Becoming Ecological

Community psychology emphasizes an ecological approach to mental health by focusing on the individual in the environment and the influences that shape and change behavior. Becoming Ecological brings together the work of James G. Kelly, one of the founders of community psychology and among the field's national leaders.
The volume unites thirteen of Kelly's publications from 1968 to 2002 as well as four new essays on current issues in the field: the theory, research, practice, and education of community psychologists. Kelly introduces the work by offering connections between his personal experiences and the topics he chose to focus on throughout his long career. He begins each of the thirteen essays with commentary that sets the article in its original context so that the reader has a historical perspective on why certain ideas were salient at a particular time and how they are still timely today. Kelly concludes with a "summing up" section integrating the previously published articles with the four new essays. Throughout, he presents examples of how to plan and carry out research and practice in the community. The principles underlying the examples both enhance the relevance of the research and practice and increase the potential of community residents to use the findings for their own purposes.
A compendium of classic statements of community psychology's philosophical and historical underpinnings, Becoming Ecological is a must-read for scholars and practitioners of community psychology and for those in the fields of public health, social work, community development, education, and applied anthropology.

James G. Kelly is Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago and Lecturer, University of California at Davis. As one of the founders of the field of community psychology, he has emphasized the development of ecological principles that can enhance the design of community-based research and practice. These principles are based on empirical research and Kelly's lifelong immersion in practical community problems and issues

Being Autobiographical: Roots and Varied Soils for Ecological Inquiry
Part I: A Selection of Thirteen Articles With Reflection
1: Toward an Ecological Conception of Preventive Interventions
2: Adolescent Boys in High School: A Psychological Study of Coping and Adaptation
3: Antidotes for Arrogance
4: Quest for Valid Preventive Interventions
5: Community as Teacher
6: Qualities for the Community Psychologist
7: Tain't What You Do, It's the Way That You Do It
8: Seven Criteria When Conducting Community-Based Prevention Research: A Research Agenda and Commentary
9: Generating Social Settings for a Public's Health
10: A Contextualist Epistemology for Ecological Research
11: Wellness as an Ecological Enterprise
12: Contexts and Community Leadership: Inquiry as an Ecological Expedition
13: The Spirit of Community Psychology
Part II: Four Contemporary Essays
14: Thinking Ecologically
15: Inquiry as Situated Methods with Processes for Mutual Discovery
16: Practicing Ecology: Ideas for Community-Based Preventive Programs
17: Education and Training for an Ecological Perspective
A Summing Up: Some Facets of Interdependence
Afterword: Reflections on the Journey, by Edison J. Trickett