How Community Psychology Enhances Celebrations for All

Everyone has been waiting all year for the festive season to come. They are burning crackers, gifting each other, singing songs and enjoying the event. But little Isha is uncomfortable. The music from the loudspeaker next door is making her shiver, as she clutches her ears tight. Think for yourself of a celebration that everyone joins in.

Now imagine being unable to enjoy yourself because you can’t enter, or can’t hear the music or find a safe space to rest. Would it still be fun and memorable for you? Community psychology aims to bridge this gap and emphasises the importance of accessibility to all, even when we as individuals let issues pass because they aren’t relevant to us. 

What is Community Psychology? 

“Community psychology is concerned with the many ways that individual lives and well-being are inextricably interwoven with social systems and collective well-being. Community psychology is interdisciplinary, with multiple ties to social, organisational, developmental and clinical psychology, and with fields such as human development, community development, public health, applied sociology, applied anthropology, gender and cultural studies, and education.”(APA, 2013) 

Barriers to Accessible Celebration 

1. Physical Barriers

This includes accessibility to “built” spaces, i.e physical spaces. This could include anything like houses, sidewalks, open spaces around buildings, roads, drainage systems, parks, transport services, poor electricity and similar situations. Ensuring that these Physical spaces, along with further assistive environments, are available, even for people with certain disabilities, is a need so that even someone with mobility limitations feels included. (Banda-Chalwe et al., 2014). E.g.: Lack of open grounds for Diwali celebration. 

2. Social Barriers

“Stereotypical attitudes of pre-judging an individual with a disability regardless of academic qualifications and skills, the perception by potential employers that a person with a disability could not be productive or attend an interview were prejudices which had contributed to PWML in Zambia not gaining or seeking employment.” (Banda-Chalwe et al., 2014). Many times, stereotypical beliefs of the people around the marginalised individual or community become a cause of inaccessibility. E.g.: A person with certain disabilities is not being invited to a festival. 

3. Psychological Barriers

The marginalised individual’s behaviour and attitudes towards themselves are even more important than the societal ones. When they actively raise their voices, provide mutual support to other marginalised individuals or communities, it drives collective efforts towards social change (Banda-Chalwe et al., 2014). E.g.: A marginalised person refusing to go out and enjoy during a puja. 

4. Structural Barriers

The negative attitudes and stereotypes towards marginalised communities are not just limited to the public, but also often invade government departments. The lack of marginalised voices in authority spaces often leads to ignorance of their issues. Additionally, lack of knowledge of marginalised individuals’ issues and needs makes accessibility even more difficult (Banda-Chalwe et al., 2014). 

Consequences of Inaccessibility 

1. Lack of participation: The inaccessibility of necessary facilities results in lesser participation of the members of a marginalised group, further lessening their representation and driving them away from mainstream society and media. 
2. Feeling of exclusion: The lack of access to facilities that others enjoy makes marginalized people have a sense of being excluded from the group. It makes them feel as if they are not being considered as part of the in-group. 
3. Shame: Being faced with a lack of accessibility, increased discrimination, furthermore exclusion, added with the inability to contribute as much to society as others leads marginalised individuals to have feelings of guilt, shame, loss of respect for oneself and questioning their self-worth and dignity. 
4. Invisibility and alienation: The lack of improvement efforts is not just from society. But even the government and other authority figures lead to a feeling of invisibility and alienation.

Read More: The Importance of Dignity in Life

Role of Community Psychology: Bridging the Gap 

1. Participatory design: Community-based participatory research is an innovative system that promotes equitable involvement of community members, researchers and stakeholders in the decision-making and other relevant processes (Wallerstein & Duran, 2006). It addresses disparities and works to bring positive change. 
2. Contextual approach: They aim to understand and assess social issues within the present context of a particular individual or community’s environment and try to find relevant solutions. They actively involve practical ways to understand the needs of marginalised communities as well as the issues they face (Jimenez et al., 2019). 
3. Building social capital: Social capital encourages collaborative working, even in times of disaster, provides information and supports cleanup, reconstruction and other efforts (Xiong et al., 2024). Community psychologists work to encourage local collaboration between NGOs, municipalities and community centres, fostering collective ownership of accessibility. 
4. Facilitating communication: Community psychology promotes social interactions and encourages collective awareness and knowledge of societal issues (Francescato, 2020). 
5. Policy advocacy: Community psychologists conduct research and surveys to understand the problems of a given community, and based on the data obtained, advocate for policy by collaborating with policymakers (Maton, 2004). 

Read More: Social Psychology: The Landscape of Human Interaction

Conclusion 

Community psychology is a branch of psychology mainly concerned with individuals and their living and well-being in communities. Marginalised communities are constantly faced with various barriers in their physical, social, psychological as well and structural settings. These lead the marginalised individuals and communities to a feeling of exclusion, shame, invisibility, alienation and their lesser involvement in societal functions.

This is where the role of community psychology comes in, where it actively promotes participatory design, contextual approach towards problems and solutions, collaboration and social capital building, facilitating communication and policy advocacy. Only the collective efforts of the public and the state can solve these issues.

FAQs 

1. What is community psychology? 

Community psychology is a branch of psychology mainly concerned with individuals and their living and well-being in communities. 

2. What are the barriers to accessible celebrations? 

Marginalised communities are constantly faced with various barriers in their physical, social, psychological as well and structural settings. 

3. What is the community psychology’s role in making Celebrations Accessible?

Community psychology actively promotes participatory design, a contextual approach towards problems and solutions, collaboration and social capital building, facilitating communication and policy advocacy. 

References +

Shinn, M. (2015). Community psychology and the capabilities approach. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(8), 1017-1028. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21710

Xiong, A. (2024). The role of social capital in building community disaster resilience: A case study of flood management. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 92, [Article 108093]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.108093

“Community research – an overview.” (n.d.). In ScienceDirect Topics: Social Sciences. Elsevier. Retrieved [date you accessed], from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/community-research

Collins, S. E., Clifasefi, S. L., Stanton, J., The Leap Advisory Board, Straits, K. J. E., Gil-Kashiwabara, E., Rodriguez Espinosa, P., Nicasio, A. V., Andrasik, M. P., Hawes, S. M., Miller, K. A., Nelson, L. A., Orfaly, V. E., Duran, B. M., & Wallerstein, N. (2018). Community-based participatory research (CBPR): Towards equitable involvement of community in psychology research. The American psychologist, 73(7), 884–898. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000167 

Banda-Chalwe, M., Nitz, J. C., & de Jonge, D. (2014). Impact of inaccessible spaces on community participation of people with mobility limitations in Zambia. African journal of disability, 3(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v3i1.33