Social Impact of a Transformative Service-Learning Experience in a Post-conflict Setting

Abstract

In the context of the 2016 Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo), several challenges for society and academia have emerged: (1) overcoming the gap between the rural and urban settings, which has been one of the roots of the Colombian armed conflict, and (2) training psychologists and transforming traditional educational practices, which have not been designed to fulfill community needs in a post-conflict setting. One of the strategies from academia to overcome these difficulties is to create alliances with rural communities where students learn key competences to foster a horizontal approach while actively working with the community. In the region of Caquetá, Colombia, two Territorial Spaces for Training and Reincorporation (ETCR) were created in order to provide a space for former guerrilla members’ reintegration to civil society. In the ETCR Héctor Ramírez, 27 students and two faculty participated in a service-learning project (2 weeks in December 2018 and two in June 2019) where they engaged in local daily practices and social projects based on the community’s prioritized needs. The aim of this study was to analyze the learning process of undergraduate psychology students in this community psychology service-learning project in the context of peacebuilding in Colombia. This study is grounded in a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach and data collected include reflective narratives and video diaries by students before and during the course, and two focus groups after the experience. Findings suggest that students who participated in the experience are in the process of developing cultural humility, through affective understandings and the consolidation of communities of practice that include the former guerrilla members and their knowledges. Preparing psychologists to lead peacebuilding and reconciliation processes is of importance to the field because the professional competencies gained in this context surpass the professional practice as they become part of the students’ abilities as citizens. The social impact is twofold: the students learn to create partnerships where purposes are co-constructed and trust-based, while the community takes the lead of their processes creating alliances with an academia that recognizes their knowledge and practices

La conexión permanente con el mundo laboral a raíz de las nuevas tecnologías plantea la posibilidad de prolongaciones de jornada y cargas de trabajo excesivas. El presente estudio aborda la relación entre la tecnología y el desapego psicológico del trabajo derivado de la sobrecarga laboral. Participaron 313 profesionales del sector salud que respondieron a tres instrumentos utilizados en estudios similares. A través de PLS-SEM, se desarrollaron análisis de regresión y dependencia, y a través del método de bootstrapping, se examinó la significancia de las cargas factoriales, los coeficientes de trayectoria y las varianzas. Los resultados del estudio corroboran un efecto negativo del uso de la tecnología en el desapego psicológico del trabajo y una correlación positiva entre la tecnología y la sobrecarga de trabajo. Además, existe un efecto indirecto significativo de la tecnología sobre el desapego psicológico del trabajo como resultado de la sobrecarga de trabajo. Los hallazgos amplían la literatura relacionada con el modelo de estresor-desapego y respaldan la idea de que los trabajadores que a menudo están conectados a sus trabajos mediante herramientas tecnológicas tienen menos probabilidades de alcanzar niveles adecuados de desapego psicológico. Se discuten las implicaciones para la comunidad académica y los profesionales.