Addressing Community Problems : Psychological Research and Interventions

Taking both social and clinical psychological perspectives, this volume examines pressing community problems such as homelessness, racism, delinquency, alcoholism, violence, unemployment and workplace health. The contributors, leaders in community and social psychology, present the results of their empirical research into these problems.

Problems in community life are among the most distressing and troublesome aspects of our modern society, yet psychology as a field has given them relatively little attention. The great bulk of psychological practice and research is directed at individual psychological problems and the difficulties in dyadic relationships. However, community problems arguably are broader and more important because to a large degree they affect us allùyoung and old, rich and poor, male and female, and majority and minority group members. In this new volume from the Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology, contributors examine one or more pressing community problemsùhomelessness, racism, delinquency, alcoholism, violence, unemployment, workplace healthùfrom a social psychological perspective as well as a clinical one. The contributorsùall leaders in their fieldsùthen present the results of their empirical research. An ideal supplement for courses in community psychology, Addressing Community Problems is ideal for academics and students in the fields of social psychology, clinical and counseling psychology, social work, gender studies, sociology, and public health.