Reflections on community studies

Abstract

In this article, the author reflects on some of the limitations of the field of Community Psychology. The critical reflections offered focus on: (a) the sterile quality of the field's alternatives between offering paternalistic or utopian perspectives on how community processes operate; (b) the field's reliance on scientific objectivity and neutrality; (c) the field's ignorance of those who live in the community and the consequent presentation of “dismembered” communities; (d) the field's ahistorical and decontextualized treatment of community phenomena; and (e) the paradoxical nature of providing help to a community. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.