Evolving Prosocial and Sustainable Neighborhoods and Communities

Abstract

In this chapter, we review randomized controlled trials of community interventions to affect health. The evidence supports the efficacy of community interventions for preventing tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; several recent trials have shown the benefits of community interventions for preventing multiple problems of young people, including antisocial behavior. However, the next generation of community intervention research needs to reflect more fully the fact that most psychological and behavioral problems of humans are inter-related and result from the same environmental conditions. The evidence supports testing a new set of comprehensive community interventions that focus on increasing nurturance in communities. Nurturing communities will be ones in which families, schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces (a) minimize biologically and socially toxic events, (b) richly reinforce prosocial behavior, and (c) foster psychological acceptance. Such interventions also have the potential to make neighborhoods more sustainable.

Marketing Behavior Analysis Requires (Really) Different Talk: A Critique of Kohn (2005) and a(Nother) call to Arms

“…One means by which behavior analysis may be viewed more positively by psychological scientists is to increase our role in interdisciplinary inquiry, broadly defined. There are at least three relevant tactics: (a) present the power of behavioral principles and philosophy in a broader way (e.g., DeGrandpre, 2000), (b) highlight better our research accomplishments that bear directly on the socially significant topics of interest in other research areas (e.g., Hayes et al, 2001;Heal & Hanley, 2007;Tiger et al, 2006), and (c) directly collaborate with these other researchers (e.g., Biglan, Brennan, Foster, & Holder, 2004;Biglan & Hinds, 2009;Komro, Flay, & Biglan, 2011).…”

“…The work of Biglan and his colleagues (e.g., Biglan et al, 2004;Biglan & Hinds, 2009;Komro et al, 2011) exemplifies the synthesis of behavior-analytic research and theorizing with other psychological approaches in addressing many key issues in child and adolescent development. Their framework for creating nurturing environments (e.g., Komro et al, 2011) incorporating such a wide range of environmental factors (e.g., family, school, and social influences) and outcome variables (cognitive, social/emotional, behavioral, and health) illustrates the weaknesses in Kohn.…”

Contributions of Behavioral Systems Science to Leadership for a New Progressive Movement

“…The world's poor are increasingly besieged by extreme forms of structural violence, primarily as a result of the rise of unconstrained corporate capitalism and the relative weakening of the state within the global economy (Biglan 2015;Biglan & Hinds 2009;Davis 2006;Farmer 2003;Hedges and Sacco 2012). Farmer's definition of structural violence describes structural arrangements that privilege some, while denying others-the poor, people of color, women, and children, for example-elementary freedoms or leaving them at high risk for serious illness, injury, or early death, characterizing these as Bpathologies of power^(title page).…”

Poverty: third wave behavioral approaches

“…If this is the case, then the treatment of poverty and inequality itself seems to be important. However, some have noted that clinical psychology specifically and forms of individual and group therapy more generally can be limited in the face of such challenge [38][39][40]. Indeed the area of community psychology grew up partly in response to these concerns.…”

“…While developing advocacy programs may seem far removed from the more traditional work of the ACT therapist, it is important to note that this work is guided by the same framework: functional contextualism [8,39,48]. Also, while the above section tends to focus on poverty in the developed world, it is hopefully clear how a focus on organizational behavior could be applied to global poverty.…”