Rural Psychology: Literature Review, Reasons for its Need, and Challenges

Abstract

Psychology has traditionally neglected the specific needs of rural communities. This paperreviews the situation of psychology in rural areas and discusses the need for a ruralpsychology. An open internet review using Google search engine and "rural psychology" askey word was conducted, as well as an academic literature review. Results show thatpsychology tends to be framed in urban terms and that rural communities have particularitiesthat call for a contextualized approach and not a mere reproduction of urban practices. Inorder for rural psychology to become a relevant area of debate, it has to demonstrate real andpractical usefulness, put into question assumptions that implicitly frame mainstreampsychology in urban terms, and generate training programs for psychologists.