Search

Information about several papers discussed at the American Psychological Association (APA) conference on the levels and patterns of professional training in psychology is presented. It was attended by 100 delegates who were carefully chosen to represent the diversity of perspectives and constituencies together with several participant observers. Position statements and papers prepared by APA explore the community psychology which failed to gain a consistent identity.

The article discusses the study on the application of spatial paralogic attitude inventory (SPAI) as a measure of attitude or self esteem of people with disabilities. The study constitutes three investigations including the test for the construct validity of the SPAI using a known group procedure, using college students who volunteered to work in a program with disabled individuals and the relation of the SPAI to other variables that are relevant to attitudes toward disabled people. The study indicated that people with multiple sclerosis rated significant disability on the SPAI. SPAI had a low positive correlation with measure of attitudes toward the disabled (ATDP).

The article focuses on the area of self-concept and the disadvantaged within the children in the U.S. The review of the non-research literature in the area of self-concept and the disadvantaged has clearly showed one unanimously shared opinion. It was said that the condition of the economic disadvantage has produced self-concept problems for the poor. Although theorists in the field have agreed that the self-concepts of children who grown up in poverty were affected deleteriously, the research on the issue was much less consistent.

An Inventory designed to examine women's perception of the female role as home- and family-oriented versus the female role as outward-achieving-oriented was administered to women selected from one North American and two South American urban-industrial communities. The purpose was to determine how the women perceived themselves in these roles as opposed to how they thought the "man's ideal woman" would perceive these roles. Results indicated that both North American and South American women believed that man's ideal woman would be traditionally submissive and place home and family above outward-achieving strivings. North American women, more than South American women, felt career could be integrated with family life and were more aggressive towards outward achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the social-psychological aspects of community study in the U.S. For the most part, research sociologists have tended to give relatively little emphasis to social-psychological aspects of community study. Where these aspects have been studied they have often been incidental to other aspects or the emphasis has tended to be on the static rather than on the dynamic phases. As a result most dramatic social-psychological study of communities has been by non-sociologists, especially by action people. In 1947, August B. Hollingshead brought the trends in community study down to date by his analysis of the field during the preceding fifteen years. He limited his discussion to three categories of community study and omitted special reference to the social-psychological as a separate category, although the social-psychological was, of course, implicit in the three he distinguished. Until recently, it must be confessed, the relationship between those engaged in scientific research and those interested in action research has not been cordial. It may be objected that the measuring and plotting of dynamic group interaction is not community study. A field for study in the dynamic social-psychological aspects of community open to sociologists has to do with the evaluation of programmes undertaken by communities and their agencies.

The author reflects on the perspectives of community psychology. The author presents definitions and perspectives on matters central to community psychology. He commented that the definitions of terms concerning community psychology need to be advanced to help provide orientation and to present particular perspectives. He focuses on the community psychology perspectives in many American communities.