The Social Issue Paper will be a thorough review of research about a social issue of interest to you and relevant to the
field of Community Psychology. Some example topics to focus on are: substance abuse and addiction and criminal/juvenile justice. You can write about either one or both.Feel free to pose other topics of interest to you. In addition to reviewing research about a topic of interest, this paper
will include a critique of some of the research in psychology related to the issue you are focusing on, drawing from
the conceptual and methodological components of Community Psychology, as described in your readings and the
class. If you are interested in this option, you should be exploring research about an issue of interest to you
throughout the quarter. I will ask everyone to let me know what issue they will be examining by Monday,
November 2.
Paper should be approximately 10 double-spaced pages, including a title page and references. References and in-text
citations should be in APA format, all other components should look nice but do not need to be in APA format. Papers
should also include each of these components:
1) Begin your paper with a succinct statement about the problem, including a clear description of the pr
oblem and its
scope (i.e., describe who is affected by it, including which individuals and communities, and how).
o Here you should draw from at least one of the assigned class articles as you define the problem and at least
one additional academic resource (including legitimate websites, such as the Center for Disease Control, the
National Institute of Health, etc.). (1-2 pages)
2) Next present a review of the research that has been conducted to address this problem, drawing from the ecological
perspective that is at the heart of Community Psychology. Specifically, describe the research that has been
conducted to address this problem at the individual, community, and/or societal levels. If much of the research
focuses on individual-level outcomes, at the very least, include a description of the community, and social factors
that may ΒdriveΒ the problem and/or that get in the way of resolving the problem. (2-4 pages).
o Here you should be referencing the bulk of the research you reviewed; at least four empirical articles from
peer-reviewed journals. Empirical means data was collected and analyzed. Data could be in the form of
surveys, interviews, observations, etc., but some form of data should have been collected and analyzed.