LESSON ONE

Demonstrate Understanding of the Basic Concepts of Community

Psychology
1.1 Define Basic Concepts
i. Psychology
 Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. It icludes the
biological influences, social pressures, and environmental factors
that affect how people think, act, and feel.
 Psychology is a broad and diverse field that encompasses the
study of human thought, behavior, development, personality,
emotion, motivation, and more.
ii. Community
 Community is a social unit (a group of living things) with
commonality such as norms, religion, values, customs, identity
etc.
 A community is commonly considered as a social unit (a group of
people) who has something in common, such as norms, values,
identity, and often a sense of place that is situated in a given
geographical area (e.g a village, town, or neighborhood)
 Human communities may share intent, belief, resources,
preferences, needs, and risks in common, affecting the identity of
the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.
 A community is a small or large social unit (a group of living
things) that has something in common, such as norms, religion,
values, or identity.
iii. Norms
 Norms are established standards of behavior maintained by a
society for example ("the current middle-class norm of two children
per family"). There are two types of norms namely formal norms
and informal norms.
 a. Formal norms; refers to norms that have generally been written
down, and that specify strict rules for punishment of violators.
b. Informal norms; refers to norms that are generally understood,
but that are not precisely recorded.
iv. Religion
 Is a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control
human destiny.
 is a human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy,
sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence.
 Believers and worshippers participate in and are often enjoined
to perform devotional or contemplative practices such
as prayer, meditation, or particular rituals.
 Worship, moral conduct, right belief, and participation in
religious institutions are among the constituent elements of the
religious life.
v. Values
 Refer to collective conceptions of what is considered good,
desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a
culture.
 Examples of values includes safety, self-development, confidence,
self-discipline, creativity, relationships, patience, forgiveness to self
and others, gratitude, peace of mind, happiness, self-care/hygiene,
grooming, integrity, being accountable, freedom, self-reliance,
interdependence, non-violence, helpfulness, sharing, flexible
cooperatively, empathy, compassion, success, personal truth,
wisdom etc.
vi. Customs
 Customs are accepted or habitual practice in the society or a
specific practice of long standing in a particular society.
  A custom is a pattern of behavior that is followed by members of
a particular culture, for example, shaking hands upon meeting
someone, bowing, and kissing.
vii. Identity
 Identity is the individual characteristics by which a thing or
person is recognized or known or is a group of people living in a
particular local area or community may refer to a group of nations
having common interest or ownership.
 Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given
geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighbourhood)
or in virtual space through communication platforms.
viii. Community psychology
 Is the branch of psychology which concerns with the
relationships of individuals with communities and societies
 This is made possible by integrating research with action, it
seeks to understand and enhance quality of life for individuals,
communities, and societies or
 Community psychology is the branch of psychology concerned
with person environment interactions and the ways society affects
individual and community functioning.
 Community psychology deals mainly with the issues such as
empowerment, diversity, civic participation, building a sense of
community, problem prevention, health promotion and individual
wellness
ix. Social order
 Refers to a state of stability and consensus (agreement in the
judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole) that exists in
the absence of chaos (a state of extreme confusion and disorder)
and upheaval (a state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in
politics or social conditions generally) Or
  Social order is a fundamental concept in pychology that refers to
the way the various components of society work together to
maintain the status quo (the existing state of affairs).
 Examples social order includes the ancient social order, the
feudal social order, and the capitalist social order.
x. Sense of community
 McMillan and Chavis, 1986 defined a sense of community as the
feeling that members have of belonging, the feeling that the
members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared
faith that their needs will be met through their commitment to be
together.

1.2 History of Community Psychology

 Community psychology emerged in different countries throughout the
world (Reich et al., 2007).
 In the US, it began in the 1960s during a time when the nation was
faced with protests, demonstrations, urban unrest, and intense struggles
over issues such as the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.
 Many group of psychologists during the 1960s become dissatisfied with
the ability of clinical psychology to address those broader social issues.
 The recognition that the psychological well-being of individual cannot
be understood in isolation from broader social contexts is what
influenced the beginning of community psychology as a field.
 Many psychologists wanted to find ways to help solve these pressing
societal issues, and some therapists were becoming increasingly
disillusioned with their passive role in solely delivering the medical
model, office-based psychotherapy (Cowen, 1973).
 At the 1965 Swampscott Conference in the US, the term “Community
Psychology” was first used, and it signaled new roles and opportunities
for psychologists by extending the reach of services to those who had
been under-represented, focusing on prevention rather than just
treatment of psychological problems, and by actively involving
community members in the change process (Bennett et al., 1966).
 Over the past five decades, the field of community psychology has
matured with recurring themes of prevention, social justice, and
an ecological understanding of people within their environments.
 The goals of community psychology have been to examine and better
understand complex individual–environment interactions in order to
bring about social change, particularly for those who have limited
resources and opportunities.
 Community psychology emphasizes prevention of social problems over
treatment, highlighting competences over weaknesses ,collaboration
across disciplines, exploring ecological understanding of people within
their environment, promoting diversity, and focusing on community
building as a made of intervention.
Swampscott conferences
 U.S community psychology was founded at a conference in Swampscott,
Massachusetts, 1965
 The conference spawned a new type of action oriented psychology called
community psychology.
 Community psychology became an innovative approach to research and
practice, and quickly became a new field of study.
 The field now includes a set of principles and practice competences that
have evolved to fit contemporary challenges.
1.3. The Function of Community Psychology
 Community psychologists have the role of helping the community arrive
at a specific goal. Community psychologists can play a key role in
helping communities decide on the specific goals for a community
improvements effort.
 Community psychologists have the role in assisting community
coalitions to clarify what community members want to change.
 Community psychologists have the role of developing strategies for
community change.
 To assist communities in improving the well-being of the members of
the community
 Community psychologists have the role of recognizing people’s
strengths, weakness and resources
 Community psychologists have the role of breaking down existing social
barriers in the society.
 Emphasize empowerment and collaboration, rather than dictate
solutions
 Community psychologists have the role of promoting the sharing of
skills and knowledge.
 Community psychologists have the role of recognizing that all research
is value-based.
 Community psychologists have the role of using both qualitative and
quantitative research methods to understand social problems.
 LESSON TWO
Interpret Community Psychology Principles to Community
Development Practices
2.1. The Principles of Community Psychology
 Principles are the theoretical assumptions on which a concept (i.e
community psychology) is build, or principles are the values that
influence and motivate action in the field.
 The framers of these principles hoped to portray what were commonly
agreed on fundamentals of community psychology, but they also noted
that these were aspirations.
i. Ecological Approach
 Ecology is the branch of biology concerned with the relations between
organisms and their environment.
 Ecological approach involves the characterization of how the
environment influences the abundance and availability of a given
resource.
 From the ecological point of view, the environment is a collection of
natural factors (physical, chemical, and biological) capable of affecting
living organisms.
 Looks at the ecological systems, including political, cultural, and
environmental influences, as well as focusing on institutional and
organizational factors.
ii. System Approach

 Is a paradigm or perspective involving a focus on the whole picture

and not just a single element or
 Awareness of the wider context, an appreciation for interactions
among different components, and transdisciplinary thinking (Leischow
and Milstein, 2006)
iii. Interdisciplinary Work
 Interdisciplinary is characterized by participation of two or more fields
of study.
 An interdisciplinary approach involves team members from different
disciplines working collaboratively, with a common purpose, to set
goals, make decisions and share resources and responsibilities.
 In an interdisciplinary team, specialists work closely together sharing
specialist knowledge across disciplines.
 Each professional takes responsibility for coordinating their
information and intervention with that of other members of the team.
 Community Psychology
promotes interdisciplinary collaboration with professionals from a
diverse array of fields.
iv. Empirical Grounding

 It simultaneously stresses the utility of research, not only for theory

development, but for program evaluation and policy analysis.
 Community psychology may sound like some kind of social movement
or grassroots organization but it is very different due to the value for
empirical grounding.
 Information of community psychology is derived from experiment and
observation rather than theory.
 Evidence from research is mostly empirically based which means
“dependent on evidence or consequences that are observable by the
senses” (Wikipedia, 2008).
 Therefore the data collected from community psychology is produced
by experiment or observation.
 Research done in community psychology is carefully carried out and
therefore has the respect, and is as valued as, other areas of
psychology.
v. Evaluation Approach

 is an act of ascertaining or fixing the value or worth of something or

an appraisal of the value of something.
 Evaluation is seen as an essential element of social change and social
innovation.
 Community psychologists believe that it is important to evaluate
whether their policy and social change preventive interventions have
been successful in meeting their objectives, and the voice of the
community should be brought into these evaluation efforts.
 They conduct community-based action-oriented research and often
employ multiple methods including what are
called qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research.
 Sometimes additional training and support for local people in carrying
out evaluations will be required, and this is a key component of
community psychological work.
vi. Community Prevention and Action

 Prevention and action as a principle of community psychology they

emphasize mainly on;
a) Prevention from child maltreatment
b) Prevention from mental health problems
c)Allowing competence building
d) Prevention through risk reduction
e)Prevention from HIV/AIDS and other social problems
f) Promotion of community based health
2.2 The Importance of Psychology Principles to Human Behavior
 It advocates social changes rather than individual change in the
respected area.
 It makes human services and organizations more effective and human
 It understands, explain, and predict the thought, emotions, and the
behavior of man.
 It emphasizes ecological thinking, which leads to change of individuals.
 It insist on prevention rather than awaiting the problem arises
 It emphasizes intervention on the larger context within the all members
of the community.
 It helps to deal with diverse of people with different behaviors.
 LESSON THREE
To Demonstrate Understanding of Psychology Theories in Social
Change
3.1 The values of community psychology
i. Empowerment

 Empowerment refers to the process by which people gain control

over the factors and decisions that shape their lives.
 It is the process by which they increase their assets and attributes
and build capacities to gain access, partners, networks and/or a
voice, in order to gain control.
ii. Social Justice

 A core value of community psychology is seeking social justice

through research and actions.
 Community psychologists are often advocates for equality and policies
that allow for the wellbeing of all people, particularly marginalized
populations.
 Social justice is a process not an outcome. That’s why seeks fair
distribution of resources, opportunity as well as responsibilities.
 Social justice challenges the roots of oppression and injustice. Also it
empowers all people to exercise self determination and realize their full
potential.
 Along with building social solidarity and community capacity for
collaborative action
 Justice means judgment involved in the determination of rights and
the assignment of rewards and punishments.
 Social justice may be fair treatment and an equal share of the benefits
of society.
 Community psychology emphasizes social justice through research
and action.
  They advocate for equality in policies that allow the well-being of all
members in the society.
 Social justice underpins a number of human rights. These include:
a) Right to have a more equal and equitable distribution of
resources.
b) Right to live in peace and in freedom from constraints
c) Right to equality and fair treatment
d) Right to self determination
iii. Community Diversity

 Another value of community psychology involves embracing

diversity.
 Diversity means differences.
 While diversity is often a term used to refer specifically to cultural
differences, diversity applies to all the qualities that make people
different.
 There are four (4) types of diversity that will be examined which are
occupation, difference in skills and ability, personality traits, and
values and attitudes.
 Community psychology values and celebrates cultural diversity.
 Diversity is about empowering people by respecting and
appreciating what makes them different.
 This is done in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion,
disability, sexual orientation, education, and national origin
 Community psychology values a multicultural perspective.
 Community Psychology has respect for diversity and appreciates
the views and norms of groups from different ethnic or racial
backgrounds, as well as those of different genders, sexual
orientations, and levels of abilities or disabilities
 Community psychologists work to counter oppression such as;
a. Racism is the situation whereby white persons have access to
resources and opportunities not available to ethnic minorities.
 b. Sexism is the discrimination directed at women.
c. Heterosexism is the discrimination toward non-heterosexuals.
d. Ableism is the discrimination toward those with physical or
mental disabilities.

 The task of creating a more equitable society should not fall on the
shoulders of those who have directly experienced its inequalities,
including ethnic minorities, the disabled, and other underprivileged
populations
 Community psychologist positively encourages diversity and seeks
to enable people to become empowered through inclusive individual,
group and collective action.
 In their work, community psychologists explore the nature of
oppression, in partnership with people marginalised by the social
system.
 Thus they may draw attention to ways in which people are excluded
from full social life or are treated unfairly by professionals and others.
 They try to ensure that their work includes people irrespective of
class, race, ethnicity, culture, age and disability.
 Their ways of working encourage others, too, to welcome diversity.
iv. Community Collaboration

 Community collaboration refers to the ability of individuals to have a

voice of in decision making, defining and addressing problems, and the
dissemination of information gathered on them.
 This is the basis for the usage of participatory action research in
community psychology.
 Collaboration means the act of working jointly or the act of
cooperating faithless (false) with an enemy that is occupying your
country.
 Community psychology encourages collaboration with community
members in order to obtain various resources.
  When citizens participate in an equal way they may feel empowered.
 Citizen participation allows people to have a voice in decision-making
but requires an ongoing relationship between the researcher and the
community.
v. Community Participation

 The community approach encourages client/citizen participation

and recognizes the demand for local empowerment, bureaucratic
decentralization, and self-help/mutual aid.
 Involving community groups and community members in an
egalitarian partnership and collaboration is one means of enabling
people to re-establish power and control over the obstacles or barriers
they confront.
 Community psychology approach shifts the power dynamic so that
all parties collaborate by participating in the decision-making.
 Community members are seen as resources that provide unique
points of view about the community and the institutional barriers that
might need to be overcome in social justice interventions.
 All partners are involved equally in the research process in what is
called community-based participatory research.
vi. Emphasis on Personal strengths

 Community psychology emphasizes community and personal

strengths and competences, as opposed to weaknesses and pathology.
vii. Appreciation of the authority of historical and structural
contexts.

3.2 The Social Psychological Theories

What is a theory?
 According to Kerlinger (1986), a theory is a set of interrelated construct
(concepts), definition, and propositions that presents systematic view of
phenomenon by specifying relations among variables, with the purpose
of explaining and predicting phenomena.
 Baron, Byrne and Suls (1989) define social psychology theory as a
scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of
individual behavior in social situations’ in community psychology. The
following are social psychological theories namely;
i. Social Dominance Theory
 The theory was formulated in 1999 by psychology professor and
researchers Jim Sidanius and Felicia Pratto.
 The theory begins with the observation that human social groups tend
to be organized according to group based social hierarchies in societies
that produce economic surplus.
 Is a theory of intergroup relations that focuses on the maintenance
and stability of group based social hierarchy
 According to the theory, group based inequalities are maintained
through three primary intergroup behavior namely institutional
discrimination, aggregate individual discrimination and behavior
asymmetry.
 The theory proposes that widely shared cultural ideologies i.e
legitimizing myths provide the moral and intellectual justification for
these intergroup behaviors
 Social dominance theory is a multi - level theory of how societies
maintain group - based dominance.
 Nearly all stable societies can be considered group - based dominance
hierarchies, in which one social group – often an ethnic, religious,
national, or racial one – holds disproportionate power and enjoys special
privileges, and at least one other group has relatively little political
power or ease in its way of life.
 As examples, consider the relationship between contemporary Western
European nations and their immigrant groups and Roma, between the
ruling elites of South America and their indigenous peoples, or between
Jewish Israelis and Palestinians.
 In all cases, the economic, educational, and health outcomes are
superior for members of the dominant groups from what they are for
members of the subordinate groups.
 Moreover, societies recognize the legal rights of dominants and portray
their ways of living as virtuous and characteristic of the whole society,
whereas subordinates receive little social recognition and are even
stigmatized.
 Group dominance societies also feature an intersecting kind of group
oppression, namely sexism, men holding disproportionate power and
freedoms compared with women, and heterosexism being privileged over
other kinds of sexuality.
 Social dominance theory describes how processes at different levels of
social organization, from cultural ideologies and institutional
discrimination to gender roles and the psychology of prejudice, work
together to produce stable group - based inequality.
ii. Community Constructionist Theory
 Is a theory of knowledge in sociology and communication theory that
examines the development of jointly constructed understanding of the
world that forms the basis for shared assumptions about reality.
 The founder of the theory is John Dewey (1933/1998) is often cited as
the philosophical founder of this approach.
 Bruner (1990) and Piaget 1972 are considered the chief theorists
among the cognitive constructivists.
 While Vgotsky (1978) is the major theorist among the social
constructivists.

 Society is based on the social construction of reality.

 How we define society influences how society actually is.

 Likewise, how we see other people influences their actions as well as
our actions toward them.

 We all take on various roles throughout our lives, and our social
interactions depend on what types of roles we assume, who we assume
them with, and the scene where interaction takes place.

 Social constructivism suggests that successful teaching and learning is

heavily dependent on interpersonal interaction and discussion, with
the primary focus on the students' understanding of the discussion
(Prawat, 1992).

 A social construct or construction concerns the meaning, notion, or

connotation placed on an object or event by a society, and adopted by the
inhabitants of that society with respect to how they view or deal with the
object or event.

 In that respect, a social construct as an idea would be widely accepted

as natural by the society.

 A major focus of social constructionism is to uncover the ways in which

individuals and groups participate in the construction of their perceived
social reality.

 Social constructionism involves looking at the ways social

phenomena are developed, institutionalized, known, and made
into tradition by humans.

a. An example of a social construct is money or the concept

of currency, as people in society have agreed to give it
importance/value.
b. Another example of social construction is beauty or the concept of
beauty, as people in the society have agreed that a thin, tall and
white girl relate to beauty and approachable person in the society
while a fat, short and black girl seems to be agry and
inapproachable.
 c. Another example of a social construction is the concept of self/self-
identity. Charles Cooley stated based on his looking-glass
self theory: "I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I
am; I am who I think you think I am."
d. Another example, your school exists as a school and not just as a
building because you and others agree that it is a school or
e. For example, a teenager who is repeatedly given a label-
overachiever, player, bum—might live up to the term even though
it initially wasn’t a part of his character.

 This demonstrates how people in society construct ideas or concepts

that may not exist without the existence of people or language to validate
those concepts.

iii. Community Empowerment Theory

 Community empowerment refers to the process of enabling
communities to increase control over their lives.
 Communities are groups of people that may or may not be spatially
connected, but who share common interests, concerns or identities.
 The term empowerment originates s from American community
psychologists and is associated with the social scientists Julian
Rappoport (1981)
 However, the roots of empowerment theory extend further into history
and are linked to Marxist sociological theory.

 Another important feature of community psychology is empowerment,

defined as the process by which people and communities who have
historically not had control over their lives become masters of their own
fate.
 Empowerment refers to the process by which people gain control over
the factors and decisions that shape their lives.
 It is the process by which they increase their assets and attributes and
build capacities to gain access, partners, networks and/or a voice, in
order to gain control.

 Community empowerment theory states that people and communities

who are empowered have greater autonomy and self-determination, gain
more access to resources, participate in community decision-making,
and begin to work toward changing oppressive community and societal
conditions.
3.3 The Importance of Community Psychological Theory
 Provide a basis for understanding the mind and behavior.
-Community psychological theories provide a framework for
understanding human behavior, thought and development by having a
broad base of understanding about the how’s and why’s of human
behavior, we can better understand ourselves and others.
 Community psychological theories inspire future research.
- Community psychological theories create a basis for future research.
Researchers use theory to form hypothesis that can be tested. As new
discoveries are made and incorporated into the original theory, new
questions and ideas can be explored.
 Community psychological theories are important for anyone who
is trying to bring about social change.
- They help point us to what is really important to change, versus what
might be more trivial and lead to ineffective action.

 Provision of Useful ways of Thinking

- Community psychological theories have provided us with useful ways of
thinking about the importance of the individual in relationship to the
environment or community.
- The individual is influenced by the environment, which means that we
must look beyond just individual factors when we try to analyze social
problems or develop community interventions.
 Consideration of Diversities in the Community
- Community psychological theories consider the dynamics among
groups, organizations, and whole communities as they relate within
certain settings, and help guide thinking around the development of
community interventions.
3.4. Relationship Between Community Psychology Theories to
Community Development Practices
 Help in identifying issues with members of the community.
 Helps to locate, evaluate and apply information from diverse
information sources to new situations.
 It evaluates programs/services, develop evaluation designs.
 It collect, analyse report and interpret evaluation of data.
 It deals with diverse people with different behaviors.

LESSON FOUR
Demonstrate Understanding of the Basic Concepts of Psychology
in the Community
4.1 Define the term Psychology
 According to the American Psychological Association psychology is
defined as the scientific study of the mind and behavior.
4.2 Sub Fields of Psychology
 Psychology is a multifaceted (having many aspects) discipline and
includes many sub-fields of study such areas as;
i. Human development
ii. Sports
iii. Health
iv. Clinical
v. Social behavior and
vi. Cognitive processes.

4.2 The Branches of Psychology

 Different branches of psychology are as follows.
 Psychology studies and explains the behavior of entire living
organisms.
 The term behavior includes;
i. The cognitive behavior

- is a term referring to the mental processes involved in gaining

knowledge and comprehension.
- These cognitive processes include thinking, knowing,
remembering, judging, and problem-solving.
- These are higher-level functions of the brain and encompass
language, imagination, perception, and planning.
ii. Conative behavior

- The way the attitude we have influences on how we act or behave.

For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream (utter a sudden loud
cry) if I see one”.
iii. Affective behaviour

- Relating to moods, feelings, and attitudes.

 - This involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude
object. For example: “I am scared of spiders”.
iv. Conscious behavior

- Means having awareness of surroundings and sensations and

thoughts
v. Sub conscious behavior

- All your habits of thinking and acting are stored in

your subconscious mind
- Your subconscious mind causes you to feel emotionally and
physically uncomfortable whenever you attempt to do anything
new or different or to change any of your established patterns
of behavior.
vi. Unconscious behavoiur

- Means lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception

as if asleep or dead.
vii. Implicit behavior

- Means implied though not directly expressed; inherent in the

nature of something.
viii. Explicit behavoiur

- Involves precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable;

leaving nothing to implication.

ix. Normal behavior

- Normal behaviour is a behavior that can be normal for an

individual (intrapersonal normality) when it is consistent with the
most common behavior for that person.
 - Normal is also used to describe individual behavior that conforms
to the most common behavior in society.
x. Abnormal behavior

- Abnormal psychology is a division of psychology that studies

people who are "abnormal" or "atypical" compared to the members
of a given society.
- For example, drink driving.
xi. Human behavior

- It also includes the behavior of people from infancy to old age

 It is very difficult to understand all these aspects of behavior in one
sphere.

 Hence, in order to make it convenient to study, understand and

access the behavior at different fields of life, psychology is divided into
different branches.
 These branches are broadly divided into two (2) categories namely;
i. Pure Branches of Psychology
ii. Applied Branches of Psychology

1. Pure Branches of Psychology

 is the pure branch of psychology which utilizes scientific methods.
 Pure branches provide the theoretical framework of the subject.
 These branches deal with formulation of principles, theories and
suggest different methods for the assessment of behavior.
 The pure branches also suggest certain techniques for the
modification of problematic behavior.
 The important pure branches are’
i. General Psychology

 This branch deal with the fundamental rules, principles, and

theories of psychology in relation to the study of behavior of normal
adult human beings
 It explains various psychological processes like sensations,
perceptions emotions learning, intelligence, personality etc.
ii. Physiological Psychology

 This branch describes the biological basis of behavior.

 There is close relationship between body and mind, the functions of
each other are mutually influenced.
 The function of the brain, nervous system, endocrine glands and
their relation to cognitive, conative, and affective behavior is explained
in this branch of psychology.
iii. Developmental Psychology

 Human life passes through various stages of development from

conception to old age.
 This branch explains the growth and development of various
processes in relation to behavior/
iv. Child Psychology

 Childhood extend from 2 to 12 years.

 This is crucial period in the life.
 Future life depends upon development during childhood.
 Growth and development will be rapid during this stage.
 Child psychology deals with this aspect.
v. Animal Psychology

 This branch deals with behavior of animals.

 Many psychological experiments are conducted to know the
functioning of mind in animals.
 Animals like rats, dogs, chimpanzees, pigeons, guinea pigs, cats are
some of the animals used for experimentation.
 Findings of these experiments are many times generalized to human
behavior also.
vi. Abnormal Psychology
  Today the life is complex.
 The individual is facing a lot of competition and experiencing
frustration and conflicts.
 Constant pressures in life are leading to psychological
abnormalities.
 Abnormal psychology deals with various kinds of mental disorders,
their symptoms and causes.
vii. Social Psychology

Human being is a social animal.

 Naturally the behavior of an individual is influenced by society and
in turn influences the society.
 Social psychology deals with interrelationships of people among
themselves, likes and dislikes of people, attitudes and interests, the
prejudices (influence) and social distances people have, group
behavior ,group cohesiveness, group conflict etc
2. Applied Branches of Psychology
 Applied branches deals with the application of psychological
principles and techniques for approaching the problem in different
fields of life.
i. Educational Psychology

 This is the most important field where psychological principles are

applied.
 In the field of education ‘learner’ is the focal point.
 Other aspects like management, teachers, teaching and learning
aids are all meant for learners.
ii. Clinical Psychology

 This branch deals with the therapeutic (tending to cure) of mental

disorders.
  There are many types of mental illness requiring varied types of
therapies like chemotherapy, psychotherapy, recreational and
occupational therapies, behavior therapy etc.
iii. Industrial Psychology

 Human beings are different from machines.

 They will have many problems in their work place like adjustment,
safety, security, health, financial and such other problems.
 Both the management and workers need to cooperate in dealing
with such problems.
 Industrial psychology seeks application of psychology principles,
theories and techniques for the study of all these problems and
industrial environment.
iv. Counseling Psychology

 Mental disorders may not be completely and easily cured just by

drugs and other physical therapies.
 In addition to other therapies, these patients need counseling also.
 Counseling is a process in which an interaction takes place between
a trained counselor and a client.
 This branch also helps people to overcome adjustment problems.
 In addition to the above, there many other applied branches of
psychology like.
v. Military Psychology
 Military psychology is the psychological study of military
organization, military life, and combat.
 Military psychologists may be either soldiers or civilians.
 The field can encompass every aspect of the human mind that
interests the military,
 But researchers focus on the psychology of military organization,
military life, and the psychology of combat.
vi. Legal Psychology/Criminal Psychology
 Legal psychology is the study of the thought processes, and behaviors
of jurors, the court system, legal processes, etc.,
 Legal psychology mostly focuses on criminal cases (i.e. suspects,
defendants, and convicted criminal/felons)
vi. Political Psychology
 Political psychology applies what is known about human psychology to
the study of political behavior, focusing on individuals within a specific
political system.
 Topics such as terrorism, public support for fascism, democracy,
dictorship and ethnocentrism are commonly studied within political
psychology.
 Political psychology aims to gain better traction on the perennial
question of how well citizens are equipped to handle their democratic
responsibilities.
4.3 The History of Psychology
Group Work Discussion
Elaborate the History of Psychology.
4.4 Features of Community Psychology
i. Focus on prevention

 Community psychology focuses on prevention rather than

treatment.
 For example child maltreatment
 Prevention from mental health problems
 Allowing competence building
 Prevention through risk reduction
 Prevention of HIV/AIDS and other social problems and
 Promotion of community based health
 Community psychology emphasizes on strengths and competences.
ii. Reframing of questions
  Reframing is helping you or another person to more constructively
move on from a situation in which you or the other person feels stuck
or confused.
 Reframing is the transformative power of suffering.
 Reframing requires seeing something in a new way, in a context that
allows us to recognize and appreciate positive aspects of our situation.
 As we engage our discomfort by reframing, we learn to trust that
good results can come.
 We don’t close our heart in bitterness, because we come to
appreciate the transformative power of suffering.
iii. Style of service delivery

 Traditional: psychologists in the school do testing, individual

therapy.

 Community Mental Health: expand reach services (consultation,

paraprofessionals), active stance dealing secondary prevention.

 Community Psychology: primary prevention and organization and

system change.

iv. Level of analysis

 Are the various ways of observation in psychology

 The three level of analysis are
i. Biological
ii. Cognitive.
iii. Sociocultural.

- Biological is observing the physical aspects of the brain, such as

physiology and chemicals.
- Physiology is the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the
functioning of organisms.
- Cognitive is focused on studying certain brain functions in relation to
cognition, such as investigating memory and cognitive processes.
- Sociocultural is how the environment and the influences of other
people interact to affect behaviour, such as conformity (acting according
to certain accepted standards) and compliance.
 These aspects are important because together they provide more
complete and satisfactory explanations of behaviour, and they reflect a
modern trend in psychology towards integration.
v. Intervention

 Community psychology uses approaches of both participation and

collaboration, called a grassroots intervention.
 This second type of community intervention involves bringing
volunteers into the homes of people, and working together to develop and
provide the social support intervention.
 For example, a psychologist can teach a group of teenagers positive
social skills so that they can confidently and voluntarily say “no” to their
peers when they are encouraged to consume alcohol or other substances.
 For example, imagine security problems are affecting your
neighborhood, and you meet with a group of neighbors to address how
this issue is impacting your community
 vi. Empowerment

 Another important feature of community psychology is empowerment,

defined as the process by which people and communities who have
historically not had control over their lives become masters of their own
fate.

 People and communities who are empowered have greater autonomy

and self-determination, gain more access to resources, participate in
community decision-making, and begin to work toward changing
oppressive community and societal conditions.

vii. Promoting wellness

 Finally, the promotion of wellness is another feature of community
psychology.
 Wellness is not simply the stereotypical lack of illness, but rather the
combination of physical, psychological, and social health, including
attainment of personal goals and well-being.
 Furthermore, community psychology applies this concept to also
include groups of people, and communities—in a sense, collective
wellness.
viii. Law and Policy Influence
 Community psychologists also enter the policy arena by trying to
influence laws and regulations.
 Community psychologists have made valuable contributions at local,
state, national, and international levels by collaborating with
community-based organizations and serving as senior policy advisors.
 It is through policy work that over the last century, the length of the
human lifespan has doubled, poverty has dropped by over 50%, and
child and infant mortality rates have been reduced by 90%.

4.5 The Basic Psychological Processes

 Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior.

 This can include many things, from how children learn a native
language to how one finds a car in a crowded parking lot.

 Even the simplest human activities involve complex psychological

processing.

 When human behavior is so complex, where is a psychologist to start?

 Just like how a mechanic looks under the hood of a car to examine the
function of each component in the engine, psychologists often start by
examining the mind's underlying processes.

 Each of these basic psychological processes has a function, and they all
work together to produce complex human behavior.

 Let's take a look at five of the most basic psychological processes and
how they contribute to the mind and human behavior.

i. Sensation
ii. Perception
iii. Attention
iv. Learning
v. Memory

i. Sensation
 Sensation can be defined as the act of receiving physical
information from the environment and the initial transformation of
that information into the nervous system.
 Most people know that we have five senses: sight, sound, smell,
taste, and touch.
 Transduction is the process whereby a transducer accepts energy
in one form and gives back related energy in a different form.
 All sensory information is transduced into electrical signals - the
language of the brain.
 ii. Perception
 Once sensory information is transduced into the electrical signals
of the nervous system, the perceptual system works to interpret
the sensory information.
 Perception is the process of identifying and understanding
sensory information.
 Perception is the representation of what is perceived; basic
component in the formation of a concept.
 For example, have you ever heard an odd buzzing sound only to
realize a few seconds later that it is the hum of a bee?
 Or, maybe you thought you saw a mountain lion making its way
down the hillside but on a closer look realized it was only the
neighbor's cat?
 That is your perceptual system making sense of the sensory
information it is receiving.
 Most of the time, it works lightning fast; however, because the
sensory information we take in is in such an elementary form, our
perceptual systems have to do a lot of translating work, and every
once in a while, we experience a sort of perceptual hiccup.
iii. Attention
 There is a lot of information in the world around us - so much
that we could never process it all.
 Fortunately, another one of our basic psychological processes,
attention, acts as a filter and only allows information it deems as
relevant to pass through for processing.
 Attention can be defined as the selection and focusing of what
the mind processes.
 Attention is the process whereby a person concentrates on some
features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others.
 Have you ever been at a party or an otherwise crowded location
and, despite the fact that you are not listening to the many
 conversations going on around you, your ears perk up when your
name is spoken?
 This phenomenon has been termed the cocktail party effect, and
it helps us to see how our attention system works.
 Normally, in a crowded location you don't need to pay attention
to all of the conversations going on around you.
 In fact, if you did, you would have a very difficult time staying
focused on your own conversation with another person.
 But, because your name is such a personally important piece of
information, your attention is automatically triggered when it is
spoken.
iv. Learning
 There are many reasons why paying attention to certain
information might be worthwhile.
 For example, being able to see and identify a stop sign is pretty
handy when trying to drive.
 However, once you've continued driving and left that stop sign
behind you, there is no sense in your mind hanging on to that
information.
 On other occasions, such as when you have nearly missed hitting
a deer that suddenly jumped in front of you along a stretch of
forested road, you may very well want to remember your deer
encounter so that you can keep an eye out for other deer along
that same stretch of road in the future.
 Learning is the act of acquiring new information in a way that
causes a change in future behavior or existing knowledge.
 Learning is a permanent change of behavior or cognitive process
as a result of acquiring skill or knowledge.
 But, learning can only happen if you are able to save that new
information.
v. Memory
  This is where memory comes in.
 Memory is the holding, storage, and retrieval of information that
has been learned.
 Memory is the power of retaining and recalling past experience.
 When it comes time for your psychology examination, memory
will allow you to retrieve all of that hard work.
4.6 The Importance of Psychological Processes in Community
Development
The importance of psychological processes in community development
might do include:

i. Psychological processes help in researching problems within a

community and assessing individual needs.
ii. Psychological processes helpful in finding ways to help
disadvantaged or disenfranchised individuals feel more connected
with their local communities.
iii. Psychological processes are helpful in understanding social issues
among minority groups.
iv. Psychological processes are important ib developing, implementing
and evaluating action-oriented community-based programs.
v. Psychological processes are important in building relationships
between individuals and community groups
vi. Psychological processes are important in evaluate organizations,
governments, and communities in order to promote participation
and diversity

LESSON FIVE
Psychological Theories to Promote Community Development
Practices
5.1 The Concept of Psychology Theory
 Psychological theories are theories used to provide a model for
understanding human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
 Examples of psychological theories include cognitive theory, behavioral
theory, humanistic theory and personality theories.
 A psychological theory has two key components:
i. It must describe a behavior.
ii. It must make predictions about future behaviors.
5.2 The Psychodynamic Theory

 The psychodynamic theory is a psychological theory Sigmund Freud

(1856-1939) and his later followers applied to explain the origins of
human behavior.

 Psychodynamic theory (sometimes called psychoanalytic theory) explains

personality in terms of unconscious psychological processes.
 The psychodynamic perspective asserts that in childhood certain
incidents may occur that produce behaviors in adulthood.
 Psychodynamic theory is an approach to psychology that studies the
psychological forces underlying human behavior, feelings, and emotions,
and how they may relate to early childhood experience.
 Some examples of behaviors and their explanations
using psychodynamic perspective include:
i. Obsessive hand washing could be linked to a trauma in childhood
that now causes this behavior.
ii. Nail-biting may be caused by an anxiety inducing childhood event.
iii. Another compulsive behavior is hair plucking.
iv. A childhood event that caused fear in an open space may
trigger agoraphobia in an adult. Agoraphobia means a morbid fear of
open spaces (as fear of being caught alone in some public place)
 v. Any irrational behaviors can be blamed on childhood instances of
trauma or development.
vi. Neurotic behaviors can be linked to childhood development issues
or interruptions.
vii. Sexual compulsions or related sexual behavioral issues are linked
to the sexual development stage using the psychodynamic
perspective

5.3 The Behavioral Theory

 The behavioral theory is also known as behaviorism, is a theory of
learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through
conditioning.
 Advocated by famous psychologists such as John B. Watson and B.F.
Skinner, behavioral theories dominated psychology during the early half
of the twentieth century.
 Today, behavioral techniques are still widely used by therapists to help
clients learn new skills and behaviors.
 The behavioral theories suggest that all human behavior can be
explained by the learning processes.
 This approach to psychology emerged with the work of John B.
Watson, who was interested in making psychology a more scientific
discipline that focused exclusively on observable and measurable
behaviors.
 Inspired by the work of Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, who had
discovered and described the process of classical conditioning, Watson
demonstrated how different behaviors could be conditioned.
 The later work of B.F. Skinner introduced the concept of operant
conditioning, which looked at how reinforcement and punishment led to
learning.
5.4 The Cognitive Theory
 Cognitive theories of psychology are focused on internal states, such
as motivation, problem-solving, decision-making, thinking,
and attention.
 Such theories strive to explain different mental processes including
how the mind processes information.
 His theory of cognitive development described the intellectual growth of
children from birth and into childhood.
 This theory suggests that children act much like little scientists as they
actively construct their knowledge of the world.
 Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children
move through four different stages of mental development.
 His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire
knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.
 Piaget's stages are:

 Sensorimotor stage: (birth to 2 years)

 Preoperational stage: (ages 2 to 7)
 Concrete operational stage: (ages 7 to 11)
 Formal operational stage: (ages 12 and up)

 Piaget believed that children take an active role in the learning process,
acting much like little scientists as they perform experiments, make
observations, and learn about the world.

 As kids interact with the world around them, they continually add new
knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt previously held
ideas to accommodate new information.

The Sensorimotor Stage (Ages: Birth to 2 Years)

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

  The infant knows the world through their movements and
sensations
 Children learn about the world through basic actions such as
sucking, grasping, looking, and listening
 Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot
be seen (object permanence)
 They are separate beings from the people and objects around them
 They realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the
world around them

 During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers

acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating
objects.

 A child's entire experience at the earliest period of this stage occurs

through basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses.

 It is during the sensorimotor stage that children go through a period of

dramatic growth and learning.

 As kids interact with their environment, they are continually making

new discoveries about how the world works.

 The cognitive development that occurs during this period takes place
over a relatively short period of time and involves a great deal of growth.

 Children not only learn how to perform physical actions such as

crawling and walking;

 They also learn a great deal about language from the people with whom
they interact.
 Piaget also broke this stage down into a number of different substages.
 It is during the final part of the sensorimotor stage that early
representational thought emerges.

 Piaget believed that developing object permanence or object constancy,

the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot
be seen, was an important element at this point of development.

 By learning that objects are separate and distinct entities and that they
have an existence of their own outside of individual perception, children
are then able to begin to attach names and words to objects.

The Preoperational Stage (Ages: 2 to 7 Years)

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

 Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and

pictures to represent objects.
 Children at this stage tend to be egocentric and struggle to see
things from the perspective of others.
 While they are getting better with language and thinking, they still
tend to think about things in very concrete terms.

 The foundations of language development may have been laid during

the previous stage, but it is the emergence of language that is one of the
major hallmarks of the preoperational stage of development.
 Children become much more skilled at pretend play during this stage of
development, yet continue to think very concretely about the world
around them.
 At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with
logic and taking the point of view of other people.
 They also often struggle with understanding the idea of constancy.
 For example, a researcher might take a lump of clay, divide it into two
equal pieces, and then give a child the choice between two pieces of clay
to play with.
 One piece of clay is rolled into a compact ball while the other is
smashed into a flat pancake shape.
 Since the flat shape looks larger, the preoperational child will likely
choose that piece even though the two pieces are exactly the same size.
The Concrete Operational Stage (Ages: 7 to 11 Years)

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

 During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about

concrete events.
 They begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the
amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall,
skinny glass, for example.
 Their thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very
concrete.
 Children begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific
information to a general principle.

 While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking at this
point in development, they become much more adept at using logic.
 The egocentrism of the previous stage begins to disappear as kids
become better at thinking about how other people might view a situation.
 While thinking becomes much more logical during the concrete
operational state, it can also be very rigid.
 Kids at this point in development tend to struggle with abstract and
hypothetical concepts.

 During this stage, children also become less egocentric and begin to
think about how other people might think and feel.
 Kids in the concrete operational stage also begin to understand that
their thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone else necessarily
shares their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

The Formal Operational Stage (Ages: 12 and Up)

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

 At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think

abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems.
 Abstract thought emerges
 Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical,
social, and political issues that require theoretical and abstract
reasoning
 Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle
to specific information.

 The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the

ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract
ideas.
 At this point, people become capable of seeing multiple potential
solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world
around them.
 The ability to thinking about abstract ideas and situations is the key
hallmark of the formal operational stage of cognitive development.
 The ability to systematically plan for the future and reason about
hypothetical situations are also critical abilities that emerge during this
stage.
 It is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual
development as a quantitative process; that is, kids do not just add more
information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they get older.
 Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how
children think as they gradually process through these four stages.
 A child at age 7 doesn't just have more information about the world
than he did at age 2; there is a fundamental change in how he thinks
about the world.
Group Work Discussion
Discuss the Common Features of Psychological Theories
5.6 The Importance of Psychological Theory
 Provide a basis for understanding the mind and behavior.
-Psychological theories provide a framework for understanding human
behavior, thought and development by having a broad base of
understanding about the how’s and why’s of human behavior, we can
better understand ourselves and others.
 Psychological theories inspire future research.
- Psychological theories make predictions about future behaviours.
- Psychological theories create a basis for future research.
- Researchers use theory to form hypothesis that can be tested.
- As new discoveries are made and incorporated into the original theory,
new questions and ideas can be explored.
 Psychological theories are important for anyone who is trying to
bring about social change.
- They help point us to what is really important to change, versus what
might be more trivial and lead to ineffective action.
 Provision of Useful ways of Thinking
- Psychological theories have provided us with useful ways of thinking
about the importance of the individual in relationship to the environment
or community.
- The individual is influenced by the environment, which means that we
must look beyond just individual factors when we try to analyze social
problems or develop community interventions.
 Consideration of Diversities in the Community
- Psychological theories consider the dynamics among groups,
organizations, and whole communities as they relate within certain
settings, and help guide thinking around the development of community
interventions.
 Understanding human thoughts
- Psychological theories are used to provide a model for understanding
human thoughts.
 Understanding human emotions
- Psychological theories are used to provide a model for understanding
human emotions.

LESSON SIX
Understanding of Socio-Psychology Concept in Influencing Human
Behavior
6.1 Define the Following Terms
i. Human Behavior
- Human behaviour refers to the way humans act and interact.
- It is based on and influenced by several factors, such as genetic
make-up, culture and individual values and attitudes.
ii. Social Disputes
- Social dispute is the struggle for agency or power in society.
- Social disputes or group conflict occurs when two or more actors
oppose each other in social interaction, reciprocally exerting social
power in an effort to attain scarce or incompatible goals and
prevent the opponent from attaining them.
 - It is a social relationship wherein the action is oriented
intentionally for carrying out the actor's own will against the
resistance of other party or parties.
iii. Moral Behavior
- Is to act according to ones moral values and standards.
- Children demonstrate moral behavior when they;
i. Share
ii. Help
iii. Co-operate
iv. Communicate
v. Sympathize
vi. Ability to care about others

 Define the following terms as used in understanding socio-psychology

concept in influencing human behavior
a. Intra-personal disputes
b. Inter-personal disputes
c. Intra-group disputes and
d. Inter-group disputes
i. The Intrapersonal Disputes
The intrapersonal conflict is conflict experienced by a
single individual, when his or her own goals, values or roles
diverge. For example
A lawyer may experience a conflict of values when he represents a
defendant he knows to be guilty of the charges brought against
him.
ii. The Interpersonal Disputes
Interpersonal conflict refers to any type of conflict involving two or
more people. It’s different from an intrapersonal conflict, which
refers to an internal conflict with yourself.
iii. The Intra-Group Disputes
 The Intra-group dispute refers to a specific kind of conflict that
occurs between members of a group that shares common goals,
interests or other identifying characteristics.
Intra-group disputes can be small-scale, such as within a
workplace or large-scale, such as between members of a specific
population group.
iv. The Inter-Group Disputes
Intergroup conflict refers to disagreements that exist between two
or more groups and their respective members.
However, this can also reflect any type of formal or informal
disagreements between varying groups such as political parties or
activist groups.
Intergroup conflict is in many ways the source of the out group
bias that discriminates against those that are not part of the "in-
group."

6.3 The Procedures for Dealing with Disputes in the Society.

Step 1: Define the Source of the Conflict

 The more information you have about the cause of the problem, the
more easily you can help to resolve it.

 To get the information you need, use a series of questions to identify

the cause, like,

- “When did you feel upset?”

- “Do you see a relationship between that and this incident?”

- “How did this incident begin?”

 As a manager or supervisor, you need to give both parties the chance to
share their side of the story.

 It will give you a better understanding of the situation, as well as

demonstrate your impartiality.

 As you listen to each disputant, say, “I see” or “uh huh” to acknowledge

the information and encourage them to continue to open up to you.

Step 2: Look Beyond the Incident

 The source of the conflict might be a minor issue that occurred months
before, but the level of stress has grown to the point where the two
parties have begun attacking each other personally instead of addressing
the real problem.

 In the calm of your office, you can get them to look beyond the
triggering incident to see the real cause.

 Once again, probing questions will help, like,

-“What do you think happened here?” or

-“When do you think the problem between you first arose?

Step 3: Request Solutions

 After getting each party’s viewpoint, the next step is to get them to
identify how the situation could be changed.

 Again, question the parties to solicit their ideas:

- “How can you make things better between you?”

 As mediator, you have to be an active listener, aware of every verbal

nuance, as well as a good reader of body language.
 You want to get the disputants to stop fighting and start cooperating,
and that means steering the discussion away from finger pointing and
toward ways of resolving the conflict.

Step 4: Identify Solutions Both Disputants can Support

 You are listening for the most acceptable course of action.

 Point out the merits of various ideas, not only from each other’s
perspective, but in terms of the benefits to the organization.

 For instance, you might suggest the need for greater cooperation and
collaboration to effectively address team issues and departmental
problems.

Step 5: Agreement

 The mediator needs to get the two parties to shake hands and accept
one of the alternatives identified in Step 4.

 The goal is to reach a negotiated agreement. Some mediators go as far

as to write up a contract in which actions and time frames are specified.
 However, it might be sufficient to meet with the individuals and have
them answer these questions:

-“What action plans will you both put in place to prevent conflicts from
arising in the future?” and

-“What will you do if problems arise in the future?

 This mediation process works between groups as well as individuals.

6.4 Outline the Challenges in Disputes Resolution

i. Disputes are influenced by Emotions
The main reason that conflicts are so difficult to resolve is that
they are predominantly influenced by emotions.
 When emotions like anger and resentment are felt it is often
difficult for people to behave rationally.
The likelihood of the person understanding the others point of view
diminishes as their own strong emotions take over.
ii. Failure to Identify Root Causes of the Disputes
Most of the time we never get to the real source/s of conflict. The
root of a conflict has to do with human needs. Most of us are not
practiced in identifying our deeper needs; we just keep skimming
the surface. That is one reason why conflicts continue to stay
unresolved and recycle with new triggering external events.
iii. Failure to Understand What Type of Conflict You are Dealing
With.
Most conflicts are internal. Even if we are reacting to something
external that is triggering us emotionally – it is often our internal
processes that drive the conflict (at least our part in it).
All conflicts are not interpersonal. We can have an internal conflict
when no one else is involved.
Many conflicts are structural in nature. This is especially true
within the workplace. The problem is too many people internalize
conflicts whose roots are systemic and try to solve issues that
are out of their control to “fix.”

iv. Ineffective Communication Skills.

Lots of conflict results from lazy or unclear communication. In the
blizzard of contact that happens in today’s world, it is easy for
misunderstandings to happen. Only about 1/3 of our audiences
rate their listening skills as very good. We ALL need to get better
at listening and practicing empathy towards others.
v. Lack of Care.
Seems simple, doesn’t it? You have to care. An alarming number
of people we encounter in today’s workplace tell us they really
don’t care about their co-workers! These people often see
 workplace relationships as a means to an end – and that end is
getting things done. If you see people at work as tasks – and not as
people (with their own needs and feelings) you’re likely to have
much more conflict. This gets even more challenging when you
don’t like someone or they are “poor performers.”
vi. Poor Beliefs.
Unchecked beliefs play a huge role in conflict. Your expectations,
assumptions and behaviors are driven by your beliefs. We have
beliefs about EVERYTHING – people, work, how things should be
done, why people do and don’t do things, etc. And we have deep-
rooted beliefs about conflict. The first question to ask
yourself is: What do I believe about conflict ? Can anything positive
come from this experience?

 Define the Following Terms.

i. Social psychology
is a branch of psychology concerned with how social influences
affect how people think, feel, and act.
ii. Adolescence
is a period of significant cognitive, social, psychological, and
biological change as individuals move from the relative security of
childhood to meet the challenges of adulthood.
iii. Peer group
is a social group or a primary group of people who have similar
interests (homophily), age, background, or social status. The
members of this group are likely to influence the person's beliefs
and behaviour.

 Social psychology is the study of how individuals affect and are affected
by other people and by their social and physical environments.
 Social psychologists study how individuals think about, influence and
relate to one another and how those interactions affect issues as wide-
ranging as;
 i. Prejudice
ii. Romantic attraction
iii. Persuasion
iv. Friendship and
v. Aggression.

6.5 The Role of Social-Psychology in Addressing Delinquency among

Peer Groups and Adolescents
i. Social psychology study real-world problems using a scientific
approach. For example peer group and adolescent interaction,
adolescent and peer group dynamics, adolescent and peer group
interactions, etc
ii. Social psychology is useful in thinking about adolescent and peer
group interpersonal interactions from the point of view of social
psychology can help you better understand and respond to them.
iii. Social psychology studies the person-situation interaction. For
example how characteristics of the person and characteristics of
the social situation interact to determine behavior.
iv. The social psychology is useful in creating social norms. For
example adolescent and peer group shared ways of thinking,
feeling, and behaving in particular community.
v. Social psychology studies cultural differences of adolescent and
peer group in the community—for instance, in individualistic
versus collectivistic orientations—guide our everyday behavior.

6.6 Guidance to Address Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Society

Group work Assignment
 By using either demonstration or dramatization methods of
teaching/learning illustrate in your groups guidance to address drug and
alcohol abuse in society
 LESSON SEVEN
Application of Knowledge of Guidance And Counseling for a Healthy
Living Practice
7.1 Define the Terms Guidance And Counseling
 Counseling is defined as, "a professional relationship that empowers
diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health,
wellness, education, and career goals."
 Counseling involves helping people make needed changes in ways of
thinking, feeling, and behaving, and is a goal-based collaborative
process, involving a non-judgmental, supportive counselor who works
with a client in telling his or her story, setting viable goals, and
developing strategies and plans necessary to accomplish these goals.

 People come to counseling when their attempts to deal with their

concerns are no longer effective.
7.2 Problems Needing Counseling

The following are the problems that need counseling

1. Inferiority Complex
 Some employees suffer from inferiority complex.

 The employees who suffer from this complex consider themselves as

incompetent as compared to others.

 It is a feeling of insufficiency.

 Extreme feeling of inferiority complex is bad.

 It affects productivity adversely.

 It deprives the employee many benefits in life and puts him to losses.

 Inferiority complex arises out of comparison.

 If comparison is avoided, this feeling gets vanished.

 If an employee is trapped under the influence of this feeling then he

needs counselling.

 Counsellor in this case should try to convince the affected employee of

his own strength, self power and self importance.

2. Drinking Habits
 Drinking or alcoholism is a very common problem faced by the
employees.

 It disturbs the family, social and work life of the employees. It is a

serious threat to the work environment of the organisation.

 It is very difficult to get rid of drinking habits of the employee.

 It requires lot of courage and determination on the part of an employee
to stop drinking.

 The employees start drinking on account of any reason. No strong and

reasonable cause is necessary to start this dirty habit.

 Once the person has developed this habit, it is very difficult for him to
get rid of it.

 Counsellor finds it very difficult to deal with such people. But sincere
effort on his part may yield some fruits.

 The counselling in such cases takes more time to bring back the
counsellee on track.

 Counsellor must develop good acquaintance and friendship with

drunkards.

 He must then explain to them the disadvantages and ill effects of

drinking and benefits of being teetotaler.

 The drunkard should not be discarded.

 Ask him to change the life style and try to keep him away from drinks
as far as possible.

 Slowly and gradually he will come on track.

 Though counselling in this regard is difficult but not impossible.

 Sincere efforts will yield fruits some day.

3. Drug Addiction
 In modern times this is a very serious problem which has affected the
young people at the workplace.
 Drug addiction has led to many evils.

 This is more serious a problem than drinking. It tears the fabric of

peaceful life.

 The main reason of drug addiction is the parents their lack love,
affection and care of their children.

 This drives them to drugs.

 There are few more causes e.g.: company of bad people, lack of
affection in the family, depression, tensions, lack of self confidence etc. 
Drug addiction changes the behaviour of the addict severely.

 He faces the financial crunch.

 He becomes arrogant.

 It is the most difficult task to deal with drug addict.

 Counsellor has to face an uphill task in counselling these people.

 It requires immense efforts and patience on the part of counsellor.

 Drug addicts must receive timely help from the counsellor and
physician both.

 It is actually a task of psychiatrist to deal with such people.

 Changes in his behaviour are to be brought.

 Drug addict is to be motivated and encouraged to leave the habit.

 A lot of sincere efforts are required in this regard.

4. Disturbed Family Life
 Everyone has to face problem cropped up in his family life.

 Serious problems of family disturb peace of mind.

 Employees facing such serious family problems cannot work properly

at the factory.

 They are under tensions.

 Counsellors should take these employees into confidence and know the
problems and their causes and try to remove them.

 These problems do not pose a serious threat and can be dealt with
effectively.

 This is comparatively an easy task.

5. Mental Worries
 Many problems are the creation of human mind and they start
worrying.

 These problems disturb the mental peace of the person.

 The person cannot get job satisfaction and cannot contribute his
hundred percent to the production also.

 In Indian industries there are more than one union.

 These rival unions sometimes victimize the members of other unions.

 The inter union rivalry disturbs the peace of mind of the members and
they worry all the while.

 The victims of these unions get depressed.

 The worries of these employees can be removed through timely
counselling.

 They need proper guidance from the someone who cares.

 Remaining unmarried for long time or to wait for marriage also become
the cause of worries.

 There is a chance of sexual perversion in case of these people.

 Usually young people are in the grip of worries.

 These problems if not traced and counselled on time may lead to

alcoholism and drug addiction also.

 They need timely guidance from the counsellors.

 These people should be closely observed and should be kept in group or

be allowed to work in a group.

 Some employees get ill treatment from their superiors.

 These ill treatments also become the cause of worries to the employee. 
They are the victims of injustice done to them by their superiors.

7.2 Types of Counseling

The Following are the Types of Counseling
1. Directive Counselling
 Under directive counselling the counsellor issues certain instructions
to the counsellee or he is directed to do certain things

 For example

- he is asked to behave in a particular manner

- asked to abstain from alcohol or drug

- asked to respect his colleagues and superiors.

2. Non Directive Counselling

 Under non directive counselling counsellor does not issue directions
but observe the behaviour and attitude of the counsellee towards his
work and his colleagues and superiors and subordinates.

 If he errs then counsellor comes to his rescue and corrects him

realizing him that he was wrong.

 He will not issue him any instructions or will not direct him.

3. Cooperative Counselling
 This is a kind of counselling that can be done through extending full
cooperation to the counsellee and makes him realize his mistakes
relating to his behaviour and attitudes so that he himself will be back on
the track and improve himself.

 It is winning the heart of the counsellee through cooperation.

 His confidence will be won by the counsellee and he in turn will extend
his cooperation and become self disciplined.

4. Marital and Family Counselling

 Employees need counselling in respect of marriage and family
problems.

 The troubled employees can discuss out their problems with the
counsellor who can take them into confidence and prescribe solutions for
their ills.

7.3 The Counseling Steps

Step 1: Relationship Building
 The first step involves building a relationship and focuses on engaging
clients to explore issue that directly affect them.
 The first interview is important because the client is reading the verbal
and nonverbal messages and make inferences about the counselor and
the counseling situation.
-Is the counselor able to empathize with the client?
-Does the client view the counselor as genuine?
 Some steps for Relationship Building for the Counsellor
 Introduce yourself
 Invite client to sit down
 Ensure client is comfortable
 Address the client by name
 Invite social conversation to reduce anxiety
 Watch for nonverbal behaviour as signs of client’s emotional state
 Invite client to describe his or her reason for coming to talk
 Allow client time to respond
 Indicate that you are interested in the person
Step 2: Problem Assessment
 While the counselor and the client are in the process of establishing a
relationship, a second process is taking place, i.e. problem assessment.
 This step involves the collection and clasification of information about
the client’s life situation and reasons for seeking counseling.
Step 3: Goal Setting
 Like any other activity, counseling must have a focus.
 Goals are the results or outcomes that client wants to achieve at the
end of counseling.
 Sometimes, you hear both counselor and client complain that the
counseling session is going nowhere.
Step 4: Intervention
 There are different points of view concerning what a good counselor
should do with clients depending on the theoretical positions that the
counselor subscribes to.
 For example, the person-centred approach suggests that the counselor
gets involved rather than intervenes by placing emphasis on the
relationship.
 The behavioural approach attempts to initiate
Step 5: Evaluation, Follow-up, Termination or Referal
 For the beginning counselor, it is difficult to think of terminating the
counseling process, as they are more concerned with beginning the
counseling process.
 However, all counseling successful aims towards termination.
 Terminating the counseling process will have to be conducted with
sensitivity with the client knowing that it will have to end.
 The effective counselling needs counselling skills, complete information
about the persons to be counselled i.e. the information relating to his
motives; experience, weaknesses, strength, attitudes and behaviour
should be collected before counselling.
7.4 The Following are Some of the Guidelines for Counseling
Services.
1. Releasing Emotional Tension
 Some people are more emotional.

 They become so at everything.

 They take things emotionally and they come into the grip of emotions
very often.

 The emotions are associated with fear, respect, insult, anxiety, guilt,
hostility etc.

 If the counsellee is under emotional tension it is to be released.

 The counsellee is to be taken into confidence and listen to him carefully
as if counsellor is the only caretaker of him.

 Try to know the real causes of his emotional breakdown.

2. Effective Communication
 Effective two way communication help subordinates to narrate their
difficulties to their superiors through which many problems get
automatically solved.
 Supervisor can perform the job of counselling.
 Effective two way communication remove fear from the minds of the
subordinates and they talk freely and open up their mind to the superior
who can render necessary advice then and there and can help him
getting the tension of any kind released.

3. Clarified Thinking
 One should think positively and shun negative thinking.

 It is negative thinking needs to be removed from the mind of

counsellee.  Negative thinking helps developing misunderstanding,
distrust and lies. Counsellor should develop new pattern of thinking.

 Counsellee should be motivated and encouraged to think positively.

 Positive thinking helps building up cordial relationship with the

colleagues and superiors.

 Manager should develop cordial relationship with his subordinates not

only for counselling but also for his success in the organisation.

4. Performance Counselling
 As the name suggests it relates with the performance.
 If the employee is not keeping his performance constant and it is below
standard then counselling is required to maintain the standard level of
performance.

 Performance gets affected by many reasons.

 Those reasons must be spotted by the counsellor and try to remove

them from the counsellee.

 If he is taking leaves and remaining absent citing petty reasons from

the work he should be taken into confidence and remove the reasons for
remaining absent.

5. Counseling Against Alcoholism and Drug

 Alcoholism and drugs especially alcoholism in India for example is the
major problem.

 It severely affects the productivity and cost that affects the organisation
quite heavily.

 Alcohol and drug users remain absent frequently and consume more
sick leaves as compared to other employees.

 They feel tardiness at the workplace and make their departure early.

 They cannot judge properly and cannot make decisions and very prone
to accidents.

 Serious efforts on the part of the organisation and the counsellors are
needed to bring back alcoholics and drug addicts on the track.

 They should be treated properly.

 Counsellor should develop friendship with them and take them into
confidence and convince them of the benefits of not drinking and make
aware against the health hazards of alcohol and drugs.

7.5. The Challenges to Guidance and Counseling

Discuss the major challenges of guidance and counseling.
7.6 Conduct Counseling session

A sample Counseling Session

Here is an example of a problem that requires counselling: A teacher has

asked a community health worker to talk to one of his students. The
teacher tells the community health worker several things about the
student. He is seventeen years old. He is intelligent, but lately has
missed a lot of time from school. He always seems tired. This is the
student's final year, and the teacher is worried that he may not pass his
exams.

The discussion that follows shows what the community health worker
might do in this situation. Pay careful attention to what he says. Note
that he asks general questions to start the boy talking freely. He greets
the boy and tries to build up a good relationship. He listens carefully to
all that the boy says. No advice is given until the community health
worker has heard the whole story behind the boy's problem.

Also the community health worker encourages the boy to think carefully
about the problem so that he can understand the cause better and come
up with some possible solutions for himself. Remember that people are
more committed to solving their problems if they participate in
developing the solutions.

If you are with other people, you can use this counselling session as a
short play. Ask everyone to read the discussion once. Get two volunteers.
One will read aloud the part of the community health worker, the other
will read aloud what the boy says. This will be a good way to practice
counselling.

Sample Counseling Session

Health Good morning. I hope everything is going well with you and your
worker: parents.
Boy: Thank you. Everyone is all right except that Mother has some
back trouble.
Health I believe that this is your last year at school. How are your
worker: studies coming along?
Boy: Well, I usually do fine at school, but you know the last year is
always difficult.
Health Have you been healthy so far this year?
worker:
Boy: Actually, I've been feeling a bit weak and get these headaches. I
thought it was probably malaria, but I am not sure.
Health Malaria is bad at this time of year. Did you take any medicine for
worker: it?
Boy: I've taken the full course of chloroquine tablets about three times
so far, but I never seem to get completely well.
Health The tablets are necessary, but medicine alone cannot solve all
worker: our problems. Are you eating well?
Boy: I think so.
Health Tell me, what have you been taking for your meals the past few
worker: days?
Boy: My mother always tells us to have a good breakfast, so I make big
bowls of cereal for myself and my brothers. Then, too, I always
try to buy fruit.
Health You are saying that you do some cooking and shopping?
worker:
Boy: These jobs are necessary. A few years ago my mother hurt her
 back. Now it is giving her a lot of trouble. The doctor says she is
getting older and there is not much more that can be done. They
give her pain-relievers, but the doctor told all of us children to try
to help our mother in any way possible. Since I am the oldest,
most of the responsibility falls on me.
Health What other chores do you have?
worker:
Boy: I help prepare the evening meal too. I get the smaller children to
clean the house, but I have to watch them to see that they do it
well.
Health With all this work, when do you find time to study?
worker:
Boy: That is a problem. It is really hard to do any serious studying
until the chores are done and the younger children have settled
down for the night. Then I read for as many hours as possible, or
until I just fall asleep at the table.
Health Where do you actualIy study?
worker:
Boy: As you know, we only have two rooms to live in. One is my
parents' bedroom. The other is used for sitting and eating in, and
as the children's bedroom. That's why I can't concentrate on my
studies until the younger ones are asleep. I even try not to turn
the lamp up too bright so they won't wake and disturb me.
Health I can see that things are difficult for you just now. From what
worker: you have said, you are under a lot of stress. I realize that you
have duties you must carry out for your family, but I think all
this extra work and reading late at night in a poor light have
contributed to your feeling of weakness and your headaches.
Does this sound reasonable to you?
Boy: I guess I never thought about it like that before, but it does make
sense. I am worried, however. As you said, I do have to do my
 chores at home. How can I deal with this problem?
Health First, what do you really want to achieve?
worker:
Boy: I want to pass my exams this year, so I probably need to study
more.
Health And to be able to study more you have to be strong and rested.
worker:
Boy: That's true, so I also have to figure out how to get more rest.
Health Let us think about when you might find more time to study. You
worker: say you prepare the evening meal and do some shopping. What
do you do between the time you leave school and the time you
start preparing the meal?
Boy: Usually after school I walk to the market to pick up the few
things I may need for the evening meal. There I meet some
friends and we talk and play games for a while. Then when I see
the sun is going down, I go home to start the meal.
Health Play is necessary to keep your body fit, but do you think it might
worker: be possible to spare some time after school a couple of days a
week to do a little reading? Reading in daylight would be better
on your eyes than reading by a dim lamp at night.
Boy: hat makes sense. I really like playing with my friends, though.
Health I am not saying that you should stop playing, because playing
worker: helps keep you fit. But you do have to think about what is most
important to you. You do seem worried about your school work.
You must decide for yourself what sacrifice you are ready to
make for the sake of your studies. Right now you are sacrificing
your health.
Boy: I never thought of it that way, but you are right, I do value my
studies and, if I am not in good health, I cannot do well in school.
I am sure I could stay after school an extra hour and read at my
desk there. No one would disturb me then, and even the teachers
 might still be around. They could help me with any questions I
had. My friends would not miss me for only one hour, so I could
join them later. I hope they will not make fun of me for wanting
to remain at school.
Health Do your friends understand the problems you have at home?
worker:
Boy: Of course, they always stop by the house at the weekend to say
"hello" to my mother and ask how she is. I guess they would
understand and not make fun of me.
Health Now about weekends. Can you arrange time to study then?
worker:
Boy: Saturday morning is usually taken up with chores. And after that
the house is never quiet. The younger children are always
running in and out and then there are visitors.
Health Do you have to stay at home to study?
worker:
Boy: Maybe I could see if some of the classrooms at the school are
open, or I could even go out to my father's farm. It is always quiet
there. I could take some snacks and sit under those big shady
trees.
Health It's good that you are able to think of so many solutions to this
worker: problem. The teacher was right. You are a bright boy. Now I'm
interested to know about your younger brothers. How old are
they?
Boy: The next younger is thirteen, and then there are the twins aged
nine.
Health The one who is thirteen -is he also doing well at school?
worker:
Boy: He tries very hard. His grades have been almost as good as mine.
He could probably do better.
Health How old were you when your mother's back trouble began?
worker:
Boy: About fourteen.
Health And you had to start doing all those chores from that age?
worker:
Boy: Yes.
Health I was just thinking that if your brother is also a bright boy, and
worker: since he is nearly fourteen, maybe he could also start taking on
more responsibility in the home. What do you think about this?
Boy: I have always thought of him as being very young, but, if I could
handle the chores at his age, I am sure he could manage too.
Maybe we could take turns with the cooking and other jobs. That
would be another way for me to get more rest and more time for
study.
Health With all the ideas you have mentioned, I am sure you will have
worker: no more trouble with your studies, but please feel free to come to
me again if you or any other member of your family has
problems. Now, before you leave, please remind me of the things
you are going to do to solve your problems. It will help us to
make sure that we have forgotten nothing and that we are
satisfied with what we have decided.
Boy: First I need to get more rest and find better times for study. I will
stay after school for about an hour so I can read in the daylight.
Then at weekends I will go to the farm to read. At home I will get
my younger brother to take turns with me in doing the cooking
and other chores.
Health Thank you. That's very good. Now give my regards to your
worker: parents.
Boy: I will. Thank you for your help. Good bye.