Critical Community Psychology

Carolyn Kagan, Paul Duckett, Rebecca Lawthom and Asiya Siddiquee are all based in the Department of Psychology and the Research Institute for Health and Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University. Mark Burton has a visiting position with Manchester Metropolitan University and is a manager in health and social services in Manchester.

• 1 Introduction 1Critical community psychology in Manchester 2Why Manchester? 3Learning through action and action through learning 5Action learning 7Action research 7Language, discourse and representation 9What do we mean by ‘critical’? 12Orientation to the book 13PART I: THINK! 152 What is critical community psychology? 17The nature and origins of community psychology 18Definitions 21The emergence of community psychology in different parts of the world 24Key themes in critical community psychology 28Core values underpinning a critical community psychology 36Social justice 37Stewardship 38Community 38Conclusion 393 Core elements of a critical community psychology 41Elements of critical community psychology 42The ecological metaphor 42The systems perspective 47Multiple levels of analysis 48The person-in-context 49Working together 59Prefigurative action 60Core principles underlying a critical community psychology 62Diversity 62Innovation 62Liberation 63Commitment 63Critical reflection 63Humility 63Conclusions 674 The contested nature of community 69What is community? 71Theory descriptions of community 73Dimensions of community: Sentiment, social structure and space 74Sentiment 74Space 79Social structure 81Multi-dimensional communities 83Social exclusion 85Conclusions 875 Community as social ties 89Social ties 90Affection 91Interdependence 91Coercion 92Theory prescriptions for community 93Ties of affection and co-operation: Community as social capital 94Ties of coercion: Community as ghetto 98Social boundaries: benign or benevolent? 102Community and social policy 103Nature of participation 104Conclusion 110Critical disruption of Think! 111Critically disrupting the challenge to individualism 111Critically disrupting our history of community psychology 113Resources for Part I 117PART II: ACT! 1216 Problem definition 123Social issues 125Need 126Positionality and problem defi nition 130Whose need? 131Getting to know the community 132Community audit 132Community profi ling 133Use of statistics 137Observation 137Community walks 138Making contact and gaining entry in the community 139Problem situations as human systems 142Stakeholders and stakeholder analyses 151Conclusion 1547 Action planning 155Decision making 156Stakeholder analysis and action planning 160Boundary critique: towards value-based decision making 161Fourth generation evaluation 168Participatory appraisal of needs and development of action 169Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats 170Force field analysis 171Option appraisal 174Compromise 175Visioning 176Mixing methods 178Complex decision making: Polarity management 1798 Action 1: Furtherance of critical consciousness and creation of new forms of social settings 183Action for change 184Strategies of critical community psychological action 186Furtherance of critical consciousness (conscientisation) 186Problematisation 188Experiential learning 191‘Capacitation’ 195Deideologisation 197Creation of new forms of social relations and settings 198Multi-dimensional nature of social situations 198Behaviour settings 200New or alternative social settings 202The radical nature of alternative social settings 2069 Action 2: Development of alliances, and accompaniment, advocacy and analysis of policy 209Making links, the development of alliances and counter systems 210Processes of making links and working together 210Communities of interest or communities of practice 213Alliances and coalitions 213Partnerships 216Working at the ecological edge 217Alliances, new social settings and connecting with social movements 222Accompaniment, advocacy and analysis of policy 224Accompaniment 224Advocacy 228Analysis of policy 234Conclusions 240Critical disruption of Act! 241Chronic uncertainty 242Work ethic 243Resources for Part II 245PART III: REFLECT! 24910 Evaluation 251Purpose of evaluation 252Principles of evaluation 253Evaluation frameworks 255Politics of evaluation 259What is to be evaluated? 261‘Theory of change’ perspectives on evaluation 262Realistic or realist perspectives on evaluation 263Capacity building for evaluation 268Participation and evaluation 270Participation and empowerment in evaluation 271Resistance to involvement as a barrier to participation in evaluation 274Skills for evaluation 276Conclusions 27811 Change, influence and power 279The nature of social change 280Incremental or radical change 283Linear and non-linear change 284Stage approaches to change 285Strategic change 286Resistance to change 287Action research as change 290Social movements, power and ideology 291Social influence 292Social change tactics 294Social power, powerlessness and empowerment 294Taxonomy of power 295The social structure of social power 298Power analysis 30012 Roles, skills and refl ections on learning for community psychologists 303Roles for facilitating change 304Facilitation roles 304Educational roles 304Representational roles 305Technical roles 306Skills for facilitating change 307Interpersonal communication skills 308Social problem solving skills 308Organisation skills 309Research skills 309The context of community psychological action 310Reflexivity as part of practice 314Constraints on working as a community psychologist and spaces for resistance 316Ethical issues 319Risk 320Power (again) 322Prefigurative learning 323The case for and against community psychology 323Community psychology as oppression or liberation 325Conclusion 327Critical disruption of Reflect! 329Evaluation and the audit culture 329Auditing skills 331Critical disruption of critical reflection 333Resources for Part III 33513 Critical disruption: Does critical community psychology have an adequate praxis? 337A new context: extreme and globalised oppression 340Rethinking the amelioration–transformation distinction 341References 343Index 369