Concepts of Community and

UNIT 1 CONCEPTS OF COMMUNITY Community Work

AND COMMUNITY WORK

*A. Malathi
Contents
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Definitions
1.3 Understanding Community
1.4 Characteristics of a Community
1.5 Place of Community Work within Social Work Practice
1.6 Let Us Sum Up
1.7 Further Readings and References

1.0 OBJECTIVES
This unit will help you to understand the concept of community. Communities
exist everywhere. It is important for social workers to understand communities
as they are the background against which social work practice takes place.
Secondly this unit focuses attention on community work and its various
dimensions. Thus by the study of this unit you will be able to
understand the nature of communities;
able to define communities both from social work and sociological
perspectives; and
understand the meaning, origins and scope of community work.

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Community has been a central focus of social work practice since its inception.
Communities are one of the many social systems that touch peoples’ lives and
shape their individual and group identities. People are born in social contexts,
they grow, mature and learn about and form perceptions of social structures.
They also develop individual and group identities through associations that
connect them to life-long community experiences.
Community provides the context and setting for social work at all levels of
intervention. For social workers engaged in direct practice at the micro level
there is need to understand the macro environment in which their client groups
live and work, how the resources are made available to them and how community
dynamics affect individual behavior. For macro level social workers whose
practice is focused on programme planning and administration, Community is
central to their work. It is also the target or vehicle for change where interventions
are designed to address broader social problems that affect a large group of
people.
*Dr. A. Malathi, Delhi University, Delhi
Concepts of Community and The term community originated from a latin word MUNUS-CUM, which literally
Community Development
means “to give unto each other”. This symbolizes the concept and idea that
denotes a community and community life. A community is essentially a
collectivity of people with marked shared elements, which construes to them a
“sense of collectivity”. These shared elements may include a territorial/
geographical space; an element of togetherness or bonding and a sense of
exclusiveness/demarcation from other communities; a broad homogeneity in
terms of social, cultural, economic, regional/linguistic commonality; a stock of
social capital for the constituents to draw from; and a sense of identity and
“we” feeling.

1.2 DEFINITIONS
Community is a set of descriptions of what is implied. It is essentially a subjective
experience which defies objective definition. It is felt and experienced rather
than measured and defined. People experience communities differently
Boundaries of a community may be physical or tangible, as they configure on a
map or as an administrative area. However, some boundaries may be symbolic,
in that they may exist in the minds of the beholders, and therefore people feel a
“sense of belonging” to the community.

The definition of community is linked to its construct. It is useful to look at it

from a historical perspectie as well as from the geographical and ideological
backgrounds in which it evolved.

Maciver and Page state that “a community is wherever the members of any
group, small or large, live together in such a way that they share, not this or that
particular interest, but the basic condition of common life, we call such a group
a community”.

Robert Bellah defines community as “a group of people who are socially

interdependent, who participate together in discussion and decision making,
and who share certain practices that both define the community and are nurtured
by it.”

According to Foundation for Community Encouragement “A community is a

group of two or more people who have been able to accept and transcend their
differences regardless of the diversity of their backgrounds (social, spiritual,
educational, ethnic, economic, political, etc.). This enables them to communicate
effectively and openly and to work together toward goals identified as being
for their common good.”

Bryon Munon ( 1968) defines “A community is a relatively self-sufficient

population, residing in a limited geographic area, bound together by feelings of
unity and interdependency.”

C. Farrington and E Pine define a community as a “ group of people lined by a

communications structure supporting discussion and collective action.”

Random House Unabridged Dictionary has many meanings on the term

community. The meanings that are closest to social worker’s profession are as
follows.
1) Social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, Concepts of Community and
Community Work
share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.

2) A social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common

characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in
some respect from the larger society within which it exists, example the
business community; the community of scholars.

3) Community, hamlet, village, town, city are terms for groups of people
living in somewhat close association, and usually under common rules.
Community is a general term, and town is often loosely applied. A commonly
accepted set of connotations envisages hamlet as a small group, village as
a somewhat larger one, town still larger, and city as very large. Size is,
however, not the true basis of differentiation, but properly sets off only
hamlet. Incorporation, or the absence of it, and the type of government
determine the classification of the others.
Simpson iterates that “a community is not simply economic, nor simply
political, nor simply territorial, nor simply visceral. Nor is it all these
special elements added together. Ultimately, it is a complex of conditional
emotions which the individual feels towards the surrounding world and
his fellows”.

In addition to these there is also a concept of Virtual Community

A virtual community, e-community or online community is a group of people
that primarily interact via communication media such as newsletters, telephone,
email or instant messages rather than face to face, for social, professional,
educational or other purposes. If the mechanism is a computer network, it is
called an online community. Virtual and online communities have also become
a supplemental form of communication between people who know each other
primarily in real life. Many means are used in social software separately or in
combination, including text-based chatrooms and forums that use voice, videotext
or avatars. Significant socio-technical change may have resulted from the
proliferation of such Internet-based social networks.
Virtual communities represent newer forms of human association. These could
include “communities of interest”, which could be goal oriented; frequently
temporary groupings; which are usually characterized by relatively minimal
cohesion. However, they have the potential to bring together people, who could
not otherwise meet due to distance, accessibility or stigma (eq. gay/lesbion e
groups). They also possess the potential to unite voices of those ofter unheard
or ignored, and create opportunities for wider citizen participation in public
policy debates and decision making process.

It is possible for virtual networks to be created and used by geographically and

interest bound communities for social uplift and collective action. One example
is the case of village blogs created by villagers in Goa to tackle the powerful
mining lobby. Or the many online groups that initiate and sustain activism for
victims of violence like for Nirbhaya gangrape case or those that protect wildlife
like the Greenpeace promoted online community striving for the protection of
the Olive Ridley turtles on the Orissa coastline.
Concepts of Community and
Community Development Check Your Progress 1
Note: Use the space provided for your answer.
1) Define community in your own words.
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1.3 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY

Communities come in an infinite number of shapes, social arrangements,
population and compositions. Relationships that form the basis of communal
life and the shared perceptions and common interests of its members are the
glue that bonds the community into a coherent unit. Moreover these social
relationships and shared perceptions transcend time, structure and location.
Some communities are relational in nature and are based on shared beliefs
values or interests. Such communities are not tied to a single location or physical
structure.
In understanding communities Social work draws from both sociological and
practitioner’s insights, shaped by the growth of profession in trying out the
community organization as method of social work practice.

Community Construct: Sociological Insights

The Construct of community has been associated with the German sociologist
Ferdinand Tonnies in the late 1800s. He considered the relationships
characterizing communities and accordingly came up with two variants one
named as Gemeinschaft and the other Gesselschaft.
The Gemeinschaft communities are based on natural personal, informal face to
face social relationships, where individuals are accepted for who they are,
and not what they have done. People are recognized and accepted for their
innate qualities. This sort of human relationship is reflected in families, small
groups and traditional communities.
Gesselschaft communities are characterized by rational self-interest and are
more contrived in nature. They place greater emphasis on specialized segmented
social interactions. The interests of the individual supersede the interests of the
group. Utilitarian goals as well as contractual agreements dominate interactions
between individuals. There is division of labor and social control is more
formalized, based on laws and rules with formal sanctions enforced when laws
are violated.
This is particularly attributed to the rise of industrial capitalism in Europe and
the United States at the end of the 19th century which was bringing about major
transformations in the nature of human relationships.
It is however true that both forms of community life form the current reality of
Indian Society and one cannot be attributed a higher/superior value than the
other. These need to be viewed as different forms of human association that are
present in the rural, urban and tribal communities. It is best to view them as Concepts of Community and
Community Work
ends of a continuum of human interaction wherein communities are grounded in
both informal personal relationships and in the formal institutional structures
that are part of contemporary life.
Given the complex and multifaceted nature of communities no single conceptual
framework provides an adequate theoretical foundation for understanding
community
Further two other aspects besides the above are useful to understand
communities. Community is seen as a) shared physical space or geographic
community and b) community based on shared interest or identity or
functional community.

Community as Bounded by Geographical Space

Brueggemann (2006) contends that community needs to be embodied to have
existence, meaning that it requires a physical space that symbolizes the community
for its members and for those who are not part of the community. Bounded is
referred to as location based community. The boundaries of this community are
often established with a recognized authority such as the Panchayat, the Mohalla,
the Municipal government, zoning commission etc. Community may also be
embodied in a physical structure, such as a panchayat ghar, a chaupal, a temple,
a mosque, a church, a satsang, a choir group, or a recreation club etc. these are
also known as geographical communities- that is communities are located in a
particular space and locality such as communities in Okhla, Harinagar, Ambedkar
Nagar etc.

Communities of Interest

This refers to Communities where the membership is based not on shared physical
space but on shared interests or characteristics that unite members and provide
the basis for one’s personal identity. Things like race ethnicity, religion culture,
social class professional affiliation and sexual orientation often form the basis
of communities of interest. Because such communities are based on identity
and interest members carry the community with them. For example one can
refer to the caste Mahapanchayats that are a way to foster community identity
and to protect community interest. Similarly communities can be formed of
alumni associations and old boys/girls associations. There could be communities
based on professional interests such as that of artists, professional associations
such as the Engineers of India, Indian Medical Association, Traders Associations,
Industrial associations etc. There can also be linguistic, religious and cultural
associations. Say the Karnatic Music group, the West Bengal Mountaineering
association etc or even the positive people’s network, fish workers forum, the
dalit writers association, the schizophrenic association of India, the Association
of Professional Social Workers in India etc. Sometimes they are also referred
to as functional communities. Thus community workers sometimes work with
functional communities such as the child labour, the sex workers and so on.

Communities of interest sometimes overlap with locality based communities as

when a residential area contains a high proportion of people whose personal
identity is tied to one or more specific interest groups, such as the slum and
shack dwellers associations, Mahila Milan in Mumbai etc. Most people in
Concepts of Community and urban areas belong to more than one community, with varying degrees of
Community Development
identification of interest and engagement. These multiple community affiliations
can be thought of as one’s personal community network, representing various
locality-based and interest based communities that connect the individual to
others and to broader society. It is to be understood that the individual is located
across various groups, in a range of formal and informal helping/hindering
systems in the community. These provide important tools for the location of the
individual in a social context for developing more realistic interventions plans
that connect the various levels of human interaction, micro to macro.

Check Your Progress 2

Note: Use the space provided for your answer.
1) Reflect on the sociological understanding of a community. Illustrate with
examples from your own region.
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Community Construct: Social Work Perspective

In addition to the above understanding of communities Kirst-Ashma(2008)
suggests that community theories can be thought of as a series of lenses that
focus on different aspects of community each highlighting different dimensions
of the community, its dynamics and the ways it impacts the lives of its members.
Three frameworks are said to be useful to look at a community from a social
work practitioner’s perspective. These are:
a) as a social system,
b) as an ecological system, and
c) as a center for power and conflict.
Let us discuss each of the above.

a) Community as a Social System: General systems theory is used by social

workers to understand many of the phenomenon they encounter in social
reality. A system is viewed as being composed of multiple interacting
components that relate to one another in an orderly, functional manner.
Moreover systems are embedded within larger systems, thus providing a
framework for understanding the connection between different levels of
the systems. For example an individual might be viewed as one element
within a family or kinship group, the kinship group exists within a
community, the community within a stagnation or society, thus a system
perspective provides a useful framework for understanding the structure
of community and the processes that tie the structural elements together.

This assumes that the community is composed of a set of subsystems that

perform specialized functions that meet the needs of the entire community.
The actions of those subsystems are seen as coordinated and integrated in
ways that benefit the community as a whole.
 Five major functions are said to be associated with the various social units Concepts of Community and
Community Work
and systems within a community. These are production- distribution,
consumption, socialization , social control, social participation and mutual
support.

Social workers need to critically examine how the sub systems meet or
fail to meet the needs of their client groups. Tools that could be used here
are community assessment, which can identify the community needs as
well as community strengths. These also need to be understood with respect
to global systems that impact and impinge on these functions. These global
effects could be related to the way globalization, privatization and the
dismantling of the social safety net impact on the lives and livelihoods of
communities.

b) Community as an Ecological System: In this community is seen as having

close interrelationship with the environment in a symbiotic manner. There
are regular exchange relationships that occur between the various parts of
the community where each part gives and receives in symbiotic
relationships with others in the system. There is a definite interdependence
between various parts so that equilibrium is achieved. It brings into what
is known as geo-cultural perspective where in the spatial features (land
use patterns and distribution of services) of a specific location interact
with the community- its population characteristics (such as size, density,
diversity) and technology (production of goods and services, transportation,
communication etc) The physical features play a significant role in
community life and determine the patterns of interaction. The location of
specific groups vis a vis the location of resources (water, land, road) is
determined by the social dynamics of the community. Thus lower caste
communities are often located away from important and central places in
the village community. Thus important territorial boundaries are not only
physical in quality but also social and psychological that represents the
social hierarchy.

This perspective also enables the social workers to understand the

community structures emergence through dynamic processes of a)
competition (competition between various groups for common pool
resources) and b) dominance(dominance of a particular group or caste in
determining service delivery and access to services) c) centralization
(concentration of resources both economic and social in the hands of
particular groups –clustering of these in one area- say the Panchayat and
Mahila Mandal or temple location as seat of power and important decisions
pertaining to the community in of power), d) concentration (location of
specific groups – ghettoisation because of affinal and kinship bonds, or
regional and linguistic bonds- such as the Bihari colony, Bengali colony or
the Madrasi area -location of specific groups in the urban areas) e)
succession (the process where in there is population movement as part of
a natural process where in the migrants often move to less desirable areas-
moving up once situations are favourable or when they could afford better
places) and f) segregation( where in even when they could move to new
areas they cannot because of antipathy by other groups- the sub groups
function as isolated communities- say Seelampur Jhuggi clusters in the
North east of Delhi.
Concepts of Community and Such features can be explored over time by using the Geographical
Community Development
Information systems in the spatial distribution, concentration of resources
and amenities juxtaposed with the location of communities. These enable
us to understand the relationship between the physical and social
environment of the community. Further the social structure of the community
as it evolves over time and the correctives needed become immediately
visible and also suggest the type of interventions that could be carried out.

c) Community as a Seat of Power and Conflict: The perspective goes beyond

the social systems perspective that sees community as constituting of
subsystems that have their functional role cut out for them. The conflicts of
interests and disagreements as well as domination are not emphasized. In
the ecological system even though there is acknowledgment of power
processes of domination, concentration and centralization, there is not much
thought provided on how to deal with the differences and the inequitable
distribution of resources. How can social workers work to bring about
changes in the community to enable those with less power to better meet
their needs.

The perspective of community as a centre for power and conflict considers

power and politics as central to our understanding of community. It assumes
that conflict and change are central attributes of most communities.
Community Decision-making is not merely seen as rational planning,
collaboration and coordination but also as involving confrontation and
negotiation.

Communities are seen as arenas where competing groups are constantly

engaged in conflict over power and the control of scarce resources. Some
groups often based on social class, caste, religious, linguistic and regional
affiliations dominate over other groups. There is a constant process of
negotiation and confrontation to fulfill the basic needs by those who are
involved. Sometimes the conflict is resolved in favour of the marginalized,
aided by the institutional presence of law, judiciary and administration
and at other times the institutions take an opposite stand, and conflict is
resolved in favour of the powerful. This perspective enables Social workers
to understand the community power structures, the way decisions are made
to favour or condemn groups, the way conflict positions are taken and
perpetuated and the role that change agents should play in strengthening the
capacities of those lower in hierarchy to change the situation. Such issues
are very well evident in urban, rural and tribal areas where the communities
are denied access to resources on their social origins or economic situation
or political affiliation. Caste and communal riots are an extreme form of
those conflict positions.

Check Your Progress 3

Note: Use the space provided for your answer.
1) Discuss briefly the three perspective used by social work practitioner’s
in understanding a community.
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 Concepts of Community and
2) How do you understand community power structures? Illustrate with Community Work

examples from your region.

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1.4 CHARACTERISTICS OF A COMMUNITY

Community is a group of individuals having shared space, values and practices.
They are seen to be integrated in a network of relationships that foster
commonness and spirit of togetherness. Communities are seen to be homogenous
entities with a degree of relationship that is seen to be the very essence of
community.
Community can be seen to have the following characteristics:

1) Human Scale: Communities have individuals engaging in face-to-face

interactions. They are in that sense primary groups who are in direct contact
with one another. People know each other and in this sense are in control
of the range of interactions they are engaged in. Social structures are
sufficiently small and people are able to own and control them.

2) Identity and Belonging: There is feeling of belonging and acceptance of

each other as well as security Thus one feels a part of the community or a
member of a community. Membership involves acceptance by others,
allegiance or loyalty to the aims of the group concerned. This sense of
belonging is significant and positively regarded. Community can become
the person’s self concept. Identity also plays a role in the person not only
feeling a sense of belongingness to one community but a sense of difference
from the other groups. Institutions within community and shared practices
also a play a role in identity formation and foster a sense of belonging. It
also means that people can face a change in the sense of belonging to
changing institutions. These can be seen to erode the togetherness within a
community.

3) Obligations: The belongingness carries with it certain sense of rights and

responsibilities. There is a mutuality of trust and reciprocity involved
firstly in maintaining community life in terms of participating in the
collective activities of community, sharing and interacting with others.
Participating in community events with adherence to customs and traditions
are ordained by collective will of the members

4) Gemeinschaft: This implies that the people have a wide variety of roles
in which they interact with each other. These interactions are not contractual
but are obligatory. These are important for self-enhancement of individuals
as well as for fostering the use of a range of talents and abilities for the
benefit of others and the community as a whole.
Concepts of Community and 5) Culture: A community has a specific culture that is reproduced and
Community Development
continuously being shaped by the members of the community, through its
social structures, economic systems and power relations. A culture in that
sense is all encompassing and all embracing the way of life of a group of
people.

1.5 PLACE OF COMMUNITY WORK WITHIN

SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
While many of the community work aspects are looked after by traditional
institutions within Indian society, there are causes of concern related to the
inequality and injustice that are located within the social structure. The norms
and values governing Indian society enable Community welfare and self-help
as binding, though these are confined to their particular social groups.
The development of the community work as a method of intervention may be
viewed from two perspectives. One from its relationship to the history of social
work as a profession and the other from the variety of community intervention
methods that have been pursued by various professions as well as non-
professional citizen groups

Historical Perspective
However in terms of professional community work practice and its place among
the methods of social work practice, we need to trace the history of social
work profession in America and Great Britain.
Social work in the 19th century was often conceived in terms of a much broader
setting than casework. The settlement movement and charity organization society
movements formed the context for the development of social work as a profession
and from its genesis community practice has been an essential constituent.
Reform movements to change the situation of the distressed were at the heart of
community development and organizing efforts. In the settlement houses in
America and in the charity organization societies with which the social work
profession began had the reform element as core.
In America for example, the settlement movement was initially focused on the
educational and recreational needs of the communities served, and later
expanded into many other activities such as housing and legal advice. Work
with young people was also developed through clubs and other forms of what
might now be called ‘group work’.
Rapid developments of community chests and planning councils in the 1920s
and the 1930s paved the way to conceptualize community organization practice
and social planning in particular. Focus was on improvements of health and
welfare programs and the balancing of community needs and resources.
Also there was a call for a move from more centralized, elitist and expert
ridden to one that is localized and existing at various levels as well as
participatory that recognizes the importance of citizenry. There is also the aspect
that community organization processes contain technical skills and knowledge
as well as the social goals and the value stance.
Community organization emerged in two traditions in England- one with the
community worker taking the place of the churches in their role of moral
alleviation. Community work is seen to be an attempt to respond to moral Concepts of Community and
Community Work
confusion because of the erosion of religious faith in the middle of last century;
second with the view that the degradation of the poor is a consequence rather
than the cause of their poverty.
Community organization as a method of social work emerged in Great Britain
with a growing dissatisfaction of Casework as a method of social work practice.
The reasons can be seen as follows:
a) The deficiencies of case work, as a method of social work seems to be
one major force in the development of community organization.
b) Increasing knowledge and understanding of the nature of informal caring
systems and other forms of voluntary action in their society and the poten-
tial for interweaving statutory services with such systems;
c) The influence of the pioneers in community based teams and the evidence
that their work offers alternative methods;
d) The impact of cut-backs in local government spending which have com-
pelled the serious consideration of alternative;
e) Political changes on both right and left which for different reasons have
favoured the introduction of policies of decentralization. On the right these
tend to be founded on policies of self-help and local responsibility. On the
left they are likely to derive from local socialism that seeks to revitalize
relations between representatives and electorate founded on the local de-
livery and control of services.
The term community work itself was coined by a study group founded in 1968
as the Gulbenkian Foundation. They saw community work as consisting of
three interrelated forms of activity – community development, community
organization and social planning.
Initially community work was supportive of traditional methods of social work
practice such as group work and case work but the developments in the
understanding of societies as well as the growing body of knowledge related to
practice interventions with communities meant that community work became an
important method by itself.

Purposes of Intervention
The purposes of Community work vary with the issues of each community that
are the focus. Developed industrial countries have seen the post world war II
period. The diversity of purpose of community organization has reflected the
complex character of societies with their many groupings and the basic
differences among them in their conditions, status, needs and orientation towards
maintenance or change of existing institutions. The purposes of community
organization are therefore said to be not uniform but as the reflection of diverse
purposes of groups, organizations and movements.
Indian society is multi cultural and represents a diverse reality that had seen
practice of community interventions stemming from various social, religious
and political movements. These did consider a change in the social reality and
a better life for the marginalized howsoever paternalistic they may have been.
The diversity of groups, populations with diverse geo-cultural positions and
livelihoods brings with it diverse needs that are more commonly concentrated
Concepts of Community and towards economic improvement. Community efforts in India have been fostering
Community Development
these efforts to improve the lot of the down trodden, the powerless in rural,
urban and tribal locations. These efforts have been at the beginning of the century
holistic and encompassing all round improvement in the life and living of people
in health, education, livelihoods and political empowerment.
A major purpose of community work practice is concerned with improving the
way in which social welfare services are organized and delivered with the
targeted population being involved in the solutions to their problems hence
their participation is a key. Participation and self-help are key concepts in
community work.

Social Action as Part of Community Work

Here the objective is not specific and direct problem solving but the organization
of a population to obtain resources and power that it did not have before. This
may take form of bringing pressure upon existing social institutions, the
development of new channels of representation whereby the voice of the groups
previously excluded may be heard in the decision making process or the
creation of new political and economic arrangements that will actually transfer
resources to them.
It was the emphasis of enabler role for a community work practitioner that
made it possible for it to find a place for community work within the general
framework of professional social work. It also provided a formulation that was
broad enough to unite community workers operating in many different settings
and fields.
As an enabler, the community worker would help people to clarify their problems,
identify their needs, and develop the capacity to deal with their own problems
more effectively. The emphasis is clearly on skill in developing relationships

Community Development Approaches

Community development thus implies an ongoing process of dialogue,
consciousness raising, education and action aimed at helping the people
concerned to determine and develop their own version of community. No single
right formula for what constitutes community and no single right way to develop
it. Community Development is a much more complex process full of dilemmas
and problems which require unique and creative solutions. Models of community
work are thus valuable if they provide frameworks within which these problems
and dilemmas can be understood and creative solutions derived.
Community programmes must be grounded in the real life experiences, sufferings
and aspirations of the people as articulated by the people themselves, while at
the same time these subjective experiences must be linked to an analysis of
broader social economic and political structures which are the cause of people’s
oppression and disadvantage.
Consciousness raising has important implications for social worker and client
groups relationship. In this the social worker is not in an expert of the situation
but in a role of service as a resource and is answerable to them. This change in
relationship between the professionals and the consumers of human services
facilitates their empowerment rather then disempowerment.
Structures of domination and oppression have resulted in the legitimation of the Concepts of Community and
Community Work
wisdom of the dominant groups, while alternative wisdoms of the oppressed
groups are unrecognized. An essential component of community development
is not only to acknowledge the wisdom of the oppressed, and their right to
define their own needs and aspirations in their own way, but to facilitate the
expression of that wisdom within the wider society as an essential contribution
to the welfare of the human race, Thus community development must incorporate
strategies of consciousness raising and of ensuring that the voices of the oppressed
are heard, acknowledged and valued. Social justice perspective also means
that some who are disadvantaged will continue to be disadvantaged if seen in
functional terms. Functional communities can be there at the expense of local
communities, then it is to be discouraged and geographical communities be
supported instead.

For this geographical communities represent preferred option for community

development and community based services. Functional communities both of
the elite and the powerless have to be recognized to exist and the latter
encouraged and former discouraged.

Community based strategy involves giving central place to the initiative of

ordinary people at grass-roots level, recognizing their voice and efforts in
changing their social situation.
Check Your Progress 4
Note: Use the space provided for your answer.
1) Trace the history of community work in Great Britain and America.
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2) What according to you would be the elements of community work in
India?
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1.6 LET US SUM UP

We have understood how communities are defined as bounded by place and
interest. We have also seen the various characteristics of communities in their
interactions, sense of identity and belonging, their mutual obligations and rights
and the multifarious roles that individuals play within communities contributing
to the social and economic life and the way this life is maintained and modified
to carry within itself a sense of change as well as stability for human beings to
survive and flourish. We have also understood the various ways in which
communities are understood by social workers as social systems, ecological
systems and zones of power and conflict.
Concepts of Community and We have also understood the nature of community practice its origins in Great
Community Development
Britain and America with the work with poor communities and settlement
movement respectively. We have also understood how the nature of communities
carries with it both traditional and modern features that make community practice
in India different from what it has been in Britain and America.

1.7 FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES

1. Henderson Paul, Jones David and Thomas David N ( Ed) 1980 The
boundaries of change in community work Allen and Unwin, London.
2. Hadley Roger, Cooper Mike, Dale Peer& Stacy Graham.(1987) A
community Social Worker’s handbook. Tavistock Publications, London.
3. Bryon Munon (1968) Changing Community Dimensions Ohio State
University Press, Columbus, OH accessed from [Link]
eng521spring02/[Link] on 14th August 2008.
4. Mizrahi Terry and Davis Larry E (2008) Encyclopedia of Social Work Vol
I NASW Press & Oxford University Press New York.
5. C. Farrington and E Pine, “Community Memory: A Case Study in
Community Communication.” Reinventing Technology, Rediscovering
Community. Greenwich, CT: Ablex, accessed from [Link]
~sg7/eng521spring02/[Link] on 14th August 2008.
6. Robert Bellah et.a., Habits of the Heart. Berkeley: accessed from http://
[Link]/~sg7/eng521spring02/[Link] on 14th
August 2008.
7. Random House Unabridged Dictionary The dictionary meaning of a
community ([Link] Unabridged (v 1.1)) Based on the, © Random
House, Inc. 20 accessed on 20th August 2008.