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h STUDENT NUMBER: 34656626 PSY461Q Assignment 2: themes, Issues and Principles of Community Psychology Topic 2: Prevention, Empowerment and Participation: Designing a community based programme 1. Introduction This assignment entails the creation of (what I perceive to be), both a realistic and practical intervention initiative of combatting the high incidences of muggings and thus dealing with crime prevention strategies within the Long Street Cape Town community. The intervention makes use of a multi-disciplinary approach by incorporating all the key principles of Community Psychology. 1.1 Define my community. My community consists of a diverse range of different ethnic groups, cultures and personality types. My community is centred on one of the busiest and also most dangerous streets in Cape Town, “Long Street”. The commonality amongst all of these individuals is that they all reside within the Long Street sector of Cape Town. 1.2 The fundamental Problem which exists within my community. The sector which comprises Long Street in Cape Town addresses a vast amount of problems which consist of economic, social and psychological. The biggest psychological problem experienced by many people is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which stems from the initial problem, which are the high incidences of muggings. Some of these muggings can be violent muggings in which a high degree of violence is experienced by the victims. 2. Intervention Programme Some of these muggings may occur due to high incidences of drug dealings as well as addicts stealing in order to obtain drugs as the incidence of drugs, and drug dealing is high within the Long Street region. Although drug addiction and the other problems experienced are also extremely prevalent in Long Street the primary problem is the high incidences of muggings themselves and this is the problem which needs to be dealt with. If muggings were deterred then the other problems would automatically be deterred as well. I therefore propose making use of the NGO that I participate in and volunteer with, who are the Guardian Angels. The Guardian Angels are a crime prevention group who currently have 150 chapters worldwide. I would incorporate the Guardian Angels into the Long Street sector of Cape Town as well as involve the Neighbourhood Watches in the area as well as Community Police Forums. I would create an elaborate intervention program which incorporates the Guardian Angels and the principles of Community Psychology. 3. Applying the Principles of Community Psychology 3.1 Prevention Community Psychology is based on prevention rather than cure and this is the same premises which guide the Guardian Angels, as the Guardian Angels are a crime Prevention group who believe that preventing crime is key. They choose to prevent crime before it happens as opposed to waiting for crimes to take place and then deal with them. They have many ways that they accomplish their goals but have been highly successful in their attempts. I thus propose that Guardian Angels are called in to assist in combatting the problem of muggings in Long Street by making use of their crime prevention strategies. One of these strategies is patrols which consist of no weapons and what sets them apart from neighbourhood watches and other training groups is that there are set requirements which need to be met in order to become a "graduated angel". We are trained in basic first aid, CPR, criminal law, conflict resolution, communication, and basic martial arts. (Charl Viljoen 2008) Guardian Angels also make use of threat recognition skills which are taught both practically and theoretically. This can be used in order to prevent the muggings in Long Street by street patrols taking place where members of the community are able to identify body language patterns and various other threat recognition skills which will help them to be able to spot a mugger before a mugging is committed. If neighbourhood watches in the area can be taught the Guardian Angels training skills and the Guardian Angels themselves assist in training members of the community then constant prevention can take place on a regular basis in Long Street. 3.2 Participation By giving people the skills and training in order to prevent crime it is conducive to the prevention principle of community psychology which is, that individuals are been giving the skills and not having skills forced upon them. They are voluntary participants are all volunteer to make a difference within the community of Long Street. In fact the guiding principles of participation of Guardian Angels which ties in with the principles of Community Psychology is that a neighbourhood watch needs to request to join the Guardian Angels there is never any force or pressure involved. Simply stated, change "... is more likely to be successful and permanent when the people it affects are involved in initiating and promoting it" (Thompson et al, 1990, p. 46). My intervention would involve providing free training for all people who live within the Long Street Sector of Cape Town, this would be a collectively done exercise and members of the community would be able to not only make the decision of coming to training but also to make the decision to make use of the training and join the patrols. By members of the community being able to choose to not only be actively involved in contributing towards the prevention of the muggings in Long street but also contributing towards becoming an active member of Guardian Angels crime prevention group it is enhancing members of the community sticking together in order to collectively combat the muggings in Long Street. This incorporates the participation principle: "a sense of community is the glue that can hold together a community development effort" (Chavis et al., 1990, p. 73-74). 3.3 Interdisciplinary collaboration The principle of interdisciplinary collaboration is aimed at blending the special strengths of many different disciplines to address precisely these kinds of problems (Tutorial letter 102, PSY461Q, 2011). In my initiative I will address a strong need for interdisciplinary collaboration in order to deal with the prevention of muggings in Long Street. Crime prevention with regard to muggings in Long Street I propose need to be addressed with the use of a multidisciplinary approach. This would consist of clinical psychologists as well as trauma counsellors who would deal with the after effects as well as conduct debriefing with past and present victims of muggings and especially those who may be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. Police would obviously be involved in making arrests and individuals who are involved in security could help with the guarding of the streets. Obviously criminologists would be involved, the community itself, the community policing forum, attorneys in cases where legal action needs to be taken. Social workers would need to be involved as well in order to deal with children of the community who may be committing crimes and mugging in Long Street due to their own family dynamics and violence within the family systems. This is besides the factor that general members of the community would be able to make use of their own professions. Martial arts enthusiasts would be able to get involved in the safety training and fitness instructors would be able to help members with fitness and health. It is imperative to take into consideration those muggings within Long street need to be addressed by many experts and skilled people. Problems may occur where the community feels that the police are entirely responsible for all the crime in Long Street and should combat the entire problem by themselves which is completely unrealistic. 3.4 Intersectoral collaboration "Where interdisciplinary collaboration refers to different disciplines combining their efforts, intersectoral collaboration involves integrating preventive inputs from different sectors of society."-(Tutorial letter 102, PSY461Q, 2011) I believe that intersectoral collaboration is key in order to successfully solve the problem of muggings within Long Street Cape Town. In order to achieve intersectoral collaboration it is going to entail different sectors of society. Thus I propose that every sector of society is involved starting with all the police stations in Cape Town. They will always be aware when a patrol is taking place in Long Street and some patrols can be accompanied by the police. They can also respond to call outs and be an active part in the arrest procedures. The counsellor of Cape Town needs to also be made aware of the crime problem and the factor that Guardian Angels are going to be participating with neighbourhood watches as well as members of the community in order to effectively prevent the crime problem. I propose that environmentalists also get involved as they are able to understand environmental design and how this can contribute towards crime. It is going to imperative for communities to be taught "the signs of disorder" as these signs are a strong indicating factor towards crime. Being able to identify these signs will be able to enhance people’s awareness and thus increase their safety. In order for this to be achieved it is imperative that many different sectors are involved and this can include all the different sectors of society. Every shop owner in Long Street should know that the street is going to be safer and that the high incidences of muggings are going to be prevented with the initiative program. The shop owners can serve as the "eyes and ears" of the community if they the signs of disorder and know what to look out for. Intersectoral collaboration is key components in making this initiative become successful. 3.5 Empowerment Empowerment takes place at three levels: the (1) individual, (2) organizational or group, and (3) community levels (Rich et al., 1995; Fawcett et al., 1995). By applying the principles of empowerment, each individual in the Long Street Sector and each member of neighbourhood watches and other members within the community who are trained with the Guardian Angels training will all gain a sense of empowerment and on every level. The community of Long Street will be able to gain greater control over their community, their individual interaction within the community as well as the prevention of crime. Empowerment is a principle of Community Psychology and can be applied effectively to empowering communities within Long Street. In fact the Guardian Angels principles of empowerment are one of the core principles and due to the factor that Guardian Angels are universal the principles applied to one chapter apply to all. This means that the principle of empowerment which Guardian Angels makes use of, will be applied to the community of Long Street. Over the years Curtis and his Angels have empowered thousands of citizens to take responsibility for reclaiming their communities and safeguarding their streets through the formation of Safety Patrol (http://www.guardianangels.org/docs/Curtis-brochure.pdf) Empowerment also will take place with the youth of the community as they will also be given the training and will be able to apply the community psychology principles of empowerment. Empowerment will begin in Long Street and with the muggings with all community members, which includes the younger members of the community. By empowering them from the beginning they may adopt the principles of empowerment for life and may carry to prevent crime in their communities no matter who they are and where they go in life. Through a unique feature-the inclusion of inner city youths in its safety patrols: The Guardian Angels is empowering young people to take pride in their communities and protect their neighbourhood.(http://www.guardianangels.org/docs/Curtis-brochure.pdf) 4. Conclusion By making use of the principles within Community Psychology ,I firmly believe that the my crime prevention initiative with the Guardian Angels in Long Street Cape Town can over time lead to the reduction of the high incidences of muggings. The community of Long Street can be a safer place for visitors and its community by applying the principles of prevention, participation, intersectoral collaboration, interdisciplinary collaboration and empowerment .Each of these principles need to be incorporated together in order for my anti mugging initiative in Long Street to be effective. I can thus quote in conclusion: “knowledge, after all, is power and the gateway is empowerment"-Curtis Sliwa, The Guardian Angels founder". References Tutorial letters: Tutorial letter 102, PSY461Q, 2011. Unisa Reader Unisa Reader, New Perspectives in Community Psychology, 1997, 1st, Unisa Press Web Pages: http://www.guardianangels.org/docs/Curtis-brochure.pdf http://www.curtissliwa.com/(Curtis Sliwa homepage-The founder of Guardian Angels) http://www.guardianangels.org/ (Official Guardian Angels web page) www.freewebs.com/guardianangelssa/(Guardian Angels South Africa) http://guardianangelssa.webs.com/angeltraining.htm (Guardian Angels South Africa Street Survival Training)