Foundations of Community Psychology

This unit reviews the history of community psychology and the national and international development of the discipline.  Students gain an understanding of the impact of social systems on mental health. Philosophical underpinnings include examining psychology's role in the use of knowledge production and action for social justice, eg. students critically review the 'medical' model of mental health, power relationships, social capital, social institutions, health inequalities, blaming the victim and social exclusion. Within these parameters, notions related to multiple levels of analysis and prevention are highlighted, as well as tensions between deficit models versus competencies, and the issues of social identities, social inequalities and social processes.