Community psychology

"[9] In 1987, the American Journal of Community Psychology published a special issue to commemorate the creation of the discipline.

[10] James Kelly (1966; Trickett, 1984) developed an ecological analogy used to understand the ways in which settings and individuals are interrelated.

Community psychology emphasizes principles and strategies of preventing social, emotional and behavioral problems and wellness and health promotion at the individual and community levels, borrowed from Public health and Preventive medicine, rather than a passive, "waiting-mode," treatment-based medical model.

Community psychology's contributions to prevention science have been substantial, including development and evaluation of the Head Start Program.

One definition for the term is "an intentional, ongoing process centered in the local community, involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring, and group participation, through which people lacking an equal share of resources gain greater access to and control over those resources" (Cornell Empowerment Group).

[17] Rappaport's (1984) definition includes: "Empowerment is viewed as a process: the mechanism by which people, organizations, and communities gain mastery over their lives.

Riger (1993), for example, points to the paradoxical nature of empowerment being a masculine, individualistic construct being used in community research.

Research in community psychology focuses on methods to increase individual wellness, particularly through prevention and second-order change.

[2] Citizen participation refers to the ability of individuals to have a voice in decision-making, defining and addressing problems, and the dissemination of information gathered on them.

[23] Citizen participation in policymaking has a long history and has been particular strong in neighborhood action and poverty programs, and other activist-led initiatives.

By allowing communities to use their knowledge to contribute to projects in a collaborative, fair and equal manner, the process of research can itself be empowering to citizens.

Methods from psychology have been adapted for use in the field that acknowledge value-driven, subjective research involving community members.

[2] The American psychological Association has sponsored two major conferences on community research methods[29][30] and has recently published an edited book on this topic.

Further, students will generally find niches under faculty mentors at their institutions related to local programs, organizations, grants, special populations, or social issues of interest—granting students the chance to have practice doing the work of a community psychologist, under the supervision of a faculty member.