title: Methods for Influencing Social Policy: The Role of Social Experiments.
abstract: Research methods in community psychology have grown more diverse since the Swampscott conference, but rigorous social experiments maintain a place among the multiplicity of methods that can promote community psychology values. They are particularly influential in policy circles. Two examples of social experiments to end homelessness for different populations illustrate their role. Both studies show that offering extremely poor and disenfranchised people autonomy and the resources they seek works better than "helping" them to overcome deficits in ways designed by well-meaning service providers. Experiments are neither the first nor the last method community psychologists should employ, but are a critical part of the field's armamentarium for systems change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human and Organizational Development, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Marybeth
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shinn
mesh_terms: D000069551:Environmental Psychology / Q000639:trends*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005544:Forecasting; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011593:Psychology, Social / Q000639:trends*; D011640:Public Policy / Q000639:trends*; D012106:Research / Q000639:trends*; D012945:Social Values; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation
keywords: Policy influence; Social experiments