Abstract
In this chapter, Meg A. Bond offers up thoughts on bridging differences within communities that emanate from the field of community psychology. A hallmark of community psychology is attention to the interactions among people and contexts that takes into account histories, sociopolitical factors, as well as current social and cultural dynamics. The contextual analysis of community psychology has important implications for understanding issues of equity within community contexts as attention is paid to both personal proclivities and the qualities of social settings as sites for promoting socially just communities. This chapter briefly summarises some core concepts from community psychology, then explores a framework for promoting community that is inclusive across diversity dimensions such as race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and sexual orientation. In addition, Bond poses three challenges which revolve around (1) further contextualising our understandings of human diversity by reconsidering the notion of ‘difference’ between discrete demographic groups within a community, (2) more fully emphasising diversity as socially situated, and (3) further delving into local, setting-specific practices that shape the meanings of diversity within each community. The questions she poses have emerged from work in the United States, and readers are invited to reflect upon the ways in which they may—or may not—translate across national contexts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bond, Meg A. 2016. “Leading the Way on Diversity: Community Psychology’s Evolution from Invisible to Individual to Contextual.” American Journal of Community Psychology 58 (3/4): 259–268.
Bond, Meg A., and Christopher T. Allen. 2016. “Beyond Difference: Gender as a Quality of Social Settings.” In Feminist Perspectives on Building a Better Psychological Science of Gender, edited by Tomi-Ann Roberts, Nicola Curtin, Lauren E. Duncan, and Lilia M. Cortina, 231–254. New York: Springer.
Bond, Meg A., Irma Serrano-García, and Christopher B. Keys, eds. 2017a. Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Bond, Meg A., Irma Serrano-García, and Christopher B. Keys, eds. 2017b. “Community Psychology for the 21st Century.” In Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges, edited by Bond, Serrano-García, and Keys, 3–20. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Bond, Meg A., and Sharon M. Wasco. 2017. “Gender as Context: A Framework for Understanding and Addressing Gendered Qualities of Settings.” In Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges, edited by Bond, Serrano-García, and Keys, 369–385. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Bullock, Heather E. 2017. “The Widening Economic Divide: Economic Disparities and Classism as Critical Community Context.” In Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges, edited by Meg A. Bond, Irma Serrano-García, and Christopher B. Keys, 353–367. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Butler, Judith. 2004. Undoing Gender. New York: Routledge.
Chess, Simone, Alison Kafer, Jessi Quizar, and Mattie Udora Richardson. 2004. “Calling All Restroom Revolutionaries.” In That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, 189–206. Berkeley, CA: Soft Skull Press.
Cortina, Lilia M. 2008. “Unseen Injustice: Incivility as Modern Discrimination in Organizations.” Academy of Management Review 33 (1): 55–75.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43 (6): 1241–1299.
Deaux, Kay, and Abigail J. Stewart. 2001. “Framing Gendered Identities.” In Handbook of the Psychology of Women and Gender, edited by Rhoda K. Unger, 84–97. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Diamond, Lisa M., Seth T. Pardo, and Molly R. Butterworth. 2011. “Transgender Experience and Identity.” In Handbook of Identity Theory and Research Volume 1: Structures and Processes, edited by Seth J. Schwartz, Koen Luyckx, and Vivian Vignoles, 629–647. New York: Springer.
Evans, Scotney D., Paul Duckett, Rebecca Lawthom, and Natalie Kivell. 2017. “Positioning the Critical in Community Psychology.” In Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges, edited by Meg A. Bond, Irma Serrano-García, and Christopher B. Keys, 107–127. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Fitzgerald, Louise F., Fritz Drasgow, Charles L. Hulin, Michele J. Gelfand, and Vicki J. Magley. 1997. “Antecedents and Consequences of Sexual Harassment in Organizations: A Test of an Integrated Model.” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (4): 578–589.
Gannon, Megan. 2016. “Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue: Racial Categories Are Weak Proxies for Genetic Diversity and Need to Be Phased Out.” Scientific American, February 5. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/. Accessed February 6, 2019.
Hawe, Penelope. 2017. “The Contribution of Social Ecological Thinking to Community Psychology: Origins, Practice, and Research.” In Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges, edited by Meg A. Bond, Irma Serrano-García, and Christopher B. Keys, 87–105. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Hilliard, Lacey J., and Lynn S. Liben. 2010. “Differing Levels of Gender Salience in Preschool Classrooms: Effects on Children’s Gender Attitudes and Intergroup Bias.” Child Development 81 (6): 1787–1798.
Kelly, James G. 2006. Becoming Ecological: An Expedition into Community Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Krause, Mariane, and Christian R. Montenegro. 2017. “Community as a Multifaceted Concept.” In Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges, edited by Meg A. Bond, Irma Serrano-García, and Christopher B. Keys, 275–294. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Lorber, Judith. 2000. “Using Gender to Undo Gender: A Feminist De-gendering Movement.” Feminist Theory 1 (1): 79–95.
MacKinnon, Catharine A. 1987. Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Montero, Maritza, Christopher C. Sonn, and Mark Burton. 2017. “Community Psychology and Liberation Psychology: A Creative Synergy for an Ethical and Transformative Praxis.” In Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges, edited by Meg A. Bond, Irma Serrano-García, and Christopher B. Keys, 149–167. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Nelson, Geoffrey, and Isaac Prilleltensky. 2010. Community Psychology: In Pursuit of Liberation and Well-Being. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Perkins, Douglas D., and Jean Schensul. 2017. “Interdisciplinary Contributions to Community Psychology and Transdisciplinary Promise.” In Handbook of Community Psychology Volume 1: Theoretical Foundations, Core Concepts, and Emerging Challenges, edited by Meg A. Bond, Irma Serrano-García, and Christopher B. Keys, 189–209. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Ridgeway, Cecilia. 1991. “The Social Construction of Status Value: Gender and Other Nominal Characteristics.” Social Forces 70 (2): 367–386.
Riger, Stephanie. 2001. “Transforming Community Psychology.” American Journal of Community Psychology 29 (1): 69–81.
Sanday, Peggy Reeves. 2007. Fraternity Gang Rape: Sex, Brotherhood, and Privilege on Campus. 2nd ed. New York: New York University Press.
Sarason, Seymour B. 1972. The Creation of Settings and the Future Societies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Seidman, Edward, and Vivian Tseng. 2011. “Changing Social Settings: A Framework for Action.” In Empowering Settings and Voices for Social Change, edited by Mark Aber, Kenneth I. Maton, and Edward Seidman, 12–37. New York: Oxford University Press.
Smedley, Audrey, and Brian D. Smedley. 2005. “Race as Biology Is Fiction, Racism as a Social Problem Is Real: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives on the Social Construction of Race.” American Psychologist 60 (1): 16–26.
Trickett, Edison J. 1996. “A Future for Community Psychology: The Contexts of Diversity and the Diversity of Contexts.” American Journal of Community Psychology 24 (2): 209–234.
Tseng, Vivian, and Edward Seidman. 2007. “A Systems Framework for Understanding Social Settings.” American Journal of Community Psychology 39 (3/4): 217–228.
Unger, Rhoda K. 1990. “Imperfect Reflections of Reality: Psychology Constructs Gender.” In Making a Difference: Psychology and the Construction of Gender, edited by Rachel T. Hare-Mustin and Jeanne Marecek, 102–149. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
West, Candace, and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender & Society 1 (2): 125–151.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bond, M.A. (2020). Diversity in Community: Rethinking Psychological Perspectives on Bridging Differences . In: Jansen, B. (eds) Rethinking Community through Transdisciplinary Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31073-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31073-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31072-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31073-8
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)