Defining Community Psychology And Its History

According to (Kloos, et al., 2012) “community psychology concerns the relationship of individuals with communities and societies. By integrating research with action, it seeks to understand and enhance the quality of life for individuals, communities and societies”. From this statement, we can acknowledge that community psychology focuses on social issues that are made up of the cultural, institutional, political, economic, and any other settings that may have an influence on the lives or wellbeing of individuals and communities.

During the month of May 1965 in Massachusetts, United States of America, community psychology was born at the Swampscott Conference.

The primary aim of this conference was to discuss the role of psychology in the community mental health movement. It was established that communities are plagued by many social problems with different causes, psychological solutions are necessary to address some of them. (Seedat, Duncan, & Lazarus, 2001).

There are historical contexts and reasons underlying the need for the development of community psychology. Firstly, societal factors such as oppression, racism and poverty caused many problems in communities.

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The 1960s was characterized by many liberation struggles all over the world. Secondly, there was a lot of people in need of psychological treatment and few people who could help due to financial and resource factors, this was also made worse by the lack of people willing to seek help for psychological problems. (Gregory, 1999). A need to move away from treating problems and move towards seeking and preventing problems to the realization that the psychological well-being of individuals cannot be understood in isolation from broader social contexts such as culture and environment.

A community psychologist according to (Biglan & Smolkowski, 2002) has to perform key functions. They have to be able to facilitate strategic planning for communities, which entails helping communities develop and realize specific goals towards their improvement. Secondly, through research and use of previous data they have to be able to monitor the well-being of the community. This will help in establishing aspects like the prevalence rates of diseases and anti-social behavior. The other role of a community psychologist is to do consultation and training. This entails assisting the government and or organizations in the creation and implementation of policies as well as training the relevant authorities, they should also do an evaluation on the success of existing policies. (Lazarus, et al., 2014)

Community psychology deals with different aspects of the community, as such their work setting is diverse. They normally work in places like non-governmental organizations, government, research institutions, and mental health institutions just to name a few. (Lewis, et al., 2003) For one to be a successful community psychologist they need to possess a couple of interpersonal skills. These being impeccable communication skills, identifying with members of the society, the ability to embrace diversity, risk-taker, compassion. (Biglan & Smolkowski, 2002)

In order for one to become a community psychologist in Botswana, they have to meet certain criteria. Firstly individuals need to complete a four-year psychology degree program. Secondly the need to go for a master’s program which typically takes 2 years and lastly they need to acquire a four-year doctorate before they can register with the relevant regulatory body. It is important to note that these requirements are unique to the country of practice.

Personal motivation Growing up in the streets of Bontleng in Gaborone, from a young age I have always had to bear witness to various social ills that plagued our community and the devastating effects they had on the well-being of our community. This developed in me a longing to understand human and community behavior. As a double major student of both psychology and sociology, I have an established interest in the way society and individuals work. Upon discovering the field of community psychology and realizing that it addresses both my interests it has become my dream to become a community psychologist. Botswana has always been intriguing to me because it has many different tribes that are able to co-exist peacefully. My interest in volunteering in non-governmental organizations is in line with the essence of community psychology.

Upon achieving my dream of becoming a community psychologist, I intend to focus primarily on researching the influence of online communities. Apart from writing articles, it is important for me to design effective policies that will address social problems affecting the youth of Botswana.

Status of the field in Botswana

Botswana is made up of eight main Setswana speaking tribes and about twelve minor tribes. The total non-Tswana population is generally estimated at about 60 percent. It is important for the country to understand these communities’ needs and well-being. The application of community psychology especially in the rural areas of Botswana would a long way in helping the government design and implement its social programs. Botswana has struggled to attract trained mental health practitioners especially psychologists. When looking at the Integrated health service plan (2010) it is evident that the government does not have any future plans to employ any community psychologists. Their main focus is to increase the number of clinical psychologists.

Over the years Botswana has been greatly affected by the spread of HIV and Aids. The persistence of this virus is primarily due to the presence of social ills among adults and youth such as unprotected sex with multiple partners, heavy drinking, and overall disregard of health. Passion killings have also become a norm across different communities. So far social workers and other trained volunteers have been tasked with dealing with the issues mentioned. It is evident that their contribution although necessary is not sufficient, as shown by the lack of qualitative research done to understand why people engage in risky and anti-social behavior. Community psychologists are necessary, firstly to conduct much-needed research in the various communities and assess whether the current government social programs are effective.