Community Action Research

Book excerpt: Discover how to better help those in your community in need of services Community Action Research comprehensively explores models for community action research, incorporating quantitative and qualitative research to highlight the advantages to community members as well as the volunteers/paraprofessionals who implement the services. Respected experts present the latest research on the fulfillment of the needs of community members as well as the benefits to the volunteers and paraprofessionals, including psychological empowerment, psychological sense of community, and other facets of personal development. Community Action Research is helpfully organized into two sections. The first section presents a sample of empirical studies that examines whether community action research demonstrated benefits for community members. The second section provides empirical studies that show the positive impact of community action research on the personal development of volunteers and paraprofessionals who provided the research-related services. This detailed text is carefully referenced and uses several tables to enhance understanding of research data. Community Action Research discusses: the Adolescent Diversion Project as an alternative to juvenile court home-based behavior modification programs for autistic children the People Awakening Project and the role paraprofessionals played in Alaska Native sobriety a crime prevention project launched by a residential neighborhood association the Actual Community Empowerment Reading Program which utilized community members as literacy tutors the Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale’s reliability and validity the Hawaiian Studies Program’s weekly participation in community service-learning exercises and more! Community Action Research is insightful reading for psychologists, sociologists, social workers, criminal justice researchers and professionals, community counselors, practitioners and researchers in community prevention and intervention, clinical supervisors, service learning specialists, educators, students, and mental health and human services program administrators, planners, or evaluators.