Parallel Processes in Community-Based Research

Authors

  • Elizabeth King Keenan Southern Connecticut State University

Abstract

Drawing upon the clinical practice concept of parallel process, the researcher describes her experience conducting an evaluation of a community-based case-management program that provides services to those persons receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) who have significant barriers to employment. The evaluation project encountered two simultaneous patterns of parallel process: "skepticism and uncertainty" and "validation and encouragement." Identifying these two patterns broadened thinking beyond the immediate data results to the confiuence of multiple factors in community-based evaluation. Clinical practice concepts (such as parallel process) can serve as vital tools in community-based research to help researchers understand, intervene, and make recommendations regarding systemic relations even when this is not necessarily the topic of the evaluation.

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How to Cite

Keenan, E. K. (2014). Parallel Processes in Community-Based Research. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 11(4), 48–53. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/1166

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General Submissions