We are increasingly considering culture as the context of diversity and, in the process, becoming a cultural community psychology. Our recent progress is discussed and a suggestion to accelerate our progress through greater collaboration with cultural psychology4 is offered. The development of a cultural community psychology has implications for the traditional distinction between basic and applied psychology, our understanding of context, partnerships between academicians and practitioners, and the place of community psychology within the discipline of psychology. These implications are presented and discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The term cultural psychology is also used in this article to refer to cross-cultural psychology.
REFERENCES
Banyard, V., & Miller, K. (1998). The powerful potential of qualitative research for community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 26, 485–505.
Barker, C. (2000). Cultural studies: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Bhawuk, D. P. S., & Mrazek, S. (2005, June). Where is culture in community psychology? A review, synthesis, and future directions. Symposium at the Society for Community Research and Action 10th Biennial Conference, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
Blazek, M. A., Lucas, J. I., Raley, A. B., & Washington, C. (2004). The coverage of community psychology in introductory psychology textbooks. The Community Psychologist, 37, 42–43.
Contos, N. (2000). The Pinjarra Massacre Site project: From doctoral student to community consultant. In C. R. O’Donnell & J. R. Ferrari (Eds.), Employment in community psychology: The diversity of opportunity (pp. 13–19). New York: Haworth.
Cooper, C. R., & Denner, J. (1998). Theories linking culture and psychology: Universal and community-specific processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 559–584.
Fisher, P. A., & Ball, T. J. (2003). Tribal participatory research: Mechanisms of a collaborative model. American Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 207–216.
Jason, L. A., Keys, C. B., Suarez-Balcazar, Y., Taylor, R. R., & Davis, M. I. (Eds.). (2004). Participatory community research: Theories and methods in action. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Langhout, R. D. (2003). Reconceptualizing quantitative and qualitative methods: A case study dealing with place as an exemplar. American Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 229–244.
Lydgate, T. (1986). Development and application of an observational code for assessing urban pedestrians. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Hawai’i, Honolulu.
Marsella, A. J. (1998). Toward a “global-community” psychology: Meeting the needs of a changing world. American Psychologist, 53, 1–10.
Martin, P. P., Lounsbury, D. W., & Davidson, W. S., II (2004). AJCP as a vehicle for improving community life: An historic-analytic review of the Journal’s contents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 34, 163–173.
Maynard, A. E. (2005). Child development and changing behavior in diverse societies. In C. R. O’Donnell & L. A. Yamauchi (Eds.), Culture and context in human behavior change: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 41–62). New York: Peter Lang.
Maynard, A., & Martini, M. I. (Eds.). (2005). Learning in cultural context: Family, peers, and school. New York: Kluwer/Academic/Plenum.
Mercil, M., O’Donnell, C. R., Wilson, K., & Tharp, R. G. (1989). Youth and community services project. Washington, DC: Peace Corps/Micronesia.
Mohatt, G. V., Hazel, K. L., Allen, J., Stachelrodt, M., Hensel, C., & Fath, R. (2004). Unheard Alaska: Culturally anchored participatory action research on sobriety with Alaska natives. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 263–273.
Montero, M. (Ed.). (2002). Conceptual and epistemological aspects in community social psychology (special issue). American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(4).
O’Donnell, C. R., & Lydgate, T. (1980). The assessment of physical resources and their relationship to crimes. Environment and Behavior, 12, 207–230.
O’Donnell, C. R., & Tharp, R. G. (1990). Community intervention guided by theoretical developments. In A. S. Bellack, M. Hersen, & A. E. Kazdin (Eds.), International handbook of behavior modification and therapy (2nd ed., pp. 251–266). New York: Plenum.
O’Donnell, C. R., Tharp, R. G., & Wilson, K. (1993). Activity settings as the unit of analysis: A theoretical basis for community intervention and development. American Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 501–520.
O’Donnell, C. R., & Yamauchi, L. A. (Eds.). (2005). Culture and context in human behavior change: Theory, research, and applications. New York: Peter Lang.
Oliver, D. L. (1989). Native cultures of the Pacific Islands. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Price, R. H., & Behrens, T. (2003). Working Pasteur’s quadrant: Harnessing science and action for community change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 219–223.
Revenson, T. R., & Seidman, E. (2002). Looking backward and moving forward: Reflections on a quarter century of community psychology. In T. R. Revenson, A. D’Augelli, S. French, D. Hughes, D. Livert, E. Seidman, et al. (Eds.), A quarter century of community psychology: Readings from the American Journal of Community Psychology. (pp. 3–31). New York: Kluwer/Academic/Plenum.
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rogoff, B., & Lave, J. (Eds.). (1984). Everyday cognition: Its development in social contexts. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Saraswathi, T. S., & Dasen, P. R. (1997). Introduction to volume 2. In J. W. Berry, P. R. Dasen, & T. S. Saraswathi (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Volume 2: Basic processes and human development (pp. xxv–xxxvii). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Sasao, T. (2005, June). Culture & community: Never the twain shall meet? Presentation at the Society for Community Research and Action 10th Biennial Conference, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
Schropfer-Kiyota, H. P. (1986). The assessment of pedestrians in high and low crime areas. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Hawai’i, Honolulu.
Segall, M. H., Lonner, W. J., & Berry, J. W. (1998). Cross-cultural psychology as a scholarly discipline: On the flowering of culture in behavioral research. American Psychologist, 53, 1101–1110.
Seidman, E., Hughes, D., & Williams, N. (Eds.). (1993). Culturally anchored methodology (special issue). American Journal of Community Psychology, 21(6).
Shweder, R. (1995). Cultural psychology: What is it? In N. R. Goldberger & J. B. Veroff (Eds.), The culture and psychology reader (pp. 41–86). New York: New York University Press.
Stein, C. H., & Mankowski, E. S. (2004). Asking, witnessing, interpreting, knowing: Conducting qualitative research in community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 21–35.
Stewart, E. (2000). Thinking through others: Qualitative research and community psychology. In J. Rappaport & E. Seidman (Eds.), Handbook of community psychology (pp. 725–736). New York: Kluwer/Academic/Plenum.
Stokes, D. (1997). Pasteur's quadrant: Basic science and technological innovation. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Super, C., & Harkness, S. (1997). In P. R. Dasen & T. S. Saraswathi (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Volume 2: Basic processes and human development (pp. 1–39). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Tharp, R. G. (1994). Intergroup differences among Native Americans in socialization and child cognition: An ethnographic analysis. In P. M. Greenfield & R. R. Cocking (Eds.), Cross-cultural roots of minority child development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Tharp, R. G., & Gallimore, R. (l988). Rousing minds to life: Teaching and learning in social context. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Tharp, R. G., Lewis, H., Hilberg, R., Bird, C., Epaloose, G., Dalton, S. S., et al. (1999). Seven more mountains and a map: Overcoming obstacles to reform in Native American schools. Journal of Education For Students Placed At Risk, 4, 5–25.
Tharp, R. G., & O’Donnell, C. R. (1994). Native American Education Demonstration Project: Youth issues. Santa Cruz, CA: University of California at Santa Cruz, Native American Education Project.
Toro, P. A. (2005). Community psychology: Where do we go from here? American Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 9–16.
Trimble, J. E., & Fisher, C. B. (2005). The handbook of ethical research with ethnocultural populations and communities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Trickett, E. J. (1996). A future for community psychology: The contexts of diversity and the diversity of contexts. American Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 209–234.
Vega, W. A. (1992). Theoretical and pragmatic implications of cultural diversity for community research. American Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 375–391.
Wandersman, A. (Ed.). (2003). Science and community psychology (special section). American Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 207–242.
Wandersman, A., Kloos, B., Linney, J. A., & Shinn, M. (Eds.). (2005). Science and community psychology: Enhancing the vitality of community research and action (special issue). American Journal of Community Psychology, 35(3/4).
Watts, R. J., & Serrano-Garcia, I. (Eds.). (2003). The psychology of liberation: Responses to oppression (special section). American Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1/2).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Presidential address presented at the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA), Division 27 of the American Psychological Association (APA), 10th Biennial Conference in Urbana-Champaign, IL on June 9, 2005.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
O’Donnell, C.R. Beyond Diversity: Toward a Cultural Community Psychology. Am J Community Psychol 37, 1–7 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-005-9010-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-005-9010-7