What do people need to learn to engage actively in social action for neighbourhood improvement or development? How important is emergent learning relative to planned learning in this context? Where does first-person knowledge fit into the body of knowledge required for success in bringing about change for the better in neighbourhoods through…

A number of recent surveys of public opinion claim that there is now widespread acceptance of the need for sustainable development, and that the general public, through its social and consumer activity is already successfully engaged. However, in all this, the focus has primarily been on individual and family behaviours such as recycling and…

This article discusses the theoretical and social contexts of a community art project that took place at a public housing estate located in Melbourne, Australia. The art intervention was aimed at increasing the residents' health and well-being through the empowerment of their own cultural creations. Three sculptures in the form of giant babushka…

During the 1890s and the first three decades of the 20th century, social work in the United States developed a community-based direct practice approach to family assistance and social reform. The basis for this method was a situational view of social life that emphasized the use of interpersonal and transactional methods to achieve social and…

Toward the end of the of the twentieth century, the idea that young people are social actors gained increasing predominance. Since then, there has been a growing recognition of young people's ability to understand and contribute to forming their environments. In this article, the authors discuss the state of youth participation in the United…

Chicago's Puerto Rican community in West Town had a unique reaction to the spread of AIDS within its limits. They created their own institutions and tackled the epidemic themselves. In its infancy, Vida/SIDA, which translates as Life/AIDS, was solely an alternative health clinic for people with AIDS. Free of charge, it provided services such as…

Guidelines and case studies of model programs are intended as resource materials to aid 22 organizations funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to encourage meaningful youth participation in policy decisions which affect youth, primarily in the juvenile justice, educational, and social systems. The first of three major…

The Fundacion Social, a grassroots organization in Colombia, uses profits from its 14 companies to fund community self-help initiatives aimed at eliminating poverty. Social programs focus on community integration, microbusinesses, recycling, education, and communication. The organization seeks to eliminate structural poverty and is currently…

This collection gathers together several papers reflecting the state of the art in the development of community-based programs in health sciences education. Titles and authors are as follows: "Issues in Implementing a Problem-Based Learning Curriculum at the University of Sherbrooke" (Jacques E. Des Marchais; Bertrand Dumais);…

This special issue of the Family Resource Coalition Report presents personal experiences and reflections regarding parent involvement and leadership in family support. Articles in this issue are: (1) "The Vaughn Family Center: It's My Story" (Jorge Lara and Matt Oppenheim); (2) "Asking the Right Questions is Key to Developing Parent…

Companion to a five-part public television documentary, this book describes efforts across the United States to fight poverty, and also prescribes that we all take responsibility for a fight against economic inequality. The book's goal is to contribute to a meaningful discussion about poverty in America, a topic that cannot be broached today…