Community psychology in Portugal: From revolution to empowered citizenship

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss the evolution of CP in Portugal by demonstrating its connections with the historical and political developments in the past four decades, particularly the dictatorship that ruled the country from 1928 to 1974, the democratic revolution of April 1974, and the entrance into the European Community in 1985. This has been a period for the successful institution of psychology both as a theoretical domain, a research field, and a profession, and, particularly since the mid-1980s, for the expansion of CPoriented values and practice. Examples of intervention projects and research reveal that although it is probably too soon to speak of a uniquely Portuguese theoretical contribution to the field of CP, the influence of North American and European authors are combined to assert the need for a more political community psychology. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.