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Empowering Community Settings: Agents of Individual Development, Community Betterment, and Positive Social Change

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

The pathways and processes through which empowering community settings influence their members, the surrounding community and the larger society are examined. To generate the proposed pathways and processes, a broad range of studies of community settings were reviewed, in the domains of adult well-being, positive youth development, locality development, and social change. A set of organizational characteristics and associated processes leading to member empowerment across domains were identified, as well as three pathways through which empowering settings in each domain contribute to community betterment and positive social change. The paper concludes with an examination of the ways that community psychology and allied disciplines can help increase the number and range of empowering settings, and enhance the community and societal impact of existing ones.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the valuable feedback received from colleagues Anne Brodsky, Angela Fedi, Keith Humphreys, Julian Rappaport, Terri Mannarini, and Beth Shinn, and the contributions of my Award Address support team, Amy Carrillo, Rebecca Helm, Metin Özdemir, Keondra Phillips, Shauna Pollard, Thais Rogatko, Mariano Sto. Domingo, and Harriette Wimms.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA

    Kenneth I. Maton

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Correspondence to Kenneth I. Maton.

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Based on SCRA Distinguished Contribution to Theory and Research Award Address: Pasadena, CA, June 8, 2007.

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Maton, K.I. Empowering Community Settings: Agents of Individual Development, Community Betterment, and Positive Social Change. Am J Community Psychol 41, 4–21 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9148-6

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