The psychologist and community intervention: issues for debate

Abstract

We aim to highlight some of the challenges that arise for psychology when the community is assumed as the object of work. We avoid an erudite reflection on theoretical assumptions and focus more on programs or possibilities for action. The new object poses a challenge for the psychologist, who, in order to adapt, must abandon old conceptions and practices if they wish to occupy a place among other professionals also interested in the community.
The psychologist must abandon the old and cherished paradigms of intrapsychic or behavioral explanation and become accustomed to new concepts such as everyday life, custom, lifestyle, behavioral settings, scenario programs, system, subsystems, open system, closed system, social support networks, dialectical opposites, dialectization of interests, and so forth. They must abandon the old relational styles based on the dyad and be capable of acting in relation to groups, assemblies, and so on.
In this paper, we propose to discuss a series of issues that will allow us to delve into the topic of psychology and community intervention.