Community Psychology

INTRODUCTION

The community psychology and public health approaches ,each has its strengths and

Weaknesses, which will be discussed in the essay.

Community psychology arose together with and under the influence of mental health

reform movements between 1800 and 1960.Three of its most reform movements were

moral treatment(1800) and mental hygiene(1900) and deinstitutionalization in the 1960.

Unfortunately all these reform movements were just rhetoric and none of them functioned

on a practical level. They were impeded by both mental health practitioners and political factors.

Community psychology was formalized as a separate discipline at the Swampscot conference

Boston in 1965 but it continued to be closely linked to rhetoric of mental health.it struggled to

define itself as a discipline that is concerned not only with the mental health but with social

behaviour generally.

Public health is mainly concerned with preventing diseases that are caused by lifestyle choices

Such as cancer, diabetes ,cholera, HIV /AIDS etc .It is central to the prevention of illnesses associated with lifestyle such as cardiovascular problems stemming from diet and smoking and

also to prevent health hazards such as injuries and violence.

As its name implies the focus is on the “public” health and less on the individual the

Socio-environmental factors such as oppression and lack of resources is taken into consideration .

The themes of public health included ecological perspectives ,cultural relevance ,diversity and empowerment.

SIMILARITIES

Both approaches had a dissatisfaction within traditional psychology because it favoured individual

Therapy . e. g one –on –one therapy which was exclusively for the “elitist” and did not favour the

poor .Both approaches moved away from a curative mode of operation to preventative and intervention strategies .The focus shifted from the individual to the community or rather society in public health....