Burgmann, V. (1993). Power and protest: Movements for change in Australian society. St Leonards, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin.

A very well written, comprehensive and interesting overview of five new social movements within Australia; - the Black, Women’s, Gay and Lesbian, Peace and Green movements are included. The book explains the process and organisation of political and social action, and discusses how unions and working class power is an important force in any social movement.

Herman, J.L. (1992). Trauma and Recovery: From domestic abuse to political terror. NY: Pandora.

Herman’s book has become the Bible for people working with survivors of abuse among my colleagues. Herman poignantly challenges a number of psychiatric orthodoxies and places abuse firmly within a sociopolitical context. This book emphasizes that healing from abuse requires an integrated response from the individual and their community.

Kohn, A. (1992). No Contest: The case against competition. NY: Houghton Mifflin

If it came to the crunch, this would probably be my favourite book of all time. Kohn beautifully debunks the commonly held myths about competition (e.g., competition builds character and motivates us to do our best) using a mass of research. He then provides viable alternatives that, if adopted, would dramatically transform the quality of our communities. Please read it and spread the word.

Newbrough, J.R. (1997). Community psychology: A new gestalt psychology. In R. Fuller., P. Noonan Walsh., & P. McGinley (Eds.). A century of psychology: Progress, paradigms, and prospects for the new millenium. (pp. 139-155). London: Routledge.

This article was a rare find as it was tucked away in a book on psychology in general. It contains good sections on the phases, methodology and principles of community psychology and describes the nature of the connection of community psychology with gestalt psychology. The discussion on human science as an alternative to logical positivism is extremely interesting as is the conclusion, which suggests that community psychology can be at the forefront in the development of a new human science.

Orford, J. (1992). Community psychology: Theory and practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

This book consists of six chapters on the theory and five chapters on the practice of community psychology. Although the whole book is useful, the first chapter on what community psychology is and the second chapter on theories of the person in context are interesting and essential reading for newcomers to community psychology.

Wachtel, P.L. (1989). The Poverty of Affluence: A psychological portrait of the American Way of Life. Philadelphia, PA: New society Publishers.

This is a timeless piece. No other book I have read has challenged the ideologies of economic growth and consumption as succinctly and has demonstrated the destructive psychological and community-based effects of ‘market forces’ so vividly. Unfortunately I fear that it will still be relevant in 100 years.

This is a pretty short list, if you wish to add an annotation that would be of interest to community psychology students and others, please send it via the Feedback Form:

Back to Home Page