scholarly journals Psychological sense of community as an example of prefiguration among Occupy protesters

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 180-195
Author(s):  
Magda Permut
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Community Psychology ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Sense Of Community ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Prefigurative Politics ◽  
Psychological Sense

This study examines psychological sense of community (PSOC) among participants in the Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC Occupy protests. The Occupy protests brought national attention to economic disparities in the United States. The movement was unique in its development of physical protest sites where participants developed communities, piloted direct democracy techniques, and tested out alternative ways of life. The current research examines 24 qualitative interviews using an integrative framework that draws upon sociology and community psychology concepts. This framework suggests that the Occupy movement created a protest space wherein participants experienced positive sense of community at the micro-level (the Occupy site), which often contrasted with their neutral or negative sense of community at the macro-level (the United States). Implications for the study of prefigurative politics are discussed. This research adds to extant literature in community psychology and prefigurative politics by systematically examining multi-level sense of community as an example of prefiguration within a social movement.

Building Community in a Pluralist High School

2009 ◽  
pp. 375-394
Author(s):  
Susan L. Shevitz ◽  
Rahel Wasserfall
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High School ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Approach ◽  
Psychological Sense Of Community ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Psychological Sense ◽  
The Individual

This chapter investigates how an intentionally pluralistic Jewish high school in the United States called ‘Tikhon’ deals with questions regarding the individual and the community in its educational practice. It analyses what the practices reveal about its understanding of pluralism. The chapter argues that two dynamics are fundamental to Tikhon's efforts: first, the need to create an environment in which participants can risk the differentiation, debate, discussion, and openness to cooperation and change that are at the heart of Tikhon's understanding of community; and second, the need to create a psychological sense of community in which ‘difference’ is central to the conception of community. This chapter's enquiry is part of a larger project to study how pluralism is enacted and understood at Tikhon. It asserts that the approach and methods found at Tikhon can be applied to other settings where the tension between the individual and the group is central to the educational approach.

scholarly journals “Trailer Trash” Stigma and Belonging in Florida Mobile Home Parks

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarethe Kusenbach
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mobile Home ◽  
Central Florida ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Mobile Homes ◽  
Community Belonging

<p>In the United States, residents of mobile homes and mobile home communities are faced with cultural stigmatization regarding their places of living. While common, the “trailer trash” stigma, an example of both housing and neighborhood/territorial stigma, has been understudied in contemporary research. Through a range of discursive strategies, many subgroups within this larger population manage to successfully distance themselves from the stigma and thereby render it inconsequential (Kusenbach, 2009). But what about those residents—typically white, poor, and occasionally lacking in stability—who do not have the necessary resources to accomplish this? This article examines three typical responses by low-income mobile home residents—here called resisting, downplaying, and perpetuating—leading to different outcomes regarding residents’ sense of community belonging. The article is based on the analysis of over 150 qualitative interviews with mobile home park residents conducted in West Central Florida between 2005 and 2010.</p>

Experiencing Community

2020 ◽  
pp. 129-148
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Cassidy Parker
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Community Psychology ◽  
Cognitive Anthropology ◽  
Psychological Sense Of Community ◽  
Cultural Communities ◽  
Psychological Sense

Chapter 6 explores how scholars define the word community within community psychology and cultural and cognitive anthropology. The chapter begins with how individuals see themselves in groups using David McMillan and David Chavis’s psychological sense of community. Next, the reader is introduced to Edith and Victor Turner’s communitas to speak to how communities work for individuals. Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave’s communities of practice is then discussed to aid educators’ understanding of how communities are built. The chapter encourages readers to consider the action cycle of Jeff Duncan-Andrade and Ernest Morrell’s critical counter-cultural communities of practice. At the end of the chapter, challenges to building and sustaining community are proposed, with questions for reflection.

scholarly journals Creating community life among immigrant survivors of torture and their allies

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Nancy Bothne ◽  
Christopher B. Keys
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Life ◽  
Torture Survivors ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Psychological Sense Of Community ◽  
Community Boundaries ◽  
Survivors Of Torture ◽  
Psychological Sense

This qualitative study describes how immigrant survivors of torture in the United States built relationships among each other to form a psychological sense of community. Eight men and seven women from 11 different countries were recruited through a torture treatment center and a survivor-led advocacy and support coalition. This qualitative study explored how participants described their experiences of community life. An advisory group that included torture survivors, torture treatment practitioners, abolition advocates, and academic experts guided the study. Data was analyzed using inductive and phenomenological theories. The construct of psychological sense of community articulated by McMillan and Chavis1 provided the conceptual framework for the evaluation of how a psychological sense of community was developed. Torture survivors with their allies formed community boundaries based on a deep understanding of the impact of torture. The safety afforded through the community boundaries was reinforced by shared condemnation of torture in all circumstances. Within the security of the community’s boundaries, members shared their experiences to enable their own and others’ recovery from torture. As community members exchanged advice and support, survivors met one another’s needs, providing physical and emotional relief from the effects of their torture. As individuals and a community, they influenced each other’s identities as survivors rather than victims. Advocating for those who remained vulnerable to torture was important to their identification as survivors. Through these exchanges, community members influenced one another and developed trusting relationships and emotional bonds. This study illuminates how community life enabled survivors to contribute to and benefit from, each other’s journeys.

Sense of Community and Union Participation

1993 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 333-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor M. Catano ◽  
Grace M. H. Pretty ◽  
Robert R. Southwell ◽  
Greg K. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Community Psychology ◽  
Psychological Sense Of Community ◽  
Union Participation ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Psychological Sense

Using data from 925 union members, this study reviewed psychological sense of community as a predictor of several criterion measures of union participation. While sense of community did not predict positive actions toward the union, a lack of it did predict filing a grievance against the organization. The results are discussed from the perspective of community psychology.

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