Initiatives Social Action Project (SOCACT)

The Social Action Project team and residents co-create initiatives to address problems in living that are important to residents. When residents have learned to protect themselves, the teams move on to answer the next call. The initiatives that are developed are taken over by the residents as they evolve or come to an end if the needs that had been identified have been met. No intervention remains static.

Along the way, the teams conduct important research on problems faced by real people. The Project takes efficacy theory -- theory about the ways people exercise of control over their lives -- and asks how well it can be applied in community settings. The findings from these studies are presented at professional conferences in the USA, Canada, Nigeria, and South Africa. They have also appeared in books, professional journals and newspaper articles -- all to try and close the gap between what social scientists believe we know and what happens in real life.

Contact:

Dr. Dé Bryant, Director
Social Action Project
Psychology Department, Indiana University South Bend
1700 Mishawaka Avenue, South Bend, IN 46634
(574) 520-4447 -- tel (574) 520-4538 -- fax
dbryant@iusb.edu