You are at the point in the course where you have gained a great understanding of community psychology, its principles and application. Your task in this assignment is to review information presented to the general public concerning prevention and promotion of a social issue. You may want to use this assignment to help you prepare for your Signature Assignment as well.
Many national prevention and promotion public awareness campaigns have an abundance of material available to the general public. For example, the Red Cross not only has a web site, but it also has local, national and international offices. It often distributes its pamphlets to doctors offices, hospitals and local emergency response agencies. The same holds true for the American Cancer Society. Your community may have a number of outreach programs as well, addressing such issues as homelessness, domestic violence, literacy, etc.
Once you have decided on what campaign and organization you would like to examine for this assignment, collect a sample of its outreach materials. You also will need to look for media coverage of the campaign; newspaper and magazine articles, video clips and web sites all may have information of value to you for this assignment. As you collect your materials, remember to keep track of the source and context of the work.
Review the material and address the following questions in an essay to form an analysis of the effectiveness of the selected prevention/promotion campaign:
What is the purpose of the work? Does it discuss a community or social issue that could be addressed by prevention/promotion initiatives? Or does it report on a specific prevention/promotion intervention?
If a prevention/promotion intervention is described, what protective processes is the program trying to strengthen? What risk processes is the program trying to weaken?
What population is being focused on? How were particular participants chosen? Some criteria may include age, gender, race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status or class, urban/suburban/rural location or geographic area, nation, or historical/political/cultural context.
What social systems are involved–health care (includes prenatal/ birth/postnatal care), parents/families, peers, schools, religious settings, workplaces, leisure/recreational, community organizations, media/Internet/cyberspace, other?
What ecological level or levels of analysis does the article address–Individual, microsystems, organizations, localities, and/or macrosystems? What specific persons or groups does it address at that level? Is it targeted at the right level(s)?
If a prevention/promotion intervention is described, does it respond to a planned or predictable life situation (such as an education-related transition) or to an unpredictable life event (a reaction to a stressful or crisis event, such as divorce, bereavement, unemployment)?
Does the article focus on a wider community or social issue, such as poverty, social injustice, prejudice, or drugs? How might small wins thinking be applicable in prevention/promotion efforts on that issue?
If a prevention/promotion intervention was conducted, who planned it? How much were various constituencies and stakeholders involved? At what points? Were the persons most affected by decisions made in this program involved in making those decisions? Was there sufficient sensitivity to cultural and contextual factors?
How was the intervention implemented? Where? By whom? Under what conditions? When was it carried out? How often? Over what period of time? Did the program developers check to see if the program was actually implemented as planned?
What is the evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention? What are the sources of that evidence?
Which of the objectives were clearly met? Not met? Met partially? Did it have an impact on the wider community? How?
Was the intervention implemented in multiple settings or contexts? Was it effective in all settings?
Are you convinced that the authors interpretations or organizations claims of effectiveness are true? Why or why not?
What are the most important things you think can be learned from what you read? What important questions does it raise?
Length: 5-7 pages
Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts that are presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to the topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be careful to adhere to Northcentrals Academic Integrity Policy.
