There is limited research examining community and neighborhood influences on prosociality in children and youth. In this chapter we outline three relevant theories that address how neighborhood and community processes influence prosocial behavior and review the empirical literature on the topic. Our review suggests that measures of neighborhood socioeconomic status, demography, and disorder have little direct association with prosociality in children and youth but that adolescent prosocial behavior is linked to social capital and collective efficacy. The community intervention evidence shows that providing increased opportunities for prosocial involvement may support greater prosocial behavior of adolescents, possibly by boosting community social capital. Further development of more specific theoretical models and further empirical research is required to better understand the complex neighborhood and community mechanisms across neighborhoods, cities, nations, and cultures.

This chapter elevates and explores factors that have played a role in the advancement of human rights. The term “psychosocial” is used to mean the reciprocal and iterative relationship between psychological processes and social movements. We illustrate how psychosocial gains can create sociocultural climates and sociopolitical changes conducive to the instantiation of human rights. We begin by identifying some of the psychosocial dynamics that were in play when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted. Subsequently, we focus on psychosocial gains and the advancement of human rights in three case studies involving people with disabilities, women, and people who are most adversely affected by climate change. The centrality of psychosocial processes in the run-up to declarations of human rights is emphasized. While declarations are highly visible outcomes, our research suggests that declarations are often preceded by a diffuse pattern of smaller psychosocial and sociopolitical gains. Given the centrality of psychosocial processes, we discuss emerging roles for psychologists as emancipatory practitioners who accompany marginalized people and assist in cultivating “new power” relationships that establish and promote a digital presence for movements aimed at the advancement of human rights.

Whether unintentional or by design, built, social, and perceived environments influence the human experience. Behavior is not solely the product of a rational motivated actor, operating independently from his or her environment; rather, it is also a function of edifices, neighborhoods, and public spaces, as well as the inhabitants, community norms, and the social capital they generate. Likewise, addictive behaviors have as much to do with the environmental contexts surrounding individuals as with their unique biological factors, specific brain mechanisms, and psychogenic causes. Any attempt to address addiction at either individual or population levels would benefit from careful consideration of the social and contextual influences on cognitions, opportunities, motivations, and behaviors. Interventions informed by this understanding are more likely to be efficacious than those solely targeted toward individual biology, motivations, or attitudes. In this chapter, we discuss the relationship between physical and social environments (PSE), health, and the behavior of humans. We then focus on the influential role of the PSE on the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances; food, eating behaviors, and addictions contributing to the current obesity epidemic; and a selection of other behavioral addictions. The chapter closes by discussing methodological considerations and implications for professional practice.