PYC4811
Oct/Nov 2016 Exam Memo
The following document contains mock exams, case studies to practice and memo’s for community
psychology with notes and suggestions on each question. The exam duration was 3 hours, 100 mark paper.
The exam consists of two questions, 50 marks each and you need to answer both questions.
Question 1 (50 marks)
1.1 Identify a problem from any community of your choice and think of an intervention that would be
suitable to combat the problem (if you wish to, you may make use of the intervention you proposed for
assignment 2). With your intervention in mind, evaluate the following statement: “Participation is a
critical element in any form of intervention.”
You should identify and describe a community-level problem, describe a community-level intervention to
address the problem, and show how the principle of participation is applied in the intervention. Ideally you
should:
a) Focus more on the participatory process rather than the content of the proposed solution.
b) Practically describe how you would communicate your ideas regarding a solution without imposing
them.
c) Use many concrete examples, going beyond abstract imperatives such as ‘community members
SHOULD participate’ instead, indicate HOW you suggest this should be done.
d) Present creative, real-life proposals and relate them to the principle of participation.
e) Indicate that you do not merely subscribe to simplistic ideas about what a community is but are able to
move beyond that.
f) Indicate that you understand that the form in which the question was couched could easily lead to
‘problem-centred’ thinking rather than a focus on what is positive in communities.
You need to state what the intervention programme would entail and HOW EXACTLY your programme is based
on the key principles of community psychology, and also how exactly you’d get such a programme off the
ground. You need to get specific here. Don’t just give a theoretical summary of the issues and debates; rather
apply these specifically to the community and the problem that you’ve selected. If you’re dealing with drug
abuse for instance, focus on how the problem actually manifests in the particular community in question (ANY
theoretical information should be applied specifically to that community).
‼ Don’t forget to structure your answer well, including an introduction, sections and a conclusion (and
references in the assignment)
Oct/Nov 2016 Exam Memo
The following document contains mock exams, case studies to practice and memo’s for community
psychology with notes and suggestions on each question. The exam duration was 3 hours, 100 mark paper.
The exam consists of two questions, 50 marks each and you need to answer both questions.
Question 1 (50 marks)
1.1 Identify a problem from any community of your choice and think of an intervention that would be
suitable to combat the problem (if you wish to, you may make use of the intervention you proposed for
assignment 2). With your intervention in mind, evaluate the following statement: “Participation is a
critical element in any form of intervention.”
You should identify and describe a community-level problem, describe a community-level intervention to
address the problem, and show how the principle of participation is applied in the intervention. Ideally you
should:
a) Focus more on the participatory process rather than the content of the proposed solution.
b) Practically describe how you would communicate your ideas regarding a solution without imposing
them.
c) Use many concrete examples, going beyond abstract imperatives such as ‘community members
SHOULD participate’ instead, indicate HOW you suggest this should be done.
d) Present creative, real-life proposals and relate them to the principle of participation.
e) Indicate that you do not merely subscribe to simplistic ideas about what a community is but are able to
move beyond that.
f) Indicate that you understand that the form in which the question was couched could easily lead to
‘problem-centred’ thinking rather than a focus on what is positive in communities.
You need to state what the intervention programme would entail and HOW EXACTLY your programme is based
on the key principles of community psychology, and also how exactly you’d get such a programme off the
ground. You need to get specific here. Don’t just give a theoretical summary of the issues and debates; rather
apply these specifically to the community and the problem that you’ve selected. If you’re dealing with drug
abuse for instance, focus on how the problem actually manifests in the particular community in question (ANY
theoretical information should be applied specifically to that community).
‼ Don’t forget to structure your answer well, including an introduction, sections and a conclusion (and
references in the assignment)
