American journal of community psychology最新文献

Well-implemented social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are associated with positive student outcomes. Through CalHOPE, County Office of Education (COE) leaders are providing implementation support to districts and schools seeking to improve SEL delivery statewide. CalHOPE uses the SHIFT model to guide the regional implementation of systemic and equity-oriented SEL. This study assesses the conceptually driven conditions among COEs for providing implementation support, including adult well-being, workplace climate, and levers of transformation (forging partnerships within and outside of the organization, providing support through funding, training, coaching, and tools, and building capacity of leaders in the form of mindsets, knowledge, skills, and efficacy, to improve the structures and routines of SEL implementation-such as having a vision, SEL leadership team, data systems, and goals/plans). Ninety-seven COE SEL leaders participating in CalHOPE reported on their conditions and activities. COE SEL leaders reported positive well-being, workplace climate, and levers of transformation. Having a greater variety of partnerships was significantly associated with a stronger presence of all levers. Findings advance our understanding of the scaling up realities of SEL implementation in a statewide effort and highlight the value of partnerships in advancing SEL implementation.

Mobile technologies have become significant resources for crisis communication and social support in recent years. However, despite empirical evidence pointing to the centrality of these technologies for parenthood in everyday life, it is yet unknown how parents' coping resources play a role in the digital environment. In this study, we examined how parents cope with prolonged political violence online, based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory and the three levels of coping it encompasses: personal, family, and community. We employed a photo-elicitation technique during in-depth interviews with 21 parents residing in communities near the Israel-Gaza border, to identify digital coping strategies in WhatsApp groups. The data were collected in January 2023, prior to the outbreak of the October 7th Israel-Gaza war, and therefore reflect coping processes during a period that alternated between relative calm and episodes of escalation. Theoretically, our findings contribute to expanding the core concepts of coping theories, traditionally studied in offline environments, to the digital realm. Empirically, our analysis revealed that participants developed digital coping methods at two ecological levels: personal and community. At the personal level, our participants used local WhatsApp parent groups (WPGs) to manage stress by exchanging emotional and instrumental support and venting emotions. At the community level, our participants indicated that local WPGs could help address emergencies collectively through the provision of instrumental support, emotional support, relief through humor, and as a platform for venting. Our study, by identifying how they use local digital settings, indicates the ways residents can potentially increase their personal and community resilience.

Social isolation has reached concerning rates, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social integration is critical to combatting social isolation and loneliness by promoting a sense of community and belonging. Yet, most existing research centers on fostering close personal relationships within family and friend networks. Social integration within the neighborhood context (e.g., chatting with neighbors, participating in local organizations) is another tool that can be used to combat loneliness, but less is known about the process of social integration for residents situated in different sociodemographic groups. The current study examines variability in the process of neighborhood social integration across sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., social role, racial-ethnic identity, and housing tenure). Thematic analyses were conducted on semi-structured interviews with 29 residents of Wards 4 and 5 of Washington, D.C. Results suggested that relative to caregivers and community leaders, youth reported fewer opportunities for neighborhood social integration; frequently noted barriers were lack of shared identity, the transient nature of D.C., and school location. Despite sociodemographic heterogeneity in facilitators and barriers to neighborhood social integration, many residents called for more community programming and 'third places' to facilitate neighborhood connections.

This study aims to examine the relationship between outdoor environmental quality, trust in neighbors, and social integration among residents of public rental housing in Seoul, South Korea. It also investigates how neighborly relationships moderate this association. The study uses data from the 2016-2021 Seoul Public Rental Housing Panel Survey (SPRHPS) and applies individual fixed effects models to examine how outdoor environmental quality affects trust in neighbors. It also explores the moderating role of dwelling type characterized by apartment and non-apartment (e.g., single detached house and multiunit housing). Poor outdoor environmental quality, characterized by low greenery, inadequate amenities, and unsafe conditions, was linked to diminished trust in neighbors. Interestingly, the negative impact of these outdoor conditions on neighborly trust was less pronounced among residents of apartments compared to those living in non-apartment settings. This trend was also observed in other outcomes, such as attitudes toward social integration. These findings highlight the importance of both physical environmental improvements and fostering social connections in public housing communities to enhance social trust and overall well-being.

Felony re-enfranchisement efforts have expanded voting rights of formerly incarcerated people (FIP) across 26 states. Despite progress, research demonstrates low voter turnout and civic participation among this structurally marginalized population. We conducted a community-based participatory research project, rooted in the framework of critical consciousness, to understand how FIP experience voting. We conducted five semi-structured focus groups with 32 FIP; the majority of people were of color (85%). We find FIP articulate a nuanced, structural analysis of the injustices they face at the intersection of numerous public-serving systems, including the legal and electoral systems. Notably, they are not apathetic toward voting or civic participation. Rather, we note manufactured ambivalence as an emotional response stemming from their critical reflection-that is, while they simultaneously articulate that their needs will not be met by the system and things do not change, they are also attuned to how powerful actors, particularly politicians, make decisions impacting their lives. Despite gaps in civic education due to community disinvestment, FIP express a strong desire for building both individual and collective efficacy to address oppression. We generate key components that future initiatives should consider for promoting civics education, voting, and building political power with FIP.

This study analyzes the localization of a US-designed Social Innovation course in the UAE as a contested site of knowledge production rather than a straightforward curricular adaptation. Using reflexive thematic analysis of lesson plans and faculty reflections, we identified two themes: Curricular Containment and Cultural Substitution Without Epistemic Transformation. These demonstrate how localization efforts simplified content and replaced cultural references without embedding local epistemologies or challenging dominant frameworks. Rather than increasing relevance, these adaptations risked reinforcing the coloniality of knowledge and contributed to what we label symbolic epistemicide, the structural erasure of non-Western ways of knowing through institutional and curricular design. We argue that meaningful localization must go beyond surface-level representation to center Arab, Islamic, and Emirati knowledge systems through sustained collaboration with local scholars and communities. This requires rethinking pedagogy, authorship, and authority to foster more just, pluralistic approaches to curriculum development in transnational educational settings.

This paper describes a 3-year community-partnered research initiative focused on advancing early reading, racial equity, and relationships-collectively known as the 3Rs Initiative. The project brought together researchers and community members committed to ensuring that all adults in the county embody a shared "3Rs mindset" to better support literacy development for children in kindergarten through third grade. In Study 1, researchers and community members (The 3Rs team) used thematic analysis of interviews, meeting notes, and group activity and discussion artifacts with community stakeholders to construct and validate a definition of a 3Rs mindset. In Study 2, the 3Rs team created a 36-item scale that could assess an adult's 3Rs mindset. The scale demonstrated excellent content validity, response process, and associative validity. Findings from both studies suggest that community-partnered measure development can be achieved through collaboration, honoring of multiple perspectives, and elevating community partners as "experiential experts" (El Mallah, 2024, p. 984). Measures resulting from such processes have the benefit of community-defined cultural specificity and strong content validity and can be leveraged towards social change.

Black women face a myriad of challenges that heighten their susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), resulting in a disproportionate impact of STIs among this population. Yet, there is a lack of research that explores how women navigate these diagnoses with resilience. Instead, much of the prevention research on Black women's sexual health and wellness reflects a deficit orientation and focuses on risk. In the current study, we adopt a strengths-based approach and use narrative inquiry methodology to identify mechanisms of resilience that support Black women in navigating the social and emotional challenges following an STI diagnosis. Narrative analysis of interviews with 16 Black women who have been diagnosed with an STI at least once in their lifetimes revealed three storylines about mechanisms of resilience that helped them resolve the impact of the diagnosis: (1) support from other women, (2) openness to intragenerational learning and teaching, and (3) self-love and transformative growth. By understanding how women navigate STI diagnoses, researchers and practitioners can move beyond risk-focused interventions for Black women and toward those that capitalize on their assets and strengths.

This introduction to the special issue Advancing Immigrant and Refugee Rights: Promoting Empowerment, Justice, Equity, and Liberation situates contemporary migration within a context of escalating global displacement, structural violence, and political backlash. It highlights the urgent need for community psychology to respond to these conditions through praxis that centers migrant voices, challenges exclusionary systems, protects human rights, and promotes social justice and migrant well-being. Drawing from empirical studies across diverse geographic and sociopolitical contexts, the special issue explores how culturally grounded, participatory, and community-based approaches affirm migrant dignity, expand access to opportunity, and foster community resilience. The articles collectively address the psychosocial impacts of hostile immigration policies, the significance of culturally responsive interventions, and the transformative potential of migrant-led advocacy. Through the interconnected themes of empowerment, social justice and equity, and liberation, this issue offers a roadmap for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers committed to co-creating systems rooted in dignity, inclusion, and collective thriving. It concludes with a call for community psychologists to reject neutrality and engage boldly, urgently, and collectively in scholarship and practice that advance migrant justice.