Research Article

Abstract

The Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) is the primary professional home for community psychologists in the United States and increasingly around the world. Since the formation of the American Psychological Association Division 27: Community Psychology in 1966, now SCRA, 54 people have served in the Presidential role. Presidential leaders' annual addresses both reflect the current state of the field and have the ability to shape the future of both SCRA as an organization and community psychology as a discipline given their positions as leaders. This commentary explores the trajectory of SCRA as an organization via 33 available presidential addresses, 28 of which were published in theAmerican Journal of Community Psychology(AJCP). Using thematic analysis and drawing on both dialectical and life cycle organizational processes, three periods of SCRA and community psychology more broadly were identified:defining community psychology,applying community psychology, andre‐imagining community psychology. Themes speak to tensions between the ideals of the society and the work of the society. We conclude by offering a series of questions for consideration as SCRA positions itself for the future.

Faculty Members

• Yvette G. Flores - Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies University of California, Davis Davis California USA
• Craig (Kwesi) Brookins - Department of Psychology Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
• Christopher D. Nettles - California Tendai Monastery Tendai Buddhist Institute Cobb CA USA
• Michèle M. Schlehofer - Department of Psychology Salisbury University Salisbury Maryland USA
• Amber E. Kelly - SCRA Washington District of Columbia USA
• Sara L. Buckingham - Department of Psychology University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage Alaska USA

Themes

• Future directions for community psychology
• Impact of presidential addresses on the discipline
• Leadership in professional organizations
• Tensions between ideals and practices in community psychology
• Evolution of community psychology

Categories

• Psychology, general
• Applied linguistics
• Social sciences
• Social sciences, other
• Sociology, general
• Research and experimental psychology nec
• Area studies
• Ethnic studies
• Research and experimental psychology
• Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies
• Psychology, other
• Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies nec
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Social sciences nec
• Sociology, demography, and population studies nec
• Sociology, demography, and population studies
• Human development