Ethical and political dimensions in community psychology: An analysis of academic training and professional praxis in Ecuador

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the meanings and assessments of ethics and politics articulated in the fields of academic training and professional praxis by students, teachers, professionals, and beneficiaries of community projects in Ecuador. This was done to enrich the debate being conducted by the Latin American Network of Training in Community Psychology (CP) regarding the limited presence, relevance, and development of the ethical and political dimensions in CP training programs and their impact on professional practice. This exploratory mixed methods study comprised the administration of semi-structured interviews to 5 teachers and 5 psychologists working in community projects along with the establishment of 2 focus groups in which 15 students took part and 5 focus groups in which 29 beneficiaries of community projects participated. In addition, the presence of the ethical and political dimensions in 25 curricula of 2 Ecuadorian universities was analyzed. A complementary analysis revealed that, both in the training process and in professional practice, teachers, students, professionals, and beneficiaries express nuclei of meanings and ethical and political assessments consistent with the foundations of CP, but they remain limited in terms of development and practical implementation, due to the insufficient degree of reflection on the subject and the immature state of the discipline in Ecuador. Therefore, the main challenge is to work on constructing the deontological dimension within CP, which should manifest itself through codes and guides to facilitate and orient both training processes and professional practice.