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Community Psychology has basically been an informal academic field of studies and practices.
Its roots can be traced to an implicit community psychology practiced by indigenous and rural
populations since pre-hispanic times, through colonial rule, XIX century republican regimes, post
Mexican Revolution rural education programs and governmental and non governmental
community development initiatives. The actual academic field of Community Psychology in
Mexico shows a scarcity of academic programs that have not had the opportunity to become
firmly established in higher education institutions. The main sources of academic theory and
practice in contemporary Community Psychology in the world have had limited influence in
Mexico. American community psychology with its strong clinical trend has been present but has
not been the most important source of impact on Mexican community psychologists. Latin
American community psychology with its contributions to confront the irrelevance of social
psychology has also contributed to the development of Mexican community psychology but its
influence was not decisive and only recently fruitful exchanges have been established. The field
in Mexico has been informally evolving through the practices and thinking of Mexican
psychologists confronted by pressing social challenges they have been forced to face in their
efforts to make psychology relevant and useful. Mexican psychoanalysts tried to apply their
expertise with marginalized urban settings. Humanist psychologists looked for underserved
populations to make explicit their professional commitment in serving humanity. Behavior
psychologists tried to devise a training curriculum centered on community service. Clinical
psychologists at UNAM were concerned about the problems of our people in the big metropolis
and by the traumas caused by natural disasters. Psychologists from all over Mexico and from
diverse academic subfields and traditions have been working hand in hand with anthropologists,
sociologists, social workers, popular educators, rural experts, and all sort of fields of study, in
confronting the problems generated by the unequal distribution of wealth, corruption, the literacy
and digital gaps, the denial and discrimination of ethnic peoples, and the increasing violence
endured by many people in different regions of the country. What will be the future of
community psychology in Mexico? What have we learned? What are our weaknesses and what
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are our strengths? Do we need a more formal training? Do we need a formal employment
market? Do we have something specific to offer among the health, education and social sciences?
What are our theoretical and practical inputs? We live in difficult times. Community Psychology
will be more needed than ever. What should we do to make it relevant?