The Inclusion of Psychological Empowerment in Community Development Practice in South African Communities: Reflections of a Community Development Practitioner

This paper argued that a socially cohesive community characterised by the connectedness of its members translates into the individuals feeling a sense of belonging to the community and this depends on the members' willingness to accept and create social bonding. Once community members accept one another as members of the development group, their closeness strengthens their sentiments of trust and safety. Trusting one another, members actively participate in common activities and openly share openly their ideas. Such membership supports communities in bridging social gaps and working collectively for the overall benefit of the community. Without psychological empowerment, wrong attitudes and behaviours may be exhibited by the masses which may eventually hamper good government policies. Community empowerment is among the advances most frequently linked to psychological and social development; therefore, it came into the limelight of local, grass-roots community-driven engagements and programmes.