Theories covered Flashcards
What does a ‘psychological sense of community (SOC)’ mean?
a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members need will be met through their commitment to be together
What are the four elements of SOC?
Membership: Common symbols, rituals, something that identifies the members from non-members. Something they always do together, team jacket with their name
Influence: You can influence the community and the community can influence you
Integration and fulfillment of needs: Joining a community fulfills personal needs
Shared emotional connection with group members: Share history and experiences with the people
What is an ecological model?
a model that considers the complex interplay between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors
Who developed the ecological model
Urine Bronfenbrenner
Describe why it is used and define each of the layers involved in the ecological model
focus on the quality and context of a child’s environment. He believed that as a child develops, the interaction within their environments becomes more complex, and this complexity can impact the child’s physical and cognitive structures
Middle is the individual - age, sex, health etc.
Microsystem: immediate environment ( family, school, peers, church group, job, class etc).
Mesosystem: relationships between mircosystems (relationship between family and school)
Exosystem: link between two settings: one is an immediate setting, and the other is one where the person does not play an active role. ( admissions affecting tuition )
Macrosystem: larger cultural and social context (culture of religious group, urban vs. rural, social contexts of political climate
Chronosystem: the role of time: when events occur in a person’s life , larger sociohistorical context,
What are Kelly’s seven qualities of a community psychologist?
Having competence: Three levels of competence, key skills and abilities for CP, Empathetic, organize community service, study complex social problems, sense of community, research
creating an eco-identity: must identity with the community, Eco-identity: stepping outside your professional role and becoming emotionally involved in the social setting
appreciating diversity: who do you have to identity?
coping with various resources: need to access and mobilize resources
taking risks: community psychologists seak change - may fail sometimes
balancing patience and zeal: need to consider time of social change - context has to be right
giving away power: do not want to create dependence
What are Scheff’s (1975) five factors of Labeling Theory?
highly salient acts - something that stands out
person is of low social status
social distance - difference between status
amount of tolerance within a community
availability of alternative roles to explain behaviour - if something is odd are there other explanations
Who developed a “psychological sense of community”
defined by Sarason (1974) as strength of bonding among community members
