The Community Psychologist

From the President

Brett Kloos
University of South Carolina

Community Research, Action, and Reflection

Over this past year, I have attended several celebrations that encouraged people to share stories of accomplishment and to look forward to future events: graduations, milestone birthdays, new jobs, moving. At most of these events, people shared pictures, and if time allowed, they shared stories about how things have changed over the years. I was struck at how these celebrations provided opportunities to re-connect for friends moving in different directions, to reflect upon and to critique lessons learned, and to encourage those planning for new adventures.

From the Editors
Gregor V. Sarkisian and Sylvie Taylor
Antioch University Los Angeles

We would like to welcome SCRA’s incoming President, Bret Kloos, as well as new TCP Column Editors Melissa Strompolis for Public Policy and Meagan Sweeney for Student Issues. We’d also like to thanks Doug Perkins, Ken Maton (Public Policy) and Diane Kohfeldt (Student Issues) for their contributions to the TCP.

In this Fall issue of the TCP we are excited to share the impact SCRA and community psychology is having on multiple fronts. From the local and global reach of the mini grants offered through the Practice Council, to the development of undergraduate opportunities for students to receive training in community psychology, to the momentum of the policy committee in strengthening the capacity of SCRA to engage more effectively in the public policy arena, to the applications of action research in the U.S. and globally, we are an active community!

Best Wishes,

Gregor & Sylvie

Practice Council

SCRA Community Mini Grants: A Progress Report

Report prepared by Kyrah K. Brown and Jasmine Douglas, SCRA Practice Council

Since 2011, the SCRA Community Mini Grants program (see Hakim, Landon & Becker-Klein, 2013 for historical overview) has funded 37 meaningful small-scale projects in multiple countries. Based on the success of the Mini Grants, the Executive Committee recently agreed to expand funding for the 2014 grant year. As a result, the total number of $1200 awards granted each year has increased from ten to fifteen. The impact of the SCRA Community Mini Grants has been significant; and the Practice Council is proud to be able to offer the Mini Grants on behalf of SCRA and its members.

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Self Help and Mutual Support

Edited by Greg Townley and Alicia Lucksted

A Database to Tap, For Finding or Starting Self-Help Groups

Written by Ed Madara (ed@selfhelpgroups.org)

Mrs. Zakia Shabazz started the first “United Parents Against Lead” self-help group more than 10 years ago in Richmond, VA, after her after she learned her son had been poisoned by lead. Since then she has helped others start seven more UPAL groups in other parts of the country.

Community Psychology Research in Action

The following three articles explore different applications of community psychology research sharing a common theme of action research. Julia Halamova shares recent developments of community psychology research in Slovakia. Nyla Whitehead, Leonard Jason, and LaVome Robinson share insights on utilizing existing community resources in community research and intervention. And, Jamie Vela shares results from a study on the perceptions of members of a social justice and social advocacy organization to better understand voluntary social action advocacy through the lens of grounded theory.

Special Column

rECOnnecting to our Roots: An Unconferenced Eco Journey

Written by: Amanda Matson (matonae@gmail.com), Phyllis Timpo (pntimpo@ncsu.edu), Candalyn Rade (cbrade@ncsu.edu), Sarah DeYoung (Sedeyoun@udel.edu), Mary Guerrant (mtguerrant@ncsu.edu) and Hilary Rampy (hlrampy@ncsu.edu)

Each year, when it is time to pack up and head to another Ecological Community Psychology (Eco) conference, our faculty reflect on their own Eco experiences. The vision of Eco we pieced together from these scattered stories seemed very different from the Ecos we experienced over the past few years.

Living Community Psychology

Written by Gloria Levin

“Living Community Psychology” highlights a community psychologist through an in-depth interview that is intended to depict both personal and professional aspects of the featured individual. The intent is to personalize Community Psychology (CP) as it is lived by its diverse practitioners.

For this installment, we profile a community psychologist who has long and ably served the profession. Widely recognized for her promotion of gender and ethnic diversity through her advocacy, research and teaching, learn how she came to that mission.

Meg Bond, PhD
Professor, University of Massachusetts
Lowell, MA
Meg_Bond@uml.edu

Public Policy

Edited by Ken Maton (maton@umbc.edu), Doug Perkins (d.perkins@vanderbilt.edu), and Melissa Strompolis (mstrompolis@gmail.com)

The Public Policy Section for this Fall edition of TCP begins with an article by three graduate students, Laura Kurzban, Sara Buckingham, and Tahira Mahdi, describing their experience at the recent Advocacy Day sponsored by SCRA, SPSSI and APA Public Interest. Next, Doug Perkins and Rebecca Rodrigues present the new policy call-to-action listserv Wiggio.com, the rationale for its development, and how you can subscribe to it. Doug Perkins then provides a brief overview of the policy-focused symposium session organized for the Fifth International Community Psychology Conference in Fortaleza, Brazil, and plans for a future special issue on public policy in global context. Finally, incoming Chair of the Policy Committee Melissa Strompolis, describes several key goals for the upcoming year, and encourages applications to the Policy Committee small grants program (description included).

Regional Update Fall 2014

Edited by Regina Langhout, Regional Network Coordinator, langhout@ucsc.edu; University of California at Santa Cruz

This quarter, which marks the beginning of the academic year, brings some changes in leadership.

Rural Issues

Edited by Susana Helm

The Rural IG column highlights rural resources as well as the work of community psychologist and colleagues in their rural environments. Please send submissions to me (HelmS@dop.hawaii.edu). This is a great opportunity for students to share their preliminary thesis/dissertation work, or insights gained in rural community internships. For this issue we have a brief report authored by Teresa Padgett, a student at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Student Issues

Edited by Chuck Sepers and Meagan Sweeney

Congratulations to Meagan Sweeney, winner of the 2014 National Student Representative (NSR) election. To learn more about her, be sure to find her self-introduction below. We as NSRs serve overlapping 2-year terms as voting members of the SCRA Executive Committee. The primary role of the NSRs is to advocate for the needs of our student members, as well as highlight available opportunities (e.g., funding, professional development, etc.).

Remembering Swampscott

Feminism and Community Psychology: Natural Allies Then & Now

Written by Anne Mulvey and Stephanie Riger

University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Illinois at Chicago

We were invited by the TCP editors to share reflections on our early days in the field of community psychology as part of the 50^th anniversary history series. We are senior members of the field who are feminists and have worked on issues of importance to women since graduate school.

Education Connection

Edited by Carie Forden (cforden@aucegypt.edu)

While many universities have undergraduate courses in community psychology, few offer community psychology degrees, concentrations or certificates. Most students have to attend graduate school to learn about community psychology beyond the introductory course. In this column, three programs describe their efforts to offer more in-depth training in community psychology to undergraduate students. Perhaps it may inspire your program to do the same?

TCP 47(4) Fall 2014