Commentaries on Prilleltensky and Nelson.

This article comments on the paper by sociologists Issac Prilleltensky and Geoffrey Nelson concerned with priorities for psychological and social interventions published in the March 1, 2000 issue of the "Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology." Authors use the quite well-established concepts of the prevention-intervention continuum, identifying target groups which are universal, selective, or targeted, which is useful conceptually but in practice it is often less clear. Authors use ecological levels as a conceptual tool for analysing the different levels of influence on child and family wellness, again consistent with a community psychology approach. In this brief commentary, the author wants to problematize psychological language and metaphor, which he suspects may undermine values and practices suggested as desirable. The author argues that the very language used to frame these issues actually works against achievement of the espoused goals.