A History of Women and Feminist Perspectives in Community Psychology

• Published in: American journal of community psychology Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 599 - 630
• Main Authors: Bond, Meg A., Mulvey, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers 01-10-2000; Plenum Press; Blackwell Science Ltd
• Subjects: 813920; Community; Community psychology; Community-Institutional Relations; Female; Feminism; Feminism - history; Feminist perspectives; Historical perspectives; History, 20th Century; Humans; Organizations; Psychology; Psychology - history; Society for Community Research & Action; United States; Women; Women - history; Womens history; United States
• ISSN: 0091-0562; 1573-2770
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1005141619462

Using an historical framework, we document and assess efforts to include women, women's issues, and feminism in community psychology and in the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA). Initiatives of the SCRA Task Force/Committee on Women are traced from its inception to present. We also chronicle the dilemmas and difficulties of moving toward a feminist community psychology. The history is divided into five phases. Each phase is described in terms of women's involvement in the field and efforts to integrate feminist content into research and practice of the field. Reflections on the qualities of contexts that have both supported and inhibited inclusion are identified. We look to this history to try to understand the observation that while women have been increasingly visible in leadership roles and women's professional development has been encouraged, less progress has been made toward building a feminist community psychology.