What purpose does theory play in community psychology?

[Glenn Williams]

Hi all

Recently I've been involved with providing a response article in reply to a featured article by Leonard A. Jason, Ed Stevens, Daphna Ram, Steven A. Miller, Christopher R. Beasley, and Kristen D. Gleason entitled, "Theories in the field of community psychology".  Feel free to have a read of this article and the subsequent articles below it in this special issue of Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice. 

What purpose does theory play in informing effective community psychology research and practice? Are theories are waste of time or are they much needed in community psychology?

Comments are welcomed below the featured article itself and below each of the response articles.  Please do give your thoughts on this. 

The link to this special issue is as follows: http://www.gjcpp.org/en/index.php?issue=22

Hope it's food for thought and I look forward to reading some of your comments.

Best wishes

Glenn