COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY (48.340) SPRING 2011
TTh 2-3:15 pm Bakeless 304
Dr. James Dalton
Email: jdalton@bloomu.edu
In this course you will study theory, research and practice in community psychology, the area of psychology
concerned with the relationships between individuals and communities. This includes how social and
community contexts influence individuals and how citizens can change communities.
I will emphasize critical thinking, group discussion, community service, awareness of human diversity
and social injustice, and applying course concepts to community and social issues.
This course requires 10 hours of acceptable community service, and a paper that integrates what you
learned from that service with concepts from the course.
PREREQUISITES: General Psychology (48.101), Basic Statistics (48.160), and Experimental Methods
(48.281), all with a minimum grade of C. Without these, you must have my permission to take the course.
TEXTBOOK
Dalton, J., Elias, M., & Wandersman, A. (2007). Community psychology: Linking individuals and communities
(2nd edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage.
[NOTE FOR SYLLABUS EXCHANGE: This textbook is now:
Kloos, B., Hill, J., Thomas, E., Elias, M., & Dalton, J. (2011). Community psychology: Linking individuals
and communities (3rd edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage.]
GRADING METHODS
Test One
Test Two
Test Three
Final Exam
Community Service Paper
Attendance/Participation
Total
40 pts.
50 pts.
50 pts.
50 pts.
40 pts.
20 pts.
250 pts.
LETTER GRADE RANGES
A 225-250 pts. (90-100 %)
B+ 215-224 pts. (86-89.9 %)
B 200-214 pts. (80-85.9 %)
C+ 190-199 pts. (76-79.9 %)
C 175-189 pts. (70-75.9 %)
D 150-174 pts. (60-69.9 %)
E below 150 pts. (below 60 %)
Each test and the final exam will include multiple-choice items and an essay. All items on each test are
based on a study guide that I provide.
Separate handouts describe the Community Service Paper requirement.
See the back for course policies on attendance/participation and disruptive behavior, makeup tests, and
plagiarism.
ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION POLICY
Attendance is one of the most important requirements of your future employment. Some of your most valuable
learning in this course will come from participating in discussion and listening to what your classmates say. I assign
points for class attendance and participation on a scale of 0-20 points. Every student begins the course with 15 points on
this scale.
You are allowed TWO absences, regardless of reason. Beginning with your third absence, you lose TWO
points for each absence, regardless of reason.
You lose ONE point per class for actions that disrupt class and are disrespectful to me and to your
classmates. These actions include: arriving late, leaving early, or leaving the room during class; being inattentive: e.g.,
reading, copying notes or other tasks, sleeping; holding private conversations, cell phone use or texting, eating in class, or
other class disruptions. (You may bring something QUIET to drink in class if you wish, but no eating is allowed.) At my
discretion, I will subtract up to all 20 points for especially disrespectful behavior in class or during out-of-class contacts
with me.
You gain ONE point for each class in which you participate actively in class, through asking questions,
answering my questions, or speaking in discussion. Your participation must be constructive and meaningful to gain
credit. You cannot gain a point for participation if you also lost a point that day for any disruption in the paragraph
above.
I cannot record attendance and participation every day. I will do my best to record these often enough to give you
a fair grade on this scale. At any time, you may ask me for your current attendance/participation grade, but understand that
your grade may rise or fall by the end of the semester.
We will discuss some potentially personal issues in this class. You must decide what personal information to
reveal in class or small group discussion, and what to keep to yourself.
In discussions, speak from your own experiences. Listen respectfully to the views of others. Learn from each
other, even when your experiences and views differ.
MAKE-UP TEST POLICY
If you must miss a test, you must phone or email me BEFORE the test begins. It is your responsibility to
contact me, or you will receive a zero. Acceptable reasons for missing a test are serious illness, death in immediate
family, religious holiday, military service, or university activity.
To take a makeup, you must bring me written evidence of the reason for your absence (e.g., note from a
health professional specifying the date that you were seen, funeral notice, or letter from coach, clergy or military officer).
Makeup tests will be entirely essays and short answer items.
Any student who is late for a test may be given a makeup test, at my discretion.
PLAGIARISM POLICY
Academic honesty is a core value for psychology. I encourage you to discuss class and community experiences
with others, but your test answers and papers must be your own original work.
Cheating on tests, and use of sources (published or personal, including classmates) without citation in papers, will
be penalized. Papers that copy or paraphrase written sources (including the textbook or other students’ papers) without
citation will be considered plagiarism. Penalties for plagiarism range from a zero for the assignment to a failing grade for
the course. I may also inform the University, the Psychology Department chairperson, and your advisor of cases of
plagiarism.
By taking this course, you agree to submit the Community Service Paper to Turnitin.com for detection of
plagiarism. All papers submitted will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, solely for
the purpose detecting plagiarism of such papers. Your paper will be compared to published sources and other students’
papers, past and present. In turn, your paper will be used in the Turnitin database for comparisons with future papers.
Use of the Turnitin service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted at Turnitin.com.
COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY (48.340)
DR. DALTON SPRING 2011
CLASS SCHEDULE
Date
Chapter
Class Topic
Jan. 18, 20
1
Defining community psychology
Jan. 25, 27
2
Community psychology perspectives
Feb. 1, 3
4
Community psychology and society
TEST ONE: Thursday, February 3
Feb. 8, 10
5
Understanding settings
Community Service Plan Due: Tuesday, February 8
Feb. 15, 17
6
Concepts of community; Reenergize BU event
Feb. 22, 24
7
Concepts of community; Human diversity
Mar. 1, 3
Human diversity
Mar. 15, 17
Human diversity
TEST TWO: Thursday, March 17
Mar. 22, 24
8
Coping and social support
Mar. 29, 31
9 (handout)
Prevention and promotion
Apr. 5, 7
Prevention and promotion
Apr. 12, 14
14 (pp. 466-485) Evaluating community programs
TEST THREE: Thursday, April 14
Apr. 19, 21
11 (handout)
Power, empowerment, citizen participation
Community Service Paper and Log Due: Thursday, April 21
Apr. 26, 28
13
Community and social change
FINAL EXAM:
Tuesday, May 3, 12:30 – 2:30
Community Psychology, 48.340, Dr. James Dalton
COMMUNITY SERVICE REQUIREMENT
The purposes of this requirement are to engage you in community service experiences, to apply concepts from this class to
understand those experiences, and to strengthen your writing skills through writing a Community Service Paper
(described in a separate handout).
FINDING A COMMUNITY SERVICE SETTING
Part of your course grade is based on your completion of 10 hours of community service, in a nonprofit
community setting, performing duties that involve personal contact with clients, students, or community members other
than agency staff. If you have done this kind of personal-contact community service before, I encourage you to choose a
placement that is different from your previous service, to enhance your learning. However, if you want to use this service
to test yourself in a setting where you have never worked before, but that is similar to where you may want to work in the
future, I encourage you to do that. Most settings require a car.
Clerical duties, fundraising, and food/clothing/recycling drives are not acceptable. Choose a service experience
that involves repeated visits over several weeks, and that involves getting to know individual clients, students, or
community members other than agency staff. Completing your service in one or two days seldom provides the depth of
individual contact and knowledge of context needed to write a satisfactory paper, and grades have been significantly
lower on papers about such experiences in the past.
Choose an agency and interview with a staff member there to finalize your placement, duties, and hours. Tell
agency staff that you need to have repeated personal contact with clients or program participants in order to complete
your requirements for your paper. Make sure that you can finish your required 10 hours by the due date for the paper
and log.
Complete the Community Service Plan form and hand it in on its due date.
AT THE SETTING
Take the Community Service Log with you whenever you work in your community service setting; record your
service hours, and have it initialed by a staff member.
Behave with respect and courtesy toward every person in your community service setting. Be active in
getting to know each person as an individual, and listen to what they say. DON’T use cell phones or other
distracting devices while in the setting.
At my discretion, I may contact your setting supervisor to verify or discuss your community service.
Community Psychology, 48.340, Dr. James Dalton
REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE PAPER
You must submit your paper online through Turnitin in BOLT. You must submit the paper and have it confirmed by
Turnitin before class time on the due date. Don’t hand in a paper copy. Hand in your Community Service Log in
class on the due date. I will NOT accept late papers or logs.
I will grade your paper on how complete, specific and original it is; how well you apply community psychology
concepts; and the organization, clarity, citations, referencing, grammar and spelling of your paper. Not finishing your
required 10 hours will be penalized.
I encourage you to discuss your experiences with others, including classmates and myself. However, your paper
must be your own work. I will use Turnitin.com to review similarities of papers from different students to detect possible
plagiarism, and investigate instances at my discretion. Your paper will be saved in a repository of papers in Turnitin for
comparison with other (including future) papers.
Quoting, paraphrasing, or using someone else’s idea (whether from a published source or another student’s
paper), without proper citation, is plagiarism. Penalties for plagiarism on this paper range from a loss of points or
a zero on the paper to failing the course.
See the Plagiarism Policy on the course syllabus.
Papers must be in Microsoft Word, single-spaced with one-inch margins, in a legible font.
Do not use a title page. Instead, put only the title of your community service setting and your name, centered, at
the top of the first page of your paper.
Divide your paper into the topic sections described below. Use a left-justified, boldface, italicized heading for
each section of the paper (as I use below). Break each section into multiple paragraphs as needed. Double-space
between sections. I penalize papers with run-on sentences and paragraphs!
In the body of your paper, when you use (“use” means quoting, paraphrasing or describing in your own words)
an idea from the textbook or other source, cite that source in APA style. For the textbook, also cite the page number(s)
you used; for example: (Dalton, Elias & Wandersman, 2007, p. 43). For other sources, you don’t need to cite the page
number unless you use a quotation. Throughout the textbook, we use APA style for citations in the text and references at
the end of the book; use those as examples.
Paraphrase rather than quoting whenever possible, and use your own words as much as possible, not just changing
a few words in the middle of a quote.
If you used a website, brochure, volunteer manual, or other written resource, or a personal conversation or
interview in writing your paper, cite it in the body of your paper, in APA style. To cite interviews or conversations, give
the person’s name and approximate date, like this: (personal communication, J. Smith, March, 2010). See the APA
manual and then me for help with this.
If you refer to a specific individual person in the setting, use a pseudonym, not the person’s true name.
Confidentiality is important!
Introduction
Describe your community service setting. What is its mission? Are clients or community members served there?
If so, who is served, and how? What forms of human diversity are represented there (race/ethnicity, gender, age, social
class, ability/disability, etc.)? Where does its funding for the setting come from?
Brochures, manuals, websites, and interviews with staff for your setting are very helpful here. Cite them in the
paper and include them in the References.
In a separate paragraph, describe your responsibilities in the setting.
Personal Learning
Describe what you learned during this community service. Discuss specific experiences or incidents that were
important for your learning. Explain ways in which this experience changed your viewpoint about yourself, the setting or
the people there, or your view of community life. If you took the Suicide Prevention Training for part of your community
service, you may describe what you learned there as one part of this section. Break this section into at least two
paragraphs.
Bridging Social Capital
Describe if your service experience built bridging social capital as Putnam defines this (Chapter 6). With whom did you
build this form of social capital? How? What did you learn from that person?
[NOTE FOR SYLLABUS EXCHANGE: This section of the paper requires students to write about one or more
concepts from the course and apply them to their community service experiences. I change the concept(s) for this
section every semester, often requiring two or more. Concepts I have used in the past: community psychology core
values emphasized and not emphasized in the setting; describing a behavior setting (Barker) or activity setting
(O’Donnell), applying Kelly’s concepts of interdependence, resource exchange, adaptation, and succession; applying
elements of the McMillan-Chavis definition of psychological sense of community, or identifying if these are missing in
the setting; applying the three theoretical dimensions underlying the Moos social climate scales (personal
relationships, personal development, system maintenance/change).]
Strength of a Person in Setting
Describe a personal strength of a person you met through your community service. (I prefer to read about clients
or citizens, not staff members, but sometimes a staff member provides a good example.) Describe what you believe is a
strength of this person for coping with the challenges he or she faces in this setting. Give specific examples to illustrate
this strength. Describe social resources that contribute to this strength.
Evaluation of Community Service Setting
Evaluate the setting in terms of its value for future students in this course. Indicate what was helpful for your
learning, and what was not helpful. In a separate paragraph, suggest ways to improve community service experiences in
this setting. If you do not believe future students will benefit from service in this setting, state why.
Recommendation for Setting Change
Propose one recommendation for positive change in the way this setting or organization functions. Propose a system-level
(organizational) change that would have positive effects on individuals.
For instance, propose how members, students, or residents of the setting might have more power or participation
in decisions about how the setting operates. Or propose how rules of the organization or everyday practices of the staff
could be changed in ways that would benefit clients, students, or others. Or, if you serve by participating in a regular event
such as a recreation hour, propose how that program might be altered to benefit the individuals who attend. Or propose
how the room or physical setting where you serve could be changed to have positive psychological effects. If you served
by helping to organize an event, propose how that effort could be improved in the future. Do not propose change by one
individual; focus on how the organization or setting could change in a way that would have positive effects.
Describe in specific, behavioral terms how this change might be implemented in the setting.
References
At the end of the body of your paper, begin a new page, using the Insert Page Break command in Word. On that
new page, center the heading for References. In your reference list, include the textbook, any other published resources
you used, and agency websites, brochures, or manuals if you used these. Don’t cite personal communications in the
references. Reference all entries in APA style.
Below are examples of reference entries for agency webpages. Search the webpage for an author and date of most
recent posting. If no date is given, use (n.d.) in place of a date; N.D. means “no date”. If the webpage author and
webpage title are the same, give that as the author and omit a title (see Women’s Center entry below).
Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. (2010). Danville State Hospital. Retrieved from [give full URL of website]
The Women’s Center, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved from [give full URL of website].
SUBMITTING PAPERS TO TURNITIN IN BOLT
Submit papers in Microsoft Word to Turnitin in BOLT, by class time on the due date.
Log into BOLT, open the Community Psychology course, and follow these instructions:
1. In the horizontal menu bar in the lower part of the title area (maroon color), open Dropbox.
2. On the Dropbox Folders page, choose and open the Dropbox folder for Community Service Paper.
3. That opens the Submit Files page. Under the Submit Files section, click Add a File.
4. A dialog box will appear, asking you to choose a file to upload. Click Choose File, and choose the file from
your computer or other source to upload. Make sure that the file you upload is in Microsoft Word.
5. In the lower right corner of the dialog box, click Upload.
6. You will be returned to the main Submit Files page, and the file you uploaded will be listed there.
7. Click Submit in the lower right corner of this Submit Files page. YOUR PAPER IS NOT SUBMITTED
UNTIL YOU CLICK SUBMIT.
8. You will then view the File Upload Results page. IF your file is successfully submitted, It will list your file
name, the date and time submitted, and this message: Confirmation Email Sent Successfully.
9. That message means BOLT sent you an email confirming your submission. SAVE THAT EMAIL, to print
and show me later if necessary.
If you encounter problems, contact the BOLT Support resources in the upper right corner of your home page in
BOLT.