A community training model incorporating history, empowerment, and ecology

Abstract

In many programs, the introduction of students to the community is relegated to a single practicum experience. This paper reviews one program's attempt to integrate field training more thoroughly into the curriculum. This is done by building the program around the setting features of a particular community. We describe how the basic training goals that have often been advocated but rarely achieved by community psychologists might be more broadly implemented. We outline the underlying training model, describe critical setting features, and show how the program has emphasized the features of history, empowerment, and size in the development of the curriculum. The discussion considers the assets and liabilities of programs focusing on a particular community and setting in order to illustrate the importance and difficulty of implementing field training models of this kind.