Community Psychology Research Paper

Community Psychology
Traditional psychology’s is viewed as the “band-aid” approach as it concentrates on the internal and behavioural processes of the individual and ignores the underlying cause of the behaviour and therefore problems often reappear, the focus should also address the social systems (Dalton, Elias, & Wandersman, 2001).
Community psychology, evolved to address some of the insufficiencies in conventional psychology. It shifted the focus from only the individual to focus on the social, cultural, political and environmental influences to define problems and promote positive change (Prilleltensky, 2001). In South Africa, it aims to provide access to services for the entire population, involving communities in identifying needs

As per Duncan & Lazarus: “The core tenets that define the aims of community psychology within a South African context are: to make mental health services accessible to the entire population, especially previously disadvantaged urban and rural communities; a shift in perspective in how the aetiology and development of psychosocial problems are explained and understood; to address environmental stressors and contextualise social issues; transform the practice of psychology and include prevention programmes and redefining the role of the psychologist within a broader public health framework (Seedat, Duncan, & Lazarus,

South Africa has four races which each have their own cultural and religious beliefs that affect their lives in many ways including psychological well-being. The practice of psychology based on the Euro-American perspective which ignores the social-cultural and religious belief contexts of the African people (Buhrman, 1987). Many people seeking counselling have issues of personal and external forces to deal with which are not appropriately addressed in a counselling situation that is of a Euro-American perspective. Failure to take into consideration the socio-cultural and beliefs contexts of a client in a counselling situation may not only lead to misunderstanding but can also be anti-healing (Buhrman, 1987). Previously African patients have been misdiagnosed as psychotic and ended up in psychiatric institutions. Close to sixty percent of Blacks were misdiagnosed as schizophrenic in South Africa. Counselling from a Western perspective faces challenges of cultural expressions. Men from some African cultures will only express certain feelings at certain times. Traditional men will hardly express emotions portraying pain or anguish. Crying, in front of women counsellors or younger men is a sign of weakness (Buhrman,