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Volume 30, No 1, June 2019

Let’s assume people are good: Rethinking research in community psychology

Here I argue for a community psychology based on the worth of all people and focus in particular on what that implies for those of us who do research. I discuss a hermeneutics of suspicion and methodolatry as orientations that can obscure the dignity of persons and offer a community psychology informed by humanism (CPh) as an alternative. CPh as outlined here, works from the assumption that people are good and emphasises a hermeneutics of love. Research involves the commitment to serve a community and an iterative process of working alongside that community while trusting, deepening and challenging your perspective as a researcher.  I conclude by giving two examples from my own work and offering five principles researchers may wish to consider if CPh resonates for them.

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Keywords

Community psychology, research, humanism, hermeneutics of love, hermeneutics of suspicion, methodolatry

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Author

Niki Harré
University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Author biography

Niki Harré is a professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland, where she teaches social and community psychology. She is also the coordinator of a three course module on Sustainability. Her recent research projects have focused on sustainable communities and schools, positive youth development and political activism. In 2007 Niki edited, with Quentin Atkinson, the book Carbon Neutral by 2020: How New Zealanders Can Tackle Climate Change. Her two latest books are The Infinite Game: How to Live Well Together and Psychology for a Better World: Working with People to Save the Planet.

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