Community psychology

The community psychology (English community psychology ) is a sub field of psychology. It deals with social inequalities through relation socially or culturally specific living conditions of individual mental health and tries to develop psychosocial support forms in the local and regional context.

Historical Background

This discipline of psychology is a relatively new form of social influence. It arose from an altered understanding in dealing with mental health problems from the criticism of the psycho boom of the 60s and 70s, to the evolving in social work therapeutisation and thus individualization of problems ( Gildemeister 1992).

It was disappointing that these approaches hardly brought improvements, especially for the lower class clientele. The focus was far too much on the individual treatment of disorders and personality deficits. If life-world -related problems to be very " psychological " and will be construed, advised the social conditions, eg for the development of poverty too much from view. Various studies have confirmed that a lack of material resources have great impact on the well being of a person. For example, it causes great stress of having to care for a family on a tight budget. It developed a " community health " movement, which had a local free and low-threshold supply to the target. It emerged close to everyday life therapeutic intervention method.

Subject of community psychology

Community psychology conceives of space as a living world and attempts by the strengthening of disadvantaged groups to achieve an improvement in their situation. In this context, it aims to promote well-being and health. The community psychology sees a connection between social developments and psychosocial problems. These should be treated deficit -oriented rather than less resource-oriented. Community psychology is not a form of treatment that does a psychologist in a practice on the patient, but also reflects a broad range of social design processes and interventions resist.

Practical approaches of community psychology can be, for example:

• Analysis turned -living life forms ( rituals, cultural truisms, etc.), and also against the background of different nationalities;
• Strengthening internal ( mental ) and external ( physical ) resources and knowledge and removing the causes of disease;
• Maintenance and promotion of community and promoting factors that positively affect the binding and social support (hence the word origin, Community Psychology ');
• Critical reflection of the unwanted side effects Extending well professionalization;
• Accompaniment of social and political debate during the current restructuring of the psychosocial and health care ( health care reform ) and restructuring of local health care;
• Redefining the terms " participation" or " the empowerment " in the health and social political discourse for the benefit of the citizens concerned.

Central concepts and working branches of community psychology are prevention ( to ward off the effects of discrimination ), empowerment ( empower their own actions ), real-life orientation ( start where the client is " stopped") ( use of the client capabilities and expand ), resource orientation, community work and network intervention ( cooperation of institutions for the benefit of the people ).

Currently, many conditions are changing. Thus, the discussion about the community psychology of the question is marked, which can contribute to the community psychology and related sciences to the fact that social concerns remain taken into account in relation to the economy and sustainable express in health and socio- political orientations. The "commonplace (scape ) meaningful " and the requirements for that social support are important requirements for both the achievement of personal goals as well as a functioning community with functional organizations. Thus, the community psychology approach is selbstreflektiv. Doing Professional or institutions should be consistent with the actions of the person concerned.