About this ebook
Using insights from both academia and professional practice, this book articulates key community psychology principles, practices and values and their role across “psy” and related professions. It draws on case studies from both the global north and south to show innovative ways in which communities have collectively taken action to demonstrate resistance and resilience, and describes creative psychological research methods that can be used to better understand and respond to the needs of communities. In so doing, it demonstrates the value of psychology, which is both embedded within and reflective of its local community and challenges, and extends our understanding of what psychology is, how it is produced and to whom it belongs. Each chapter is supported by teaching and learning activities, including reflective exercises, discussion questions, embodied activities, stakeholder assessments, case study formulations and presentations.
Demonstrating how community psychology can support activities with local community members through meaningful examples of community action embedded in research, this is the ideal resource for psychology students. It may also interest professionals working in related fields, including clinical psychology, ounselling psychology, health psychology, social psychology, social work and youth work.
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About the author
Suzanne Wilson is a research fellow in social inclusion and community engagement at the University of Lancashire (UK). The research agenda is to work with communities to identify effective and sustainable means of increasing community capital. This expanding portfolio of research focuses on working-class coastal communities, often regarded as being "left-behind".
Rebecca Graber is a senior lecturer in health psychology at the University of Chichester. Her funded research focuses on how supportive friendships and peer relationships contribute to psychosocial resilience and wellbeing in the face of challenges such as ageing, socioeconomic marginalisation, substance addiction and LGBTQIA+ discrimination. She has formerly directed an MA in community psychology, has been a charity trustee and co-founded a network for Jewish academic and professional staff.
Carl Harris is a white, British, male clinical and community psychologist with 30 years’ experience in the UK’s National Health Service. Based in Birmingham neighbourhoods, working in community regeneration and mental health prevention, he writes from a practitioner-researcher critical perspective with a focus on inequality. He has been a member of Psychologists Against Austerity since 2010.
Maria Fernandes-Jesus is an assistant professor in psychology at the University of Sussex (UK). Her research focuses on collective action, climate justice, climate-linked mobilities, migration justice, youth participation, community solidarity and political imaginaries. She has been involved in several interdisciplinary, international and mixed-methods research projects related to these topics.
