Dialogos Contemporáneos en Psicología Comunitaria

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constructed. When someone becomes acquainted with a community, they enter a space that is physically and geographically defined; but most importantly, they enter a symbolic universe. A community is formed by distinct ways of life and of sociability, expressed in concrete ways of living, structured by conditions of life. A network of relationships and social exchanges between residents constitutes a community. Solidary, affective, and cooperative relationships are elements of those social exchanges, but also conflicts, power struggles, and violence.

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There is, in the concept of community, a demarcation of the physical and symbolic space that conforms with the choice to work with rural and urban communities in situations of poverty, influence of the Liberation Paradigm. This demarcation requires a theoretical and methodological framework in line with the social reality of the population. This creates a need for concepts and methodological tools that consider the history and culture of a people if Community Psychology aims to have communities as locus of action. According to Ximenes et al., (2016), although poor persons are frequently regarded as having limited or insufficient financial means or possessions, in Community Psychology those individuals are viewed as more than their financial limitations (p.181). Community Psychology emphasizes the potential and means of coping of the population to endure poverty, exclusion, discrimination, and oppression. Working with communities in situation of poverty requires an ethical and political stance on the part of psychologists, who are committed personally and professionally to liberation process-


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