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A Community Psychology View of Environmental Organization Processes
Author(s) -
Dean Julie H.,
Bush Robert A.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/s10464-007-9123-2
Subject(s) - psychosocial , community psychology , health psychology , environmental psychology , psychology , qualitative research , public relations , sociology , social psychology , political science , public health , social science , medicine , nursing , psychiatry
Environmental organizations have a key role in addressing environmental degradation and promoting ecologically and socially sustainable societies. Psychosocial processes underpin their work, however, empirical studies of these processes remain underdeveloped. This paper presents the first stage of a community psychology study involving in‐depth interviews with leaders in environmental organizations. Qualitative analysis revealed a framework of five types of psychosocial processes that assist environmental organizations to achieve a range of outcomes, namely: problem analysis; influencing decision‐making; inter‐organizational relationships; community participation and knowledge transfer. These psychosocial processes were used in substantially different ways depending on the organizations' orientation. Three key orientations towards outcomes were evident: on‐ground conservation, developing innovation in specialist areas and transforming wider social institutions. The findings provide a model of the psychosocial processes involved in fostering sustainable futures and exemplify the contribution of community psychology to this critical global issue.