Heather Gridley (Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia)
When I received the invitation from ACP Editor Rachael Fox to write this guest editorial marking the publication of Volume 30 of the Australian Community Psychologist, I was overwhelmed by the poignancy of its timing. Unbeknownst to Rachael, I had just attended the memorial service the previous day for the journal’s inaugural Editor, Dr Arthur Veno, who died on August 24, 2019. His health had taken a battering in recent years, and he died just a few months after his wife Liz who had been living with cancer for a long time. We were fortunate that Art came along to a couple of community psychology events in the last 18 months and caught up with a number of old friends - he spoke to the students present about the legacy of generations in the community psychology family that they would be taking forward. So I’m taking the liberty of dedicating much of this editorial to Art Veno.
Art is remembered fondly by those who knew him, whether from his early days in Australia in the 70s and 80s, as a teacher and mentor at Monash Gippsland, from the extraordinary 'mobile social justice' trips to the Maralinga and Yarrabah Aboriginal communities that he organised in the early 90s, from his work with 'outlaw' motor cycle groups that saw him shift his focus from psychology to criminology, or from his adoption of Quaker philosophy and practices. He was the recipient of the inaugural APS College of Community Psychologists Award of Distinction in 2007 - the College has only made five such awards in the 15 years since they were established by the APS across all nine Colleges. Art was an obvious choice for the Award because of his foundational and leadership roles in the College (then Board), and also for his work in promoting Australian Indigenous psychology. The Award also recognised Arthur’s mentoring role to students and practitioners over the years. A few of his achievements are listed below:
- He taught Community and Social Psychology from 1985-1994 at Monash University.
- He was National Chair of the APS Board (now College) of Community Psychologists from 1987-1990.
- From 1984-1989, he was Editor of the first editions of Network: The Bulletin of the Board of Community Psychologists, now published online as The Australian Community Psychologist.
- In 1990 and 1993, he organized workshops involving extensive travel to Aboriginal communities for the Board, and became the inaugural (acting) convener of the APS Interest Group on Aboriginal Issues
- In 1992, he joined forces with David Thomas in New Zealand to edit a joint Community Psychology textbook which was the first non-United States book in the area.
Arthur’s own blending of research and action exemplified best practice in applied community psychology. His work with the policing of motorcycle groups represents one of the most innovative early applications of Community Psychology theory to an Australian community context, and saw him win several state and national awards for peace and violence prevention. In sum, Arthur's deep commitment to community psychology earned him a place of regard as one of our elders. He made a truly substantial, though often unorthodox, contribution to the profession and discipline, all in the context of enhancing community wellbeing.
But back to the caterpillar-to-butterfly story of Network’s metamorphosis from print newsletter to refereed journal to online open access publication as The Australian Community Psychologist. Art Veno produced the first issue of Network from the photocopier at Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education in Churchill, Victoria (now a campus of Federation University, via 20+ years as Monash Gippsland).
The early issues combined newsletter items with feature articles from local and overseas contributors. It was a vehicle to establish a distinct approach to the discipline,... with special issues over the years on areas as diverse as peace psychology, community mental health, and the impacts of tourism (Gridley, Fisher, Thomas, & Bishop, 2007, 3).
There were five issues in 1986 (Vol 2) and four in 1987 (Vol 3). A fascinating inclusion in Volume 2 (2) was the offer of a ‘Pre Publications’ service:
With the publication lag of major psychological journals being upward of 18 months, journal readers often read articles after they are up to 2 years old. To further facilitate the networking of members’ current research and projects, this column is designed alleviate this problem by implementing a pre-publication service for readers. If anyone has recently had an article accepted for publication, please forward a copy of the abstract, article and relevant publication and pre-print details to the editor. The following authors have agreed to make their articles available to interested members of the Board of Community Psychology, either gratis or at cost. Please send your request directly to the senior author or to the person indicated (Veno, 1986, p.12).
The offer was taken up over the next few issues by a number of internationally renowned community psychology researchers, including Art himself – all by snail mail, years before the internet and social media made open access and pre-publication promotions possible.
Succeeding Arthur Veno at the end of 1989 was Des Hatchard from Latrobe University College Bendigo. Making the case for the newsletter to be upgraded to refereed Bulletin status, Des noted that by that time, the newsletter had ‘established [a] national and a growing international reputation for its quality articles (and occasional humorous sallies)’ (Hatchard, 1989, p.1). Des’s first issue at the helm, Volume 5 (2), was one of the most memorable, and probably most widely read, across all thirty volumes. Devoted to the theme of Peace Psychology, it was guest edited by Ann Sanson, Convenor of Psychologists for the Prevention of War (now Psychologists for Peace) – how’s this for a Table of Contents:
- Conflict Management and the prevention of war - Connie Peck.
- Growing Up in a Violent World - Ann Sanson & Margot Prior
- The Relevance of Experimental Social Dilemma Research to Understanding the Arms Race - Jenni Rice
- Teaching Skills to Resolve Conflict - Lyn Littlefield, Eleanor H. Wertheim & Anthony Love
- Explaining the Nuclear Paradox - Michael le Grande
In 1992 the National Committee of the Board of Community Psychologists moved to Western Australia, and Network accompanied it across the Nullarbor to be edited by Brian Bishop. And there it stayed for the next 25 years/21 volumes. Volume 8 (1993) comprised three issues, including a special rural issue edited by Anna Shadbolt with papers drawn from a 1991 symposium in Albury-Wodonga. Interestingly, one of the contributions was from a ‘rural consultant’ named Cathy McGowan, better known now as the ground-breaking former independent Federal Member for Indi (2013-10). Her credentials as a ‘Voice for Indi’ were already evident in her paper: ‘Co-operative ways of working in communities: What does it mean for young people?’ (McGowan, 1993, 7).
Volume 9 in 1994 saw the word ‘Newsletter’ replaced by ‘Journal’ on the Network cover, together with an ISSN number. This was the first Indigenous issue, following the International Year of Indigenous Peoples in 1993. The journal has produced several such issues in subsequent volumes, with increasing degrees of input and editorial control on the part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and sometimes Maori authors.
The move to Western Australia meant a distinct shift towards emerging areas of focus such as rural-urban transition, environmental degradation, perceptions of procedural fairness in government decision-making, and the identification of localised, ‘home-grown’ approaches to social impact assessment, community participation, place-based research and intervention, and psychological sense of community in multicultural contexts. As Brian Bishop argued in his editorial for Volume 8 (3):
Community psychological theory needs to be grounded in the community. The community needs to be involved in setting both the research methodologies and the research questions. Without this input, community psychology could become yet another sterile field of academic nonsense (Bishop, 1993, ii).
Production of Network faltered in the late 1990s, with just one issue (Volume 11, 1997) between 1996 and 1999. That issue was edited by the late Mark Rapley, then based at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. Mark subsequently moved to Western Australia (Murdoch University, then to Edith Cowan), and so Network returned with him but the editorship eventually passed to Neil Drew and the team at Edith Cowan University, which provided lifesaving publication support coming into the new millennium. By now Network was in A4 format and had picked up the formidable subtitle of The Official Journal of the Australian Psychological Society College of Community Psychologists. (I have often wondered what unofficial imposters might be lurking somewhere in the publications universe, but the descriptor has stuck fast and now attaches to Network’s successor, the Australian Community Psychologist).
Volumes 12-17 spanned the early 2000s and included a number of themed issues such as the 2002 issue on Disability, edited by Meg Smith, as well as special ‘proceedings’ issues of the 2001 and 2003 Trans-Tasman Conferences in Community Psychology, held in Melbourne and Perth respectively. The production quality of these issues was particularly impressive, with a specially designed swirly purple cover that looked to me like a vat of milk chocolate. In a seemingly seamless relay, editorship was rolled over to and shared between Neil Drew. Lynne Cohen, Dawn Darlaston-Jones, and later, Anne Sibbel, Lauren Breen at Curtin University and Sharon McCarthy at the University of Notre Dame, WA right up until the handover to a new editor and team in a new location at the beginning of 2018. Special credit must go to Anne Sibbel who created the layout and formatted the content for the first online issue of ACP in April 2006, and has acted as Production Editor almost continuously since that time.
Ushering in a ‘new name, a new look, and new directions’ as co-editors of the first issue of the Australian Community Psychologist, Dawn Darlaston-Jones and Lynne Cohen declared:
This is the time for new voices, and new ways of working to emerge within our discipline, it is time to revitalise and renew, and celebrate the partnerships we share with our communities (Darlaston-Jones & Cohen, 2006, 5).
The pendulum of the journal’s content has swung over time between predominantly Australian contributions to an international spread from North America, occasionally Asia, the UK and Europe, and increasingly within the southern hemisphere from Aotearoa New Zealand and South Africa as well as Australia. The earliest issues of the newsletter contained a mix of news, reviews and reprints of articles from international luminaries such as Seymour Sarason and Shulamit Reinharz. But as the field expanded within Australia, Network was able to draw with greater confidence on Australian contributions, often with an Indigenous focus, and these remained the predominant content as it progressed to refereed journal status. When Network became an open access online journal there was something of a swing back of the pendulum as it was now easier to solicit and receive manuscripts electronically, and the journal’s increased exposure and enhanced reputation made it an attractive target for submissions. Conversely, in the age of impact factors that downgrade and work to exclude local content, it becomes more and more difficult for place-based research on (small-i) indigenous and Indigenous topics to be published in international journals, and so ACP could become the publication of choice for such authors, while being bypassed for higher impact publications by more empowered or entitled authors. Time will tell, but we are exceedingly proud of having reached our thirtieth volume, and remain committed to honouring the legacy and vision of Arthur Veno when he launched Network back in 1984.
References
Bishop, B. (1993). Editorial. Network, 8(3), ii.
Darlaston-Jones, D. & Cohen, L. (2006). From Network to the Australian Community Psychologist: A new name, a new look, and new directions. Australian Community Psychologist (formerly Network), 18(1), 5.
Gridley, H., Fisher, A., Thomas, DR., & Bishop, B. (2007). The development of Community Psychology in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Australian Psychologist, 42(1), 15-22.
Hatchard, D. (1989). Editorial. Australian Community Psychologist, 5(2), 1.
McGowan, C. (1993). Co-operative ways of working in communities: What does it mean for young people? Network, 8(1), 7-1 3.
Veno, A. (Ed.). (1986). Pre-prints. Network, 2(2), 12.