Short Essay Topic:
Critically compare and contrast the community psychology and public health approaches
to social problems
By Pamphilia Hlapa
The purpose of this essay to provide a brief overview of community psychology and public
health approaches to social problems. It will also look at the similarities and differences of
the two approaches to societal health and illness problems. According to Seedat, Cloete &
Shochet (1988), community psychology is construed as the community division of
psychology which means that like industrial or clinical psychology, it has to take relevant
content from psychology and apply it to the social settings. When utilized to address disease
or illnesses, community psychology is mainly concerned with applying different and specific
approaches related to prevention of disease or illness within the community. On the other
hand, the major shifts that have occurred in society in relation to health and diseases
indicates that health professionals cannot talk about community psychology without the
inclusion of public health in understanding the interrelationship between community,
society and group issues and health matters. It is therefore safe to adopt the definition that
public health is one of the efforts organized by society to protect and restore people’s
health. It is the combination of science, skills and beliefs that are directed towards the
maintenance and improvement of the health of all the people through collective or social
actions (Last, 1988).