Community Interventions

Working with Vulnerable Primary School Aged Children and their Families: A review of the Australian literature on key principles, issues, and community level …

by Jennifer Boddy

Reference: Le Bon, G. & Boddy, J. (2010). Working with vulnerably primary school aged children and their families: A review of the Australian literature on key principles, issues, and community level approaches. Journal of Social Inclusion. 1(1), 53-73.

Children's health and wellbeing in Australia is adversely affected by increasing disadvantage, social exclusion, and... more Children's health and wellbeing in Australia is adversely affected by increasing disadvantage, social exclusion, and vulnerability, with numerous studies confirming the need for an improved societal response to the needs of children and their families. This review highlights the issues facing Australian primary school aged children and their families, and it examines approaches for working with those from diverse backgrounds who have varying health needs. While there are considerable gaps in the literature, findings echo some of the preventative messages from early childhood studies which suggest that neighbourhoods and communities play a crucial role in promoting children's health, wellbeing, and social inclusion through the middle years. Research further suggests that practitioners should engage in a holistic approach to children’s health and welfare and offer support across multiple domains of development, giving attention to both cultural and contextual factors. This paper will conclude with some recommendations for future research and a discussion about the implications for practice.

Evaluating community-based interventions for young people: measuring the impact of informal mentoring

by Ruth Rogers

Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 19(2), June 2011, pp.159-168

This paper considers the effectiveness of a community-based intervention scheme which was run in association with a... more This paper considers the effectiveness of a community-based intervention scheme which was run in association with a professional football club. The scheme provided informal, personalised mentoring and a range of sports-based activities, primarily football, to young people in schools and housing estates in areas suffering from high levels of deprivation in the South of England. The aim of the intervention was to raise the aspirations of the young people and divert them away from crime and antisocial behaviour. Evaluation of the scheme included 39 observation visits made to 18 areas receiving community sessions, which included discussions with 80 young people. Interviews were also conducted with various involved people including football coaches, school staff and police community support officers. The paper discusses the social benefits of the scheme and the informal ‘mentoring’ role of the football coaches, with a particular focus on the positive male role models they provide to the young people. It argues that these informal relationships between the young people and the football coaches play a role in enhancing the self-esteem and self-efficacy of the young people

Promoting physical activity amongst children outside of physical education classes: A systematic review integrating intervention studies and qualitative studies

by Rebecca Rees

A Multiple-Behavior Lifestyle Intervention for Cancer Patients and Their Families Delivered in a Community-Based Oncological and Hematologic Treatment Clinic

by Neelu Chawla

‘Telling your Story’: People and the Aylesbury Estate

by Yoko Akama

Co-authored by Teal Triggs, Claire McAndrew, Joanna Choukeir and Yoko Akama. Paper presented at Include 2011 conference, Royal College of Art, London, UK on 18-20 April 2011.

One of the largest housing estates in the UK, The Aylesbury, South London, is undergoing transformation as part of a... more One of the largest housing estates in the UK, The Aylesbury, South London, is undergoing transformation as part of a £2.4 billion regeneration project. The scheme aims to provide a ‘blueprint for a new neighbourhood’ and in the process, ‘create a strong and vibrant community’. As the demolition of the Estate began in October 2009, the Kaleidoscope Project was launched to share the memories, experiences and images of the people who lived there. This paper focuses on one aspect of Kaleidoscope – ‘Telling Your Story’, which had two main aims: The first was to capture the life stories of the Estate at this moment of change and the second was pedagogical, to use notions of transformational learning to enhance the skill base of some of the Estate’s long-term residents. This was achieved through a series of innovative workshops focusing on dialogues around the cultural aspects of food, craft and a sense of history and place. At the same time, the ‘people-centered’ workshops provided the opportunity to share aspirations for the future through a resident-led blog. These processes and methods can lead to social innovation: social engagement through building a community of learners and knowledge exchange between residents and academia.

The Islands Have Memory: Reflections on Two Collaborative Projects in Contemporary Oceania

by Guido Carlo Pigliasco

with Thorolf Lipp, The Contemporary Pacific 23(2):371-410 2011

Intangible Cultural Property, Tangible Databases, Visible Debates: The Sawau Project

by Guido Carlo Pigliasco

International Journal of Cultural Property 16(3): 255-69 2009

Covariates of Subjective well-being among Latin American immigrants in Spain: the role of social integration in the community

by Enrique Gracia

Journal of Community Psychology, 39, 761–775, 2011

Animación sociocultural y modelos de intervención socioeducativa (2005)

by Xavier Úcar

• ÚCAR,  X. (2005) “Animación sociocultural y modelos de intervención socioeducativa” pp. 37-51. Aprender, Portalegre.  Revista da Escola Superior de Educaçao de Portalegre. Nº 30. Diciembre  (ISNN: 0871-1267).

Intervención socioeducativa, honestidad y gestión de expectativas (2008)

by Xavier Úcar

Jornal A pagina da Educaçao. Nº 177. Abril. pàg. 12.

La comunidad como elección: teoría y práctica de la acción comunitaria (2009)

by Xavier Úcar

Diposit Digital de Documents (DDD) de la Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB). Julio, 2009

The objective of this article is to present an integrated approach to community action. It is the perspective we call... more The objective of this article is to present an integrated approach to community action. It is the perspective we call the "community as choice". The first point relates the emergence of community in relation to a series of new phenomena that have emerged over recent decades. In the second it presents the variety of terms, concepts and methodologies that can be integrated under the general term of community action and also shows the versatility and multiple meanings of a concept as vague and imprecise as community. It is this fuzziness that leads us to develop, in the third point, an anchor for that concept: the community doesn't exist; the community must to be chosen. This is the idea on which it builds the whole theoretical building that is presented in this paper. It ends
with some methodological points as conclusion.

RÉSUMÉ
L'objectif de ce document est de présenter une approche intégrée de l'action communautaire. C'est la théorie que nous appelons "la communauté comme choix". Le premier point a trait à l'émergence de la communauté par rapport à une série de
phénomènes nouveaux qui ont émergé au cours des dernières décennies. Dans le second, il y a la variété des termes, concepts et méthodes qui peuvent être intégrés sous le terme général de l'action communautaire. On montre également la polyvalence et la polysémie d'une notion aussi vague et imprécise que la communauté. C'est ce flou qui nous amène à développer dans le troisième point, un point d'ancrage pour ce concept: la communauté n’existe pas; il faut choisir la communauté. C'est l'idée sur laquelle on construit l'édifice théorique qui sera présenté dans cette texte. Nous terminons ce papier avec une serie du points méthodologiques comme conclusion.

Perceived neighborhood social disorder and residents’ attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse

by Enrique Gracia

Child Abuse & Neglect, 30 (4), 357-365, 2006

Macrosocial determinants of social integration: Social class and area effect

by Enrique Gracia

Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 5, 105-119

Determinants of social integration in the community: An exploratory analysis of personal, interpersonal and situational variables

by Enrique Gracia

Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 14, 1-15, 2004

La comunidad como fuente de apoyo social: Evaluación e implicaciones en los ámbitos individual y comunitario [The community as a source of social support: evaluation and implications at the individual and community levels]

by Enrique Gracia

Rev. Latinoam. Psicol., 2006, vol.38, no.2, p.327-342.

Measuring perceived community support: Factorial structure, longitudinal invariance, and predictive validity of the PCSQ (perceived community support questionnaire)

by Enrique Gracia

Journal of Community Psychology, 35 (2), 197 - 217, 2007

Police Involvement in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: The Influence of Perceived Severity and Personal Responsibility

by Enrique Gracia

Violence Against Women, Vol. 14, No. 6, 697-714 (2008)

Las perspectivas biográficas en la Psicología Comunitaria Chilena

by Jorge Castillo Sepúlveda

Reyes, M.I., Ramírez, M.T. & Castillo, J. (In review). En A. Zambrano (Ed.), Teoría y práctica de la acción comunitaria, aportes desde la psicología comunitaria.

Asumiendo que en el campo de las ciencias y la intervención psicosocial, la dimensión ética se concentra en la... more Asumiendo que en el campo de las ciencias y la intervención psicosocial, la dimensión ética se concentra en la observación de las relaciones y en el respeto, consideración y afirmación que se hace de los/as otros/as, la Psicología Comunitaria realiza un reconocimiento explícito de la participación de la comunidad en la producción y propiedad de conocimiento y en la utilización de este para su propia transformación. No obstante, autores/as han advertido la necesidad de reflexionar sobre estos supuestos, enfatizando la desarmonía que se ha producido entre los desarrollos teóricos y la praxis comunitaria, dando cuenta de las problemáticas asociadas a la actualización de la co-construcción del conocimiento como modos de informar sobre la comunidad y sus procesos. Esto también se asocia a la subutilización o carencia de espacios y estrategias que sitúen la co-autoría investigador/a-interventor/a/comunidad como forma legítima de producción científica.
Interesados/as por esta problemática, indagamos en el uso de las perspectivas biográficas en el campo de la Psicología Comunitaria Chilena, entendiéndolas como prácticas ejemplares que permiten reflexionar sobre las posibilidades y potencialidades de la investigación-intervención. En este sentido, describimos y caracterizamos sus principales corrientes, abordando algunos supuestos ontológicos y epistemológicos asociados a esta perspectiva. Posteriormente y, desde el análisis documental de algunas investigaciones realizadas en el país, entrevistas a profesionales y nuestra propia experiencia de trabajo en el campo, enfatizamos algunos aspectos que dan cuenta, en concreto, de su capacidad interventiva.
Argumentamos, para finalizar, que las perspectivas biográficas, en sus diversas expresiones, permiten procesar historias en la que se entrelazan el devenir de una persona, un grupo y/o una comunidad, proporcionando acceso a un espacio enunciativo, mediático, plurivocal, en que se produce una construcción dialógica  y polifónica de la realidad. Concluimos sobre la relevancia del uso de la perspectiva biográfica en la Psicología Comunitaria, enfatizando cómo es posible ampliar el potencial reflexivo sobre los procesos sociales y a la recuperación de nuestra memoria colectiva para fines interventivos.