The Acculturation of Community Psychology: Is There a Best Way?

Abstract

In this paper I describe a community psychology perspective on acculturation and adjustment of immigrants and refugees and suggest that this field of acculturation research has in turn something to offer heuristically as we consider our identity and training for future generations of community psychologists over the next 50 years. I suggest that honoring our heritage, maintaining our disciplinary identity as community psychologists, and sustaining doctoral programs that offer training specific to community psychology are crucial for our survival as a field and is not antithetical to, and is indeed necessary for, interdisciplinary collaborations.

Reflections on the Future of Community Psychology from the Generations after Swampscott: A Commentary and Introduction to the Special Issue

“…Trained in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Birman () describes how the field shifted over the course of her career toward incorporating greater diversity in its membership while also increasing its focus on culture and diversity in its scholarship and action. She argues that these changes made the field open to her program of research on migration, refugee studies, and acculturation.…”

“…For Brodsky (), the occasion of the field's 50th anniversary prompts her to consider three continuing challenges for the field: defining community psychology, doing community psychology, and perfecting community psychology. Trained in the early 1990s, Brodsky uses the work of the founders as a compass, and similar to Birman (), advocates that we “take a stand” by remaining true to the values and principles of our field, rather than risk “identity diffusion” by loose definitional boundaries. In doing so, we must embrace “the swamp” of entropy and qualitative approaches as well as the challenges of diversity and greater inclusion so that we can continue “doing good science and doing good.”…”