The 5 Differences Between Social Psychology And Community Psychology
Although social and community psychology share theoretical frameworks and research methods, each of these disciplines is characterized by particular aspects that are important to know. In this article we will analyze the main differences between social and community psychology one of its most relevant and demanding branches.
Social psychology can be defined as the scientific study of the influence that the presence of other people has on observable behavior and in the mental contents of specific individuals or groups. Others do not have to be physically present, but also act in imaginary or symbolic ways through social norms and other factors.
Thus, from this aspect of psychology, behavior is understood as an interaction between the social variables that are present at a given moment and the state of the individual. In general, particular attention has been paid to the relevance of cognitive constructs such as feelings, attitudes or intentions.
Among the phenomena and processes most commonly studied by social psychology we find social cognition, the attribution of causality to behaviors and events or self-concept (referring to a person’s beliefs about themselves), self-image (mental representation of oneself) and self-esteem (emotional component of self-concept).
Most experts believe that social psychology as we know it today emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, with the United States as its nucleus. Norman Triplett’s experiments on social facilitation were a key milestone; Later the Gestalt School appeared, and after World War II interest in the discipline increased.
Social psychology is considered to constitute the meeting point between psychology and sociology, focused to a greater extent on groups. Although these two social sciences have been acquiring their own identities over the last decades, the knowledge of both is equally useful for social psychology research and theory.
Defining community psychology
Community psychology is considered to have emerged around the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. During this period, the consequences of the Second World War favored the introduction of social policies with the aim of increasing the well-being of the population, particularly in risk groups such as ethnic minorities and veterans.
Generally the work of community psychologists consists of analyze the features, problems and needs of a given population in order to plan and apply intervention programs with a corrective or enhancing purpose. Often the interest of community psychology falls on less advantaged groups.
Although we can include community psychology within the broader framework of social psychology, its emergence was also very significantly influenced by movements demanding greater quality in public mental health services. These political demands had great weight in the Anglo-Saxon world of the time.
In this sense, It is difficult to separate community psychology from its political and protest side, closely linked to movements for the defense of social rights. Thus, community psychology has traditionally worked for the empowerment of marginalized communities, public services and citizen participation in political life.
Community psychology is closely related to other psychological disciplines, including environmental, cross-cultural and ecological psychology. Likewise, its area of application is intertwined with that of social work, public health, political science, community development and applied anthropology.
Since community psychology can be understood as a subdiscipline within social psychology, there are many similarities between the two, especially in relation to the theoretical foundations of both branches.
Thus, community psychology draws on the knowledge obtained by social psychology and uses it in specific human contexts.
1. Theory and practice
Social psychology has a mainly theoretical character The contributions of professionals in this field are used by other psychologists and social scientists in multiple applied disciplines; Community psychology, which focuses almost exclusively on practical aspects of reality, is a very good example of this fact.
2. Main objective
Community psychologists typically work toward improving living conditions or social functioning in specific geographic areas. In contrast, social psychology focuses on understand and predict the behavior of human beings based on their interactions therefore having a much broader character.
3. Focus of analysis
Community psychology acts, by definition, in human groups of more or less large size; Specific individuals are relevant insofar as they influence the functioning of the group in question. Social psychology has a group aspect but also another, perhaps even more important, with the individual focus typical of psychology in general.
4. Political ideology
In general Community psychologists have a clear advocacy vocation, identifying with socialist ideas and proposals (although evidently in every field there are exceptions and contradictory tendencies). On the other hand, social psychologists may prefer to stay out of politics, which has earned them criticism from community psychology.
5. Relationship with other disciplines
While social psychology tends to contain itself to a greater extent, community psychology has a more interdisciplinary character: professionals in this discipline normally work together with other social actors and with experts in different subjects in order to solve problems. specific to a group.
