Community Psychology provides students with an introduction to the concepts, theories, and research emerging in the field of community psychology. Historical and alternative methods of effecting social change are explored in this book through an examination of the mental health system, the educational system, the criminal justice system, and the social service system. The central theme underlying all of the chapters is the idea that the setting or environment is as important as the individual in it. Community Psychology focuses on the importance of and strategies for producing social change in order to allow students to discover how community psychology interventions solve community problems, and how the principles of prevent and empowerment can be shifted from one community arena to another.

Table of Contents

Each chapter includes "Introduction" and "Summary." I. INTRODUCTION. 1. Introduction to Community Psychology. Brief Historical Background. Philosophy and Goals of Community Psychology. Case in Point 1.1: Does Primary Prevention Work? Case in Point 1.2: Social Psychology, Community Psychology, and Homelessness. Community Psychology Today: Progress in the Field. Community Psychology Today: What's in It for You? Plan of the Book. 2. Scientific Research Methods. The Essence of Scientific Research. The Essence of Scientific Research. Case in Point 2.1: A Theory of Drug Abuse That Incorporates the Principles of the Field of Community Psychology. Traditional Scientific Research Methods. Other Research Methods Used in Community Psychology. Case in Point 2.2: Cracking Network. The Urgency of Research in Community Psychology and Related Pitfalls. II. SOCIAL CHANGE. 3. The Importance of Social Change. Reasons for Social Change. Case in Point 3.1: Funding Dilemmas for Nonprofit Organizations. Case in Point 3.2: Community Conflict: Adversity Turns to Opportunity. Types of Social Change. Why Change Plans Fail. 4. Creating and Sustaining Social Change. Creating Planned Change. Citizen Participation. Case in Point 4.1: The Community Development Society. Case in Point 4.2: Grass-Roots Activism on a College Campus. Networking. Professional Change Agents: Consultants. The Use of Education and Information Dissemination to Produce Social Change. Public Policy as a Means of Social Change. Case in Point 4.3: Rape Crisis Centers: A National Examination. III. COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH. 5. Stress, Coping, and Social Support: Toward Community Mental Health. Historical Notes on Mental Health and Mental Disorder. Case in Point 5.1: Mental Health Care Professionals. Stress. Factors That Influence Adjustment and Coping. Primary Prevention: Coping Strategies. Case in Point 5.2: Caregiving: The Cost of Healing. 6. The Seriously Mentally Disordered: Back to the Community. Historical Notes about Mental Disorders. Deinstitutionalization. Case in Point 6.1: Resenhan's Experiment about Stigmatization. Beyond Deinstitutionalization. IV. COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY IN OTHER SETTINGS. 7. Social and Human Services in the Community. Historical Notes about Social Welfare in Western Society. Case in Point 7.1: Are the Rich Getting Richer? Case in Point 7.2: The Grameen Bank. Specific Social Issues and Social Services. 8. Schools, Children, and Communities. The Early Childhood Environment. The Public Schools. Case in Point 8.1: Readiness for School. Case in Point 8.2: Student's Memories of Public School. 9. Law, Crime, and the Community. The Traditional Justice System. Case in Point 9.1: The Dexter House. Addressing Diverse Justice System Needs with Community Psychology. Case in Point 9.1: Working with At-Risk Youth. 10. Health Care. In Sickness and in Health: Social Inequity. Case in Point 10.1: Substance Abuse and Treatment Resources for Inmates: State of New York. Public versus Private Health Sector: Managed Care. Community and Public Health. Urban versus Rural Health. 11. Community Health and Preventive Medicine. Tobacco. Alcohol. Case in Point 11.1: Alcohol Warning. Illicit Drugs. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Case in Point 11.2: STDs Testing and Education in a Community Setting. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Diseases. Case in Point 11.3: The Bilingual Peer Advocate (BPA) Program. 12. Community Organizational Psychology. What Do Organizational and Community Psychology Share? Everyday Problems in Community Organizations. Traditional Techniques for Managing Organizations. Case in Point 12.1: Community Psychology and Unemployment. Overview of Organizational Change. Changing the Whole Organization. Group Change within the Organization. Helping Individuals within the Organization Change. Changing What People Do: Altering Jobs. Case in Point 11.2: The Role of Computers in Shaping the Organizational Community. Does Organizational Intervention Work? V. WHERE TO FROM HERE? 13. The Future of Community Psychology. Recent Social and Political Agendas Affecting Community Psychology. General Recommendations about Social Change for the Coming Years. Case in Point 13.1: Coalition Building: The Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program. References. Name Index. Subject Index.