The Value of Social Psychology: Working with Local Communities in Santiago de Cuba in 2012

It is recognized by academics and the community of practice that social psychology plays an important role in the everyday life of people, both at individual and at local community level. Recent social psychological research expresses the need to develop a better understanding of what good and effective social support for people looks like. This research report presents the outcomes of a field study by students from the Psychology Stream of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba. A combination of literature review, face to face interviews and focus group meetings was applied to complete the research objectives. A number of specific approaches were identified as being most important to help members of local communities in Santiago de Cuba to resolve some of their social problems. The results suggest that members of local communities in Santiago de Cuba would benefit from adopting these approaches so they become more self-sufficient and self-confident in addressing their social issues. The findings also suggest that the management and control of emotions can play a vital role in enhancing creativity in people to find solutions to their social problems within the communities of this research. The results suggest that similar outcomes could be achieved in other communities within Cuba.