Chapter 29: Community Psychology

Carrie E. Hanlin & Kimberly Bess & Patricia Conway & Scotney D. Evans & Diana McCown & Isaac Prilleltensky & Douglas D. Perkins

Community psychology Community psychology may be defined most simply as the applied study of the relationship between social systems and individual wellbeing in the community context 1 . It is a sub-discipline of psychology, an applied social science and a vocation, as well as an analytical perspective (Levine, Perkins and Perkins, 2005). Like many other sub-disciplines, community psychology is concerned with both understanding the factors that impact upon people's health and wellness as well as ways of working which promote those outcomes. Where community psychology becomes distinct from the other fields of psychology is in its focus on value-based practice, its adoption of an ecological and historical perspective, the recognition of social power differentials and a preference for ‘praxis’ over theory, research, or practice alone (Levine et al., 2005; Nelson and Prilleltensky, 2005). Each of these distinguishing aspects or tenets is expanded upon below. It is important to note that ...

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