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1. Unit_4
*Social Issues and Services
in the Community*
Reserved for group assignment!

2. Unit 5: Community-Organizational Psychology
• Organizations, whether they are private sector
businesses, mental health clinics, prisons, or any
other community organization, are one of the
settings at which we spend our ages.
• This chapter looks at ways that organizations
can be conceptualized from a community
perspective & how an organizational psychology
might inform efforts to realize a community
psychology.

3. -An aspect of organizational psychology that parallels
community psychology is the understanding that
individuals & organizations have an active (an ever-
changing, transactional influence) relationship
-For instance, at one point, an individual might be
highly motivated to stay in an organization, whereas
at another time, he or she may be motivated to
leave. Sometimes, just when a disgruntled individual
wants to leave the organization, the organization
needs that person & so seeks to retain him or her.

4. -The study of such dynamic relationships is
pertinent to both community psychology &
organizational psychology. The primary aim is to
enhance the functioning of individuals in
organizations.
- The more specific intent is:
- To empower individuals within organizations to
create innovative solutions to the problems facing
them,
-To ensure that the innovations & changes are
humanistic, and
- Organizational psychologists focus on the sense of
community reducing turnover (Moynihan & Pandey, 2008).

5. Everyday organizational issues
-For most, the workplace is one of the central
defining contexts to one’s identity. It can provide
a source of both pride (i.e. bring economic well-
being, sense of accomplishment , happiness, a
sense of self-esteem, and status & pain (On the
other hand, organizations can also frustrate and
alienate people and cause much stress)
- The work setting changes & demands naturally
affect our lives.

6.  With that in mind, we turn to a sampling of the
problems of today’s organizations. These are:
a) Stress
b) Organizational culture
c) Burnout
d) Ecological culture

7. A) Stress
-Lazarus and Folkman (1984) defined psychological
stress as:
“a particular relationship between the person & the
environment that is appraised by the person as
taxing or exceeding his or her resources &
endangering his or her well-being” (p. 19).
-Zohar (1997) proposed the following three types of
work hassles ( A.K.A stressors).
i. Role conflict
ii. Role ambiguity
iii. Role overload

8. i.) Role conflict (when there are different and
opposing work expectations, such as to be a
friend but also to be able to criticize
performance)
ii.) Role ambiguity (when it is unclear what one
is expected to do, for example not being told
what the job expectations are);

9. iii.) Role overload (there is just too much to do
… empty the warehouse in 10 minutes, or do
what used to be two full-time jobs).
iv. Those work hassles (Role conflict, Role
ambiguity & Role overload) are correlated with
negative mood & later fatigue (Zohar, 1999).

10. B) Organizational culture
 Organizational culture consists of the beliefs,
attitudes, values, & expectations shared by most
members of the organization (Schein, 1985, 1990).
 Once these beliefs and values are
established, they tend to persist over time as the
organization shapes & molds its members in its
image.
* If unchecked, this could lead to burnout.

11. For example,
* Can you recall how different all of the
freshmen looked in appearance and dress
your first week of classes? By senior year,
many of these same students looked more
similar because other students pressured
them to conform to the organization’s image.

12. -Besides conformity, the prevailing
organizational culture guides/affects the
organization’s:
1) Structure & processes,
i.e. how decisions are made (processes) in the
organization
1.1) Decision-making system, also determines
social class distinctions within organizations, such
as status differences between executives and
middle managers.

13. 2) Organizational culture affects the ideology of the
organization.
- If the organization views human nature as good, it
will tend to allow subordinate participation (Tosi,
Rizzo, & Carroll, 1986).
- If the culture emphasizes the development of human
potential, then the members are more likely to be
allowed to develop & create new ideas without much
interference from the organization.

14. -An open culture, one appreciative of human
dignity and one that enhances human growth, or
that encourage diversity. in which gender, race,
and class might be appreciated is preferred by
most organizational members and by most
community psychologists.
-Open cultures foster a sense of community,
better communication, & more empowerment,
which can exist in an organization just as it may
in neighborhoods.

15. -Such organizational cultures tend to foster
employee commitment, among their other
positive effects.
- However, when the culture is repressive in
that it inhibits human growth, high levels of
member cynicism develop, performance
deteriorates, & cohesiveness drops.

16. C) Burnout
…….is a feeling of overall exhaustion that is the
result of too much pressure & not
enough sources of satisfaction.
o Burnout has three components:
a) The feeling of being drained or exhausted
b) Depersonalization or insensitivity to others,
including clients, and a kind of cynicism
c) A sense of low personal accomplishment or
the feeling that one’s efforts are futile

17. Determinants of Burnout
- Six organizational factors have been identified as
contributing to burnout:
1. Workload: Overload of duties & responsibilities
2. Control: Lack of participation in decision making
3. Reward: Inadequate social, institutional, and/or
monetary recognition
4. Community: Social support is wanting and lack of
social integration
5. Fairness: Do not feel just or equitable environment,
lack of reciprocity
6. Values: Incongruency of meaning & goals between
individual and environment

18.  Symptoms of burnout include
loss of interest in one’s job,
apathy, depression, irritability, and finding
fault with others.
the quality of the individual’s work
(performance) also deteriorates, and
the person often blindly & superficially follows
rules and procedures.

19. D) Ecological culture
a) Size of organizations
- Members of small organizations report more
supportive environments, less discrimination, & more
loyalty to the organization (MacDermid, et al. 2001).
- On the other hand, large organizations often create
negative conditions.

20. -For instance, Hellman, et al. (1985) found that
the larger the program, the more the members
experienced anxiety, held negative views of the
psychosocial aspects of the organization, &
perceived greater psychological distance from
the organization.

21. b) Demographic diversity in workplace
-The growing diversity in the workplace has
produced other ecological considerations
for organizations.
- Fassinger (2008) discussed the trends toward
larger proportions of the workforce being women,
people of color, sexual minorities, & people with
physical disabilities.
-The impact of such shifts in the composition of
organizations can be both :
-beneficial i.e. “e.g., more diversity in the workplace,
more diversity in leadership) ” and
- challenging, can be costly, apt to conflict/biases

22. Stress Reduction
 Social support from coworkers ameliorated
the effects of stress & burnout in various
community agencies (Bernier, 1998; Turnipseed, 1998).
 Active coping (dealing with the problem) led
to the eventual lessening of stress symptoms
(anxiety, depression, physical complaint),
 whereas, avoidance coping (ignoring the
problem, distracting oneself) did not.
 Having good social support increased active
coping, which in turn led to fewer problems.

23. -The concept of social support (i.e. the active
participation of significant others in an individual’s
stress management efforts.) would seem to be a
natural area of investigation for community
psychology.
“Those around us are often a resource.”
-Thus social support might work like coping by
assisting the person to change the situation, to
change the meaning of the situation, to change
the emotional reaction to the situation, or to
change all three. (Thoits, 1986, p. 417)

24. The End of Unit_5!

25. -Research? ...is a systematic & organized way
of finding answers to questions.
• Systematic- has a definite set of procedures
and steps which you will follow.
• Organized -an orderly process, in that there is
a structure or method in going about doing
research.
–It is a planned procedure, not a spontaneous
one.
–It is focused & limited to a specific scope.
Unit 6: Scientific Research Methods in CP

26. - Finding answers –is the end of all research.
- Whether it is an answer to a hypothesis or
even a simple question, research is successful
when we find answers.
• Questions
..are vital to conduct research, without a question,
research has no focus, drive, or purpose.
In sum, scientific research involves a logical,
empirical, systematic & integrated process of
collecting and analyzing data with the aim of
providing understanding, explanation and
prediction.

27. The Essence of Scientific Research
1.Theory development
• The goal of scientific research is theory
construction:
• In other words, when scientists conduct
research, by using a set of related assumptions
and activities, they effectively come to
understand the world around them.
i.e. because theory directs our research
and helps us to avoid some common pitfalls
in the conducting of scientific inquiries.

28. 2. Falsifiability
- the hallmark of a science is continuous testing
of the proposition or theory at hand.
i.e. New findings should either prove or
disprove previous results
-For example, for decades, researchers
investigating alcoholism or alcohol abuse
conceptualized excessive drinking as a
consequence of a genetic predisposition (the
genetic disease theory of alcoholism).

29. -In recent years, some researchers have begun
to challenge the genetic disease theory of
alcoholism. Instead, they argue that some
aspects of excessive alcohol use may be a
consequence of something in the environment,
such as stress from losing one’s home, a difficult
life on the streets, prolonged unemployment, or
some traumatic life event (the distress or
disorder theory of alcoholism)

30. 3. Fidelity
-reliable scientific knowing requires precise
measurement.
-Reliability,
-internal validity, and
-external validity are the three sets of
related issues that speak to the fidelity of
research.

31. 3.1 Reliability
……...refers to the extent to which measurable
features of a theory and/or finding are
trustworthy or dependable.
-When a question is asked at different
times, does it get the same or a similar
answer? If it does, then we trust that the
answer will remain consistent.

32. 3.2 Internal validity
……refers to the degree to which we believe the
results of a study truly describe what happens in a
given set of research circumstances.
-Research is said to have high internal validity
when confounding effects are at a minimum.
- Confounding effects are extraneous variables
that influence the dependent variable and
invalidate the conclusions drawn from the research.

33. 3.3 External validity ……..refers to the
generalizability of results from one study to
other settings.
 Do the results apply to larger community
settings?
- Where diversity matters in the variables under
investigation, the study’s methodology should
account for it.
- Until these results are replicated with similar
samples in other cities and settings, the study
results must be interpreted as applicable only to
its study area.

34. Traditional Scientific Methods
-There are traditional group research
strategies that are used by all psychologists,
including community psychologists.
-Basically, the three Scientific Research Designs
are:
• Correlation Research
• Quasi-experimental Research
• Experimental Research

35. a) Correlational methods
-allow one to examine the associations or
relationships between two or more variables
in their natural environments.
-Correlational methods do not contain active
manipulations of the variables under study;
rather, they are usually descriptive.
-For example, one might want to investigate the
relationship between the number of months a woman
has been pregnant & the severity of her substance
abuse; these variables are not manipulated.

36. b) Experimental Research
…………In experimental research, intervening
variables are controlled for by randomly
assigning participants to groups, holding
conditions constant, & manipulating the
independent variable.

37. -An independent variable is the condition that is
varied between groups (e.g., people in one
group receive a treatment; people in the other
do not).
-The dependent variable is what the scientist
measures to see the effects of the independent
variable
- If assignment is random, the two groups, (i.e.
experimental & control), can be assumed to be
similar to each other, or rather, equivalent.

38. -If there are any differences between the
groups at the end of the process, it can be
assumed that the independent variable is what
brought about the change, because the only
difference between the groups is the
independent variable’s presence or absence.

39. c) Quasi-experimental Research
- For practical & ethical reasons, many variables
studied in the field of community psychology
(e.g., school climate or minors being exposed to
alcohol or cigarettes) cannot be experimentally
manipulated. Similarly, subjects cannot always
be randomly assigned to groups.
-For example, if a participant is pregnant, it is
not possible to randomly assign her to the
nonpregnant group.

40. -The quasi-experimental design allows for
more natural or realistic research, where initial
differences between experimental &
comparison groups may not be balanced.

41. Alternative research methods used in C.P
-They are research methodologies used by
community psychologists but not by laboratory
based psychologist.
-In some cases, these methods come from other
disciplines such as anthropology or public
health, and in others.
- These methods are:
A) Ethnography and
B) Epidemiology

42. a) Ethnography
………refers to a broad class of designs and
measurement procedures where one speaks
directly with participants of the study.
-The primary purpose of ethnography is to
allow one to gain an understanding of how
people view their own experiences. The effort
is to see the world from their perspective.
-In other words, the informants/participants
use their own language to describe their own
experiences.

43. -Participant observation is a special type of
ethnographic technique.
-In participant observation, the researcher is
actively engaged in the dynamics within the
setting. There are assumed to be ongoing
dialogues between the researcher & the
participants.

44. -For example, a researcher who is interested in
the study of teenage gangs often needs to
“hang out” with the gangs for a period of time.
-Also, the researcher needs to acquire the
language used by the gangs to facilitate his
or her investigation of the gangs’ social
network characteristics as well as to establish
trust

45. b) Epidemiology
-The research entails “the study of the
occurrence & distribution of diseases and
other health-related conditions in
populations”
-usually used by those in public health.
- There are two measures of the rate of illness
in the community:
i. prevalence and
ii. incidence.

46. 1- The prevalence of a disease or health-
related condition is the aggregate or total
number of people within a given population
who have the disorder
-Prevalence rates can be established using a
retrospective design or looking back at all
known cases.
-In this design, we would count all old cases
and all new cases.

47. -Depending on the objectives of the
epidemiological investigation, measurement
procedures as well as techniques used in the
design can range from household interviews to
random telephone dialing, others include the
use of archived data such as birth certificates,
death certificates, census records, or other
previously collected data.

48. ii. Incidence
………..refers to the number of people
within a given population who have acquired
the condition within a specific time period
such as a week, a month, or a year.
-Incidence rates can be established using a
prospective design or investigation of new
cases.

49. - Here, all new cases for the given time frame
are counted.
-Rising incidence rates tell us that the
problem is increasing.
-Declining incidence rates suggest that the
problem is lessening

50. Need Assessment & Program Evaluation
- What is Need?
Community needs are the gaps between what a
situation is and what it should be.
-Needs assessment refers to a set of methods
to determine whether a program or intervention
can be of use to a given population.
-It can be conducted via interviews, surveys,
and other observational or descriptive
information.

51. Types of needs (Perspectives on needs)
• Normative
• Perceived
• Expressed
• Relative
A)- Normative need, are needs defined by
experts.
- Are based on the existence of standards or
criterion established by custom, authority or
general consensus against which quantity or
quality of a situation or condition is measured

52. .
B) Perceived need
-They are needs defined by what people think
or feel about their needs
- Can be identified through interviews, focus
groups, town meetings..
-Standard changes with each respondent- i.e. is
subjective.
C) Expressed need
-Need defined by the number of people who
have actually sought help
- Focuses on circumstances in which feeling is
translated to action.

53. .
D) Relative need
-Gap between level of services existing in one
community and those existing in similar
communities or geographic areas
- It must consider differences in population and
social pathology
- Concerned with equity.

54. -When the needs or problems have been
identified, and a program has then been
developed or refined to address needs related
to a particular issue, the program’s
effectiveness or efficiency should be evaluated,
this process is called program evaluation.
- There are generally two kinds of evaluations:
1- Process evaluation and
2- Outcome evaluation
Program Evaluation

55.  Process evaluation examines what a
program is doing.
- Are things going as planned, with
interventions occurring in a timely fashion?
-What are the day-to-day operations like?
-Where are the problems of implementation
& execution?
oA good process evaluation should report on
what a program is doing well & what it is not
doing well.

56.  An outcome evaluation, on the other hand,
looks at the effects of a program. At the end
of the intervention,
-What has been accomplished?
-Does the program do what it intended to do?
-Most program evaluations look at immediate
outcomes, but community programs may require
extended outcome evaluations.

57. -Ultimately, program evaluation is about
program accountability.
-To that end, eight questions (along with the
corresponding strategies for addressing them)
serve as guides for program accountability:
a)- Are there needs for the program? (needs
assessment)
b)- What is the scientific knowledge or best
practices basis for the program? (consult
scientific literature & promising practice programs)

58. c)- How do new program(s) integrate with
existing programs?(feedback on comprehensiveness
and fit of program)
d)- How can the program best be implemented?
(planning)
e)- How effective is that implementation?
(process evaluation)
f)- How effective is the program? (outcome &
impact evaluation)
g)- How can the program be improved? (lessons
learned)
h)- How can effective programs be
institutionalized? (replication or spin-off)

59. *The End of the Unit!
The End of the course!*