Week 12 Review - Community Psychology Flashcards
What is Community Psychology?
An applied area of psychology which seeks to understand human behaviour within the multiple ecological, historical, cultural, and sociopolitical contexts in which individuals interact.
Community psychology is a shift away from the broader field of psychology’s individual internal, cognitive, and nuclear family focus and rather seeks to incorporate the role of multiple social systems and structures in human functioning.
Seeks to change systems rather than individuals
What does a community psychologist do?
work to promote the wellness of whole communities.
use a scientific foundation to better understand the multiple influences of the social environment on health and wellness
use action-oriented research to develop, implement, and evaluate programs.
work by building collaborative relationships with community members, groups, and organizations to solve social problems.
analyze government, public systems, and workplace settings in order to understand and improve just and diverse participation.
committed to work to reduce social inequalities, and work with marginalized people toward their empowerment and to enhance their access to political, economic, and psychological resources.
What is first order change?
focus is on individual not environment and does not address root cause of problem
What is Second Order Change?
Action at environment or structural level, affects broader community, changes prevents problem occurring in the future
What is a Microsystem in the Exological Systems Framework?
Relationships with direct impact on individual e.g. parent-child, teacher-child, family dynamics, university peers, neighbours, work colleagues, your GP etc
What is an organisation in the Ecological Systems Framework?
The contexts in which these microsystem relationships take place e.g. School, University, Workplace, Community organisations, Health care settings
What is a locality in the Ecological Systems Framework?
The geographical context of these organisations which has social economic, resource access implications e.g. rural, urban, your suburb, town or city, state and Nation.
What is a Macrosystem in the Ecological Systems Framework?
The cultural, political, and social factors that shape your experience through their influence on these interrelated systems.
What are some core values of community psychology?
Individual and family wellness Sense of community Respect for diversity Social justice, empowerment, and participation Collaboration and community strengths
What is Distributive Justice?
fair access to resources
What is Procedural Justice?
equal treatment and participation in collective decision making, Citizen participation and self determination
The notion of a Psychological Sense of Community was first described by the community psychologist Sarason (1974).
This construct was devised to capture the feeling people experience when they perceive themselves as having an interdependent connection with a broader community outside themselves.
The notion of a Psychological Sense of Community was first described by the community psychologist Sarason (1974).
This construct was devised to capture the feeling people experience when they perceive themselves as having an interdependent connection with a broader community outside themselves.
McMillan and Chavis (1986) further developed the theory to capture 4 key dimensions necessary to the development of a strong sense of community
Membership, Influence, Integration/fullfillment of needs, and a shared emotional connection.
Membership in Sense of Community Theory
involves clear boundaries regarding who is in and who is out of the specific community, emotional safety derived from being a valued member of the community, a sense of belonging, and that members contribution to the community is valued by others
