Survival of the Interventionist: The Personal Cost of Immersion and Social Change

Authors

  • Dé Bryant

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v1i1.13

Keywords:

personal distress, community psychologists, social change, study abroad, education abroad

Abstract

This article explores the personal distress that interventionists-community psychologists and others whose work requires immersion in a foreign culture-must survive. Considering that an interventionist acts to bring about social change, the article asks whether the issue of burnout has been adequately addressed. This is particularly critical with projects operating abroad because team members must simultaneously learn about and facilitate change within a new culture. Such traumas may not be considered adequately when designing a project and anticipating the shape of the intervention. Furthermore, they historically may not have been considered relevant to reporting findings.

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Author Biography

Dé Bryant

Dé Bryant is a community psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at Indiana University South Bend, where she also serves as director of the Social Action Project. She has published “Building a Power Organization: A Network Team Approach to Community Organizing” in Sisterhood, Feminism, and Power.

References

References

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Bryant, Dé. 1994. Building a power organization: A network team approach to community organizing. In Obioma Nnemeak (Ed.), Sisterhood, Feminism, and Power. New Jersey: Red Sea Press / Africa Press.

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Published

1995-11-15

How to Cite

Bryant, D. (1995). Survival of the Interventionist: The Personal Cost of Immersion and Social Change. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 1(1), 81–95. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v1i1.13

Issue

Section

Research Articles