Drawing upon the wisdom of experts in the field, this reader-friendly volume explores both foundational competencies and the technical how-to skills needed for engaging in community psychology practice. Each chapter explores a core competency and its application in preventing or amending community problems and issues. With case examples throughout, this text offers a practical introduction to community outreach and intervention in community psychology.

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 background theory--so important to a new subject--together with reports of research on many practical aspects in community psychology. The book will prove essential reading for practitioners and researchers either oriented towards community psychology or thinking of moving in that direction--this includes psychologists working in any one of a wide range of areas (clinical, educational, forensic, organisational, applied social, etc.); health care workers with an interest in public mental health and prevention; those working in community settings and serving groups such as the mentally ill and psychologically distressed; people with learning difficulties; older people; and people with addiction problems. It will also be a valuable addition to the literature for final year psychology undergraduates and their teachers. From a published review- '. Orford's book is written in a measured, cautious and scholarly style, does not exaggerate what community psychology has actually achieved so far, yet inspires with its vision of what community psychology could become. I used it as a core text for teaching a final year option on community psychology. The undergraduate group was wildly enthusiastic about the book. Indeed, the only complaint, raised equally energetically by the students, was that they had not been given access to such exciting material until the final year. The book is essential reading.' The Psychologist 1993

In this book the authors present additional personal and community narratives and extended examples to enliven their writing. They have also expanded their coverage of social policy research and advocacy, interdisciplinary perspectives on communities (e.g. the concept of social capital), and interventions to enhance neighborhood and community life. They portray community psychology as now more international, more attentive to human diversity, and more attuned to the nuances of social and cultural contexts than ever before. They provide narratives illustrating how ordinary citizens working together have transformed their communities and engaged in social change.

Drawing upon the wisdom of experts in the field, this reader-friendly volume of Community Psychology edited by Victoria Scott and Susan Wolfe explores both foundational competencies and the technical how-to skills needed for engaging in community psychology practice. Each chapter explores a core competency and its application in preventing or amending community problems and issues. With case examples throughout, this book offers a practical introduction to community outreach and intervention in community psychology.

Book & CD. "Community Psychology" contains a rich diversity of insights and critical debates on the key theoretical, analytic, teaching, learning and action approaches in community psychology. The book offers an incisive examination of a range of contextual factors that influence the practice of community psychology in South Africa

"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.. [this work] deals at length with topics such as power and powerlessness, qualitative and case-study research methods, and offers background theory ... together with reports of research on many practical aspects in community psychology"--Back cover

Community psychology is a diverse field. Community psychologists may work for the government, for nonprofit foundations, as researchers or teachers in academic settings, at NGOs, as independent consultants, overseas in international development, and more. Despite such professional diversity, very little information has formally been made available to students and practitioners about the range of careers they can pursue when studying community psychology. Diverse Careers in Community Psychology details a range of potential career paths for someone with community psychology or related social science training, describes the different types of careers (e.g., tasks involved, benefits and challenges, salary range, etc.), and outlines steps one can take to develop such a career. The volume is built on three foundations: (1) a career survey of almost 450 respondents, which provides quantitative information about the different types of settings in which individuals with community psychology training might find themselves; (2) more than twenty chapters by contributors who share their personal stories and guidance on how to select, prepare for, find, and succeed in careers similar to theirs; (3) and interviews with community psychologists, further illustrating examples discussed in the authored chapters. This volume provides both a depth and breadth of information about the possible careers available for someone with community psychology or related training.