psychology_Sons_(2003)

CHAPTER 21

Community Psychology

BIANCA D. M. WILSON, ERIN HAYES, GEORGE J. GREENE, JAMES G. KELLY, AND IRA ISCOE

431

EARLY DEVELOPMENTS 431
The 1950s: Social Ferment and the Incubation of
Community Psychology 432
The 1960s: Social Upheaval and the Birth of
Community Psychology 433
From Community Mental Health to
Community Psychology 434
The Swampscott Conference 435
STRENGTHS OF PERSONS AND COMMUNITIES 435
ECOLOGICAL THEORY 436
Ecological Inquiry as a Defining Focus for
Community Psychology 437

Ecological Assessment 438

Tensions around the Need to Address Diversity

in Ecological Research 439

PREVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS 440

Prevention as a Defining Focus for

Community Psychology 441

Tensions around Two Types of Prevention Research:

Prevention Science and Action Research 442

CONCLUSION 443

REFERENCES 444

EARLY DEVELOPMENTS

The field of community psychology began formally at a con-
ference in Swampscott, Massachusetts, on May 4 to May 8,

1965. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
      invited 39 psychologists to attend the “Swampscott Confer-
      ence” to discuss training in community mental health, a
      rapidly emerging health movement. A major impetus for this
      conference was that Congress was directing federal funds to
      create new opportunities for mental health professionals to
      staff community mental health centers. For conference par-
      ticipants, the guiding question was, “What were the roles for
      psychologists in such centers?”
      Rather than focusing on this question, something unusual
      happened at the conference. Participants shifted the agenda
      and instead discussed how psychologists could play broader
      and more active roles in communities. The conference par-
      ticipants advocated for a new field of psychology on the

premise that such a field required additional roles than those

present in the community mental health movement (Bennett

et al., 1966; Meritt, Greene, Jopp, & Kelly, 1997). In the

35 years since Swampscott, community psychologists have

continued to expand the ways in which psychologists impact

communities through theory, research, and action.

With this chapter we will frame the development of the

field of community psychology in a historical and social con-

text. The history of community psychology is not just a his-

tory of professional developments but also a history of the

interaction of social events and the development of commu-

nity psychology. The evolution of community psychology

has been coupled with events in U.S. history beginning at

least 20 years before the field was founded. In viewing the

emergence of the field, we will underscore historical events

such as World War II, the growing malaise of the 1950s and

1960s, and the increasing discontent with the postwar ideals

of economic opportunity, personal fulfillment, and happiness.

We will examine professional movements such as the com-

munity mental health movement and note expanding con-

ceptualizations of mental health and the delivery of health

services. We will also present a sampling of events in the

United States that stirred the nation’s awareness of social

problems, such as racism and sexism. These topics, in partic-

ular, will illustrate how social conditions and social problems

can serve as catalysts for citizens and policy makers to cope

Many persons took the time to comment on early and final drafts:
Khari Hunt contributed to the prevention topics. James Dalton, Paul
Dolinko, Jack Glidewell, Rob Jagers, Chris Keys, Don Klein,
Murray Levine, Betty Lindemann, Thom Moore, Bob Newbrough,
S. Darius Tandon, Susan Ryerson-Espino, Ed Trickett, Dana
Wardlaw, Rod Watts, Rhona Weinstein, and Chris Wellin gave help-
ful suggestions on early drafts.