Knowing where you are walking: the benefits and hazards of using theoretical roadmaps and research to guide community consultation practice

Abstract

This paper progresses the 2006 Trans-Tasman Conference theme by considering 'do you know where you are walking?' and more importantly 'do you know how to get there?'. The community psychologist’s aspirations for the 'common good' anticipate outcomes such as social justice, sense of community and empowerment, and prescribe congruent values-based praxis to accomplish it. Such concepts and visions compel us to act for social change; they also enlighten the challenging decisions and processes we encounter in our personal every day walk of life. This journey can be complex as the 'doing' of community psychology often involves an emotive personal as well as professional commitment, sometimes associated with a particular political agenda. This paper considers how mapping the psychological landscape of a community, along with its history and geography, can help guide the practitioner through difficult terrain. Some of the author’s experiences are considered from theoretical perspectives including sense of community, community consultation processes, social ecology, community readiness and capacity building. These narratives illustrate how such theoretical maps can help the community psychologist to avoid walking in circles, down dead-end streets and up one-way streets while 'walking the walk'