Community Psychology Training Research Articles

Clinical Psychologists’ Experiences of “Community Service” in South Africa: Community-Based Service Learning and Primary Healthcare

Many South African master’s degree programmes in Clinical Psychology integrate community psychology training modules into the first year (M1) of the coursework. Such modules often incorporate community-based service learning (CBSL) to equip trainees for work in primary healthcare settings. After completing their M1 year, trainees complete a year’s internship (M2) in a psychiatric setting, followed by a mandatory third year of “community service”, before being able to register for independent practice. This raises questions about the preparation of trainees for this additional year, including its links with CBSL and the provision of primary healthcare. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical psychologists’ experiences of and settings for community service, and resonances with and contrasts to CBSL. The data were collected through an online survey accessing reflections of trainee clinical psychologists from five South African universities (n = 12), who had recently completed, or were currently completing, their community service. The data were analysed by template analysis. The resonances in the findings seem to be linked to the trainees’ relational and attitudinal skills and concepts related to community psychology, refined and applied during their M1 year. The contrasts in the themes illustrate the predominance of traditional clinical placements during community service, with their associated demands linked to dominant clinical practice. In conclusion, this study indicates that community service settings for clinical psychologists are seldom well linked to primary healthcare or based in community settings. Recommendations are made for CBSL in the M1 year and for expanding the settings of community service more widely into primary healthcare.

Dimensión Ética y Política en la Psicología Comunitaria: Análisis de la Formación Académica y la Praxis Profesional en Ecuador

The aim of this study was to analyze the meanings and assessments of ethics and politics articulated in the fields of academic training and professional praxis by students, teachers, professionals, and beneficiaries of community projects in Ecuador. This was done to enrich the debate being conducted by the Latin American Network of Training in Community Psychology (CP) regarding the limited presence, relevance, and development of the ethical and political dimensions in CP training programs and their impact on professional practice. This exploratory mixed methods study comprised the administration of semi-structured interviews to 5 teachers and 5 psychologists working in community projects along with the establishment of 2 focus groups in which 15 students took part and 5 focus groups in which 29 beneficiaries of community projects participated. In addition, the presence of the ethical and political dimensions in 25 curricula of 2 Ecuadorian universities was analyzed. A complementary analysis revealed that, both in the training process and in professional practice, teachers, students, professionals, and beneficiaries express nuclei of meanings and ethical and political assessments consistent with the foundations of CP, but they remain limited in terms of development and practical implementation, due to the insufficient degree of reflection on the subject and the immature state of the discipline in Ecuador. Therefore, the main challenge is to work on constructing the deontological dimension within CP, which should manifest itself through codes and guides to facilitate and orient both training processes and professional practice.

Practice of prevention training in community psychology

Practice of prevention training in community psychology

Community Psychology Practice Competencies: Some perspectives from the UK

Within global north spaces, the outcomes-based approach to programme delivery in higher education and the focus on accountability in professional training has increasingly led to calls for competency frameworks to be developed. However, the paradigm underpinning competencies as applied in higher education needs further examination. This paper aims to consider the technicist roots of the concept and the translation of derivatives of behavioral economics to critical community psychology. We distinguish competences from competency, noting the potential risks of a fragmentary approach and the mismatch between individually-based assessments and the participatory and egalitarian principles espoused by community psychology. Drawing from discussions and workshops with postgraduate students and community psychologists in the UK during early 2015, the contributions and distinctive nature of community psychology training in comparison with other disciplines will be highlighted. Proposals for alternative frameworks will be explored, emphasising the need for these to incorporate flexibility and diversity, and to be more holistic (rather than atomistic, as lists of competencies often are); with emphases on community-based rather than individualised principles and values. Consideration will also be given to capabilities that relate both to functions and to freedoms, and to more process-oriented qualities to enable ongoing development. The imperatives to foreground social justice and to enable reflexive thinking and action will be emphasised, leading to interactive and inclusive processes.

Reflections on the Future of Community Psychology from the Generations after Swampscott: A Commentary and Introduction to the Special Issue

This special issue commemorates the 50th anniversary of the founding of U.S. community psychology in Swampscott, Massachusetts in 1965. The issue includes commentaries from a cross-section of community psychologists educated in community psychology training programs established after Swampscott, in the 1970s or later. The contributors, who vary in their involvement in community-engaged research, training, and practice, offer a diverse set of perspectives on the field. Each was asked to reflect on the future of community psychology based on their own training and experiences. After providing some background to the Swampscott Conference and the era in which it took place, I offer a few of my own reflections on community psychology's future growth and development. I then introduce the 15 commentaries that follow.

La Formación Universitaria en la Psicología Comunitaria Chilena de Hoy: ¿Un Lugar Subalterno?

In order to identify and characterize the presence or absence of original values and ethical and political principles that typify the discipline in community psychology (CP) training, a qualitative research was designed considering the diversity of Chilean universities. Using structural sampling, individual interviews were conducted with 10 teachers of the discipline, 26 students participated in focus groups, and 51 CP curricula and 10 programs used in universities in the Metropolitan and Valparaiso regions were reviewed. By applying grounded theory methods and conducting a selective and inclusive analysis of all sources, an interpretive model accounting for the main results and their articulation was developed. The subordinate nature of CP in psychology training stands out, mainly due to the influence of the prevailing neoliberal model. Although ethical and political dimensions are regarded as essential, they remain at the discourse level; also, institutional and contextual factors interfere with them. The teacher-student dyad is a key facilitator of the incorporation of these dimensions in CP training. It is concluded that disciplinary training is eminently theoretical and lacks proper implementation in the communities themselves.

A Vision for the Future of Community Psychology Education and Training.

As we reflect on the founding vision of the field of community psychology in the United States, we assess our progress toward achieving, building upon, and refining this vision. We review early literature regarding the US vision of the field, provide a historical overview of education and training within the field, and provide recommendations to guide and strengthen our approach to education. Our recommendations include the following: 1) serve as a resource to communities, 2) promote a sense of community within our field, 3) diversify students, faculty, and leadership, 4) evaluate our efforts, 5) be current and relevant, 6) enhance the visibility and growth of our field, and 7) create globally minded and innovative CPists. We provide strategies for programs, faculty, linkages between researchers and practitioners, and the Society for Community Research and Action. We conclude that community psychology education and training continues to reflect the early vision; however, we believe we must make more intentional efforts to align with the mission and values of the field, and to engage in a critical analysis of our pedagogy. Enhancing and growing undergraduate and graduate education can facilitate the achievement of our goals to promote social justice, prevent and address social problems, and build community connections to become more effective, impactful, and global social change agents.

The process of the Community Psychologist training: Experiences in the Community Psychology nucleus (NUCOM)

ABSTRACTThis article presents the Community Psychology training concept created at the Community Psychology Nucleus (NUCOM), Federal University of Ceará (Brazil); mainly composed of university extension processes and their theoretical–methodological bases. Thus, university extension/cooperation emerges as a space to build new knowledge based on a cooperative perspective opposed to traditional anti-dialogical and hegemonic mechanisms. By evidencing the unabridged training of NUCOM’s graduate students, we seek to provide elements that will enable the comprehension of the learning concept present in daily relations constructed in extension activities. We also plan to socialize a way of thinking Community Psychology performance, whose reference is the people, with their needs and potentials, emphasizing them as the true subjects of psychological practice.

Community Psychology, Evaluation, and Social Critique

Community psychology blends psychological science, a community-level perspective on social issues, and a social justice orientation. Despite important difference between community psychology and program evaluation, program evaluation is a key component of many community psychologists’ practice and holds a central place in my own. In this essay, I reflect on the contributions of my community psychology training to my evaluation practice, which has centered on social justice issues primarily of HIV prevention and care and gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgender concerns in communities of color. I also highlight tension between being a community psychologist as an advocate of justice and as an evaluator.

Community Psychology Practice Competencies in Egypt: Challenges and Opportunities

The Society for Community Research and Action’s proposed competencies for community psychology practice are examined within the Egyptian context, specifically from the perspective of a Master’s program at The American University in Cairo. While this program integrates most of the competencies into the curriculum, thesis, and internship opportunities, the emphasis on various competencies may differ from programs in the United States because the program is situated within a different cultural and political climate. Many contextual factors impact competency training, including the current state of development work in Egypt, political considerations with implications for safety, the lack of a clear public policy process, and language as well as cultural differences. Sources of exposure, expertise, and experience for graduate students are discussed in regard to the five overarching competencies: foundational principles, community program development, community and organizational capacity-building, community and social change, and community research. The benefit of examining the competencies from an international perspective is also discussed. Keywords: community psychology, competencies, Egypt Within the field of community psychology, and in particular within the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA), there has been a growing body of literature aimed at establishing a set of competencies for community psychology training programs (Meissen & Hakim, 2011; Sarkisian & Jimenez, 2011; Thomas, Neill, & Robertson, 1997; Wolfe, 2011). The rationale for establishing these competencies includes creating concrete expectations of what skills will be learned in a particular program, educating communities about community psychology as a profession, and defining community psychology as a field (Berkowitz, 2009; Bond, Hostetler, Tran, & Haynes, 2012; Dziadkowicz & Jimenez, 2009; Stark, 2012; Wolff, 2009). While there has been some discussion regarding the applicability of community psychology competencies across international settings, specifically in Australia and New Zealand (Australian Psychological Society, 2010; University of Waikato School of Psychology, 2012), there is little information available on the appropriateness of these competencies for community psychology practice in other parts of the world. As faculty members at the American University in Both authors are Americans. At the time of this writing, the first author had lived in Egypt for three years and the second author for one year. Cairo (AUC), a private university in Egypt, we are in a unique position to contribute to this discussion of competencies. In this paper, we address the applicability of the proposed competencies to practice in Egypt. Additionally, we describe how we tried to build these competencies into our newly formed Master of Arts program in community psychology. There are many similarities between our program and those in the U.S. However, due to cultural differences and a changing political situation, we face unique challenges in terms of the freedom that we have to practice various competencies, and the relevance of particular competencies to the present context. By sharing our experience, we hope to contribute to the understanding of how these competencies are practiced in diverse contexts. Community Psychology in Egypt In Egypt, psychology is an underdeveloped and frequently misunderstood discipline (Mohamed, 2012), and community psychology is essentially unknown. The people who work in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based 3 Founded in 1919, AUC boasts as “the region’s premier English-language university” (see http://www.aucegypt.edu/about/Pages/defaul t.aspx). In 2012, AUC’s student population was 6,652, including both undergraduate and graduate students. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice Volume 4, Issue 4 December 2013

“Lo ético es transversal y cotidiano”: dimensiones éticas en la formación y práctica en psicología comunitaria

Community psychology has suffered huge transformations associated to a historical and contextual process in our country, involving a series of ethical issues which have not been dealt with both in training and deontological discipline. The aim of this research was to inquire the perception of students and professionals with respect to ethics in practice and training in community psychology. Our participants were Chilean experts, students in practice and students of two Master programs in community psychology with three data sources: Delphi panel (8 experts), in-depth interviews (7 master students), and focal groups (20 students in community practice). By applying the principles of the theory empirically based, data analysis showed the identifications of four topics: ethical notion, types of ethical situations, ethical training and deontology. Among the results, the simultaneous character of ethical dimensions transversal and habitual as well as vague was highlighted in the discourse of our participants. Considering concrete situations, these identified general ethical principles, which was verbalized as Respect for the Other and Autonomy.

Querer No Basta: Deberes Éticos en la Práctica, Formación e Investigación en Psicología Comunitaria

The article presents a summary of the results of the research project FONDECYT No 1080528, which explores the ethical dimension in practice, training, and research in community psychology (CP) in Chile. An intentional opinatic sample of primary (93 participants—users, students, and psychologists—) and secondary information sources (194 documents—programs, courses, theses and codes—) was used. The use of various data collection techniques and qualitative analysis strategies led to the identification of two relevant results: the principle of respect for the other and community participation in identifying and addressing ethical issues. Divergences in the concept of CP and ethical duties in this field were also found. Finally, ethical guidelines for practice, training, and research in CP are suggested.

Perceptions of Skills Needed to Engage in Collaborative Community Problem Solving: Implications for Community Psychology Practice and Training

By Dr David Julian & Ms Tammy Collins (Ohio State University) Peer Reviewed This paper provides a brief review of the results of a survey of Family and Children First Council Coordinators in Ohio. Sixty-eight (68) local Coordinators responded to a survey regarding their perceptions of skills needed to facilitate collaborative community problem solving. The authors argue that Council Coordinators fill a critical role in the collaborative community problem solving process. They refer to this role as “community support.” Analysis of survey data provided an opportunity to consider the skills Council Coordinators felt were important to their community support roles. In addition, the community support role and its importance are described. The authors also suggest that community psychology practitioners are ideal candidates for assuming such roles. Finally, implications for training community psychology practitioners are addressed.

RETOS EN LA FORMACIÓN DEL PSICÓLOGO/A COMUNITARIO/A EN LAS AMÉRICAS

(N.E.) Conferencia presentada por la autora en la Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad Católica del Uruguay, cede Montevideo, el 6 de septiembre de 2010; en el marco del Postgrado de Especialización en Intervención Psicosocial, Revisada y organizada por la responsable para su publicación en esta Revista. El objetivo de esta presentación, es dar alguna información básica de lo que es la Psicología Comunitaria, para luego discurrir sobre:- la base valorativa de la disciplina en los programas de adiestramiento de Psicología Comunitaria en las Américas;- los resultados de un estudio realizado por las psicólogas Irma Serrano-García, Katia Walters Pacheco y Verónica Carvallo Messa, sobre la formación de valores de la psicología comunitaria en los programas de las Américas, y- otros retos de la formación en esta disciplina, no necesariamente vinculados a la formación valorativa, además de ofrecer algunas recomendaciones.

Rewarding Community Psychology Practice in State Government

Finding employment as a community psychologist outside of academia or “in practice,” has remained an elusive goal for many community psychology graduates. This is not, however due to a lack of opportunities. Many employers would welcome the skills of a community psychologist, but both applicant and recruiter may not realize this initially. One of the most promising employment venues is state government service. Unfortunately, state jobs are often viewed in a pejorative fashion because of their stereotypic link to mundane, paper-pushing civil service positions. The following article counters this misperception by describing how I was able to find a number of rewarding state government positions that allowed me to utilize virtually all of my community psychology training (e.g., advocacy, organizational assessment, collaboration/consultation, communication, research, resource development, service delivery, planning, and management). Although I was never specifically hired with the job title “community psychologist,” all of my employers came to appreciate the benefits of my community psychology training. In chronological order, I present my employment history, a description of the position, and how my community psychology training was utilized in the position. It is my hope that this article will provide potential employment ideas and options for recent community psychology graduates and those looking for a career change.

Introduction to community psychology in Canada: Past, present, and future.

The introduction to the special section on community psychology in Canada provides background information about the field in Canada and provides summaries of the four articles and the commentary that comprise the issue. The articles address (a) theory, research, and practice in community psychology; (b) training in community psychology; (c) community psychology practice; and (d) a vision for the future of community psychology in Canada. These articles highlight the many contributions of Canadian community psychologists to a field that is growing throughout the world to address pressing social problems. Keywords: community psychology, community training, community research, community practice, vision Community psychology (CP) has a lengthy history in Canada. Pols (2000) traced the roots of community psychology to the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto, beginning in the mid 1920s. Moreover, the term community psychology was first used in 1951 by University of Toronto psychology professor William Line (Babarik, 1979). In spite of this history, community psychology remains a marginalized specialty in Canadian psychology with a relatively small network of researchers and practitioners. In this context, the special section in the current issue of Canadian Psychology was developed to inform Canadian psychologists about the many and varied contributions of this subdiscipline of psychology, as well as the current status of community psychology in Canada. The special section is a project developed by participants at the 2008 Quebec-Ontario Community Psychology Conference. The conference, held biennially since 2002, involves participation of faculty and students from Universite Laval, University of Ottawa, Universite de Quebec a Montreal, and Wilfrid Laurier University. All of these universities offer training in community psychology. While some articles on community psychology have been previously published in Canadian Psychology (Davidson, 1981; WalshBowers, 1 998), much of the literature on community psychology in Canada has been published elsewhere, including a previous special issue on community psychology (Tefft, 1 982) and a recent historical and substantive review (Nelson, Lavoie, & Mitchell, 2007). In developing the project, participants in the 2008 biennial conference believed that it was important that the work be presented in Canadian Psychology, the flagship journal of Canadian psychology. There are indications that community psychology as a subdiscipline of psychology is growing outside of Canada. The Society of Community Research and Action, which represents Division 27 of the American Psychological Association, has approximately 900 members. In addition, there has been increasing internationalization of community psychology globally with self-identified community psychologists in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Central America, South America, and Japan (Reich, Riemer, Prilleltensky, & Montero, 2007; Vazquez Rivera, Figueroa Rodriguez, Pacheco Bou, & Perez-Jimenez, 2009). International community psychology conferences have been held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1996; in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1998; and in Puebla, Mexico, in 2010. In Canada, there is a small committed group of community psychologists, as is reflected in attendees at the Quebec-Ontario conference and the membership of Section 3, the community psychology section of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), which was started in 1982. In light of the many contemporary complex social issues facing Canadian society - such as underdeveloped early childhood education and prevention, mental health problems in the population, economic and social marginalization of First Nations people, and integration challenges faced by new immigrants - the contributions that community psychology can make to social programs and policies to address these issues on behalf of Canadian psychology are as important today as they were when the subdiscipline first developed in Canada. …

Community psychology training in Canada in the new millennium.

Ten years ago, Walsh-Bowers (1998) described in Canadian Psychology the marginalized status of community psychology in Canada. The purpose of this research was to investigate the current status of community psychology training in Canadian universities. The online calendars for undergraduate and graduate programs in departments of psychology in Canadian universities were reviewed for course offerings in community psychology. Subsequently, an e-mail survey of program directors was conducted to confirm and extend the findings of the online search. Results were compared with those of similar previous surveys conducted in 1980-1981 (Nelson & Tefft, 1982) and 1992-1994 (Walsh-Bowers, 1998). Findings show a small amount of growth in community psychology training at the undergraduate level since the last survey in 1992-1994, with more courses available in more Canadian psychology departments. There are also marginally more graduate courses in community psychology offered now than 15 years ago, but these are located in fewer psychology departments. Findings are discussed in the context of contemporary professional psychology and future directions for growing community psychology. Keywords: Canadian psychology, community psychology, training Community psychology occupies a rather unique place in the field of psychology. It adopts many of the methods, practises, and concerns of other areas of psychology, such as clinical and social psychology, and seeks greater institutional recognition and security within the psychology family. Nonetheless, community psychology was born of disaffection with mainstream experimental and clinical psychology, and while developing its own theory and research base, it has also advanced an explicit critique of mainstream psychology. Always marginal within the field of psychology, there has been ongoing concern for its ability to gain a secure foothold in the psychological establishment, particularly in terms of its ability to grow through the education and training of future generations of scholars and practitioners. In the two previous decades, national surveys were conducted describing the status of education and training in Canadian universities (Nelson & Tefft, 1982; Walsh-Bowers, 1998). This article updates these surveys by examining the current status of education and training of community psychology in Canada. We begin by first defining community psychology and providing a brief overview of its history in Canada. Then, we examine community psychology's status in the context of Canadian psychology. Following a presentation of findings from our survey, we discuss their implications for further strengthening training in community psychology in Canada. The article reflects multiple perspectives that include those of a midcareer academic (Aubry) trained in clinical and community psychology, an early career academic (Sylvestre) trained in applied social and community psychology, and a doctoral student (Ecker) specialising in community mental health and community psychology. All of us share an interest in developing training in community psychology in our home department and elsewhere across Canada. Definition of Community Psychology Although numerous definitions of community psychology exist, most touch on one or more of these three themes: values, research, and action or intervention (Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2005). Nelson and Prilleltensky (2005) have included these themes in their definition of community psychology as the subdiscipline of psychology that is concerned with understanding people in the context of their communities, the prevention of problems of living, the celebration of human diversity, and the pursuit of social justice through social action, (p. 22) In terms of values, community psychology involves research and intervention that are focused on improving the living conditions of marginalized people. In this vein, Nelson and Prilleltensky (2005) have advocated an explicit focus on community psychology values in the pursuit of liberation by addressing oppression and promoting well-being. …

Community-Based Interdisciplinary Research: Introduction to the Special Issue

This special issue on community-based interdisciplinary research grew out of the work of the SCRA Interdisciplinary Task Force and an Interdisciplinary Working Conference held at Vanderbilt University in May, 2004. In this introduction to the special issue, the historical context for interdisciplinary underpinnings for community psychology theory, research, action and training is first depicted. This is followed by a brief description of the mission and work of the recent SCRA Interdisciplinary Task Force and the Interdisciplinary Working Conference. The introduction concludes with a brief summary of the papers in the two main sections of the special issue, Prospects and Perspectives (four scholarly papers and three commentaries) and Community-Based Interdisciplinary Action-Research (four interdisciplinary action-research projects).

Reflections on Becoming a Community Psychologist

This narrative traces the roots of my development as a community psychologist just as the field was beginning, and my emerging interests in the dynamics of negative self-fulfilling prophecies as a source of educational inequality. Critical personal influences included being the child of immigrant parents living as a Jewish minority in French Quebec, developmental opportunities provided by a unique summer camp setting, and obstacles encountered as a woman aspiring to an academic career. My graduate training in clinical and community psychology took place both at McGill University (1967–69) and Yale University (1968-1973). I was greatly influenced by two significant mentors, the late M. Sam Rabinovitch and Seymour B. Sarason, as well as their visionary clinical settings, the McGill-Children's Hospital Learning Centre and the Yale Psycho-Educational Clinic, respectively. From both mentors, I developed a passion for understanding and creating social settings that enhance human development. My fascination with classrooms and schools has never abated in a stimulating career devoted to community research and action.

ESID, dissemination, and community psychology: a case of partial implementation?

Dissemination, the second stage of Experimental Social Innovation and Dissemination (ESID) is a critical, if not defining, element of this social change model. This paper attempts to assess the extent to which community psychology has adopted and implemented ESID's dissemination focus in its training and publications. We identify four levels of commitment to dissemination: dissemination advocate, dissemination activist, dissemination researcher, and experimental dissemination researcher. Content analyses of textbooks, journal publications, and conference papers and a brief survey of doctoral training in the field were conducted. Findings suggest that the dissemination aspects of ESID have been modestly and partially implemented within the field. That is, although there is some evidence of a commitment to dissemination practice (advocate, activist), there is much less evidence of a commitment to dissemination research. The implications of these findings for the effectiveness of the ESID model and for training and practice in community psychology are discussed.