Community Psychology: Emerging Issues and Challenges

This book focuses on the theoretical concepts of community psychology and its applications in day-to-day life. It discusses the challenges that adversely affect the welfare and well-being of common people and suggests community-centric, evidence-based measures to address them.

Factors like new-age lifestyles, fast-paced development, and an increase in occurrence of natural calamities have been detrimental to the psychological well-being of the community. This volume integrates the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental aspects of community psychology to address community life-based issues which include mental health stigma, social asymmetries, resource disparities, disadvantaged minority groups, the differently abled, HIV/AIDS patients, project-affected people, and disaster victims.

Key features of this book include:

• Dedicated intervention-based chapters on mental health, physical health, differently abled people, the elderly, vulnerable children, HIV/AIDS patients, and people affected by development projects and disasters
• Focus on challenges faced by students and school-based family counselling
• Case studies and conceptual models for better understanding and application of the subject

The volume will be a valuable resource to students, researchers, and teachers of Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, Public Health, and Social Economics. It will also be an indispensable read for social workers, NGOs, advocacy groups, and policymakers working in the field of social upliftment.

Sibnath Deb, PhD, DSc, is Professor of the Department of Applied Psychology, Pondicherry University (A Central University). He served as Director of the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (An Institute of National Importance), Government of India for three and half years (January 8, 2020 to June 30, 2023). He is also Adjunct Professor at the School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. From 2004 to 2008, he served as a Council Member at the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN). He has published 22 books and produced 23 PhDs. His research interests include child safety, students’ mental health, youth development, adolescent reproductive health, family relationships, and child protection. In recognition of his academic and research contribution, Prof. Deb has received many national and international awards, including “Visitor’s Award 2019” from the Honourable President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind.

Aleena Maria Sunny, PhD, PGCE, is Teacher of Psychology at St. George’s College, Weybridge, UK. She did her PhD under the supervision of Professor Sibnath Deb at the Department of Applied Psychology, Pondicherry University, India. She secured her Post Graduate Certificate in Education from University College London (UCL) and holds a master’s degree in Applied Clinical Psychology from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a bachelor’s degree (Honours) in Psychology from Christ University, Bengaluru. Her research interests include Clinical Psychology, Neurocognitive Psychology, and Child Development.

Nilanjana Sanyal is currently the President of Indian Psychoanalytical Society. She is a Retired Professor and Former Head of the Department of Psychology, University of Calcutta. She is also a practising psychoanalyst for the last 40 years. Prof. Sanyal has imparted training in counselling in various governmental institutions and N.G.O.s., both nationally and internationally, and is consistently involved in mass media programmes for awareness generation regarding mental health issues. She has authored eight books, some important ones being Pebbles of Positivism, Positive Psychology and Spirituality: Contents and Approaches. Positive Ageing: An Approach towards Transcendence, and is an author of a Test Manual. She has many international and national publications to her credit to date. Her research interests include psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy, clinical psychology, gerontology, and spiritual and positive psychology. She is a co-researcher for the creation of a registered assessment methodology. She is Member of International Psychoanalytical Association apart from her membership in other national and international professional bodies. She is a gold medalist of Calcutta University both at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels. She received Jubilee Merit Prize and Jawaharlal Nehru Award from the Government of India along with the Suhashini Basu Memorial Prize from the Indian Psychoanalytic Society for excellence of a research paper. She is the recipient of Prof. Maya Deb Memorial Award from Asiatic Society, Kolkata, 2012 apart from other awards.

Shayana Deb holds MSc degree in Behavioural Science from the CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India. Currently he is enrolled for second Master Degree on Youth and Policy in the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. She did her undergraduate with a triple major, i.e., Biotechnology, Chemistry, and Botany. She has a special interest in child protection and youth development. She volunteered in three research projects which developed her interest in child welfare and well-being, and positive development of adolescence and youth.