Community Psychology Exam #2

reflexivity

• the subjectivity and social location of community psychologists in their roles as social interventionists, including the privileges that they enjoy

• can also apply to other fields

• necessary to unpack personal privilege

competencies and skills of professional praxis

• personal-effectiveness skills

  • communication and interpersonal skills

• collaboration skills

  • consultation, networking, partnering

• technical skills

  • skills in grant-writing, research, evaluation

ameliorative approach to framing social intervention

• frames issues as problems and technical matters that can be resolved through rational, empirical problem-solving

• the role of higher-level ecological factors and structures and power dynamics are often ignored or minimized in this approach

• often targeted at personal and relational levels

transformative approach to framing social intervention

• frames issues in terms of oppression and inequities in power and emphasizes the strengths of people

• interventions, issues, and problems are examined in terms of power dynamics that are conceptualized as occurring at multiple levels of analysis

ameliorative vs. transformative approaches to framing social intervention

both may examine issues and problems in terms of an ecological perspective that is attuned to multiple levels of analysis

praxis

• the integration of theory and practice in social intervention

• includes attention to cultural context, vision, action, and needs

how to use praxis to guide transformative change

back and forth between the application of values, action, critical reflection, and learning

social interventionist (community psychologists act in this role in transformative interventions)

• one who engages in transformative social change, as contrasted with social technician and social reformer roles

• work with oppressed groups

• do not identify with or accept the goals of existing settings

• emphasize conscientization

• believe that fundamental social change is needed

social interventions

intentional processes designed to affect the wellbeing of the population through changes in systems, values, policies, programs, distribution of resources, power differentials, and cultural norms

corporatocracy

• current government context of governmental influence

• a system of government that serves the interests of corporations

community psychologists with corporatocracy

working to understand the influence corporations and international trade organizations have on democracy and how people mobilize to resist corporatocracy

systemic entanglements

situations in which psychologists have to be accountable to several people

what do systemic entanglements entail

accountability to the government, other organizations, residents/local communities, and the discipline of community psychology

social movement

an organized set of people invested in making a change in their situation, pursuing a common political agenda though collective action

3 features of social movements

• social change

• people power

• collective action

social movement feature: social change

social movements promote or resist some kind of social change  in order to uphold an explicit set of values

social movement feature: people power

people come together to promote or resist the change

social movement feature: collective action

people undertake collective actions such as sit-ins, strikes, marches, media campaigns, protests, and others

4 roots of social movements

• suffering and deprivation

• consciousness-raising

• congealing or catalytic events

• political opportunities

social movement root: suffering and deprivation

• basic human rights are denied, people are often driven to action

• suffering can manifest at the collective, relational, and personal domains

• ex. economic exploitation or violence

social movement root: consciousness-raising

• when suffering is tied to an assessment of the power differentials leading to it, consciousness-raising takes place

• when people begin to unveil the societal causes of oppression, a new awareness arises, pushing people to bring about change through realizing they are not the ones to blame for their suffering

social movement root: congealing or catalytic events

changes in consciousness often do not take place until there is a crisis or a triggering event that can then spark a social movement

social movement root: political opportunities

• efforts to create a movement may be thwarted by political repression

• if the political regime does not permit freedom of expression or association, organizers will encounter barriers to starting social movements

organizational capacity - considered when community psychologists think about community change

the combined influence of an organization’s abilities to govern and manage itself, to develop assets and resources, to forge the right community linkages, and to meaningfully address its mission 

organizational interventions

systematic methods of enhancing an institution’s capacity to promote the personal, relational, and collective well-being of their workers and community stakeholders

empowering organizations

those that produce empowerment for their members

empowered organizations

those that are empowered to influence the larger system

6 steps for organizational change

1. pre-contemplation

2. contemplation 

3. preparation 

4. action 

5. maintenance and monitoring

6. evaluation 

steps for organizational change #1 - pre-contemplation

there is some awareness of something that needs to be done about an unsatisfactory situation

steps for organizational change #2 - contemplation

planting the seed to move the process forward

steps for organizational change #3 - preparation

planning and design of innovations or alterations to the current system of work/service/delivery

steps for organizational change #4 - action

involves ensuring all stakeholders affected by the new system of work are meaningfully engaged and involved

steps for organizational change #5 - maintenance and monitoring 

put in place systems for monitoring accurate implementation of the intended changes

steps for organizational change #6 - evaluation

a formative assessment of how things are going after and during implementation

community interventions

efforts by organized groups and agencies to enhance the wellbeing of community, members marginalized by social practices of exclusion, discrimination, and injustice

collective impact

the commitment of a group of important actors from different sectors to a common agenda for collaboratively solving a specific problem

successful collective impacts have:

• a common agenda

• shared measurement

• mutually reinforcing activities

• continuous communication between stakeholders

• backbone support

community organizing 

engaging residents in sustained efforts to collectively investigate and address mutual concerns through the exercise of power and collective mobilization

community organizing consists of:

• deep resident engagement

• analysis of power

• capacity to address conflict

prochaska change model

has 7 phases that help identify prerequisites for affective, behavioral, and cognitive change

pre-contemplation stage of the prochaska change model

• focus is to begin exploring what some of the challenges affecting them in life are

• goal is to verbalize what is bothering them and what the source of the problem may be

contemplation stage of the prochaska change model

• spending time defining the problem

• requires that we explore what we need to change and where we should channel energies before taking action

preparation stage of the prochaska change model

• preparation involves preparing people to create change

• imagery, visualization, concrete plans, and achievable goals can all help in moving people towards change

action stage of the prochaska change model

• people explore new ways of being and relating to the world, with support

• actions in this stage involve person-centered, internal changes as well as external, environmental modifications

maintenance stage of the prochaska change model

• focused on sustaining the new behavior 

• entails a contingency plan if circumstances change that make the desired actions more difficult

evaluation stage of the prochaska change model

should not only occur at the end of the change process

follow-up stage of the prochaska change model

check with self and other to see if changes are being maintained

8 roles recommended for working with individuals and small groups

• I VALUE IT

  • inclusive host

  • visionary

  • asset seeker

  • listener and sense maker

  • unique solution finder

  • evaluator

  • implementer

  • trendsetter

I VALUE IT - I

inclusive host calls for the creation of a welcoming atmosphere and makes space for all guests to feel at home

I VALUE IT - V

visionary expands the realm of possibilities and establishes values and principles to guide the work

I VALUE IT - A

asset seeker identifies sources of resilience, strength, and ingenuity in the people they work with

I VALUE IT - L

listener/sense maker attends carefully what people are saying about their lives, challenges, struggles, and aspirations

I VALUE IT - U

unique solution finder uses the vision, assets, and particular circumstances affecting a person or group, to craft solutions together with them

I VALUE IT - E

evaluator evaluates previous, current, and future efforts

I VALUE IT - I

implementer synthesizes all the previous roles and to create structures that enable the adoption of new behaviors, policies, and practices

I VALUE IT - T

trendsetter supports maintenance and follow-up, ideally moving that change into a new trend, such as by institutionalizing the innovation at personal and local levels

ontology

questions of ontology relate to the researcher’s belief system about the nature of being and existence

epistemology

epistemological questions are about what the nature of knowledge is, how we come to know something, and how knowledge relates to the researcher, as well as others

axiology

axiology refers to the ethical question pertinent to research

methodology

methodology is an umbrella term used for research approaches, design, methods, and procedures

objectivism

within research context, objectivism refers to the belief that the existence and nature of things in the world are independent of the person observing them and that those things can, in theory, be directly observed

relativism

the belief that reality is relative to the people involved and their cultural, societal, and historical contexts

transformative/emancipatory paradigm

emerged from a family of research approaches with a theme of emancipating marginalized communities from oppressive structures that create inequalities and limit people’s agency, causing harm to their wellbeing

transformative/emancipatory paradigm - ontologically

believes that reality is constituted of institutional and social structures that have been historically shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, ethnoracial, and gender factors

transformative/emancipatory paradigm - epistemologically

given the emancipatory focus of this paradigm, the purpose of knowledge is to provide the understanding and insights needed to create the desired transformation of society

transformative/emancipatory paradigm - axiologically

the transformative paradigm considers research to be value-driven, researchers and participants begin with a moral and political position that underlies the entire research approach

transformative/emancipatory paradigm - methodologically

this paradigm values participatory and social-action-oriented approached that can be used towards the emancipation of oppressed groups

community-engaged research

• specific approach to research that has the same key research characteristics, but the explicit purpose of addressing as issue that impedes the wellbeing of certain communities

• conducted collaboratively with members affected by the issue

• well aligned with community psychology’s core values

phases of the research cycle

• initial engagement and focusing of the research

• selecting the research design

• assembling the research team

• recruiting participants and collecting the data

• conducting the analysis

• interpreting the findings

• mobilizing the knowledge

3 roles of researchers

• initiator

• consultant

• collaborator

role of researcher - initiator

when the researcher begins an inquiry and then invites community stakeholders as partners in the research

role of researcher - consultant

when the community commissions a professional to do the research

role of researcher - collaborator

when the research is neither community driven nor researcher driven, but rather some blend of the two

theoretical framework of research

a conceptual structure of concepts, definitions, and theories related to the issue of interest grounded in a review of the theoretical and empirical work from existing literature

research design

the methodological strategy that is selected to try to generate the evidence and data needed to address the research objectives and provide answers for the research questions

roles in a community-engaged research team

• one or two principal investigators

• university-based co-investigators

• community-based co-investigators

• a project manager

• student research assistants

participant recruitment and data collection of research

includes following specific procedures for recruiting participants and carrying out the data collection and/or obtaining the secondary data

ethical considerations of the participant recruitment and data collection stage of research

• ensuring that risks to communities are kept to a reasonable minimum

• obtaining institutional review board approval, which may scrutinize community-engaged projects

analysis and interpretation of research

• depends on methodological orientation, research design, and data collection methods

• involving community partners helps with a deeper understanding of the context of findings

technical knowledge

interests relate to questions of prediction and manipulation

how to obtain technical knowledge

• causality

• associations and distribution

practical knowledge

interests are about understanding and interpreting the actions, thoughts, emotions, and intentionality of people and the social norms that guide humans, such as social interaction and communication

how to obtain practical knowledge

interpretative methods like qualitative methods such as interviews and focus groups

emancipatory/transformative knowledge

interests seek to gain a deeper understanding of those institutional and environmental forces that affect a person’s life and limit their agency and capacity to control the factors that affect their wellbeing

how to obtain emancipatory/transformative knowledge

co-created and grounded in critical perspectives like subjective experiences

research design consideration - applied

• most community psychology research is conducted in applied, naturalistic settings

• focuses on solving practical problems

research design consideration - context

• understand how the context interacts with the individual in producing certain outcomes

• qualitative methods, ethnography, and geographic information systems

research design consideration - relational

• challenging because it requires obtaining data from all sides of a relationship

• social network analysis, mixed-method studies, and dynamic modeling

research design consideration - change and developmental processes

• hard to collect

• used to study patterns of change

• growth-curve modeling, time-series analysis, reflective journals

research design consideration - diversity

• quantitative methods such as profile analysis

• gives ability to explore diverse backgrounds

knowledge mobilization

a process of exchange between researchers and knowledge users designed to make relevant research information available and accessible to stakeholders for use in decision-making about practices, programs, and policies

5 principles of knowledge mobilization

• what? the message

• to whom? audience

• by whom? messenger

• how? transfer method

• with what expected impact? evaluation