Using the science of positive psychology in the formative evaluation of social justice interventions: A case example

Meg A Warren; Stewart I Donaldson; Nicole Galport

doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2021.102017

Using the science of positive psychology in the formative evaluation of social justice interventions: A case example

Eval Program Plann. 2022 Apr:91:102017. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2021.102017. Epub 2021 Oct 19.

Authors

Meg A Warren¹, Stewart I Donaldson², Nicole Galport³

Affiliations

¹ College of Business and Economics, Western Washington University, 516 High Street, 98225 WA, USA; Department of Psychology, Claremont Graduate University, 123 E 8th Street, 91711 CA, USA. Electronic address: meg.warren@wwu.edu.
² Department of Psychology, Claremont Graduate University, 123 E 8th Street, 91711 CA, USA. Electronic address: stewart.donaldson@cgu.edu.
³ Department of Psychology, Claremont Graduate University, 123 E 8th Street, 91711 CA, USA. Electronic address: nicole.galport@cgu.edu.

PMID: 34756626
DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2021.102017

Abstract

The pursuit of culturally responsive approaches for designing and evaluating programs to promote social justice has become of the utmost importance to the evaluation community in the past decade. A strengths-focused evaluation approach has great promise for empowering individuals, groups, communities, and organizations, and identifying program strengths to build upon in addition to illuminating program deficits. However, there is a dearth of literature on using a strengths approach to evaluate interventions and programs to promote social justice. Drawing from the two disciplines of positive psychology and evaluation, this article illustrates a strengths-focused approach to formative evaluation using a case example of a halfway house for previously incarcerated women. The findings exemplify the positive psychological phenomena that emerge as a result of focusing the evaluation on program strengths. The case demonstrates that the application of a strengths-focused approach to evaluating social justice interventions can be empowering for institutions and the communities they serve.

Keywords: Culturally responsive evaluation; Positive psychology; Social justice; Strengths-focused evaluation.

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Program Evaluation
Psychology, Positive*
Social Justice*