Handbook of Community Psychology

The Handbook's distinctive feature is its refusal of a unified theoretical architecture. The editors organized 38 chapters by 106 contributors into seven sections—conceptual frameworks, empirically grounded constructs, intervention strategies, social systems, design and assessment, cross-cutting professional issues, and contemporary intersections—but each chapter stands alone as a statement about a particular part of the field . As the editors explain, community psychologists eschew the distinction between researcher and practitioner, and the volume is designed to serve anyone exploring the community psychology approach, regardless of work environment . The Handbook thus embodies the field's pluralism rather than imposing a single paradigm. A reviewer in Psychiatric Services noted that contributors generally avoid grandiloquent theories, arguing that all-encompassing schemata are rarely helpful in a rapidly changing social world .

The volume is organized into seven parts. Part I covers conceptual frameworks, including prevention, empowerment theory, individualism and collectivism, psychological wellness, behaviorism, cognition in social context, and ecological views of social systems . Part II addresses empirically grounded constructs: dysfunction and well-being, stress, social support, citizen participation, and workplace power . Part III covers intervention strategies: mental health consultation, neighborhood organization, alternative settings, mass communication, social policy, and dissemination of innovation . Part IV examines social systems: community mental health, health interventions, religion, law, children and families, school reform, and self-help . Parts V through VII address methods, professional issues, and contemporary intersections including urban poverty, reproductive rights, environmental issues, HIV/AIDS, and homelessness .

Marc Zimmerman's chapter on empowerment theory, appearing in Part I alongside the field's other foundational frameworks, signals empowerment's centrality to community psychology at the turn of the millennium . The chapter title—'Empowerment Theory: Psychological, Organizational, and Community Levels of Analysis'—reflects the multi-level framework that Rappaport had helped establish through his 1981 article and the 1984 Studies in Empowerment volume. By opening the Handbook's conceptual section with prevention and empowerment, the editors implicitly positioned these as the field's two organizing frameworks. This structure also reflects Rappaport's own intellectual trajectory: the Handbook, published near the end of his career, consolidates the empowerment paradigm he had spent two decades developing.

Reviews acknowledged the volume's scale and utility while noting its scholarly orientation. A reviewer in Psychiatric Services, who kept the book on his desk for three months as a test of its utility, reported using it frequently for tasks ranging from preparing violence-prevention briefings to developing grant proposals for the CDC . He concluded it was exceptionally useful for mental health professionals, especially those involved in research or teaching, and recommended it for hospital and institutional libraries . CHOICE noted it would serve graduate students, faculty, professionals, and ambitious upper-division undergraduates, while observing that those interested in counseling psychology would do better with a different handbook . Martin Bloom's review appeared in 2001, and David V. Nelson's review appeared in the Community Mental Health Journal in 2002 .

The Handbook functions as the culmination of Rappaport's career-long effort to define and consolidate community psychology as a field. His 1977 textbook Community Psychology: Values, Research, and Action established the argument that the field is defined by values rather than methods. The 1984 Studies in Empowerment volume, co-edited with Swift and Hess, transformed empowerment from a slogan into a researchable construct. Redefining Social Problems (1986), co-edited with Seidman, argued that problem framing determines intervention possibilities. The 2000 Handbook brings these threads together by presenting the field as organized around conceptual frameworks (including empowerment), empirically grounded constructs, and intervention strategies—while remaining deliberately pluralistic. It is a synthesis that refuses to impose a synthesis, honoring the field's diversity while making it navigable.

The Handbook reflects its historical moment and its geographical base. The contributors were drawn largely from U.S. psychology programs, giving the volume a distinctly American perspective despite chapters on international community psychology . CHOICE observed that references are not particularly current, a limitation for a 2000 volume . The book's size and conceptual difficulty mean it cannot be skimmed; Psychiatric Services cautioned that the conceptual difficulty of the issues addressed makes meaningful skimming impossible . The volume also predates significant developments in the field, including the rise of implementation science, advances in multilevel modeling, and the growth of global community psychology networks. It remains a foundational reference for the state of the field circa 2000, not a current guide to cutting-edge methods.