This article seeks to analyze the relationship between community psychology and social policy, given the growth in interest in their interaction, both in in terms of the issues covered (from mental health to social problems) and the regions concerned (North America, Europe, and Latin America).
The article describes the experience of community psychology contributing to the phases of the social policy cycle; the effects of social policy on the development and institutionalization of community ps ychology in the university, as well as the risks and tensions of this relationship for our discipline. Based on an analysis of the complexity of the contribution of community psychology to support the social policy process, the article proposes a framework for understanding this relationship that considers: a) the different institutional and regulatory frameworks that define policy, and the multilevel dynamics within which these are constructed, b) the role of multiple actors (governmental, professional, social and academic), and their influence, struggle, forms of interaction-negotiation and coalition, cultural differences and interests, as well as c) the process of encounter and debate among interpretations and frames of meaning, structured as contexts, or open stages in which forces and political options the definition of problems and their solutions has particular importance.