Critically Compare and Contrast Community Psychology and Public Health Approaches to Social Problems

In this essay, I will critically equality and contrast association psychological science and public health approaches to complaisant problems. I will do this by comparing strengths and weaknesses of both approaches, as strong as similarities mingled with these approaches. To comp are these two concepts, one should first earn a basic understanding of the origins and historical development of community psychology and public health. According to the American Heritage Medical dictionary (www. ahdictionary. om) lodge psychological science is the application of psychology to community programs for the prevention of moral health disorders and the promotion of moral health. Community psychology has its roots in the mental health reform movements in the USA, harmonise to Tutorial letter 102/0/2013for Pyc4811 (2013). The three most important reform movements were the moral diplomacyment (early 1800s), the mental hygiene (early 1900s) and deinstitutionalisation (1960s) (Tutorial le tter 102/0/2013for Pyc4811).Each of these movements was intended to view and treat mental unsoundness as a complaisant problem quite an than an some soundbox problem. It was excessively a move towards prevention rather than bring around concerning mental illness. (Tutorial letter 102/0/2013for Pyc4811) According to Tutorial letter 102/0/2013for Pyc4811 (2013) there are two major poses of community psychology the genial Health model and the Social action model. The location of mental illness, according to the Mental Health model, is at the method of interaction between soulfulness and environmental factors.The Social Action model places the location of mental illness within oppressive and exploitative social and economic structures (Tutorial letter 102/0/2013for Pyc4811, 2013) Public health, like community psychology, focuses on prevention of disease. It is defined as the science and practice of protecting and improving the health of a community as by preventative medicine hea lth education harbor of communicable diseases application of sanitary measures and monitoring of environmental hazards by the American Heritage Dictionary www. ahdictionary. com) Like community psychology, public health also focuses less on the individual and more on the public and gild in general. Public health concerns itself with the prevention of lifestyle diseases, such as heart problems, as well as diseases of which the occurrence can be reduced if the public is educated about it, such as human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS and cholera (Tut 102 for PYC4811). Public health, as practised in atomic number 16 Africa and most industrialized countries, is based on the biomedical/western model of illness.According to this model, the reason for disease and distress (and, therefore, mental illness) is because of lesions within the body or mind. These lesions are caused by an interaction between a. ) The characteristics of the individual (such as age, educational level, nutritional sta tus, etc), b. ) Disease-causing agents (such as germs, viruses, alcohol, etc) and c. ) External environmental and social issues (such as poverty, war, pollution, etc). (Tutorial letter 102/0/2013for Pyc4811, 2013). According to Marc Zimmerman (http//www. answers. om), there are many similarities between the Community Health and Public Health fields, such as their methods, topics, theories and values. twain fields use methods such as advocacy, community organizing, policy influence, and distribution (Zimmerman, http//www. answers. com). They also both apply theories and conceptual models, such as dominance theory, social change theories and ecological theory. Community psychological science concerns itself with cultural issues and disagreeences done the application of theory, research and intervention programs.This is similar to Public Health approaches because these programs are designed to match the values, norms, and beliefs of the community or public, whether the focus is on ethnic, behavioural, gender, or cultural differences. Both Community Psychology and Public Health get wind social relationships and involve the community. Both also consider the external factors when face at the individuals problems, so as not to whole blame the individual for the problem, and will advocate social rather than individual change. (Perkins, 2011)There are, however, key aspects in which the two approaches differ. While Community Psychology concerns itself more with mental health issues and behavioural aspects of health (such as promiscuity, medicine use, etc) , Public Health seems to focus more on traditional health issues, such as communicable diseases (like HIV/AIDS, T. B, etc). The two approaches also differ in the sense that Community Psychology focuses on theory and social research, while Public Health has a more practise-orientated approach to social problems. Zimmerman, http//www. answers. com) To conclude, I would not say that these differences are irreconc ilable, as the two approaches sport more in common than they differ. When dealing with the mental health of the community, I believe that it would be advantageous to apply both Community Psychology AND Public Health approaches. Because both approaches focus on prevention and empowerment, as well as community involvement, they can fulfil each early(a)s short comings by using the same principles.