Principles of Community Psych

1. Principles of Community Psych • Prevention • Primary, secondary, tertiary • Boulder Model’s Flaw • George Albee • Emphasis on Strengths and Competencies • Peter Bensonhttp://www.search-institute.org/remembering-peter-benson

2. Principles of Community Psych • Importance of Ecological Perspective • Respect for Diversity • Empowerment • The process of enhancing the possibility that people can more actively control their own lives • Action Research • Evaluation which prevention efforts work best for whom, when, and why

3. Principles of Community Psych • Social Change • Unplanned Social Change • Planned Social Change

4. MENTORING RESEARCH • Programsget larger effects when characterized by • careful recruitment • training • monitoring • multi-modal • matching on interest • EVALUATION FINDINGS AND PUBLIC INTEREST IN MENTORING LET TO PROGRAMS PUTTING MORE EMPHASIS ON GROWTH THAN ON QUALITY

5. Types of Social Change • Unplanned • Planned • Change agent • Participatory/Collaborative rules for radicals

6. Creating and Sustaining Social Change • Citizen Participation • The involvement in any organized activity in which the indiviaulpartipates without pay in order to achive a common goal (e.g., • grass roots activism) • Self-Help Groups • Social Support

7. Examples of CP • Voting • Petition • Donating money/time • Reading articles on needs/change • Boycotting • Joining self-help group • Participating in marches • Leading grass-roots group • Doing volunteer work • Fundraising drives • Offering consulting • Serviing an offcie or supporting a candidate

8. Tea Party/Wall Street Protests • Both are loosely organizaed • Both express anger toward groups in power • Both are calling for large-scale, complicated changes

9. Ecological Context • How has this college environment affected you • How well do you know your classmates • How well do you know the faculty • Can you identify • A place where you like to socialize • A quiet place to study • A person you would seek help from • Access to parking • What Changes would you suggest to improve it

10. Behavior Settings (Barker) • People in a setting are largely interchangeable, the same patterns of behavior occur irrespective • Settings have rules that maintain the standing behavior pattern • Underpopulated Settings

11. Four ecological principals (James Kelly) • Interdependence • Cycling of Resources • Adaptation • Succession

12. Kelly • Adapted concepts for the biological field of ecology • Interdependence--a system has multiple related parts; change in one affects the others • Cycling of resources-any system can be understood byexamining how resources are dfined, used, created, conserved, and transformed. • The interdependence can be understood by charting the cycling • Adaptation • Individuals cope with the constraints or demands of an environment using resources available there • Successsion • Ecologies change over time, and understanding the other 3 priciples must be understood in terms of that pattern of change.

13. Social Climate (Rudolf Moos) • Developed Social Climate Scales (CES, FES) • Tap Dimensions of the social environment • Relationships • Personal Development • Systems Maintenance and Change • Additional qualities • Physical features • Organizational policies and norms • Suprapersonal (aggregate)

14. Social Regularities (Seidman) • Patterns of behavior that reveal roles and power in relationships • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSJ4IDOcT-k&feature=related

15. Environmental Psychology • Examines the influence of physical characteriscs of a setting on behavior. • Arose about the same time as CP • Foundsrs were primarily social psychologists interested in the physical env. And behavior • Enviornmental Stressors • Environmental Design

17. Understanding Community • What are the important communities in your life? • Your extended family • A campus organization • A workplace • An academic program • A block, neighborhood, or town • A religious congregation • Identify a time in your life when you felt you were excluded or treated unjustly by a community • How did it happen • How did/does it affect you

18. Psychological Sense of Community • A shared emotional bond, a shared identity, and mutal trust, caring and commitment • Sarason defined it as • A feeling that members have of belonging, that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shariedbelife that members needs will be met through their commitment to be together

19. Elements of the PSC • Membership • Boundaries • Common symbols • Emotional safety • Personal investment • Sense of belonging • Influence • Integration and Fulfillment of Needs • Shared Emotional Connection • Celebrations, rituals, etc.

20. Narratives and PSC • Dominant Cultural Narratives • Community Narratives • Personal Stories

21. Putnam In Bowling Alone (2000:288-290), Putnam identified four of the most important outcomes associated with dense, i.e., high stocks, of social capitol: • Allows citizens to resolve collective problems more easily…via increased cooperation • “greases” the wheels that allow communities to advance smoothly..via increased levels of trust and solidarity • Widens the collective awareness of the many ways in which our fates linked • Function as conduits for the flow of information that facilitates the achievement of individual and collective goals

22. Social vs. Other Types of Capital Basically, four types of “capital” are to be found in society: • Physical capital: • Refers to physical objects (e.g., plants, machinery, other equipment) • Financial capital: • Refers to money and monetary instruments (e.g., stocks, bonds) • Human capital: • Refers to properties of individuals--knowledge and skills--that are derived from education, training and experience • Social capital: • Refers to connections among people—social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them • The norms may be as simple as the norm of reciprocity between two friends or complex and elaborately articulated doctrines such as Islam, Christianity or Confucianism • A society of many virtuous but isolated individuals is not necessarily rich in social capital (Putnam, 2000:19)

23. Anne Brodsky • Negative Psychological sense of community • Apathy about communities

24. Types of Communities • Locality-based Community • Relational Community

25. How spiritual communities improve in community life • Find meaning • Provide a sense of community • Foster mutual influence • Foster emotinal bonds • Provide opporutnies for community service • Especially valuable for oppressed • Challenge mainstream cultural forces • Possible negative

26. Albee Equation • Stress + physical vulnerability • ----------------------------------------- • Coping skills + support + self-esteem

27. WHAT IS STRESS? • Stress is your mind and body’s response or reaction to a real or imagined threat, event or change. • The threat, event or change are commonly called stressors. Stressors can be internal (thoughts, beliefs, attitudes or external (loss, tragedy, change).

28. Lazarus and Folkman’s Theory The Stress Response • Physiological component: Arousal, hormone secretion. • Emotional Component: Anxiety, fear, grief, resentment, excitement (if stress is from challenge). • Behavioral Component: Coping strategies (both behavioral and mental)—problem focused and/or emotion-focused. The level of stress we experience depends mainly on the adequacy of our resources for coping and how much they will be drained by the stressful situation.

29. EUSTRESS Eustress or positive stress occurs when your level of stress is high enough to motivate you to move into action to get things accomplished.

30. DISTRESS Distress or negative stress occurs when your level of stress is either too high or too low and your body and/or mind begin to respond negatively to the stressors.

31. INTERPRETING YOUR SCORE • Less than 150 points : relatively low stress level in • relation to life events • 150 - 300 points : borderline range • Greater than 300 points : high stress in relation to life • events • Note: From Girdano, D.A., Everly, G. S., Jr., & Dusek, D. E. (1990). Controlling stress and tension (3rd edition), ENnglewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

32. Stressors • Daily Hassles • Life Transitions • Ambient/Chronic Stressors • Vicious Spirals • Stressors in Community Psych. Research • Homelessness • School Transitions • Natural Disasters

33. Lazarus and Folkman’s Theory Stressor Primary Appraisal: Is Stressor Negative? Can be negative if it involves harm or loss, threat, or challenge (chance to grow). No Stress Yes No Secondary Appraisal: Can I Control the Situation? If coping resources are adequate, then consider options: problem-focused or emotion-focused coping strategies.

34. Appraisal • Primary Appraisal-estimation of strength or intensity of stressor • Secondary-estimation of resources and coping options for responding • BOTH are affected by personality factors • Locus of control • Reappraisal • Reframing • Appraisal • Matters more when resources are ample and threats are moderate • Matters less when major stressor, and similarly appraised by man

35. Stress as • A physiological fight or flight response • A stressor (life event) • An imbalance of demands vs. resources

36. Ways of thinking about stress Fight or flight—physiological response Life events—something that happens to you

37. Life Events measures • Idea was to identify objective stress • 42 events given various weightings • Divorce of spouse 100 • Divorce 73 • Wife begins or stops work 26 • Foerclosure of mortgage or loan 30 • Vacation 12

39. Stress as an imbalance: when demands exceed resources

40. Characteristics of the person that make a difference • Priorities and goals • Values • Beliefs • Developmental history • Psychological, physical, and social resources for coping

41. Cognitive theory of stress • Key concepts • Stress is contextual, it ivolves the person in a particular environment or situation • Stress is a dynamic process • The process is influenced by • COGNITIVE APPRAISAL • COPING • (Lazarus and Folkman)

42. Relational definition of stress • A situation is stress when • You appraise it as a harm, threat, or challenge • It is personally meaningful—it matters to you • It taxes or exceeds your resources for coping, it is not easy to deal with

43. Cognitive appraisal of stress

44. Cognitive appraisal • What’s happening, am I ok • What can I do • Does it matter (this is what makes the difference!)

45. Appraisals are tied to emotion • HARM OR LOSSS: Something>>>>>anger, sadness, guilt bad has happened • THREAT: Something bad >>>>>Worry, fear, anxiety • CHALLENGE: There’s an opportunity for mastery or gain but risk is involved>>>>excitement, eagerness, some anxiety

46. Stress in our lives • Everywhere • Varies in frequency • Varies in intensity • Varies in duration • SO, What is a “normal” level of stress

47. Stress? How is it managed • Coping enters the pictures • Coping refers to the thoughts and action that people use to manage demands that are appraised as stressful • Coping changes as a situation unfolds • Coping is multi-dimenstional

48. Two major categories of coping: • Problem-focused oping: Manages problems causing distress • Instrumental coping • Problem-solving • Logical linear • Information-gathering • Emotion focused coping: Regulates distress emotions • Distancing (distracting yourself; putting problems out of your mind) • Humor • Seeking emotional support • Escape-avoidance (day dreaming, eating, using drugs)

49. Four general principles of effective coping • Focus on specific situation rather than total stressful context • Ask what made it stressful • Distinguish changeable and unchangeable aspects of situation • Fit the coping to the situation

50. Focus on a specific recent event that was stressful • Global situation • An elderly parent or grandparent requires caregiving • Specific situation • He forgot to take his meds on Wed. This matters to me!