.
Psychologists began applying themselves to pressing social and mental health issues such as violence, trauma, child development and substance abuse.
There’s still a need to focus on training psychologists, critically reflecting on psychology’s complicitous role in apartheid, adapting theories, and finding alternative ways of thinking about arelevant psychology for SA.

Question 8

explain what the mental health model (MHM) is

Answer 8

One of the earliest models on which CP interventions were based.
Differs from mainstream psychological models which focus on the individual or family unit. CP instead focuses on the broader community or population.
Many psychosocial problems are distributed across large segments of the population. These problems frequently emerge from similar contexts and are considered to be primed by similar
risk or ‘causative’ factors.
Focus on prevention (averting the development of psychological problems) – in contrast to mainstream approaches which only intervene afterwards.
Need to use our understanding of these contexts and risk factors to help larger groups of people.
Based on Caplan’s types of prevention

Question 9

according to Caplan 1964 what are the 3 types of intervention

Answer 9

primary
Secondary
tertiary

Question 10

explain Caplan’s (1964) primary intervention

Answer 10

Primary
>Aimed at preventing the occurrence of an event Identify risk factors and develop interventions for the entire population (before the disorder appears)
>Aims to reduce the incidence of disorders
Usually targets the whole population.

Question 11

explain Caplan’s (1964) secondary intervention

Answer 11

Aims to identify disorders in the early stages to reduce the severity or influence the outcome of a disorder
Prevent the disorder from developing further
Usually selective: target high risk groups or those showing early signs of a disorder

Question 12

explain Caplan’s (1964) tertiary intervention

Answer 12

Aims to identify existing disorders to limit the impact and its recurrence
Not easily distinguishable from treatment
Usually also target high risk groups who are displaying symptoms

Question 13

name 4 limitations to the MHM

Answer 13

●Diagnoses can pathologise, stigmatise and lead to victim blaming
● The ‘root’ cause (e.g. social inequity, unemployment) isn’t addressed.
● Prevention doesn’t foreground social justice and social action that aims to transform social conditions that create and perpetuate oppression

Question 14

how did the social ecological model (sem) emerge

Answer 14

The social-ecological model emerged due to criticisms of MHM

Question 15

explain the social-ecological model

Answer 15

-Concept of ecology is used to understand interactions in social systems.
- Ecology = study of living organisms and their particular environment; understanding connections between environment, plants and animals.
-Similarly, SEM focuses on the interaction between the person and the environment.
-Assumes behavior is the result of the interaction between individuals and the contexts they are exposed to.
-According to Tricket (1996, p.213): “human activity does not develop in a social vacuum, but rather it is rigorously situated within a socio-historical and cultural context of meanings and relationships.”
-Changes in one part of the environment can lead to changes within individuals.
-Behaviour can be better understood if the context in which it takes place is understood.
-Psychological interventions should not only focus on individual behaviour but should also be introduced at broader levels of the social organisation e.g. changing norms, laws, policies, values.

Question 16

explain Bronfenbrenners theory of ecological system

Answer 16

The environment consists of a series of nested systems fitting into one another. The individual exists within layers of social relationships.
The individual lives in a constantly changing context influenced by changing relationships between individual-level contexts and the macro-context within which micro-contexts develop.
Four environmental systems are important in understanding individual behaviour:
1. Microsystem: the individual’s immediate system they’re a part of, and the people they have direct interactions with (usually everyday) e.g. family members, teachers.
2. Mesosystem: set of linkages between microsystems / settings in which they’re located e.g. groupings of people at home, schools, religious groups. Bronfenbrenner proposed that childhood development would be enhanced if the different mesosystem settings were strongly linked
3.Exosystem: Influences behaviour in microsystems despite the individual usually not having direct contact with them e.g. no direct contact with school boards or mass media.
4. Macrosystem: the large-scale societal factors that have an impact on people’s lives e.g. ideologies, government policies, culture, economic trends, gender roles.

> This image also reflects the layers of social relationships the individual exists within e.g. with family + friends (microlevel), school and religious groups (meso), social welfare + churches (exosystem), and culture and society (macrosystem).
Each layer impacts other layers in an interdependent way e.g. a neighborhood (mesosystem) impacting social welfare (exosystem) by protesting and drawing media attention (exosystem).
Aim to have a macro level impact.
Interventions addressing underlying causes of psychosocial problems should therefore address each of these systems

Question 17

explain how community psychology used SEM as a community intervention

Answer 17

-CP interventions addressing underlying causes of psychosocial problems based on SEM approach vary according to level being addressed. E.g. support groups (microlevel), community safety initiatives (mesolevel), changing norms (macrolevel).
Community interventions require a collaborative approach with community members.
- The community psychologist doesn’t enter the community as an expert. The members
provide the resources and energy to change.
-Goal of community-based interventions is to identify, manage and conserve resources to solve problems and enhance development to benefit the community as a whole

Question 18

name 4 key features and principles of community interventions

Answer 18

focus on interaction-Focusing on interaction is important as problems don’t originate inside people, but rather
through interaction within a context. Thus changes in context can contribute to
community wellbeing. Addressing the context is therefore the focus, not the individual. Must consider possible unintended negative consequences e.g. government prohibited smoking
and sale of alcohol during lockdown, but caused issues such as deprivation of coping
mechanisms

> focus on context-behaviour is context-specific, so interventions should be too. Must get to know the community well, and work collaboratively. Community will be involved in the development and implementation of the intervention

> focus on partnerships: linked with focus on context. The psychologist must respect the wisdom of the community. Must get to know them and their needs.

> building capacity:building resources in community or helping them build new resources.

> Must monitor and evaluate the interventions on an ongoing basis. Must look out for unintended consequences.

> Interventions must be flexible and able to respond to unexpected turns of events and
relationships

Question 19

what is the aim of critical community psychology

Answer 19

> to eliminate oppressive social conditions and promote wellness e.g, social inequities that exist in SA
prevention, promoting individual
well-being and ameliorative interventions
social justice and action
elimination of oppressive social conditions
In order for interventions to effect societies, they need to be implemented at the level of the exosystem and macrosystem, rather than meso and micro.

Question 20

Proponents of critical CP argue that in order for societal change which benefits everyone to occur, interventions must promote social justice and social action. can u provide an example of this

Answer 20

Fees Must Fall protests in SA universities which increased funding for students who
couldn’t afford fees.

Question 21

what should community psychology be aiming to do

Answer 21

●Transform the social conditions that create and perpetuate oppression, such as social inequities. “…we often deal with the casualties of unfair social policies instead of strengthening civic institutions” (Prilleltnesky, 2001, p.768).Shift the value of social justice from the background to the foreground, pushing the obsession with personal advancement from the foreground to the background (p. 757).
“At present, most programs and interventions focus on personal wellness by promoting coping skills and healthy behaviors. These are undoubtedly important, but there should
also be room in community psychology for social justice interventions at the political
level.”
● Not limit itself to meeting people’s basic needs on a charitable basis but rather be
committed to changing negative social conditions so that charity becomes obsolete.
● Expand the implementation of values from the group and neighbourhood contexts to the political context, so it’s not only specific communities who benefit.
● Direct efforts toward the long-term goal of making society more humane for everyone.

Question 22

what are the 7 values for the promotion of personal, collective and relational wellness

Answer 22

1. Self-determination: promoting the ability for people and groups to pursue their chosen goals in life, while considering other people’s needs. Needs of a group shouldn’t violate the needs of individuals.
2. Health: Promote the physical and emotional well-being of individuals and groups through acquisition of skills and behavioral change in consideration of structural and economic
   factors impinging on the health of the population at large.
3. Personal growth: Promote the personal growth of community members in consideration of vital community structures needed to advance individual health and self-actualization.
4. Social justice: Promote fair and equitable allocation of bargaining powers, resources,
   and obligations in society in consideration of people’s differential power, needs, and
   abilities to express their wishes.
5. Support for enabling community structures: Promote vital structures that meet the needs of entire communities in consideration of the risks of curtailing individual freedoms and fostering conformity and uniformity.
6. Respect for diversity: Promote respect and appreciation for diverse social identities and unique oppression in consideration of need for solidarity and risk of social fragmentation.
7. Collaboration and democratic participation: Promote peaceful, respectful, and equitable processes of dialogue whereby citizens have meaningful input into decisions affecting
   their lives, in consideration of the need to act for social justice and not just avoid
   conflicts. Must involve as many members of the community, or their leaders, in dialogues regarding social transformation.

Question 23

what is the role of the community psychologist with a critical CP approach

Answer 23

Work in collaboration with organisations and community members. Psychologist isn’t viewed as the expert.
engage in a broader range of activities related to social justice and social action.
Conducts research to draft policy recommendations e.g. social audit (important for campaigning for social change – highlights the magnitude of inequities).
Involved in the dissemination of data through media, workshops, consultations.
Programme monitoring and evaluation is also an important activity. Looks at whether
programmes are being delivered effectively and working as expected.
Holds the government
accountable.
Some take on the role of an ‘insider’ through participatory action research and implementing policies
Others take on the role of an ‘outsider’, not working as closely with community members.
Involved with advocacy and campaigning for rights.
Mobilising collective action to create the desired changes, such as through sit-ins, strikes, marches, protests, media campaigns.