The Roots of Community Psychology in Cameroon

In Cameroon, community psychology is still a work in progress, albeit a nascent one. Its root is a developmental process that is embedded in African antiquity but recognizable in four phases. First, there is an antiquated sense of community, by which members of the family and community engaged in self-supportive services and collective mutual assistance. Second, although colonialists met widespread community-based values and practices, they put in place a social Darwinian project as Europe’s civilizing contribution to ‘backward’ Africa to replace them. Third, community psychology–related practices such as outreach professional services are embedded in or are maturing out of outreach services in agriculture, health sector, missionary work, and development education. Finally, human services psychology is evolving as an academic discipline for community-based practitioners. Indigenous precepts and strands of relevant psychosocial theories explain this developmental process.