Call for applications – Student collaborators to co-develop the ECPA-SCRA online webinar series

European Community Psychology Association (ECPA) in collaboration with the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) is organising an online webinar series, composed of five online webinar sessions. Each webinar will focus on key societal challenges and domains for community psychologists, such as borders and migrant justice; feminisms and gender-based violence; violence and resistance in transgender, queer and gender-nonconforming communities; climate/environmental justice; community mental health and homelessness; the prison-industrial complex and abolitionist struggles; decolonising academic knowledge and practices. For each webinar, scholars from ECPA and SCRA respectively will be invited to share their insights with the audience.

The series will take place between November 2023 and June 2024. We are looking for one to two European-based students enrolled in a Master or PhD programme with a focus on community psychology to help organise and disseminate the online webinar series.  

Tasks: Collaborators will help designing the webinar series and identify the ECPA/SCRA scholars to invite for each session. Collaborators will also help disseminate the webinar series and run individual sessions. After each webinar, the two collaborators will finally write a short blogpost with key ideas and discussions coming out of each webinar, or will help ECPA board members finding someone who would be willing to write it.

Each of the collaborators will be provided a grant of 450 Euros .

Application process: To apply for this opportunity please send a brief description, of no more than two pages, of the webinar series how you will design it. Please indicate title and main topics addressed in each webinar and the reason why these are important for community psychology scholars, activists, and practitioners. 

Please also provide a brief motivation letter, describing why you are applying for this opportunity and how this role aligns with and contribute to your academic/professional values and trajectory, and what you are looking to learn from it.

Applications from Black and ethnic minoritised students are particularly welcome.

Applications should be sent via email to ecpa.psychassociation@gmail.com by Friday 22nd September 2023, 24:00h CET. Any application arrived after that deadline will not be considered.

A Committee will assess existing applications and candidates will be informed of their outcomes by 16th October 2023

For any query contact: ecpa.psychassociation@gmail.com 

9 ICCP 2022

Community Regeneration

Bonds and bridges among people and environments

ECPA is partner of the 9 ICCP Conference that will take place this year in Naples from September 21 to September 24

The call for papers is still open (June 10, the final deadline) as well as the opportunity to benefit from reduced fees.

Don’t stall, take a look at the Conference website and organize your trip to Naples. And yes, you can also attend online, but if we may make a suggestion….take the opportunity to benefit from a conference of great scientific and applied interest and enjoy the beauty of a unique city in the world. Why not take advantage of all the benefits? Naples, Italian and European community psychology are waiting for you.

Visit the conference website https://9iccpnaples.com/

Conference Community Psychology in Slovakia

Schermo per videoconferenza con un gruppo di persone Vettore gratuito
Affari vettore creata da upklyak – it.freepik.com

The conference is scheduled online for the 29 and the 30 November 2021.

Use the following link to attend the conference: join us on teams

See the program here

And do not forget that on November, 30 from 4pm to 6pm (CET time) we will have the General Assembly of European Community Psychology Association (ECPA) 

25th of November: International Day for the Elimination of Gender Violence against women and girls

ECPA (European Association of Community Psychologists) and EFPA Community Psychology standing committee, join the UN in celebrating the 25th of November as a worldwide International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women and propose and propose all EFPA members and affiliated associations to join them.

Psychological consequences of gender violence are sometimes more serious than its physical effects. The experience of continuing abuse erodes women’s self esteem and increases the risk of a variety
of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder, suicide, self harm, cutting, alcohol and drug abuse, and other forms of distress, and reduced confidence in parenting skills (i.e., lack of emotional support for their children and responding adequately to their needs).

Psychologists are active in psychological assessment, risk evaluation and support of women and girls who have been victimized by gender violence and work also with children who witness domestic violence, and the orphans of femicide (Carnevale et al., 2020). 

With a focus on preventive interventions, psychologists actively participate in programmes to prevent violence in schools promoting gender equality education in behaviour and socio-emotional education; preventive interventions are offered also in the community, targeting sport clubs and youth organizations. They also work with young offenders and bullies, considering that some of the offenders themselves might have also been victimized. 

Psychologists also support volunteer work and organizations against violence, providing consultation, training and supporting the organization of self-help and advocacy groups and coordinated community response. They provide research based evidence for the advancement of support services and community initiatives that can contribute to the survivor’s empowerment and recovery (Albanesi et al., under review, Shorey, et al. 2014).

Psychology Professionals play major roles in emergency units, crisis intervention houses and other support services in many European countries, and have a central role in judicial procedures, including juvenile courts, criminal and civil courts for their expertise in legal psychology, especially required in procedural and regulatory requirements against perpetrators of violence involving families, including children and youth. Finally, psychologists play a role in juvenile and adult prisons, with their diagnostic and therapeutic-reparative function towards detained offenders.

EFPA points out the importance of giving health professionals, both in hospital settings and in general practice, the skills and training to increase their awareness and understanding of the forms and dynamics of domestic violence and gender violence, and to develop procedures for handling such cases in the most effective way (Di Napoli et al., 2019; Procentese et al., 2020).

Appropriate tools for violence screening and intervention are still lacking in most health facilities, especially in emergency departments where the largest number of women victims of violence by intimate partners are observed, but where medical observations are limited to assessing only physical damages (Glass et al., 2001; Sprague et al., 2016).

Psychologists could have more prominent roles in the emergency departments (ED) where women come with severe injuries. Here the link between injuries and domestic violence is rarely recognised (Matoori, Khurana, Balcom et al., 2020). 

Recent reviews (Sprague et al., 2018; Ogbe et al., 2020) suggest that training programmes, and the use of  shared procedures and protocols  between different stakeholders (e.g. police forces, justice authorities, health and social services, support services etc.) relating to identifying and managing assault cases, and injury screening have significant effects on the identification of abused women and on a correct response to their needs. The psychological report in cases of domestic violence is useful for identifying and predicting domestic violence and its effects on health.  

European psychologists mark this UN international day in all professional circumstances; association, training, clinical and social service, welfare, educational and prevention projects and interventions.

Psychologists have a role in supporting social, education and health personnel who take care of victims of violence in recognition of their competences in working for the constitution of safe and respectful environments where women can freely express themselves. 

Psychologists have appropriate tools to plan, implement and evaluate interventions and programs to support women’s empowerment and to educate younger generations to more respectful gender relations.

Beside working to support women’s resilience during pandemic times, psychologists keep warning the institutions of the increased risks that the pandemic entails on women (e.g., stress related to work life balance, job insecurity) and on victims of domestic violence (violence escalation, reduced support), as part of their professional and civic responsibility.

As psychologists we need to be aware of the increasing risk of domestic violence in pandemic forced cohabitation and to propose measures that sustain community efforts to fight intimate domestic violence. A strong sense of community is celebrating the community’s capacity for collective help to individuals. A sense of being a resource for victims of domestic violence. 

Associations’ contact information   

Contact persons

  • Cinzia Albanesi – President of ECPA (European Community Psychology Association) 
  • Nicholas Carr – Convenor of EFPA Standing Committee on Community Psychology 
  • Caterina Arcidiacono – ECPA member and EFPA Standing Committee on Community Psychology

References

AA.VV. (2020) (special issue) Violence against women in the COVID-19 emergency, La Camera Blu, 22  http://www.camerablu.unina.it/index.php/camerablu/issue/view/513

Albanesi C., Tomasetto C., Guardabassi V. (2020) Evaluating interventions with victims of intimate partner violence: a community psychology approach (under review) BMC, Women’s Health

Autiero, M., Procentese, F., Carnevale, S., Arcidiacono, C. and Di Napoli I. (2020) Combatting Intimate Partner Violence: Representations of Social and Healthcare Personnel Working with Gender-Based Violence Interventions. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5543; doi:10.3390/ijerph17155543 

Bjørnholt, M. (2019). The social dynamics of revictimization and intimate partner violence: an embodied, gendered, institutional and life course perspective. Nordic Journal of Criminology, 20(1), 90. doi:10.1080/14043858.2019.1568103 

Carnevale, S.; Di Napoli, I.; Esposito, C.; Arcidiacono, C.; Procentese, F. Children Witnessing Domestic Violence in the Voice of Health and Social Professionals Dealing with Contrasting Gender Violence. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 4463. [CrossRef] [PubMed] 

Di Napoli, I., Procentese, F., Carnevale, S., Esposito, C. & Arcidiacono, C. (2019). Ending Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Locating Men at Stake: An Ecological Approach. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1652; doi:10.3390/ijerph16091652 

Glass, N., Dearwater, S., & Campbell, J. (2001). Intimate partner violence screening and intervention: data from eleven Pennsylvania and California community hospital emergency departments. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 27(2), 141-149.

Hauge, M. I., & Kiamanesh, P. (2019). Mothering and everyday life during and in the aftermath of domestic violence among women with immigrant backgrounds in Norway. Child & Family Social Work. doi:10.1111/cfs.12710

Matoori, S., Khurana, B., Balcom, M.C. et al. Intimate partner violence crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic: how can radiologists make a difference? Eur Radiol 30, 6933–6936 (2020). https://doi-org.ezproxy.unibo.it/10.1007/s00330-020-07043-w

Ogbe, E., Harmon, S., Van den Bergh, R., & Degomme, O. (2020). A systematic review of intimate partner violence interventions focused on improving social support and/mental health outcomes of survivors. PLoS one, 15(6), e0235177.

Procentese F., Fasanelli R., Carnevale S., Esposito C., Pisapia N., Arcidiacono C., and Di Napoli I.,(2020) Downside: The Perpetrator of Violence in the Representations of Social and Health Professionals. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 7061; doi:10.3390/ijerph17197061

Shorey, R. C., Tirone, V., & Stuart, G. L. (2014). Coordinated community response components for victims of intimate partner violence: A review of the literature. Aggression and violent behavior, 19(4), 363-371.

Sprague, S., Swaminathan, A., Slobogean, G. P., Spurr, H., Arseneau, E., Raveendran, L., … & Bhandari, M. (2018). A scoping review of intimate partner violence educational programs for health care professionals. Women & health, 58(10), 1192-1206.

Sprague, S., Slobogean, G. P., Spurr, H., McKay, P., Scott, T., Arseneau, E., … & Swaminathan, A. (2016). A scoping review of intimate partner violence screening programs for health care professionals. PloS one, 11(12), e0168502.

Other useful resources:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/05/brief-prevention-violence-against-women-and-girls-and-covid-19

https://eige.europa.eu/gender-based-violence/risk-assessment-risk-management

Personal and community story telling in Covid-19 time

The community psychology lab of the University of Naples is collecting stories about Covid-19 lockdown among university students, in collaboration with many other Italian Universities. If you are based in Europe and you are interested in joining the research the University of Naples is willing to expand its collaborations. The research is now going on also in Barcelona (Spain) and Buenos Aires (Argentina).  The Community psychology lab of the University of Naples is willing to share the template and to provide a platform and technical support.

The template includes the following: Referring to this recent lockdown give a careful description of a) One of your  emotions or of some of people who live with you that you will share  b) One of your thoughts connected to the lockdown experience that you will describe and share c) A significant event related to your life,  to people around your, or more generally to the whole globe in these circumstances that you will share. d) A positive or negative action  that you think significant to focalise and to share e) What is the lesson I learned?  Expectations, hope and desires for the post COVID19 era. f) An opportunity or a difficult related to online teaching and to your activities as a university student?

If you want to know more write to caterina.arcidiacono@unina.it

Service learning in higher education

Service Learning and Campus Community Partnerships are well known in some places; elsewhere it will be a relatively new approach to teaching in Higher Education.

Service Learning facilitates academic teaching in collaboration with civil society – teaching that is practically oriented, linked to research, connected to real societal challenges, and aims to develop innovative solutions.

Based on the experience of more than 50 universities and colleges in Germany and Europe, this card deck represents the tacit knowledge and collective wisdom of how to implement successfully Service Learning and Campus Community Partnerships in Higher Education.

For more information visit here.