Featured Articles from Around the Globe

Re-Examining the Definition of Community Psychology Practice

Author(s): David A. Julian, Tom Wolff, Brian Bishop (not pictured), Kyrah Brown,  Jose Ornelas, Megan Renner, and Victoria Scott 

Since the definition of community psychology practice was developed over a decade ago, much has changed. This special issue was conceived as a means for the field to consider the definition of Community Psychology practice in light of these changes and other advances in our thinking. The special issue editorial team invites the field to ponder proposed changes and new definitions of community psychology practice.

Definition Revisited: Human Dignity and Co-creation, the Heart of Community Psychology Practice

Author(s): Christine Robinson

Peer Reviewed

Manifestation of the power of human dignity, the value of civil society, civic discourse, the salience of collective efficacy, and community wellbeing are at the heart of community psychology. Collective efficacy is "a group's shared belief in its conjoint capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given levels of attainments" (Bandura, 1997, p. 477). This moment in time prompts a reexamination of paradigms, theories, and definitions alongside aligned practices and values that transcend the field.

Towards an Emergent Conceptualization of Decolonial Praxis and Competencies in Community Psychology

Author(s): Nuria Ciofalo and Mary Watkins

Peer Reviewed

The epistemologies of the Global South teach that co-creating alternatives to modernity requires a commitment to delink from colonial ideologies and practices that have been normalized by many institutions and venues, including the academy itself. Looking from “the South” allows us to move UStatesian approaches to community psychology from the center, a privileged position “above” other approaches, as though to the edge of a circle alongside other approaches from different cultural contexts. Learning from the Global South, we propose a definition of a decolonial community psychology praxis that reflects pluriversality within a relational ontology that promotes the values of sentipensar/feeling-thinking with the Earth, affective conviviality, conscientization and annunciation, decolonial solidarity, ecopsychosocial accompaniment, and buen vivir (collective well-being).

Is there Room for More?: Considering the Need for a Decoloniality Community Psychology Core Competency

Author(s): Jesica Siham Fernández and Janelle M. Silva

Peer Reviewed

From a decolonizing standpoint, as proposed by Cruz and Sonn (2011), the current community psychology competencies seem insufficient because these often leave power structures intact. Consequently, we propose a decolonizing, decolonial and anti-colonial competency in community psychology practice to facilitate the practitioner’s process toward decoloniality, specifically decolonizing language, discourses, relationships and research processes with communities. A decolonial competency in community psychology practice is characterized by an iterative process of critical ethical reflexivity that aims to de-link community psychology practice from hegemonic Western Eurocentric perspectives in order to foster and center community voice, knowledge and power.

Community Social Psychology Practice: Reflections from Experiences in Brazil

Author(s): Bernardo Parodi Svartman, Antonio Euzébios Filho, Gustavo Martineli Massola, Mariana Prioli Cordeiro, & Alessandro de Oliveira dos Santos

Peer Reviewed

The current definition of community psychology practice has the merit of recognizing that the struggle against inequality characterizes community practice in general. However, by proposing a definition that encompasses all psychological practices within communities, one runs the risk of falling into an abstract definition that disregards history. A more accurate definition must consider the meaning of community in different social realities and, consequently, different practices.

There is no community practice that is neutral with respect to justice: A call for activist community praxis

Author(s): Scotney D. Evans

Peer Reviewed

The urgent crises of today and tomorrow require a serious interrogation of our professional role, theories of change, and chosen strategies and interventions in and with communities. These intersecting crises require reimagining our practice as activist labor, where our time, energy, and resources are directed at eliminating or minimizing the effects of oppressive social structures and institutions in our society. This paper positions activism in the definition of community psychology practice. Activist community psychology praxis is a practice of resistance and a refusal to be complicit with the systems and structures that create and maintain inequality often in commonplace and practical ways. The activist community psychologist helps to expose, subvert, and challenge social injustices through a combination of activism and praxis. Through critical reflexivity and a process of continual ethical improvement, in the company of others, we can attempt to address the inherent contradictions in our community practice to engage in ways more consistent with liberatory aims.

Foundations for Relational Ethics: Introducing a Continuum of Community Psychology Praxis

Author(s): Tiffeny R. Jiménez, Ericka Mingo, Judah Viola, Bradley Olson, & Christopher Balthazar (not pictured)

Peer Reviewed

This article introduces a continuum of CP praxis emphasizing the need for an increasing awareness of the history of oppression, the need for epistemic justice, and ways in which power is built into the sciences from which our field has grown. We hope that such a continuum will help us better frame our practice, as it provides a framework for holding multiple worldviews toward a more ethical, relational praxis.