- Published: September 30, 2022
- Updated: September 30, 2022
- University / College: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- Level: Doctor of Philosophy
- Language: English
- Downloads: 4
Community Psychology BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE Community Psychology The assertion that community psychology is virtually just common sense is rather absurd, considering the multiple dimensions of study required to understand the individual and the nature of society’s structure, values and homogenous social beliefs. Offering these objections indicates that the individual likely just accepts, without question, the various social attitudes that drives the broad community’s perception of appropriate social behavior and goes along with the social order through psychological programming. Experiments consistently reinforce that individuals often just accept the so-called status quo and adopt these principles and values as part of a broad reference group. Herein lays a complexity in social order: There are catalysts driving individual complacency and adherence to these widely-accepted community values worthy of exploration at the individual level that are dictated by cognitive and emotionally-based constructs.
“ Community psychology uses conceptual tools to show how problem definitions are related to approaches for interventions” (Holman, 2012, p. 38). In a collectivist community, problems occur through non-conformance and individual resistance to the social order. Thus, community psychology would identify these root causes to determine what variances exist that drive this behavior which interrupts social harmony in a region. In a Western country, complacency is often discarded by individuals and thus community psychology practitioners would examine the factors of resistance that lead to more effective efforts to drive complacency.
The argument of community psychology as being common sense does not take into consideration the qualitative and quantitative approaches to finding correlations or deviations between community values and what drives individual behavior. Arguing this case does not look at broader factors such as personality, lifestyle history, or cognitive functioning that drives individualism versus collective community behaviors. The argument is simply not valid.
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