Employment in Community Psychology : The Diversity of Opportunity

This book examines the diversity of employment opportunities in this field via examples of graduates who work in applied, research, and academic settings. The contributors explain how their graduate experiences were helpful to their careers, how they conducted their searches for employment and obtained their positions, what their positions and duties entail, and what concepts of community psychology are most emphasized in their positions. Employment in Community Psychology will help students, both undergraduate and graduate, decide on graduate schools, employment options, and courses of study while helping professors and advisors intelligently direct students to meaningful and satisfying careers.

Discover the first book on employment opportunities in community psychology!

Employment in Community Psychology: The Diversity of Opportunity is the first psychology career reference book for undergraduate psychology majors deciding on graduate schools, for graduate students in psychology seeking employment, and for psychology faculty advising their students. This book answers the questions “What can you do with a graduate degree in community psychology?” and “Who employs community psychologists?” Employment in Community Psychology addresses these questions through examples of graduates educated in community psychology and employed in diverse applied, research, and academic settings.

In Employment in Community Psychology, you will explore the diversity of community psychology employment opportunities through the stories of current graduate students, community psychologists on their first job, and psychologists who have well-established positions in community research and action. Each experience is told in a story-telling style allowing the reader to grasp a deeper understanding of the employment opportunities that cannot be obtained through abstract description alone. Some of the experiences that highlight opportunities in the field include:

• working in the Institute for Families in Society at the University of South Carolina as a Research Associate
• working as a researcher at the Korea Institute of Social Psychiatry to determine how primary prevention and action research can be applied to the promotion of adolescent mental health in Korean society
• doctoral studies that developed into the first community psychology position focusing on the issues of social justice and reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups in Australian town
• non-traditional academic positions in psychology
• working as a social worker for Native non-profit health corporation in Alaska
• a policy-oriented community psychologist, or a c.p. in the disabilities field
• entering a second career in community psychology at mid-life

Employment in Community Psychology is an essential tool for undergrads and graduate students considering a career in community psychology. The rich palette of community psychology experiences that are laid out for the career researcher and advisor are sure to assist students in deciding what area of community psychology they would like to pursue.