Transcript Slide 1

Isaac Prilleltensky
Community Psychology
Foundations:
Justice, Well-Being, and
SPEC
www.specway.org
[email protected]
Fact and Intuition
Intuition: justice must surely
play a role in well-being
Fact: not many psychologists
studying well-being share my
intuition

Part I
JUSTICE AND
WELL-BEING
Justice

“To each his or her due” (Miller, 1999)
“Justice means giving people what they deserve,
giving each person his or her due” (Sandel, 2009)

Question:

 How
do we ascertain what is due a person?
 Merit?
 Need?
 Equality?
Josh and John
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Similar background, same school, SES, caring
families, great opportunities
Different behavior:
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John works hard and gets good grades in high school
Josh plays a lot on the computer and does not work
hard
Who deserves a scholarship?
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Based on merit, and equality of conditions, John wins
Jill and Jane
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Same IQ, both worked very hard in school, but they
had very different backgrounds
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Jane enjoyed great privilege
Jill suffered from great disadvantage
Who deserves a scholarship?
-
Do conditions matter in decision?
Of course they do!
The role of context


context should determine what criterion or
criteria must be preferred in each case
In social conditions of inequality, we must
accord preference to needs over merit and
ability
Context of Relative Equality

Under conditions of relative equality, where
the gap between classes is not very
pronounced, it is possible to favor merit and
effort over needs.
Context of Plenty of Opportunities

In a context of plenty of opportunities for
everyone, it is possible that ability and effort
will be the preferred choice.
Justice Out of Context
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Societies aspiring to justice must seek equilibrium
among all criteria
When context of inequality calls for need and
equality, but culture favors effort, it’s because
privileged groups benefit.
As a result, group interests that influence the choice
of allocation pattern often disregard the contextspecific situation.
Justice and Well-Being
Allocation of
outcomes
The What of Justice
Process of making
decisions
The How of Justice
Justice and Well-Being
Justice and Well-Being
Justice and Well-Being
Part II
PARADIGMS
From DRAIN to SPEC
From
Deficits
 Reactive
 Arrogance
 Individual
blame

To
Strengths
 Prevention
 Empowerment
 Community
Change

Strengths
Prevention
“No mass disorder, afflicting
humankind, has ever been
eliminated, or brought under
control, by treating the
affected individual”

Prevention saves money
For every $1 invested in
prevention, we get up to
$17 in return, but we
invest only 3% of our
budget on prevention.

From Dennis Winters, Sept. 2007
http://www.partnershipforsuccess.org/uploads/200709_Wintersprez.pdf
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Prilleltensky
7/21/2015
From Cunha and Heckman, 2007
22
7/21/2015
From Cunha and Heckman, 2007
23
7/21/2015
PREVENTION:
Determinants of Health
(by percent contribution)
100%
90%
80%
5
10
15
70%
Environmental Exposures
60%
30
50%
Medical Care
Social Circumstances
Genetic Predispositions
40%
Behavioral Patterns
30%
20%
10%
40
McGinnis
et. al., 2002
0%
Determinants
of Health

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/21/2/78
US Spending on Health
National Health Spending (2005)
Government Public Health
Activities
100%
90%
$56.60
$126.80
$143.00
80%
Investment (Research and
Equipment)
70%
60%
50%
Government
Administration and Net
Cost of Private Health
Insurance
40%
$1,661.40
30%
20%
Personal Health
(Hospital/Clinical
Services, Nursing Home,
Home Health Care,
Medical Products)
10%
0%
$1,987.80
Per Capita Total

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group; U.S.
Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Better Beginnings, Better Futures: Goals
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Prevention
 To reduce the incidence of serious, long-term emotional and
behavioral problems in children living in high risk neighborhoods
Promotion
 To promote the optimal social, emotional, behavioral, physical and
educational development in children
Community Development
 To strengthen the ability of disadvantaged communities to respond
effectively to the social and economic needs of children and their
families
7/21/2015
Prilleltensky
Better Beginnings, Better Futures: Outcomes
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
Significant positive impacts on teacher ratings of child
behavior problems

Significant positive impacts on parent ratings of child
behavior problems

Significant positive impacts on teachers and parent ratings
of prosocial child behavior

At Grade 6, parents’ ratings of prosocial behavior and
teacher ratings of self-control were significantly higher for
Better Beginnings children and teacher ratings of
hyperactivity-inattention were significantly lower
7/21/2015
Prilleltensky
Empowerment
Empowerment can be a
tool for social change
and personal healing at
the same time

Community Change

If Venice “is slowly being submerged,
individual citizens cannot afford to
ignore their collective fate, because,
in the end, they all drown together if
nothing is done.” (Badcock, 1982)
Collective
Quadrant IV
Examples:
Food banks, shelters for
homeless people, charities,
prison industrial complex
Quadrant I
Examples:
Community development,
affordable housing policy,
recreational opportunities, high
quality schools and accessible
health services
Reactive
Proactive
Quadrant II
Examples:
Skill building, emotional
literacy, fitness programs,
personal improvement plans,
resistance to peer pressure in
drug and alcohol use
Quadrant III
Examples:
Crisis work, therapy,
medications, symptom
containment, case management
Individual
THIS IS WHERE WE ARE
THIS IS WHERE WE NEED TO BE
THIS IS WHERE WE NEED TO BE
Strength
Quadrant I
Quadrant IV
Examples:
Voice and choice in celebrating and
building competencies, recognition of
personal and collective resilience
Examples:
Just say no! You can do it!
Cheerleading approaches, Make nice
approaches
Detachment
Empowerment
Quadrant II
Quadrant III
Examples:
Voice and choice in deficit reduction
approaches, participation in
decisions how to treat affective
disorders or physical disorders
Examples:
Labeling and diagnosis,
“patienthood” and clienthood,”
citizens in passive role
Deficit
THIS IS WHERE WE ARE
Part III
PRACTICE
STRENGTHS
35

FOR PERSONAL WELL BEING (your own and others)
 Celebrate
talent, initiative, motivation, small wins
 Avoid deficit oriented labels

FOR ORGANIZATIONAL WELL BEING
 Build
on assets, achievements, engagement, motivation
 Reduce stereotyping, gossiping, put downs, segregation

FOR COMMUNITY WELL BEING
 Identify
community assets, natural leaders, build respect
 Do not engage in stereotypical thinking
PREVENTION AND PROMOTION
36

FOR PERSONAL WELL BEING (your own and others)
 Prevent
stress, minimize risk factors, take small steps
 Promote engagement, meaning making, social support

FOR ORGANIZATIONAL WELL BEING
 Prevent
burnout, fear, repetition, alienation
 Promote engagement, reflection, and support

FOR COMMUNITY WELL BEING
 Prevent
drop out, child abuse, injustice, poverty
 Promote equality, universal health care, high quality
education
EMPOWERMENT
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
FOR PERSONAL WELL BEING (your own and others)
 Sense
of control over your life
 Voice and choice

FOR ORGANIZATIONAL WELL BEING
 Democratic
participation
 Employee engagement and decision making

FOR COMMUNITY WELL BEING
 Name
source of injustice, organize, lead
 Identify power inequalities, not blaming community
COMMUNITY CHANGE
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
FOR PERSONAL WELL BEING (your own and others)
 Volunteer,
participate, vote
 Organize, analyze

FOR ORGANIZATIONAL WELL BEING
 Meaning
making,
 Participation in social change

FOR COMMUNITY WELL BEING
 Discover
ecological roots of problems
 Think and act systemically and sustainably
Organizations with a Strength-based orientation

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Perceive recipients of services and community
members as having strengths
Recognize that service recipients learn to cope with
difficult situations and develop resilience
Identify and build on individual and community
assets, resilience, and ability to thrive in difficult
situations
Organizations with a prevention orientation


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Work to prevent problems before they occur
Identify and reduce risk factors and promote
protective factors in individuals, families, and
communities.
Take action to decrease the chances that a
particular problem will affect a person, group, or
an entire community
Organizations with an empowerment orientation


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Believe community members should have voice and
choice in issues and decisions that affect their lives
Aim to increase the power of individuals, groups,
and entire communities
Encourage the sharing of decision-making power
and control over resources with community members
Organizations with a community-change orientation


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Believe that some of the problems that individuals and
entire communities face result from community and living
conditions
Remove barriers to services and supports
Work to address the root causes of the problems
people and communities face
Promote social policies that enhance wellbeing and
people’s ability to thrive
Create new systems or structures that enhance citizen
participation and wellbeing
Amelioration vs. Transformation

Amelioration
 Population
health
 Public education
 Prevent epidemics
 Provide basic
necessities
 Improve services
7/21/2015

Transformation
 Support
full
employment
 Eliminate poverty
 Universal health
insurance
 Universal family
support
Prilleltensky
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Amelioration vs. Transformation

Amelioration
 Demand
more services
 Increased participation
in local politics
 Funds for charity,
research, and
demonstration projects
7/21/2015

Transformation
 Fight
exploitation
 Sustainable
communities
 Promote culture of
equity
 Raise consciousness
about inequality
Prilleltensky
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Applications in Counseling and Therapy
Applications in Policies
Values
Policies
Self-determination
Devise policies in consultation with community stakeholders
Health
Facilitate access to health care services through universal and
outreach programs
Personal growth
Establish policies for teaching employment skills and for
accessible recreational and educational opportunities
Social justice
Implement equitable policies and taxation laws that provide
adequate resources to the poor
Support for enabling
community structures
Promote policies that strengthen high quality basic community
services such as education, health and income security
Respect for diversity
Promote inclusive work and social policies that do not
discriminate on basis of marital status, gender, ability, sexual
orientation, class, culture, or any other source of social power
Promote educational policies that teach importance of civic
duties and skills required for meaningful participation in
democracy
Collaboration and
democratic participation
Application in Programs
Self determination:
Promote voice and choice of community members in selection and administration of
programs
Caring and compassion:
Establish networks of support and create self-help groups
Educational and personal development:
Build into programs competency enhancing components for personal, educational and
occupational growth
Social justice:
Offer comprehensive supports that meet the needs for housing and economic security of
disadvantaged families
Support for the community:
Create awareness and support for creation and preservation of effective formal and informal
supports
Respect for diversity:
Consult with diverse groups of stakeholders and develop inclusive and culturally sensitive
programs based on partnerships with the community
Skills for Agents of Change
I VALUE IT
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Inclusive host
Visionary
Asset seeker
Listener and sense maker
Unique solution finder
Evaluator
Implementer
Trendsetter
True or False
49
The best way to eliminate
disease is through effective
treatment
