Tabitha Underwood and Roger E. Mitchell (USA)
Peer Reviewed
Although a large portion of American society is housed in rental units, much of the literature on sense of community has focused on homeowners and their role in community development activities within neighborhoods. Much less attention has been paid to the circumstances under which renters become engaged in local communities.This exploratory study found that managers do have a role to play in building a sense of community among residents, are currently facilitating engagement, and place importance on such activities. It provides a glimpse into community engagement of renters and examines the possibilities for practitioners to work with apartment complexes, managers, and management companies in promoting sense of community among renters.
Read more...Giulia Guariso (Italy)
Virginia Paloma, Samuel Arias, Rocío Garrido, & Manuel García-Ramírez (Spain)
Peer Reviewed
Teenagers who live in vulnerable neighborhoods have a higher probability of entering into a vicious circle where they suffer the consequences of an unfair structure and, at the same time, contribute to the maintenance of it. A research-intervention with photovoice was carried out with youth from a vulnerable multicultural neighborhood on the outskirts of Seville (Spain). The objective was to increase the teenagers’ neighborhood activism through an increase in their psychological sense of community, forecast of future participation, and empowerment. Participants increased their level of psychological sense of community and their wish to participate in the future, but continued with the same level of empowerment. Theoretical contributions and useful suggestions for research-intervention with photovoice are discussed.
Read more...Justin Greenleaf (USA)
Peer Reviewed
This study focuses on social media use in nonprofit organizations and how nonprofits perceive and strategize about the use of social media platforms. The study was open to any nonprofit organization actively engaged in the use of social media and fifteen different nonprofit organizations were purposefully selected for inclusion in the study. Analysis of the data resulted in the formation of six themes that included: nature of social media, online/offline action, social media is social, strategic/data driven, authentic, and power of the story. Together, these themes provide insights into how these organizations approached the use of social media.
Read more...Kristen D. Gleason, Charlene Baker, Alyssa Carangan, Jared Espinueva, Alma Herrera-Mendoza, Denali Lukacinsky, Andreas Remis (USA)
Peer Reviewed
This study explores how challenges to addressing human trafficking are shaped by the local context in the U.S. State of Hawai‘i. Human trafficking consists of a variety of practices (e.g., sex trafficking and labor trafficking) and potential victims groups (men, women, and children of both international and domestic origin), all of which occur in Hawai‘i. Challenges related to the unique local geography, cultural diversity, and sociocultural context, all of which may shape local practices and discourses related to human trafficking, are discussed.
Read more...Claire Cahen (USA)
Peer Reviewed
Bike equity refers to the notion that traditionally marginalized populations face disproportionate barriers to being able to bicycle safely in the communities in which they live. Notably, low-income US residents comprise the majority of bike commuters, and yet have less access to adequate bicycling infrastructure than their middle- and high-income peers. This review also suggests that bike equity is an area for future community psychology practice and research.
Read more...Articles from Around the Globe
SCRA Community Mini-Grant Spotlight: "Break Every Chain"
SCRA Community Mini-Grant Spotlight: Environmental/Social Justice in Nepal
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The articles in this issue reflect the many ways in which social interaction matter in practice.
Many disciplines are discovering that the problems they are working on are “wicked problems.” Wicked problems, as Brown, Harris, and Russell (2010) point out, are ones that have innumerable causes, are interconnected with other problems, and rarely have a single acceptable solution. Wicked problems are more common than not. Researchers often expect that they can solve such problems by relying on traditional research methods, yet hundreds of studies can be carried out and the answer as to what should be done can still be up in the air. This is new territory for many disciplines, and they are experiencing significant challenges.
The SCRA Community Mini-Grants was founded in 2010 with the intention of supporting small, time sensitive community-based projects that are consistent with SCRA’s mission, principles, and goals. We are excited about sharing the great work being done by SCRA members and their community partners, and even happier to be able to highlight examples of this work and share them with the GJCPP readership. Below, 2013 Mini-Grant awardee Anta Yu provides insight on her work surrounding the barriers that men living in urban, economically disadvantaged, predominantly African American neighborhoods face with the reentry/recovery process.
The SCRA Community Mini-Grants was founded in 2010 with the intention of supporting small, time-sensitive community based projects that are consistent with SCRA’s mission, principles, and goals. We are excited about sharing the great work being done by SCRA members and their community partners, and even happier to be able to highlight examples of this work and share them with the GJCPP readership. Below, 2015 Mini-Grant awardee Sarah DeYoung provides us with a snapshot of her work about understanding how Nepalese mothers and children recover after the devastating earthquake on April 25, 2015.
This is one of a series of bulletins highlighting the use of community psychology in practice. Comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome. Please direct them to Tabitha Underwood at underwoodtabitha@gmail.com.