An Ecological Paradigm

Abstract

Consultation is defined as a preventive service, the goal of which is to create a variety of social, economic, and psychological resources for the continued development of the consultee organization. Ten principles are presented for the assessment and development of the consultee organization. These principles focus upon ways to generate social support and self-direction for the individual members and for the total organization. The framework for the presentation of the principles is an ecological perspective which emphasizes the concepts of persons, settings, and events as resources for the individual members of the organization and the total organization. Ecological concepts are presented, such as interdependence and adaptation, to direct the work of the consultation. Working from an ecological perspective, the consultant focuses upon assessing the natural social processes that bind persons and social settings together, while also assessing the prospects for how new social processes can be generated. Consultation succeeds as a preventive service when the organization is able to identify and create its own resources internally and then link to other external resources. This chapter provides the orienting framework for four case examples in the following chapters.     

A Community Service for a Rural High School

Abstract

This case study illustrates a preventive consultation using the ecological paradigm to guide entry, assessment, problem solving, and collaborative intervention design and implementation in a rural high school which initially had serious reservations about working with urban academicians. The ecological paradigm's emphasis on the identification of resources, on collaborative work with community members, and on developing tailored solutions based on the strengths of the setting are discussed. A four year follow-up describing the long-term outcome and commentary from a key setting member are included.     

Two Into One

Abstract

A preventive consultation guided by an ecological perspective was carried out in a suburban public school system. The broad goal of this consultation was to facilitate the closure of one public junior high school and its consolidation into another school which was quite different in terms of student body characteristics, administrative philosophy, and social and physical environments. The elements of the consultation consisted of: (1) serving as a source of support and information for the school administrator who was almost single-handedly orchestrating both the closure and the consolidation; (2) attempting to illuminate potential resources to enrich the consolidation process; and (3) developing events to aid both staff and students in understanding the existing social environments of both schools and the common culture to be formed as a result of the consolidation. In addition, conclusions about the usefulness and limitations of an ecological approach to consultation are outlined, and reactions of members of the two schools involved in the consultation are presented.     

Synergy and Healing

Summary

There is a crisis in health care resulting from the scarcity of resources and the inequitable distribution of those resources toward those most able to pay. Two paradigms for the generation and distribution of resources are discussed. The scarcity paradigm, in which individuals must compete for scarce resources, dominates Western care and expresses and supports that crisis. The synergy paradigm, in which individuals share resources which are renewable and expanding, is rare in the West but could help alleviate that crisis. Three case studies of synergy in Western health care are presented, illustrating the nature and functioning of “synergistic community.” Dilemmas remaining in the introduction and maintenance of synergy within Western care are discussed.     

A Partnership Approach to Consultation

Abstract

A social ecological approach to consultation was evaluated through a four-year primary prevention field research project with 10,000 people in 24 church congregations. Significantly lower levels of personal distress and alcohol abuse were found in experimental congregations exposed to intervention processes which encouraged an increase in heterogeneous settings and activities when compared to control congregations not exposed to the same intervention processes. Continuing reciprocal social support and mutual empowerment, defined as knowing how to give and receive support, caring for others, knowing others by name, and being asked to help others, were identified as the key process variables which minimized distress and abuse.     

Empowerment and Synergy

Abstract

This paper suggests an alternative to the commonly-held “scarcity paradigm” of thinking about valued human resources, which assumes individuals must compete because resources are scarce. The alternative-the “synergy paradigm”-is empitomized in “synergistic community,” where valued human resources are renewable and expanding, and distributed equitably to members, so that what is good for one is good for all and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Three field studies present cross-cultural evidence for the functioning of empowerment within a synergistic paradigm. Empowerment is considered as access to and control of valued resources; the specific valued resource focused upon is community healing. The studies suggest that community healing resources can become renewable and expanding, as can the process of empowerment which accesses them. Community members share these resources, combining conflicting resources into unexpectedly effective treatment packages. Given present inequities in resource distribution, transformative education is offered as one means to support a shift in thinking toward synergy.     

Prevention of Child Abuse

Abstract

The application of the ecological paradigm to the potential prevention of child abuse is discussed, using two examples of consultation services designed to increase social support. The examples illustrate the principle of designing different interventions according to the ecologies of different communities. Principles of the ecological paradigm that guided the interventions are discussed. A follow-up assessment of the interventions, based on interview and questionnaire results obtained from participants in the projects, is presented.     

Community Psychologists who Go Beyond the Profession

SUMMARY

A “calling” is typically a compelling sense of purpose that arises from a place different from the calculus that leads to a choice of profession. Yet in the case of community psychology, the five people profiled in this essay have both an impressive professional portfolio and a sense of social mission. This essay explores the two sides of their work, and more broadly the challenges facing those who work as agents of change, while at the same time advancing and achieving notable accomplishments in systems that are at once sources of social problems and resources for solving them.     

Is Social Work the Best Educational Degree for Child Welfare Practitioners?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this three-year research project was to identify the educational and training needs of public child welfare case managers and recommend baccalaureate programs that would best meet those needs. Surveys, focus groups, and content analyses were used to identify the learning needs. The social work curricula were found to contain the most comprehensive match of skill development and theoretical and values content with the learning needs of case managers.     

A Multidimensional Ecological Examination of a Youth Development Program for Military Dependent Youth

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to conduct a multi-method evaluation to investigate the effectiveness of a youth development program for military dependent youth entitled, Youth Action Program. The dimensions of an ecological program are used to examine the program post-de-facto. The comparison with elements of ecological programming provided reasons as to this program's perceived impact and its weaknesses. A multi-dimensional evaluation is employed that examines the processes and outcomes in their natural settings. Youth and parents overwhelmingly believed that this program had made a positive difference in their lives. Youth demonstrated an improvement, although not significant, in their self-concept; however, participating youths' levels of social isolation and withdrawal from social contact remained at a high level. The results and need for future research are presented related to evaluating youth development programs and the ecological model.     

A Preventive Intervention with Children of Alcoholics

Summary

Children of alcoholics have been identified as a population at high risk for the development of a large number of psycho-social and behavioral problems (e.g., alcoholism and difficulty in establishing relationships). The literature on etiology, mediating and moderating variables, and resiliency with respect to these developmental processes has implications for the development of prevention strategies. A group preventive intervention was designed to facilitate the development of a variety of coping strategies and social skills, as well as to provide information and support to self-referred children of alcoholics. Eighteen sessions were held at middle schools. Comparison of pre and post data (using a waiting control group design) indicated positive effects in terms of several psychosocial variables.     

The inner “I”

SUMMARY

Many community psychologists have the educational and professional backgrounds which make them potentially valuable resources for the disabilities field. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) call for greater community inclusion, empowerment, and self-determination for persons with disabilities. Community psychologists with interests in these concepts, as well as in interdisciplinary training, collaboration, community-driven research, and political action are needed as leaders in the disabilities field. This paper explores the development of one community psychologist's career working with persons who have disabilities and the institutions that support them.     

Individual differences in safe behavior: A safety practitioner's viewpoint

SUMMARY

This paper focuses on the school as a setting for community-based prevention of factors that place learners at risk such as poverty, violence, substance abuse, learning difficulties and HIV/AIDS. It examines the development of school-based structures aimed at addressing these issues. The health promoting and inclusive schools approaches are explored as strategies to address these and other barriers to learning.

Reference is made to innovative practice at a school in a disadvantaged community outside of Cape Town. The case study reveals how school-based teams could be utilized to mobilize school communities in generating solutions to the difficulties that they encounter.     

Training Preventionists in the Ethical Implications of Their Actions

Abstract

Preventionists must continually examine the ethical implications of their actions in the course of formal and informal training, research, and consultation. They must be trained to respond to the ethical implications of prevention efforts from multiple perspectives simultaneously, including, for example, those of the program designer, the service provider, the target population, the general constituency, and the program evaluator. This paper suggests both substantive and procedural approaches for such ethical training. Moreover it addresses ethical considerations that are raised by the very act of attempting to train others in prevention efforts.     

Community Building with Technology

Abstract

This article describes the creation and development of community technology initiatives in Lowell, Massachusetts, a historically poor and ethnically diverse mid-size city. In the past two years, many organizations have joined in community-wide efforts to share information and resources electronically and to launch new electronic technology projects. Recent initiatives include a comprehensive computerized public database of area-wide health and human service programs, a centralized multi-purpose community Web site, and a new inter-agency community technology collaborative. This article reviews these activities and describes general lessons learned in electronic community building that may apply to other communities.     

The Primary Prevention of Adolescent Substance Abuse Through the Promotion of Personal and Social Competence

Summary

The Life Skills Training (LST) program is a broad-based substance abuse prevention program which emphasizes self-improvement and the development of important personal and social skills. This chapter describes the LST program, its theoretical rationale, and the results of evaluation studies conducted over the last eight years; in addition, this chapter reports the process by which the original school-based program format was revised for use in a community setting-specifically for use with urban minority adolescents living in a shelter for the homeless. The revised version of the LST     

Interdisciplinary Programs in Community and Applied Research

SUMMARY

This article describes the critical role of interdisciplinary programs in addressing the mission of the Society for Community Research and Action. In the past decade, interdisciplinary approaches to graduate education have increased in importance yet the makeup of the Society does not reflect this change. The mission, organization, and curriculum focus of five programs are described. They include human development and family studies, social welfare, law/psychology, and community-social psychology. Prevention research and program evaluation are highlighted as key areas for program development.