Community Psychology

Community Psychology, 6th Edition offers an easy-to-navigate, clearly organized, and comprehensive overview of the field, with theoretical roots that carry over to practical applications. Presenting the concepts of community psychology and social change, these concepts are then applied to various systems addressing the human condition: mental health, medical, public health, school, legal, and industrial/organizational.

Through a unique three-part approach, including concepts, interventions, and applications of the theory, the book opens the field of community psychology to students who are interested in how psychology might help themselves and the systems around them. It then focuses on the prevention of problems, the promotion of well-being, the empowerment of members within a community, the appreciation of diversity, and an ecological model for the understanding of human behavior. Attention is paid to both "classic" early writings and the most recent journal articles and reviews by today’s practitioners and researchers. Historical and alternative methods of effecting social change are explored in this book, with the overall theme that the environment is as important as the individual in it.

This 6th edition will include new topical subjects such as grit and life success, changes in technology and their impact, interventions based on networking, social movements and justice, dealing with stigma, and new models of health. It will appeal to advanced undergraduates as well as graduates taking courses on community psychology, social psychology, clinical psychology, and related fields.

John Moritsugu received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. He is Professor of Psychology at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. A co-editor of the text Preventive Psychology, he has also been on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Community Psychology, the Journal of Community Psychology, and Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Divisions 1 (General Psychology), 27 (Society for Community Research and Action) and 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues).

Elizabeth Vera is a Professor in the School of Education at Loyola University Chicago. She received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from The Ohio State University and teaches undergraduate education courses and graduate courses in the counseling programs at Loyola. Her research interests include urban youth development, subjective well-being of ethnic minority adolescents, prevention, and social justice in psychology. Dr. Vera has been on the editorial boards of the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Child Development, and The Counseling Psychologist. She is an active member of several divisions of the American Psychological Association and is a Fellow of the APA.

Frank Y. Wong, Ph.D. is a social psychologist in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. His expertise is in community-based research on HIV-related risk behaviors and alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) use/abuse among racial/ethnic and under-served populations. Dr. Wong currently has multiple NIH-funded R01 grants supporting his research programs. His NIH-funded research focuses on social epidemiology as well as prevention of ATOD and HIV targeting migrant and/or non-indigenous populations and sexual minorities and the effects of migration on ATOD use/ abuse and HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in the U.S. and China. He also has conducted and published research in South Africa.

Karen Grover Duffy holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Michigan State University. She is a Distinguished Service Professor ― Emerita from State University of New York at Geneseo. Dr. Duffy taught community psychology for many years as well as social psychology and psychology of personality. She instituted and directed the service learning program at her college. She won two Fulbright Fellowships to St. Petersburg State University in Russia where she taught both community psychology and community mediation. She still teaches in Russia and continues her award-winning community service projects in the United States, Russia, and other countries, most recently Mongolia.