This research examines problematic and taken for granted issues in Scottish Secondary Education, from a critical community psychological perspective. Young people are positioned as central to the research, in particular young people experiencing exclusion being the most disempowered group in education, and to fully understand problems they experience the thesis develops a standpoint with young people. Methodologically the research is grounded in a particular approach to praxis. Critical reflection, action and knowledge construction all influence one another cyclically in complex relationships, at times conflicting and at others developing together dialogically and these relationships are embraced and reflected upon carefully. Power and knowledge are viewed as being inextricably linked and knowledge, what is legitimated within a certain frame of reference as ‘truth’ or ‘reality’, is viewed as being constructed by dominant groups with the power to do so. Ethnography was carried out in three educational settings: a mainstream High School; a Special School in a city centre catering for young people experiencing exclusion; and a Youth Project where permanently excluded young people were on an alternative curriculum. Qualitative methods were used in a varied and tailored way for each setting and group of people and included Participatory Action Research and group work with young people, interview and group work with teachers, active participation in settings leading to fieldwork notes, and collection of textual information. Analysis involved careful examination of a wide variety of material, drawing on various methods of discourse analysis. The research material was analysed for the ways in which education made possible and placed limits on legislation, social practices, ways of speaking and ways of being. The assumption that adults must be in control of young people in education was found to be absolute and pervasive, stemming from societal ideas of young people, but also perpetuating them. This emerged throughout my research, from practices in mainstream school to ways of speaking available to adults and young people. Inclusion, while often spoken of in relation to equality and social justice, in practice is often conditional, and is re-positioned in this thesis as a form of control. School exclusion is often described in education as being expelled or suspended, but is repositioned in this research more generally as being excluded from learning and peers, and is argued as inherently problematic. Problematic, institutional, educational discourse is constructed as often placing limits on ways of speaking, such that critical reflection and action within secondary education becomes very difficult for adults and young people. Ways of speaking available to young people are examined and demonstrate that while education imposes particular ways of speaking and being, young people find opportunities to resist and reconstruct. Ways of being are examined, between adults and young people in educational settings, and an account of performance of resistance and compliance between young people and adults is developed. This research draws on a complex and multi disciplinary use of theory, literature, methodology and methods, and in doing so constructs an account of young people’s experiences in education that is based on a standpoint with young people. By grounding the research in the interests of young people, particularly those experiencing school exclusion, it challenges assumptions of dominance and control that have implications for education as a whole and all those operating within.

Thesis (DPhil (Psychology))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Very little is known about the experiences of black children living in poverty in South Africa. This compromises the delivery of appropriate psychological services. This dissertation considers the contribution that psychoanalytic infant observation might make to a needs assessment process within the community psychology paradigm. To date, infant observation has predominantly been used for training psychotherapists and other professionals in Western contexts. The goal of the present project was to conduct a "classical" observation of a mother and child in a lowincome South African community in the first year of the infant's life, in order to ascertain what kind of description it would yield. The question was whether such a description is useful for the needs assessment process, and ultimately, whether infant observation is a viable tool for psychologists working in low-income communities in South Africa. The study was set in a poor, semi-rural, so-called coloured township in the Western Cape. The data were analysed using an intersubjective psychoanalytic lens and a social constructionist grounded theory approach. In overview, the findings relate to two main areas, namely a) the nature and content of the resultant description, and b) the effect of the process. The analysis of the case material showed that the observation produced an extremely detailed account of the experience of poverty and oppression, involving the way in which it influences all relationships, including the one between mother and child. The knowledge gained offers clear pointers to the kind of intervention that would benefit the particular infant in the present study, and potentially other infants in vulnerable social contexts as well. One surprising outcome was the extensive way in which the observation functioned therapeutically for the whole family. It is therefore concluded that infant observation can provide a very rich contribution to low-income communities on a number of levels, if it is able to make both the theoretical and practical adjustments needed. It is thus argued that it is necessary to look at infant observation in more critical ways, both in terms of how it has traditionally been conceptualised and how it is and can be applied across all contexts.

Thesis (MA) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: no abstract available / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsing ondersoek die behoefte van Sielkunde as professie om meer sosiaal relevante en gepaste dienste vir al die mense van Suid-Afrika te lewer. Dit bespreek die kritiek teen tradisionele sielkunde en die dringende behoefte vir 'n meer kontekstuele benadering om the negatiewe sielkundige verskynsels in the samelewing te begryp en verklaar. Die waarde van Gemeenskapsielkunde om voorkomende, kuratiewe en bevorderende geestesgesondheidsdienste aan gemeenskappe te lewer, word ook ondersoek. Verskeie modelle van gemeenskapsielkunde en die voorgestelde integrasie van geestesgesondheidsdienste by Primere Gesondheid word bespreek. Die plasing van 'n voorligtingsielkunde internskap binne 'n gemeenskapsomgewing, naamlik, die Don en Pat Bilton Kliniek, Jamestown, word beskryf en qeevalueer.

This thesis examines mental health utilization amongst African-American women. The study specifically investigated the factors that may predict help seeking behaviors: depression, stigma, African acculturation, mistrust, and religious commitment. The study also examined the role demographics has on African-American women utilizing mental health services. The study examined the following demographics, income, age, marital status, and education status. The sample size consisted 40 African American women, with ages ranging from 18 to 65. The results indicated that age and depression may impact African-American women seeking mental health services. The results showed that stigma, African acculturation, mistrust, religious commitment, income, marital status and education have no statistical significance in predicting African-American women utilizing mental health services.

Despite recent drops in rates, juvenile incarceration remains a serious issue in the United States (Hockenberry, 2013; Mendel, 2011). One shared part of the incarceration experience across different systems and facility types is the obligation for juvenile offenders to receive correctional education. Ample research demonstrates that increased academic achievement, attending community school, and being employed are connected to better community outcomes and desistance, yet little is known about how school experiences in the facility influences these outcomes. Applying life-course theory of the development of crime (Sampson & Laub, 1997, 2005), the present study investigates whether correctional education serves as a turning point to influence a number of community adjustment outcomes in serious juvenile offenders. Specifically, it tested how subjective (teacher bonding and school orientation) and objective (grades, time spent in the facility school) parts of the school experience during the facility stay were related to transitioning to community schools (attendance), and/or work (gainful activity and employment), self-reported delinquency, and staying in the community at 6 and 12 months after release for a sample of 519 male and 50 female serious juvenile offenders. Results showed that across juvenile and adult facilities, improved attachment to the facility school while incarcerated predicted increased involvement in gainful activity and decreases in self-reported delinquency up to 12 months after release. This positive effect was greatest for younger offenders who returned to school, even when accounting for the number of previous facility stays and prior community school experiences. Conversely, older offenders who returned to gainful employment showed less positive adjustment. In contrast to other studies, grades received while incarcerated were not a significant predictor of community adjustment. Overall, the results repeatedly show behavioral differences based on individual history and experiences during incarceration across different types of facilities, strongly supporting a research agenda that treats incarceration as more than a binary variable. The present results add to the corpus of evidence that the perspective of the incarcerated juveniles matter and suggest that the school experience while incarcerated can serve as an important turning point, indicating resources should be directed towards enhancing juveniles’ school orientation and relationships with teachers.

The current global formation, characterised by a burgeoning knowledge economy alongside widespread social discontent and economic upheaval, situates the study of knowledge production in the field of community psychology at a timely socio-historical juncture. Community psychology has a long-standing tradition of introspection about its identity, achievements and future direction, established historically through the analysis of published work. This research engages with this tradition, foregrounding the intellectual role and social position of scholars in the field, and the tensions that are collectively evident their work. The study critically appraises the characteristics of published work over a decade with a view to distilling the topics of interest, the preferred methodological choices and the predominant theoretical concerns of the sub-discipline of community psychology. The study employs a mixed methodology to highlight patterns of dominance and marginality in these elements that situates South African scholarship in the field within the global arena. The study presents a content analysis of trends in 2 229 published articles drawn from two local South African journals (South African Journal of Psychology and Psychology in Society) and four international journals (American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology and Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community) that were published between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2009. Among the variables investigated in the quantitative data analysis were constitutive of the authorship characteristics, publication types, topics, theoretical choices, research methods and participant characteristics appearing in published work, including the representation of marginalised groups. The discursive analysis that follows, presents an in-depth reading of selected texts drawn from this dataset though the use of a critical discursive frame to illustrate of how power and the tensions between dominant narratives and marginal positions in community psychology manifest in published work. This serves to foreground contradictions in the identity, values and foci of the field, and some of the discourses implicated in how these disparities are perpetuated. The thesis contends that knowledge production is a contested site where attention to patterns of dominance and marginality reveal how the workings of power can be detected using both quantitative and qualitative analytic methods to investigate the state of published work. Though vastly different in the quantity of publications generated, and the field’s stage of development, the theoretical and methodological features of articles published internationally and in South Africa were remarkably alike. Across both contexts, results showed the prominent use of preventionist, traditional and ecological theories, rather than critical or social perspectives. This reveals the pervasive influence of biomedical epistemologies in the field. Authors were primarily located in academia rather than in applied community contexts. They published empirical articles most often, and showed an affinity for positivist research approaches and the survey method of data collection. The use of a critical paradigm and associated methodological choices, such as discourse analysis, was rare. Most studies did not focus specifically on marginalised groups, although the presence of forms of structural marginality by race, gender and socio-economic status were similarly proportionate across local and international research. Results suggest a persistent neglect of researching specific marginalised groups, such as those socially excluded due to age, HIV status, migration and sexual orientation. Differences across contexts were especially evident in the choice of research topics, rather than approaches used. On the whole, international research has a much greater emphasis on research topics related to child, youth and family development. Findings suggest that disciplinary forces in the field heavily influence the form of articles and their theoretical and methodological features, across local and international research. However, journal topics are more context-sensitive aspects of publications, and reflect local concerns. In addition to publication trends, the thesis identifies several discourses present in published work that show how the field is constructed and its ideological tensions. The thesis considers these findings in view of the power relations they represent and critically reflects on the intrinsic and extrinsic issues at stake in defining the field of community psychology in light of global knowledge production imperatives.

O desenraizamento acontece quando pessoas ou grupos são afastados de suas tradições e das historias de vida de seus ancestrais, por razões ligadas à dominação e à espoliação econômica. Assim, o processo de dominação privilegia o acumulo de dinheiro em detrimento à cultura e à tradição de povos inteiros. Este processo tem sido recorrente durante a história da ocupação da Amazônia desde o período colonial. Atualmente, a construção da Usina hidroelétrica de Santo Antônio no rio Madeira representa uma ameaça às comunidades localizadas na região. Entendemos que esta obra pode ser extremamente nociva à cultura e à tradição dos povos que ali vivem. Embora existam conselhos comunitários com o objetivo de garantir a participação dos moradores na gestão do território, efetivamente suas vozes não têm sido ouvidas durante os processos de decisão, assim como as informações sobre os impactos da obra no território não estão sendo compartilhadas com a população. Podemos entender esta falta de informação e impedimento de participação como uma possível ferramenta de dominação, o que evidencia o preconceito sofrido pelas pessoas que vivem nas periferias do capitalismo brasileiro. Assim, o registro e a discussão de como os moradores de uma específica comunidade chamada Nazaré vivem as diversas ameaças de desenraizamento pode oferecer subsídio aos que estão por enfrentá-lo. Durante a pesquisa de observação participante e entrevistas de longa duração, organizamos dissertação a partir de nove itens que compõem um retrato etnográfico da comunidade, sendo eles: histórico de formação e estrutura da comunidade de Nazaré, relação com o rio, organização do trabalho, lendas, religiosidade e manifestações artísticas, vida política e vida comunitária. A partir da observação destes itens e de suas relações entre si, foi possível notar uma presente luta por enraizamento diante das pressões que contribuem para a desintegração de sua cultura / The uprootedness happens when people or groups are taken away from their traditions and the life stories of theirs ancestors, for reasons related to economic domination. Thus, the process of domination favors the accumulation of money over the culture and tradition of an entire ethnic group. This process has occurred in the history of the Amazon occupation since the colonial period. Currently, the construction of the Santo Antonio\'s dam, in Madeira River, represents a threat to the communities located in the region. We understand that this work can be extremely harmful to the culture and traditions of the peoples there. Although there are community councils, created to ensure the participation of residents in the land management; effectively, their voices haven\'t been heard during the decision-making process, as well as the information about the impacts of the construction are not being shared with the public. We can understand this lack of information and the denial of the population\'s right to participate as a possible domination\'s tool, which shows the prejudice suffered by people that are pushed to the outskirts of the Brazilian capitalism. Thus, the registration and the discussion of how the currents residents of a community called Nazaré are living this constant threat of uprootedness can provide subsidy to those who are yet to face it. During the field research, we organized the work in nine items that compose an ethnographic portrait of Nazaré. These items are: history and structure of the community, the relation to the river, organization of work, legends, religion, artistic manifestations and political and communitarian life. From the observation of those points and the relationship that they establish among themselves, it was possible to notice the presence of a strong struggle for rootedness, in face of social pressures that may cause the disintegration of their culture

Prior research has indicated higher risk of suicide for farmers and identified depression and anxiety as mental health concerns, though the majority of research was conducted in the 1980s-1990s. In today’s economic, social, and political climate, farmers are exposed to situations and stressors reminiscent of the 1980s Farm Crisis. An added risk is the aging workforce of farmers, as age-related conditions can make farming even riskier. This study investigated the mental health of a subset of American farmers by exploring farm-related stressors, coping mechanisms, and mental health outcomes. Dispositional mindfulness was explored as a specific coping mechanism. Participants (N = 158) were recruited through in-person and online surveys. All participants were farmers in the United States at the time of the study, with the majority farming in the state of Kentucky (48.7%). Participants were predominantly female (55.4%), White (98.1%), married (77.1%), and multi-generation farmers (69.2%). Participants completed measures of farm stress, general stress, depressive and anxious symptoms, coping, resilience, and dispositional mindfulness. Hierarchical linear regressions and moderation analyses were used to examine study aims. Results showed that farmers in this sample experience rates of depressive symptoms 1.5 times to 4.5 times higher than the national population, as well as rates of anxiety symptoms 1.5 times higher than the national population. Results also revealed that farmers with higher levels of farm stress are at a higher risk for anxious and depressive symptomology. Age appeared to be a protective factor, as older farmers reported the lowest levels of farm stress. Being a female was associated with higher farm stress. Regarding coping, over half of farmers endorsed using “planning” as the top strategy for coping with farm-related stressors. Farmers higher in dispositional mindfulness had better mental health ratings and lower farm stress. Further results and implications of the findings are discussed.

To be successful, social network sites need continual activity to flourish and grow. One of the most important challenges faced by designers of social network sites, is to encourage contribution from community members. ‘Self-sustainability’ is critical to the survival of networked communities and is dependent on community members adding content in a sustained way over time. Motivating community members to take it upon themselves to freely contribute information is the key to the success of any social network environment (Powazek, 2002; Ling et al., 2005). This thesis aims to investigate whether persuasion techniques can be used to inform the design process in order to motivate members of a social network community to contribute content. While persuasion theories have been effective in influencing target behaviour outside of the online environment, traditionally they have not been utilised by digital media designers. With the advent of social media, the application of social psychology is becoming more valuable in the development of features and strategies for the online environment. Recently the field of Captology has begun to systematically investigate computers as persuasive technology. Within this field, this thesis has investigated using the ‘Elaboration Likelihood Model’ (ELM) as a strategic framework and ‘Social Proof’ as a motivating influence to develop peripheral elements designed to encourage user online contribution, and to design a site that is visually appealing and functional. This is essential in establishing the credibility of the site without which the influences of persuasion are unable to function. This Masters ‘research through design’ project engages an existing community group of water sports enthusiasts in a trial of a live prototype website. The website was designed to utilise the internet as a medium and social networking as a tool, in order to gather individual knowledge, give it a context, and to create a self-sustaining collective knowledge base of locations, optimum conditions and user experiences. Users were divided randomly into two groups – the test and the control. Using ELM, the peripheral and central routes of processing communication were identified, and used to build the framework on which to develop the test environment. Both groups were exposed to the same fundamental design and functionality, however the test group was presented with additional peripheral elements designed using the principles of Social Proof. The research charted user contributions over the course of 82 days, with a survey undertaken with both groups at the completion of the test period. Results indicated a significant difference between the two test groups with users exposed to the influences of Social Proof more motivated to contribute content and visit the website more often than users from the control group. The findings of this study show that motivating contribution can be achieved using ELM and Social Proof to design persuasive elements in a social networking environment. The synthesis of graphic design, interface design and the theories of social science can guide designers in the creative process of developing networked environments for social media, and lead to a more engaging user experience.

The present research aims to obtain a more complete view of couple relationships. In particular, it investigated the manner in which attachment styles (and more specifically the combination of attachment styles to one’s partner and one’s primary caregiver, such as the mother) are related to conflict beliefs, conflict resolution styles, relationship satisfaction and communication accuracy. Two studies were conducted to explore these relationships. In Study 1 individuals in couples relationships (N = 83) were asked to participate in an online questionnaire regarding primary caregiver and partner attachment, conflict resolution, and conflict beliefs. Study 2 saw the recruitment of twenty-two couples from public advertisements. Couples were asked to participate in a ten minute videotaped discussion around a major disagreement. The discussion exercise and accompanying self-report questionnaires indicated each couple’s communication accuracy. Trained post-graduate raters also coded the observable conflict styles of the couples on a scale developed for the purpose of this research. These were compared with self-reported conflict resolution styles. Couples were also asked to complete questionnaires individually to identify their parent and partner attachment styles, relationship satisfaction, conflict resolution styles and conflict beliefs. Qualitative questions around attachment and conflict resolution provided a more in-depth perspective of more and less securely attached individuals’ relationships. Results from both studies indicated that there is some difference between ongoing influence from current models of primary caregiver attachment and the influence from current models of partner attachment on relationship variables. Relationship satisfaction and conflict beliefs were influenced by specific attachment to the partner. Conversely, conflict resolution styles, in particular positive problem solving, withdrawal and compliance, were heavily influenced by more general current conceptualizations of primary caregiver attachment. Additional results regarding quantitative and qualitative findings, including gender differences are discussed in the thesis. Finally, limitations regarding both studies are noted, and suggestions for future research are made.