In this article, the authors explore the spiritual dimensions of psychopolitical validity and use it as a lens to analyze clergy sexual abuse. The psychopolitical approach suggests a comprehensive human science methodology that invites exploration of phenomena such as spirituality and religious experience and the use of methods from a wide variety…

The authors explore the implications of recent proposals for a focus on power and social change in community psychology research and add needed contextual and methodological specificity. An expanded model of psychopolitical validity is presented that merges Isaac Prilleltensky's (this issue, pp. 116-136) domains, or stages of empowerment…

Sense of Community theory suggests that people feel more attracted to groups and settings in which they feel influential or powerful. Unfortunately, young people have no voice or influence in many of the contexts in which they find themselves. Furthermore, teenagers are often unequipped and undersupported to participate fully and feel like they…

Based on the life histories of residents from La Victoria, a poor settlement in Santiago, Chile, this study reconstructed the central biographic elements in individual empowerment processes, linking them with the sociocultural context in which they occurred. Results show the following main characteristics related to individual empowerment:…

Community psychology theorists underline the importance of promoting sociopolitical empowerment, but few studies have been conducted on the evaluation of the efficacy of empowering programs among university students. The authors report two studies: the first, with 216 psychology majors, compared the efficacy of face-to-face and online community…

This study is designed to explore the effects of previous participation in Open Circle: Social Competency Program (SCP) on the relational health of 153 Caucasian middle school students who reported having recent and consecutive exposure to the program in elementary school. SCP is designed to foster social skills among children that enable them to…

The most critical aspect of the youth-led community work of Community IMPACT! is that it is location-specific. The youth leaders, who work with the organization, generally live, work, and go to school in a community of high crime, failing schools, poverty, and practically no economic infrastructure. For American youth, and presumably other at-risk…

A growing body of literature demonstrates the co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder for females seeking substance abuse treatment. Nonetheless, relatively few trauma-specific treatments have been implemented or evaluated with this population. In this quasi-experimental study (N = 170), the Trauma Recovery and…

Instability in the factor structure of the Sense of Community Index (SCI) was tested as a methodological artifact. Confirmatory factor analyses, tested with two data sets, supported neither the proposed one-factor nor the four-factor (needs fulfillment, group membership, influence, and emotional connection) SCI. Results demonstrated that the SCI…

We describe two interventions designed to encourage community action with youth in a school and a community service setting. The school intervention took place with a Year 10 class, while the community-based intervention took place with a group of same-sex attracted youth. Using a participatory action research framework, youth in both settings…

This paper describes the challenges and benefits of an action-research project with a Nashville-based nonprofit human service organization. In our view, outmoded human service organizations are in serious need of innovation to promote psychological and physical wellness, prevention of social problems, empowerment, and social justice. This project…

A variety of studies on empowerment has been conducted, but there has been no overarching framework available for practitioners and researchers hoping to grasp the process and components of empowerment in a comprehensive manner. This study was designed to provide the overarching framework across theories and disciplines for both academics and…

The Primary Prevention of Cancer Program at the British Columbia Cancer Agency Centre for the Southern Interior (BCCA-CSI), known as the Waddell Project, is now five years old and currently is in partnership with fourteen regional communities. Each of these communities has a range of community-developed programs currently in place. The driving…

In this article, we attempt to bridge the gap between practice (service delivery) and philosophy (trauma theory, empowerment, and relational theory). Specifically, we identify 10 principles that define trauma-informed service, discuss the need for this type of service, and give some characteristics of trauma-informed services in eight different…

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of participation in mental health Consumer/Survivor Initiatives (CSIs), organizations run by and for people with mental illness. A nonequivalent comparison group design was used to compare three groups of participants: (a) those who were continually active in CSIs over a 36-month period (n =…