“False and Empty Bureaucracy” in Preprofessional Community-Based Practice: Learnings and Problems Experienced by a Group of University Students in Ecuador

Abstract

This qualitative study explores valuable learning and critical problems experienced by a group of psychology students at an Ecuadorian university during a community-based training experience. The research was conducted through the lens of critical community psychology and critical discourse analysis, drawing on institutional rhetoric and a focus group with four former students. The results highlight that training experiences led to valuable theoretical and practical learning. However, ideologies linked to employability and bureaucratic control hindered learning consistent with the Freirean perspective on education and liberation, which constitutes a pillar of Latin American community psychology. What some participants called "false and empty bureaucracy" appeared to be a salient obstacle, linked to instrumentalization and dishonesty. Findings contribute to current debates regarding the possibilities and limitations of community psychology taught in universities and invite us to rethink strategies that promote ethical and epistemological coherence in training contexts.