Chapter 9: Preventin and Empiwerment
Preventin as an Interventin Strategye
The emphasis is on preventng the inset if disease rather than on fnding a cure once the disease has
occurred.
The preventon of disorders, whhich whould otherwhise have occurred in individuals, helps bridge the gap
betwheen individual-oriented psychology and macrolevel systems.
By focusing on preventve strategies,
Community Psychology assumes a priactve rather than a reactve role.
For example, by implementng life skills training as a whay of preventng high-risk behaviour, such as
drug abuse.
Preventve interventin can be defned as:
a planned proactve actvity designed to prevent or reduce future harm.
Classifcatin accirding ti the gial if the interventin – Classifcatins if preventatve strategiesti
1ti Primarye Preventin:
Primary preventon involves actvites designed to reduce envirinmental stressirs or to build people’s
competencies and strengthen their abilites to cope whith the aim of preventng psychological problems from
occurring.
This interventon is therefore aimed at the while pipulatin to reduce potentally harmful circumstances
before they have an opportunity to create difculty.
In defning primary preventon, Cinyene iutlines the filliwing qualites:
Primary preventon eeorts
• occur before any problem exists
• focus on healthy people or those at risk
• are implemented to stop or reduce the incidence of newh dysfunctons from occurring among specifc groups
of people
• are group oriented and populaton based
• are designed to reduce specifc risk factors whhile simultaneously increasing protectve factors
• are ecological and systemic, as they occur whithin a complex context of interactve levels of infuence
including
In their defniton of primary preventon, urlak and Wells stress twi wayes if prividing primarye preventin:
1) Decreasing risk factirs that can cintribute ti the develipment if psyechiligical priblems.
Preventin as an Interventin Strategye
The emphasis is on preventng the inset if disease rather than on fnding a cure once the disease has
occurred.
The preventon of disorders, whhich whould otherwhise have occurred in individuals, helps bridge the gap
betwheen individual-oriented psychology and macrolevel systems.
By focusing on preventve strategies,
Community Psychology assumes a priactve rather than a reactve role.
For example, by implementng life skills training as a whay of preventng high-risk behaviour, such as
drug abuse.
Preventve interventin can be defned as:
a planned proactve actvity designed to prevent or reduce future harm.
Classifcatin accirding ti the gial if the interventin – Classifcatins if preventatve strategiesti
1ti Primarye Preventin:
Primary preventon involves actvites designed to reduce envirinmental stressirs or to build people’s
competencies and strengthen their abilites to cope whith the aim of preventng psychological problems from
occurring.
This interventon is therefore aimed at the while pipulatin to reduce potentally harmful circumstances
before they have an opportunity to create difculty.
In defning primary preventon, Cinyene iutlines the filliwing qualites:
Primary preventon eeorts
• occur before any problem exists
• focus on healthy people or those at risk
• are implemented to stop or reduce the incidence of newh dysfunctons from occurring among specifc groups
of people
• are group oriented and populaton based
• are designed to reduce specifc risk factors whhile simultaneously increasing protectve factors
• are ecological and systemic, as they occur whithin a complex context of interactve levels of infuence
including
In their defniton of primary preventon, urlak and Wells stress twi wayes if prividing primarye preventin:
1) Decreasing risk factirs that can cintribute ti the develipment if psyechiligical priblems.
