Cultures, Communities, Competence, and Change

Cultures, Communities, Competence, and Change provides a transcultural psychosocial conception of the nature of individual and social activity. The author presents an integrated view of how people develop a psychosocially-based awareness of themselves and their milieus to shape what he refers to as their `internested' social systems. In so doing he challenges current deficit/prevention emphases in the helping disciplines and promotes a constructive, prosocial model of individual and social approaches to change.

Acknowledgments. Quote. Preface. Section One: Introduction: A Transcultural Ethnic Validity Perspective. 1. Background. 2. The Structure of a Nested Framework. 3. Psychology's Nested Frameworks. 4. The Ethnic Validity of People's Lives. Section Two: A Biopsychosocial Framework of Competence. 5. Individual Psychosocial Competence. 6. Psychosocial Spirals. 7. Autonomy and Relatedness. 8. Resource Generation and Interchange. A Transition. Section Three: Representative Areas and Topics. 9. Belief Systems. 10. Pathology and Competence. 11. Elitism, Racism, and Professionalism. 12. Violence. Section Four: New Directions. 13. Interventions: An Evaluative Matrix. 14. Choosing and Evaluating Approaches to Change. Section Five: Conclusion. 15. Prospects and Challenges. References. Index.