Discusses common themes in five papers on rural community psychology: myth that rural life is naturally supportive, importance of community needs in designing prevention programs, risks of labeling diseases, rural psychologists as developers/advocates, using advice/direct suggestion, thinking in systems/ecological terms, role/boundary conflicts,…

Examines a community psychology course that stresses community empowerment, the myth of neutrality and objectivity in community psychology, and democratic accountability to the community. The course includes a brief history of race, class, and gender oppression in South Africa and concludes with a unit on converting social theory into practice.…

An ecological framework for predicting citizen participation in grassroots community organizations and predicting community disorder problems (such as crime and fear) was developed and tested. The framework, which is called an ecological framework for sustainable community learning and development, delineates the relevant economic, political,…