In 2010, a group of intrepid community psychology practitioners and practice supporters collaborated to create an outlet for practice related scholarship and experience that did not exist at the time. This outlet was and is the Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice (GJCPP), and it broke traditional publishing norms almost more than it conformed to them. Yes, there were peer reviewed articles; yes, there was an editorial team that ran the publication. However, one of the primary goals of the Journal, in addition to being an outlet for work that tended to be rejected in other venues for a lack of so-called “rigor,” was for the work and valuable insights published to be accessible to anyone, especially those without access to academic libraries. As such, the GJCPP was at the forefront of the open access movement, and made sure that anyone anywhere could access the content just by visiting gjcpp.org; the infrastructure was also built so that those who accessed the web in a language other than English could read the articles in their language. Over the last 12 years, the GJCPP has published in multiple languages, shared content other than peer reviewed articles like videos and radio programs, and evolved to emphasize the need to decolonize research and practice as well as to be a platform for essential anti-racist work.

PAR AND PHOTOVOICE: USING A DECOLONIZED LENS WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES

Written by Rebekah Stafford, University of New Haven Alumna & Jordan Tackett Russell, Doctoral Student, National Louis University

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING INITIATIVE

Written by Julia Dancis, University of Washington, Tacoma

STUDYING ABROAD WITH ALIANZA BIENESTAR COMUNITARIO (ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY WELLNESS): A YEAR-LONG CROSS-CULTURAL COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH INTERNSHIP

Written by Maria Felix-Ortiz, Arianna Villarreal, Julianie Gonzalez Delerme, and Armando Villarreal, III

Teaching research methods used in psychology is fraught with challenges. Most courses are limited to one term and not integrated with teaching statistics. Also, few courses focus on one problem relevant to the students for the entire course, and tend to be divorced from important lessons about cross-cultural research or research involving US American cultural groups. We addressed these limitations by building a research experience around collaboration with students in Mexico, and enhanced the experience with short study-abroad and service components. Alianza Bienestar Comunitario was a collaborative year-long undergraduate research internship that included two short study-abroad components. Program objectives included developing skills in a second language and research skills, professional development, technologies used for research, social norms marketing using social media, backtranslation, and research ethics.  Students analyzed US drug use data collected by the program director and a student participant, and used this to inform a social norms marketing campaign conducted at the end of the year using social media and a website.  The team included students who traveled, students who participated only in the virtual meetings, and one faculty mentor from each of four partner institutions. Partner institutions included universities in San Antonio, a public and private university in Mexico, and the Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico’s premier research and treatment hospital.

Edited by Douglas Perkins, Vanderbilt University and Olga Oliveira Cunha, NOVA University

NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY: NAPLES (OR ONLINE) SEPTEMBER 21-24, 2022 

Written by Douglas D. Perkins, Program in Community Development/Research & Action, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

Most readers of this column already know that the Ninth International Conference on Community Psychology in Naples, Italy (and also globally for live participants online), will be happening this September 21-24—i.e., right around the time this issue is published and distributed. So I hope as many of you as possible have already made plans to attend, in-person or virtually, what promises to be a fascinating and wide-ranging set of workshops, keynotes, presentations, discussions, and social events. See the program at the conference website: https://9iccpnaples.com/, including whether each session is virtual, in-person-only or hybrid (and if not too late when you read this, email iccp2022@gmail.com for online registration information). 

Reading Circle

Edited by Dominique Thomas, Morehouse College and Allana Zuckerman, Mesa Community College

To encourage an ongoing dialogue with each other about what we are reading and how those readings are influencing our work, we are starting a reading circle and recommended reading list. Each issue we will share resources that have influenced our work and provide a space for additional submissions. This is a space for people to share what they are reading so we can get an idea of the different knowledge bases people are exposed to and what is influencing their research and practice. This is also a way for us to share information and knowledge across a variety of topics to showcase and enhance richness of thought within the field.

Read more...

The SCRA Research Council is delighted to announce the outcome of the 2022-2024 cycle of recruitment, review and selection of Research Scholar applicants. The SCRA Research Council was founded in 2017 and decided a good way to begin supporting community research would be to help untenured community psychology faculty enhance their research programs and become tenured. Such scholars may become tenured faculty, contribute to the community research literature and mentor future scholars, scholar-practitioners and practitioners for decades to come. The Research Scholar Program has had significant success to date. All Scholars who have sought promotion and tenure have been successful. Scholars have received national recognition for their research and have provided leadership to SCRA. Many represent BIPOC groups that previously had little access to doctoral education. Given these successes, in winter 2022 the SCRA Executive Committee (EC) committed $24,000 to support six Scholars in 2022-2024. In addition to financial support, all Scholars receive mentoring assistance from one or more accomplished senior researchers in community psychology or related field. Scholars also provide mutual support and engage in professional development sessions on regular basis. After carefully reviewing the number of talented applicants, the Council members selected the following very promising assistant professors or equivalent in community psychology doctoral programs or doctoral programs including community psychology for this, the fifth cohort of SCRA Research Scholars: