This handbook highlights a range of ground breaking, radical and liberatory clinical and critical community psychology projects from around the world. The disciplines of critical community psychology and clinical psychology are currently experiencing radical innovations that in this book are characterised as moving from the individualising practice realm toward an altogether more contextualising orientation. Both fields are responding to an array of political, social and economic injustices and a global political context. Community and clinical psychologists have found themselves reorienting their practice to confront, resist and subvert the structures that are so damaging to the lives of the vulnerable people they work with. This text posits that these approaches refute and resist the psychologising that has strengthened oppressive structures. Such practices are starting to engage in the political character of power-knowledge relationships that demand a more ‘action-oriented’ and less ‘clinical’ psychology praxis and there is a growing interest in, and commitment to, social justice in the field of mental wellbeing. Using examples of scholar, activist and practitioner work from around the world, this collection explores and documents those practices where the traditional remits of community and clinical psychology have been subverted, altered, stretched, changed and reworked in order to reframe practice around human rights, creativity, political activism, social change, space and place, systemic violence, community transformation, resource allocation and radical practices of disruption and direct action.

This handbook incisively explores challenges and opportunities that exist in efforts aimed at addressing inequities in mental health provision across the globe. Drawing on various disciplines across the humanities, psychology, and social sciences it charts the emergence of Global Mental Health as a field of study. It critically reflects on efforts and interventions being made to globalize mental health policies, and discusses key themes relevant for understanding and supporting the mental health needs of people living in diverse socio-economical and cultural environments. Over three rich sections, the handbook critically engages with Global Mental Health discourses. To help guide future efforts to support mental health and wellbeing in different parts of the world, the third section of the handbook consists of case studies of innovative mental health policy and practice, which are presented from a variety of different perspectives. This seminal handbook will appeal to a transnational community of post-graduate students, academics and practitioners, from global health to transcultural psychiatry and medical anthropology. It will be also of interest to researchers and clinical practitioners, policy makers and non-governmental organisations involved in cross-cultural mental health work.

This handbook is the first to bring together the latest theory and research on critical approaches to social psychological challenges. Edited by a leading authority in the field, this volume further establishes critical social psychology as a discipline of study, distinct from mainstream social psychology. The handbook explains how critical approaches to social processes and phenomena are essential to fully understanding them, and covers the main research topics in basic and applied social psychology, including social cognition, identity and social relations, alongside overviews of the main theories and methodologies that underpin critical approaches. This volume features a range of leading authors working on key social psychological issues, and highlights a commitment to a social psychology which shuns psychologisation, reductionism and neutrality. It provides invaluable insight into many of the most pressing and distressing issues we face in modern society, including the migrant and refugee crises affecting Europe; the devaluing of black lives in the USA; and the poverty, ill-health, and poor mental well-being that has resulted from ever-increasing austerity efforts in the UK. Including sections on critical perspectives, critical methodologies, and critical applications, this volume also focuses on issues within social cognition, self and identity. This one-stop handbook is an indispensable resource for a range of academics, students and researchers in the fields of psychology and sociology, and particularly those with an interest in social identity, power relations, and critical interventions.

This handbook offers a unique critical and cross-disciplinary approach to the study of Community Psychology, showing how it can address the systemic challenges arising from multiple crises facing people across the world. Addressing some of the most pressing issues of our times, the text shows how Community Psychology can contribute to principled social change, giving voice, enabling civic participation and supporting the realignment of social and economic power within planetary boundaries. Featuring a collaboration of contributions from world-leading academics, early career researchers and community leaders, each chapter gives theory and context with practical examples of working with those living in precarious situations, on matters that concern them most, and highlights positive ways to contribute to progressive change. The editors examine economic, ecological, demographic, gender, violence, energy, social and cultural, and political crises in relation to psychological theories, as well as public policy and lived experiences, presenting an approach situated at the intersection of public policy and lived experiences. Viewed through four different perspectives or lenses: a critical lens; a praxis lens; an ecological lens and a reflective lens, this compendium of critical explorations into Community Psychology shows how it can contribute to a fairer, more just, resilient and sustainable world. Also examining the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic about the pervading nature of social inequality, but also the potential of solidarity movements ranging from local to international levels, this is ideal reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students and scholars in Community Psychology and related areas, including social psychology, clinical psychology and applied psychology.

This work contains original research from the first 25 years of the American Journal of Community Psychology, selected to reflect community psychology's rich tradition of theory, empirical research, action, and innovative methods. This volume will be of interest to community mental health workers, social science and social work researchers, health care professionals, policymakers, and educators in the fields of community and preventative psychology.

Posthuman Community Psychology is an exploration of mainstream psychology through a critical posthumanity perspective, examining psychology’s place in the world and its relationship with marginalised people, with a focus on people with disabilities. The book argues that the history of modern psychology is underpinned by reductionism and individualism, which is embedded within the contemporary psychology that we know today despite the challenges from critical and community psychologists who seek a more empowering, inclusive, and activist psychology. The posthuman community psychology ideas that emerge in this book examine and intersect with mainstream psychology, critical and community psychologies, critical posthumanities and disability studies to propose an imaginative, reflective, and relational new psychology that represents a collection of possibilities that do not remain entrenched in older ways of thinking about humans and human connections. Richards proposes that psychology has the potential to evolve and make a powerful and profound difference for marginalised people, but a genuine desire for change from psychologists is essential for this to happen. Illustrating the important considerations needed when examining the relationship between the discipline of psychology and marginalised people, this book is fascinating reading for community psychology students and academics, aspiring professional psychologists, community workers, and policy makers.

This comprehensive handbook, the first in its field, brings together 106 different contributors. The 38 interrelated but at the same time independent chapters discuss key areas including conceptual frameworks; empirically grounded constructs; intervention strategies and tactics; social systems; designs, assessment, and analysis; cross-cutting professional issues; and contemporary intersections with related fields such as violence prevention and HIV/AIDS.