ABSTRACT
This chapter consider the autobiographies of the first generation of persons trained in community psychology, the disciples of those who founded the sub-field. The autobiographies exhibit substantial agreement about the initial conceptualization and academic organization of community psychology. It was in some measure conceived in opposition to clinical psychology, to therapeutic approaches that ignored the importance of social circumstances in the creation of individuals' problems. And such figures as Seymour Sarason, Emory Cowen, and James Kelly played vital roles in carving out a niche for the sub-field within psychology, a niche defined by both an intellectual rationale and development of specific spheres of professional practice. The specific biographical details provided by the authors suggest that their descriptions of their youthful selves can be trusted, however. Most of the authors acquired the perspective of distance from social conventions at very early ages, having experienced some sort of social marginality.
