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Content and method trends in the Journal of Community Psychology between 2003 and 2007
Author(s) -
Graham Tanya M.,
Ismail Tasneem
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.20420
Subject(s) - transformative learning , positivism , community psychology , reflexivity , mental health , social science , period (music) , psychology , field (mathematics) , sociology , citizen journalism , ethnic group , social psychology , developmental psychology , political science , psychiatry , anthropology , physics , mathematics , acoustics , pure mathematics , law
Ongoing inquiry into the characteristics of published work and its synergy with community psychology's core principles is an important reflexive endeavour in the field's continuing development. This study examined topic and method trends within the Journal of Community Psychology during a 5‐year period (January 2003–December 2007). Content analyses were conducted on published abstracts during this period ( N =242). Most articles were empirical studies (61.2%) and most used a positivist methodology (53.7%). Samples mainly comprised adults and were mixed in terms of gender and ethnic/religious affiliation. The most frequent topics were mental health and mental illness (33.5%), sense of community and social support (24.4%), and dynamics of social exclusion (22.7%). A large proportion of special issues was also noted. These results illustrate contemporary trends in community psychology and suggest that critical and participatory methods as well as socially transformative epistemologies continue to be under‐represented within the field. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.