COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY THEORY AND PRACTICE

COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY THEORY AND PRACTICE JIM ORFORD, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER, UK COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY IS A COMPARATIVELY NEW AREA WITHIN PSYCHOLOGY. ITS PERSPECTIVE IS THAT PEOPLE AND THEIR PROBLEMS CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BY CONSIDERING THE SOCIAL SETTINGS AND SYSTEMS OF WHICH THEY ARE PART AND WITH WHICH THEY INTERACT CONTINUOUSLY OVER TIME. THESE INCLUDE NOT ONLY MICRO-SYSTEMS OF FAMILY, WORK AND LEISURE GROUPS, BUT ALSO HIGHER-ORDER SYSTEMS FROM NEIGHBOURHOOD TO SOCIO-CULTURAL GROUPS. COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY IS ALSO ABOUT USING THIS UNDERSTANDING TO IMPROVE PEOPLE'S WELL-BEING. IT IS AN APPLIED, PRACTICAL SUBJECT AS WELL AS A THEORETICAL ONE. COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY THEORY AND PRACTICE BREAKS NEW GROUND. IT IS THE FIRST SUCH BOOK WRITTEN BY A BRITISH PSYCHOLOGIST AND, UNLIKE PREVIOUS TEXTS ON THE SUBJECT, IT COMBINES MATERIAL FROM BRITAIN, THE UNITED STATES AND ELSEWHERE. IT DEALS AT LENGTH WITH TOPICS SUCH AS POWER AND POWERLESSNESS, QUALITATIVE AND CASE-STUDY RESEARCH METHODS, AND OFFERS