FEEDBACK ON ASSESSMENT 01
2024 – SEMESTER 1
Department of Psychology
Online Module: Community Psychology:
Building Foundations
PYC2614
Lecturers:
Prof. M. A. Gumani (module leader – /)
Prof. E. Fourie (module secundus – )
,CONTENTS
Feedback on Assessment 01
Assessment 01 provided an opportunity for you to familiarise yourself with this module. Below is
feedback on this assessment, which is supplemented with references from relevant literature in
Learning Units 1 and 2 and the prescribed texts (where appropriate) to support the answer that
is deemed correct for each question. We have provided the question first in green for ease of
reference. The correct answer is highlighted in grey at the beginning of each question
discussion.
QUESTION 01
The question
The learning outcomes of Learning Unit 1 do NOT include this outcome:
(a) Define the concept of “community” in various contexts.
(b) Explain the focus of community psychology as a sub-discipline.
(c) Train the student as a fully-fledged professional that can perform and implement formal
community interventions.
(d) Discuss the importance and relevance of context to understanding community
psychology.
The correct answer is (c) – Train the student as a fully-fledged professional that can
perform and implement formal community interventions.
In Learning Unit 1, we show that the outcomes of the learning unit are to:
• Define the concept of “community” in various contexts.
• Explain the focus of community psychology as a sub-discipline.
• Discuss the importance and relevance of context to understanding community
psychology.
Therefore, option (c) – Train the student as a fully-fledged professional that can perform and
implement formal community interventions, is not relevant here. This is one of the purposes of
this module, Community psychology: Building foundations. This is shown under the section,
Purpose and approach of the module.
This makes the following options relevant to the outcomes of Learning Unit 1:
• Option (a) – Define the concept of “community” in various contexts.
• Option (b) – Explain the focus of community psychology as a sub-discipline.
• Option (d) – Discuss the importance and relevance of context to understanding community
psychology.
2
, PYC2614/201
QUESTION 02
The question
What is the primary focus of community psychology as a sub-discipline?
(a) Understanding individual behaviour using individual therapy.
(b) Using existential therapy to understand human behaviour.
(c) Promoting individual achievement.
(d) Enhancing the well-being of communities.
The correct answer is (d) – Enhancing the well-being of communities.
In Learning Unit 1, Section 1.5.2 we show the following regarding community psychology as a
sub-discipline:
• Community psychology was formalised as a separate sub-discipline at the 1965
Swampscott Conference in Boston, United States of America (Pretorius-Heuchert &
Ahmed, 2001; Seedat, 2011; Stevens, 2013) with the fundamental objective of reflecting
on the place of psychology in the community mental health environment.
• Community psychology was linked to mental health reform movements, which
focused on moving away from treating mental illness as an individual problem to
treating it as a social problem thus criticising overreliance of psychology on the medical
model that saw psychological problems as illnesses within the individual, with minimal
appreciation of the complex environmental forces that contributed to the establishment of
psychological problems (Pretorius-Heuchert & Ahmed, 2001).
• For instance, some of the focus areas in psychology in the United States, Europe, Africa,
Asia, Oceania, and Latin America began to consider the following (Pretorius-Heuchert &
Ahmed, 2001; Stevens, 2013):
- Increasing understanding of the detrimental effects of excessive individualism
(“only the individual matters”). Therefore, option (a) Understanding individual
behaviour using individual therapy and option (c) Promoting individual achievement,
are not relevant due to their individual focus. Option (b) Using existential therapy to
understand human behaviour is also not relevant to community psychology as its
focus is on understanding individual experiences and meaning of life, which can be
universally applicable.
- Emphasising prevention of mental illness in communities rather than its cure and
providing mass intervention. In Learning Unit 2, Section 2.6.5, we showed that one
of the key components of intervention from a community psychology perspective is
prevention. In contrast to a “curative” approach, which seeks to treat problems only
once they have occurred, a preventive approach seeks to prevent problems from
occurring in the first place. The aim is therefore to modify processes and conditions
that create risks in communities.
- Attending to structural and social inequalities in communities, such as racism,
sexism, discrimination, and poverty.
- Making community psychology relevant to the social contexts under which it
operates and considering the lived experiences of the people in the Global South
(mostly underdeveloped countries with low-income economies).
- Responding to policies that had a negative impact on the living conditions and
wellbeing of people in various communities, particularly the marginalised.
3
2024 – SEMESTER 1
Department of Psychology
Online Module: Community Psychology:
Building Foundations
PYC2614
Lecturers:
Prof. M. A. Gumani (module leader – /)
Prof. E. Fourie (module secundus – )
,CONTENTS
Feedback on Assessment 01
Assessment 01 provided an opportunity for you to familiarise yourself with this module. Below is
feedback on this assessment, which is supplemented with references from relevant literature in
Learning Units 1 and 2 and the prescribed texts (where appropriate) to support the answer that
is deemed correct for each question. We have provided the question first in green for ease of
reference. The correct answer is highlighted in grey at the beginning of each question
discussion.
QUESTION 01
The question
The learning outcomes of Learning Unit 1 do NOT include this outcome:
(a) Define the concept of “community” in various contexts.
(b) Explain the focus of community psychology as a sub-discipline.
(c) Train the student as a fully-fledged professional that can perform and implement formal
community interventions.
(d) Discuss the importance and relevance of context to understanding community
psychology.
The correct answer is (c) – Train the student as a fully-fledged professional that can
perform and implement formal community interventions.
In Learning Unit 1, we show that the outcomes of the learning unit are to:
• Define the concept of “community” in various contexts.
• Explain the focus of community psychology as a sub-discipline.
• Discuss the importance and relevance of context to understanding community
psychology.
Therefore, option (c) – Train the student as a fully-fledged professional that can perform and
implement formal community interventions, is not relevant here. This is one of the purposes of
this module, Community psychology: Building foundations. This is shown under the section,
Purpose and approach of the module.
This makes the following options relevant to the outcomes of Learning Unit 1:
• Option (a) – Define the concept of “community” in various contexts.
• Option (b) – Explain the focus of community psychology as a sub-discipline.
• Option (d) – Discuss the importance and relevance of context to understanding community
psychology.
2
, PYC2614/201
QUESTION 02
The question
What is the primary focus of community psychology as a sub-discipline?
(a) Understanding individual behaviour using individual therapy.
(b) Using existential therapy to understand human behaviour.
(c) Promoting individual achievement.
(d) Enhancing the well-being of communities.
The correct answer is (d) – Enhancing the well-being of communities.
In Learning Unit 1, Section 1.5.2 we show the following regarding community psychology as a
sub-discipline:
• Community psychology was formalised as a separate sub-discipline at the 1965
Swampscott Conference in Boston, United States of America (Pretorius-Heuchert &
Ahmed, 2001; Seedat, 2011; Stevens, 2013) with the fundamental objective of reflecting
on the place of psychology in the community mental health environment.
• Community psychology was linked to mental health reform movements, which
focused on moving away from treating mental illness as an individual problem to
treating it as a social problem thus criticising overreliance of psychology on the medical
model that saw psychological problems as illnesses within the individual, with minimal
appreciation of the complex environmental forces that contributed to the establishment of
psychological problems (Pretorius-Heuchert & Ahmed, 2001).
• For instance, some of the focus areas in psychology in the United States, Europe, Africa,
Asia, Oceania, and Latin America began to consider the following (Pretorius-Heuchert &
Ahmed, 2001; Stevens, 2013):
- Increasing understanding of the detrimental effects of excessive individualism
(“only the individual matters”). Therefore, option (a) Understanding individual
behaviour using individual therapy and option (c) Promoting individual achievement,
are not relevant due to their individual focus. Option (b) Using existential therapy to
understand human behaviour is also not relevant to community psychology as its
focus is on understanding individual experiences and meaning of life, which can be
universally applicable.
- Emphasising prevention of mental illness in communities rather than its cure and
providing mass intervention. In Learning Unit 2, Section 2.6.5, we showed that one
of the key components of intervention from a community psychology perspective is
prevention. In contrast to a “curative” approach, which seeks to treat problems only
once they have occurred, a preventive approach seeks to prevent problems from
occurring in the first place. The aim is therefore to modify processes and conditions
that create risks in communities.
- Attending to structural and social inequalities in communities, such as racism,
sexism, discrimination, and poverty.
- Making community psychology relevant to the social contexts under which it
operates and considering the lived experiences of the people in the Global South
(mostly underdeveloped countries with low-income economies).
- Responding to policies that had a negative impact on the living conditions and
wellbeing of people in various communities, particularly the marginalised.
3
