Then and now: A 50‐year retrospective thematic analysis of Society for Community Research and Action presidential addresses

Abstract

The Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) is the primary professional home for community psychologists in the United States and increasingly around the world. Since the formation of the American Psychological Association Division 27: Community Psychology in 1966, now SCRA, 54 people have served in the Presidential role. Presidential leaders' annual addresses both reflect the current state of the field and have the ability to shape the future of both SCRA as an organization and community psychology as a discipline given their positions as leaders. This commentary explores the trajectory of SCRA as an organization via 33 available presidential addresses, 28 of which were published in the American Journal of Community Psychology (AJCP). Using thematic analysis and drawing on both dialectical and life cycle organizational processes, three periods of SCRA and community psychology more broadly were identified: defining community psychology, applying community psychology, and re‐imagining community psychology. Themes speak to tensions between the ideals of the society and the work of the society. We conclude by offering a series of questions for consideration as SCRA positions itself for the future.

Looking back, moving forward: 50 years of the American Journal of Community Psychology

“…Nettles and colleagues qualitatively reviewed 33 presidential addresses from the SCRA, of which 28 were published in the pages of AJCP. In their introduction, the VSI editors identified three overlapping periods of community psychology as characterized by the society's presidents: (1) defining community psychology, (2) applying community psychology, and (3) reimagining community psychology (Nettles et al, 2023). This collection of VSI editors, all of whom have leadership roles within the society, also offers a look to the future articulating priorities for the field.…”