Value-based praxis in community psychology: moving toward social justice and social action

The purpose of this paper is to articulate a rationale for value-based praxis in community psychology. Although values need to promote personal, collective, and relational wellness at the same time, it is argued that community psychologists pay more attention to personal and relational wellness than to collective wellness. In order to address this imbalance it is important to promote the value of social justice. While praxis requires that we engage in a cycle of reflection, research, and social action, community psychologists devote more resources to the first two phases of praxis than to the last one. This paper offers a framework for deciding what values and what praxis considerations we should attend to and how we may advance social justice and social action in community psychology.     

Political Conservatism and Left–Right Orientation in 28 Eastern and Western European Countries

The relationship between political conservatism and left–right orientation was examined in 15 Western European and 13 former communist Central and Eastern European countries using the data from European Social Survey Round 3 (N = 46,103) and Round 4 (N = 50,601). Cross‐culturally validated values were used to measure the two potential aspects of conservatism: resistance to change and acceptance of inequality. Both of these aspects were positively related to right‐wing orientation in Western countries. In the former communist countries, the relationships were positive, negative, and nonexistent; they differed between the countries and varied between 2006 and 2008. The results indicate that conservatism can be related to left‐wing or right‐wing orientation depending on the cultural, political, and economic situation of the society in question. The results also show that despite the shared communist past, former communist Central and Eastern Europe is a diverse region that should be treated as such also in research.     

Next Steps in Validation

No abstract available for this article.     

Context and culture in the socialization and development of personal achievement values: Comparing Latino immigrant families,European American families,and elementary school teachers

We documented cross-cultural similarities and differences in values concerning personal achievement between Latino immigrant parents, a group of multiethnic teachers, and European American parents. We also explored intergenerational similarities and differences between parents and their fifth-grade children. The theoretical premise was that sociodemographic factors, such as education, drive cultural values, with more formal education associated with individualistic values and less formal education associated with collectivistic/familistic values. Responding to open-ended social dilemmas relevant to family life, Latino immigrant parents, averaging a fifth-grade education, responded more familistically than the more highly educated multiethnic teachers or European American parents. In contrast, no group differences in values showed up in situations where school practices do not directly impact family life. Intergenerational differences were few; but, in family-centered scenarios, European American fifth graders were significantly more collectivistic than European American parents, a finding that suggested the possibility that, in an individualistic culture, individualism is socialized with age.     

Daddy,Why are People so Complex?

The implications of Warren McCulloch's 1945 concept of heterarchy are analyzed in terms of human value and motivational systems. The results demonstrate the near-impossibility of predicting behavior on the basis of any hierarchical scheme, or even which among a set of hierarchical schemes will be selected as the basis of a behavioral choice. Thus, for example, people regularly say one thing and do another.     

ON SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND OTHER CORPORATE MYTHS

Although the doctrine of “survival of the fittest” is central to the Modern paradigm, it is not, as most Modernists would claim, the unvarnished truth. Indeed if we begin to think of the marketplace as a model of dynamic complexity then the logic of cooperation is inescapable. The point is that if business leaders refuse to accept that cooperation is a defining principle, not merely an abstract altruistic ideal but an essential strategy for the sustainable, long-term success of the businesses they are building, then they will continue to undermine their own best interests in the name of competitive dominance.     

Intelligence and mind in evolution

The growing complexity of global political economy renders difficult our understanding of important phenomena and the forecasting of their trajectories. Global‐historical theory, modeled dynamically, offers a useful approach for integrating a large array of variables and plotting their changes over time. We construct a global dynamic model, based on a modified version of world‐systems theory, to plot the trajectories of key phenomena. Although the findings suggest the longterm stability of the system, considerable dynamism is observable for population, janissarization, capital concentration and intensity, core‐core conflict, and the power of international governmental organizations. Disturbing changes are also evident for nonelite incomes, inequality, government resources, and anti‐systemic movements. The implications of the findings are then discussed.     

Who,What, When,Where, How,and Mostly Why?

SUMMARY

The death of a client by suicide was very emotionally destabilizing to this therapist. She worked hard to distance herself personally from the pain at first and at the same time she found herself overfocused on the “psychological autopsy.” She had difficulty accepting new clients and wanted to withdraw from a meaningful appointment to a state advisory committee. Only when she was able to identify with the client's pain and realize how that pain touched her own history of loss was she able to grieve productively. She realized that gender was relevant in her identification with the victim and in sorting out each of their histories of loss.     

Awakening Resilience: Recovery Within Intimate Female Friendships

A multi-ethnic female creates her own definition of self with the help of strong female role models—women of strength. The author uses a storytelling method, characteristic Native American way of relating, as a vehicle for her narration. It is a story of transitions with challenges in relationships and new beginnings that define the woman as well as the therapist.     

Cultural values and attitudes towards guidance and counselling services in one secondary school in Malaysia: the role of a school cultural system

This narrative ethnographic study aims to explore students' attitudes towards guidance and counselling services in one secondary school in Malaysia. Semi-structured individual interviews, group interviews and observations were conducted with school students of different racial backgrounds. They were identified as referred clients, self-referred clients, and those not deemed to be involved in counselling. The data were analysed using the constant comparative analysis grounded theory approach. The findings indicate that there were different attitudes among the three groups of participants concerning counselling services. The study highlights the role of a school system in elucidating attitudes towards guidance and counselling services. It poses implications for understanding counselling services within the school system.