Developing Prosocial Communities Across Cultures [Paperback]

Communities are basic social units that provide contexts in which people live together to their mutual benefit. This book defines exactly what prosocial communities are, identifying their elements and relevant interrelationships, and reviewing the available evidence in support of those conclusions. This work shows why a prosocial community is essential to the accomplishment of the goals of community psychology and related fields, and offers advice on how to create such communities.

Communities are basic vital social units that provide the contexts in which people learn to live together to their mutual benefit. They are crucial to providing a richer and more fulfilling framework than we currently have for understanding and improving the quality of life for individuals and groups alike. The author defines what exactly prosocial communities are, identifying its elements and relevant interrelationships, and providing the available evidence in support of those conclusions. This work shows why a prosocial community is essential to the accomplishment of the goals of community psychology and its related fields, as well as how to create such communities.

Definitions and Background Issues.- Psychosocial Integration: The Theoretical Framework.- The Current Situation: Psychologists Approaches to Community Change.- The Prosocial Effect of Changing One Aspect of a Community.- The Prosocial Effect of Coordinating Change in Two Aspects of a Community.- A Guide for Establishing Prosocial Communities.- Questscope: A Comprehensive Prosocial Community Program.

From the reviews:

Developing Prosocial Communities Across Cultures dares to take a step toward the daunting task of repairing communities broken down by antisocial & attitudes and behaviors. & the beauty of this work is in its groundbreaking consideration of the complexities of individuals and their behaviors, integrated within social, economic, lCo