3 Who We Are
Amber Kelly and Judah Viola
Chapter Three Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Distinguish between various settings where community psychologists often work
- Describe diverse career roles within the field of Community Psychology
- Explore strategies for obtaining employment in the field of Community Psychology
- Understand unique skill sets or competencies used by community psychologists in various settings
Community psychologists seek to improve community well-being through a cycle of collaborative planning, action, and research in partnership with local community members. As indicated in the first chapter (Jason et al., 2019), we emphasize exploring issues with a systems lens approach, and focus on prevention and community contexts of behavior. Community psychologists embrace the core values of the field which include 1) prevention, 2) social justice, 3) ecological perspective, 4) respect for diversity, 5) active citizen participation, 6) grounding in research and evaluation, 7) interdisciplinary collaboration, 8) sense of community, 9) empowerment, 10) policy, and 11) promoting wellness.
The settings of community psychologists range from academia to non-profit organization. Typically, community psychologists complete graduate work in the field, but that is not required to engage in community work. The work of a community psychologist is dependent on an individual’s interest, training, and experience. Community psychologists can work as researchers, policy developers, educators, program evaluators, or program coordinators within academic, government and non-profit settings (SCRA, 2025). These are not the only roles and settings of community psychologists and within this chapter, we will explore a diversity of career paths and employment options. All community psychologists have a passion for specific community needs or topics. What community issues are you most excited about addressing?
Community Psychology Practice
Community Psychology practice typically refers to applied or practical work of community psychologists, which can involve a variety of activities related to a cycle of action and research such as community organizing, coalition building, program development or program evaluation, policy, advocacy, grant writing, data collection, data analysis, or report writing. Community Psychology practice occurs in many community settings outside of the classroom or research center such as schools, community-based non-profit organizations, places of worship, health clinics, parks, community centers, or other neighborhood gathering spaces.
Skill Sets of a Community Psychologist
Due to the diversity of activities and settings for Community Psychology practice and its focus on systems, context, programs, and organizations as opposed to individuals, the field has decided not to have their members receive a license to practice such as clinical psychology. Rather, members of SCRA have developed competencies for Co