ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the field of community psychology. Community psychology focuses on the social settings, systems, and institutions that influence groups and organizations, and the individuals within them, using an ecological model. The goal of community psychology is to optimize the well-being of communities and individuals with innovative and alternate interventions designed in collaboration with affected community members and with other related disciplines inside and outside of psychology. The events that contribute to the creation of community psychology give a better sense of its detailed definition and its applications. In the US context, the story lines are divided into those related to mental health and social movements in America. The chapter describes two examples where geographic area influences have contributed to the definition and scope of community psychology: Europe and Latin America. Behavioral community psychology reinforced the importance of context from a learning theory perspective. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
