...GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM FORMULATION ANDTHE APPLICATION OF THE QUALITATIVE PROCESS 1.1General introduction and problem formulation Most authors on research methodology stress the importance of pinpoint specific problem/problems, questions or hypothesis/hypotheses as soon as researchable topic has been identified (De Vos, 2005:100). In this document the researcher reported the realities of street hawkers on street corners. According to Lund, Nicholson and Skinner (2000:10) “people who work in the informal economy are those who earn an income outside the formal economy. The researcher chooses to investigate this topic because so little is known. The researcher noticed that poverty is one of the causes that lead people to be street hawker. She also discovers that working as a street hawker is challenging unstable for example sometimes street hawkers experience harassment or abuse. She also discovers that the term “street vendors” in English is typically used interchangeably with “street trader” “hawker” and “Peddler” (Inclusive cities.2012). The researcher also noticed that street hawkers contribute to the economy of the country. For example they alleviate poverty by treating their own jobs. The researcher used qualitative research approach to investigate the topic. Qualitative research approach is when the researcher attempt to study human action from perspective of the social actors...
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...COMMUNITY AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY – PYC4811 PYC 4811 UNIQUE NO: 657794 Assignment 01 Critically compare and contrast the community psychology and public health approaches to social problems. Introduction to Community Psychology and Public health approach Community psychology is essentially concerned with the relationship between social systems and individual well-being in the community context. Public health refers to all organized measures to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole. Its activities aim to provide conditions in which people can be healthy and focus on entire populations, not on individual patients or diseases. Thus public health and community psychology are both concerned with a population at large and not an individual alone. (http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story076/en/). Both approaches have a shared belief that effective treatment should focus on preventative measures that address the causes and effects of diseases as opposed to curative measures which merely treat the incidences and symptoms. (Guernina, 1995). Characteristics of both approaches Community psychology places emphasis on principles and strategies that can prevent social, emotional and behavioral problems and wellness and health promotion at the individual and community levels, borrowed from public health and preventive medicine, rather than a passive, and treatment-based medical model. Early identification and intervention...
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...A COMPARISON OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH. In this assignment the key differences and similarities of community psychology and the public health approach will be examined and critically compared. Community Psychology is a branch of psychology which is concerned primarily with achieving positive mental health in the broader context of the community rather than the individual. Public health is primarily concerned and focused on changing behaviours within the context of the public in order to lower the incidence of disease and lower the workload placed on professional medical practitioners. Community psychology is a relatively new field as far as the behaviour sciences go and was only established as a solution to the capitalistic and individualistic approach psychology had become after the Second World War. It does not stand as a unique and recognised field at the moment as there is little research and theories available in order to support further development. It is for this reason that when faced with challenges community psychology often reverts back to methods of individual psychotherapy. This damages the ultimate process and outcomes the initiatives. Community psychology also criticises conventional psychology for being elitist and only catering to the wealthy portion of the community as well as ignoring the low income groups who require the services. Community psychology strives to create equality to all social groups and therefore can often seem over...
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...TOPIC: A contrast and comparison of community psychology and public health 1. Introduction Community psychology and public health are disciplines that form part of psychology mainly concern with health. Community psychology focuses on physical and mental health promotion, empowerment and social action, while the focus of public health is on health promotion and disease prevention. These two differ in some aspect and also have existing similarities. They can also complement each other have greater impact on community health when integrated. This essay will attempt to reveal the differences, similarities as well as the strength and weakness of these two approaches, it will further conclude by discussing how they complement each other. Firstly a brief overview and historical background will be given for a better understanding. 2. Overview and historical background Community psychology movement developed in the USA, during an era when there was growing concern about both lack of resources and treatment facilities and the impact of social systems on the human psyche (Iscoe& Speilberger, cited in New perspective in community psychology, 2002) In the 1980s it then gained interest in South Africa, in parallel with the struggle for democracy, when psychologist examined the appropriateness’ of Euro-American based psychology. Public health on the other hand was developed during the era of industrial revolution. It was stimulated by unhealthy social conditions in both industrialised...
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...My aim in this paper is to analyse community psychology and public health and distinguish between the two approaches. Community Psychology focuses on economic, environmental, political and social factors that influence the way in which people all over the world live their lives. It also touches on social factors that contribute or causes problems in various societies. Public Health on the other hand, according to Tutorial Letter 102/0/2014, is defined as being concerned with “preventing disease and distress” in the community as a whole, not just the individual, before they occur. It promotes healthy living and with the prevention of illness linked with lifestyle. To compare these two concepts, one should first have a basic understanding of the origins and historical development of community psychology and public health. Community Psychology are very much linked with the mental health reform movements in the USA. The three most important reform movements were; ‘Moral Treatment’, ‘The Mental Hygiene’ and ‘Deinstitutionalisation’. Each of these movements have led to the establishment of particular types of institution: In the Moral Treatment era, we got therapeutic mental hospitals, the Mental Hygiene era gave us Child Guidance Clinics and the establishment of Community Health Centers came in the Deinstitutionalisation era (Tutorial Letter 102/0/2014). Student Number: 55316883 Unique Number: 536709 2 Public health, like community psychology, focuses on prevention of disease....
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... 3. Approaches 4 1. Prevention and health promotion 4 2. Empowerment and citizen participation 5 4. Conclusion 6 5. List of references 7 1. Introduction This assignment is about critically comparing and contrasting the community psychology and public health approaches to social problems. Firstly I will define the concepts involved, secondly I will briefly discuss historical context of both community psychology and public health and lastly I will discuss approaches. . The comparison will be based upon prevention and health promotion, empowerment, individual wellness and citizen participation 2. Definition of concepts Community psychology is all about how individuals relate to the society in which they live. Public health on the other hand is defined as being concerned with preventing disease and distress. Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals. On the other hand, community psychology is fundamentally concerned with the relationship between social systems and individual well-being in the community context. Community psychology aims to promote human welfare. Community psychology focuses on economic, environmental, political and social factors...
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...COMMUNITY AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY PYC 4811 MEHROONISA ANSARI STUDENT NUMBER: 568-578-8 TOPIC: Critically compare and contrast the Community psychology and Public Health Approaches to social problems. TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENT PAGE Introduction 1 Community Psychology Approach 1 Public Health Approach 1 Similarities between both approaches 2 Differences between both approaches 2-3 Conclusion 3 1/… Introduction In my critical evaluation of the Community Psychology Approach and the Public Health Approaches to social problems, I will begin by explaining what each approach is about, then draw similarities and differences between the two approaches and then end my evaluation with a discussion on the controversies surrounding the two approaches and the way forward. Community Psychology Approach Community Psychology became popular in South Africa in the 1980’s when psychologists were...
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...comparison between community psychology and public health and their different approaches to social problems. Each of these models strengths and weaknesses will be examined. Community psychology is concerned with how the individual interacts with the environment and the way society affects the individual. The main concern here is not just the individual but the wider community affecting the individual as well. Public health is focused on the health and well being of the whole population as regulated by the government. The main similarity between these two models is that community psychology and public health share the idea of primary prevention rather than offering a cure. Core features of community psychology and public health Public health emerged as 'social action' to combat the spread of infectious diseases by promoting general hygiene in the community, such as waste removal. (Gilbert, 1995) Preventing many diseases as well as socially harmful behaviour is one of the main goals of public health. (Tutorial Letter 102, 2015, p.6) Various professionals help is needed when dealing with public health because of all the different factors when dealing with disease. This is why public health uses a multi-disciplinary approach integrating the physical, psychological and social well-being. (Gilbert, 1995) After the Second World War, community psychology started by shifting focus from the individual to the larger group and how these effect each other. Within community psychology, mental illness...
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...Naidoo Student Number: 44105096 Module: Community and Health Psychology Course Code: PYC4811 Assignment number: 1 Unique number: 657794 Name: Deshni Naidoo Student number :44105096 Community Psychology Vs Public Health Which approach would you choose to promote healthy living.................... Although the main focus of Community Psychology and Public Health centres around ‘prevention’ in order to promote health and wellness, there are also some visible differences as mention in Tutorial Letter 102 for PYC4811 (2015) between the two approaches. Community Psychology originated from mental reform units in the United States of America (Guerina, 1995). There were three influential movements that led to the development of particular types of institutions namely the moral treatment movements (Therapeutic mental hospitals) in the 1800s, the ‘mental hygiene movement’ (Child Guidance Clinics) in the 1900s and deinstitutionalisation (community health centres) in the 1960s (Guerina). Whereas ‘Public health’ is based on the biomedical model of illness, and is practised in most industrialised countries that is South Africa and many other post colonial societies as mentioned in Tutorial Letter 102 for PYC4811 (2015). The ‘New Public Health’ was set in place between 1914-1918, it recognised the importance of social aspects of health problems caused by lifestyles (Hattingh et al ., 2008). As defined by Hattingh et al (2008,P.5) “Public health is the science and art of preventing...
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............................................................................................................................ 2 2.5. Methods of evaluating interventions for long-term success ............................................................. 3 3. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 3 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 4 Monica Fourie Student Number: 45918287 1. PYC4811 Assignment 1: Unique number - 657794 INTRODUCTION “Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” Anthony J. D'Angelo Since the beginning of time conflict and social problems have been part of all communities throughout the world and through millennia people have been trying to find ways to minimise the damage that these conflicts...
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...list…………………………………………………………………………………….7 3 Critically compare and contrast community psychology with the public health approach Introduction In this essay, I will critically compare and contrast community psychology and the public health model in terms of their origins, core concepts, strengths and pitfalls of each approach, similarities and differences and in what way these approaches do or do not supplement one another. Community Psychology according to The Cambridge Dictionary of Psychology is defined as “a branch of applied psychology that focuses on person-environment interactions usually at the level of the community and is aimed at improving the general quality of life within a community” (Matsumoto, 2009). The Public Health model also consists of efforts to improve the health of communities and according to The Acheson Report, is defined as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts of society” (Department of health, 1998). History and core concepts Community psychology in South Africa followed a very close development likened to the American development and gained its momentum at a time where social disorder was present due to the lack of credible resources and treatment facilities. A shift in attention displayed the effects of social variables like “…poverty and alienation on mental health” (Butchart & Seedat, 1990). Mainstream psychology is challenged due its elitist and selective nature which automatically...
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...PYC4811 Assignment 1- 657794 Student Number- 55560296 Community Psychology and Public Health’s Approaches to Social Problems Introduction Community Psychology and Public Health models both cover the same ground but with key differences in the explanation of causes and influences on mental illness. Community psychology has a primary focus on understanding, and working with, people in their wider social context. Public Health on the other hand is concerned with preventing disease and distress of all forms before they occur (Tutorial Letter 102 for PYC4811, 2015). It attempts through scientific investigation to understand such links between the socioenvironmental context and the individual and then to interrupt or otherwise alter these connections in an effort to reduce the likelihood of individuals engaging in high risk behaviours and being exposed to environments that could endanger their health (Tutorial Letter 102 for PYC4811, 2015). The central focus of both is focusing more on prevention rather than cure. In the era we are currently in most of the illnesses people suffer from are long term and chronic and therefore the need to see doctors so that is can be controlled is of high demand. The growing social upheaval and intensifying tensions in South Africa have evoked concern and panic among mental health professionals. In an attempt to lessen the anxiety many psychologists have boarded the community psychology wagon to cross the great divide between the comfortable...
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...STUDENT NUMBER: UNIQUE NUMBER: MODULE: COMMUNITY AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY YEAR: Table of content Page no INTRODUCTION This essay will compare and contrast the community psychology and public health approaches to social problems. It will start by giving the historical development of the community psychology and public health; and then state the differences and similarities of both the approaches to social problems and how they supplement and complement each other. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH The community psychology originates from the United Sates of America’s reform movements that occurred from the 1800s to the 1960s. These reform movements amongst others are known as moral movement treatment, mental hygiene, and deinstitutionalization. These movements brought about the changes or further development of the community psychology approach to social problems. The public health constitutes of four regimes and they are known as the Sanitary Science; Social medicine; Community and a new socio- ecological model. These regimes originate from South African over the past fifteen decades. The regimes of Public health are an overlapping development of the public health that eventually came to place in the 1990s. DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES OF THE COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS The community psychology uses four different models to approach social...
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...UNISA Pyc4811 Assignment 1: Unique no: 805932 2016 2016 Write an essay in which you critically compare and contrast the community psychology and public health approaches to social problems. At first glance, there seems to be a fine line between community psychology and the public health approach, however on further examination it is more than semantics that separate these two principles. Both, community psychology and the public health approach, started as a result of the frustration of main stream psychology not being able to address broader social issues. The realisation that psychology needed to focus a great deal more on community and social change in order to address mental health and illness. Although community psychology and the public health approach seem to share the same intrinsic values, the focus of community psychology seems to be more aimed at the cultural and political aspect of social behaviour and outcomes, whereas the public health is focused more on health and prevention of diseases and self actualisation within the social context. “Whereas public health considers physical health and well-being as paramount to successful living and aims to reduce the individual's engagement in high-risk behaviour and dangerous environments, community psychology is more concerned with the social and political context of mental health” (S. Van Niekerk,2013) Treatment...
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...COMMUNITY AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY | ASSIGNMENT 1 | | | TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Outline of community psychology and public health approaches. 2 2. Similarities and strengths of (CP) and (PH) 3 3. Differences and weaknesses of (CP) and (PH) 4 4. Conclusions 4 Critically compare and contrast the Community Psychology and Public Health approaches to social problems. OUTLINE OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH The identification of the limitations of mainstream, curative individual therapy (Seedat, Cloete & Shochet, 2002: p. 221) and recognising the need for further community development, social policy and planning; many South African psychologists just as the Americans did in 1960 turned to Community Psychology (CP) during the eighties, to help relieve the sense of powerlessness and anxiety experienced during the political upheaval (Tutorial Letter 102, 2009: p. 5). CP was acknowledged as a separate discipline in 1965 in Swampscott Massachusetts, with its initial focus on social and cultural influences on mental health. It has since then expanded to explore ecological issues that go beyond the individual level. CP investigates the importance of diversity, questions one-dimensional measures of health and validates psychologists as instruments for social change (http://www.answers.com/topic/community-psychology). CP has four models, of which only two, namely Mental Health and Social Action will be of concern in this essay...
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