This article documents how an MSW student in an introductory community practice course took her class assignment and over the course of two years revitalized, democratized, and transformed a sclerotic, corporate-run Home Owners Association (HOA). While the community analysis assignment required the student to interview six of her neighbors, the…

Differences between old-timers and newcomers and their effects on community social dimensions have been the object of much research. These studies have shown how extensive in-migration of people with different socioeconomic backgrounds, values, and perspectives contribute to heightened social conflict in some communities. Popular media accounts…

This student workbook is for 8- to 11-year-olds participating in the Pennsylvania 4-H "Getting To Know Your Community" program which is designed to involve youth in improving the quality of community life, learning about the role and functions of local government, understanding public issues, becoming involved in the process of community…

This student guide is for 15- to 17-year-olds participating in the Pennsylvania 4-H "Your Community, Help Develop It" project which is designed to involve youth in improving the quality of community life, learning about the role and functions of local government, understanding public issues, becoming involved in the process of community…

Effective rural education depends on active community involvement. This ethnographic case study examines three models of community organization as an explanation of how community action occurs. The three models are: (1) individuals interacting in formal and informal groups; (2) networks of "weak ties" effective for diffusing information and…

This student workbook is for 12- to 14-year-olds participating in the Pennsylvania 4-H "Opening the Doors of Your Community" project which is designed to involve youth in improving the quality of community life, learning about the role and functions of local government, understanding public issues, becoming involved in the process of…

Participant observation and intensive interviews of fifty people from a rural midwestern community provided information on the importance of women in women's organizations and in behind-the-scenes arenas of local politics and economics. Bringing women into community studies expands the concept of community into private, familial arenas where…

Examining the meaning of lifelong learning within the context of "community" (defined in terms of interests and locality), the author explores many learning resources and opportunities and identifies related research questions. The content of this study is presented in three sections. The first section on the community as a setting for…

This study investigates how 40 working-class women participate as volunteers in the service, political, and social action arenas of their community--Carondelet, on the South Side of St. Louis. The purpose is to show that working-class women who live in transitional areas are capable of politically addressing the urban problems intruding into their…

This book explores how community functions in "Bremer," a small rural town in eastern Washington. Human interactions in a variety of contexts are analyzed within a framework that posits three distinct eras of social and economic organization: community-control, mass-society, and information eras. Contexts examined are farming (the…

This report discusses trends affecting the future of rural development in Kentucky and describes strategies for leveraging more positive outcomes for rural communities. In addition to the enduring legacies of rural poverty, inadequate infrastructure, low educational attainment, and joblessness, contemporary rural Kentucky is also characterized by…