Social Justice and Social Innovation

Social justice refers to the "fair and equitable allocation of bargaining power, resources, and obligations in society" (Prilleltensky & Nelson, 1997, p.168). In many ways, social justice may be the value that most strongly distinguishes community psychology from traditional forms of psychology. It seems that one of the main tasks that face community psychologists is the improvement of oppressed people’s quality of life. However, Prilleltensky and Nelson (1997) argued that the principle of social justice has not been incorporated into the research and practices of community psychologists as well as it ought to have. Our challenge is to dramatically reduce the gap between our rhetoric and our reality.

 Community psychologists generally recognise that complex social and psychological issues require complex responses. Often many levels of change (e.g., personal, group, organizational, community) need to be addressed simultaneously. As a consequence, social innovation is a valued and respected component of a community psychologists’ practice. The status quo will only be challenged by taking risks.

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