Toward a community psychology transformative praxis: A descriptive review

Abstract

In this paper, we present a descriptive review of the foundational components of transformation—the starting places and gaps—in a move toward synthesizing current works into a Community Psychology Transformative Praxis. This review focuses on published work identified in North American Community Psychology journals (namely two United States based journals)—a review from the belly of the neoliberal and imperial beast. We reviewed and categorized seven foundational dimensions for beginning and sustaining transformative praxis and which represent how Community Psychology (CP), in the United States publishing context, is engaging in transformative efforts. In Part 1, we present three dimensions of transformative process, focused on early and iterative practices that develop and enact shared (1) values, (2) visions of a just world, and (3) critical problem frames. In part 2 we present four additional dimensions of transformative action; the considerations that inform action in a given transformative process or intervention including (4) planning for the long‐term nature of transformation, (5) targeting multiple levels of analysis, (6) engaging in solidarity with those most impacted by injustice, and (7) identifying and resisting power holders and/or power structures that prevent transformation and maintain the status quo. In Part 3, we review the relationship between process and action, where processes can be understood as driving, directing, and bounding the types of actions or interventions taken or imagined in a particular transformative intervention. We close the paper with critical reflections and calls to action to further develop the transformative potential of CP praxis and name the tendency of settling for ameliorative solutions to problems needing transformative solutions.

Adolescents and sexual assault: A critical integrative review

“…Of course, scholar activists know well that this work cannot and should not be carried out in a vacuum. Critical value‐based praxis toward social justice and transformation requires collaboration and community engagement (see Kivell et al, 2022; Moradi & Grzanka, 2017; Prilleltensky, 2001). Only through community‐based and ‐directed approaches can we develop an ecological understanding of adolescent SA survivors' experiences and needs, and have the opportunity to enact change.…”

Identifying abolitionist alignments in community psychology: A path toward transformation

“…Thus, even if unintentionally, many CP scholars and practitioners are already aligned with abolition because we are working to identify and improve factors that promote holistic wellness and more equitable, just systems. We argue that increasing intentional alignment of CP and abolitionist praxis will give us direction and propellant toward transformation by providing an array of exemplars in action, practice, and knowledge production, which we currently lack in the discipline (Gokani & Walsh, 2017; Kivell et al, 2022). Oparah (2014) argues that abolitionist researchers must work to make explicit and disrupt the carceral algorithms in the academic‐prison‐military industrial complex.…”

“…Despite ample evidence that CP scholars and practitioners think deeply and often about transformation, there lack commensurate descriptions illuminating how transformation can be achieved through research and practice (Gokani & Walsh, 2017; Kivell et al, 2022; Maton, 2000; Prilleltensky, 2012). Kivell et al (2022) argue that CP should work to incorporate (without co‐opting) liberation frameworks such as abolition to respond to the “decolonial turn” others have called for in CP (Dutta, 2022; Sonn & Stevens, 2022; Jimenez & Lee, 2022). Much CP literature on transformation, particularly in the North American context, points to examples of change that do little to root out the carceral algorithms that recreate and reify systems of oppression (Nelson & Evans, 2014).…”