Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how critical literacy practices within a community youth program opened spaces for restoration for youth. In turn, youth created civic conversations about race, juvenile justice and school discipline inequities to enact change within their community. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative…

Community change approaches have increasingly involved participatory practices in which community members directly impacted by an issue participate in implementing change efforts. However, community participation as a practice and approach does not always include youth participation. Within the field of youth organizing, young people are…

Within the last half century, several communities in Boki Land have engaged in violent conflicts as a result of disputes over portions of land that have claimed many lives, and left many more injured. The Boki people, like most rural African peoples, depend largely on the land for their livelihood and economic development. Thus, any encroachment…

Community problem solving is believed to help coalitions achieve community changes and subsequent population-level reductions in targeted community health problems. This study empirically examined a community problem solving model used by CADCA, a national coalition training organization, to determine if the model explains how coalitions become…

This study examines a two-year effort to engage groups of inner-city students in community engagement projects at Social Action Charter High School, SACHS, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this project, graduate student volunteers coached small groups of students working on community change projects, collecting data on what happened over time. Kahne…

This mixed method, single case study describes a university-community partnership between a small, suburban liberal arts college and an inner-city neighborhood located over eight miles away. The ultimate goal of the study was to improve the partnership for community and campus partners. The study does this by focusing on partnership members'…

Communities are telling inspiring stories about what happens when they use public dialogue and action to involve large numbers of citizens--with the greatest diversity possible--in a search for common ground to resolve tough issues like race, community police relations, and education reform. These efforts, often called "study circles," are…

This study investigated the historical development of the Gage Park community in Chicago, Illinois, including its population changes, education, income, racial composition, housing and crime. The results indicate that the community, which in the past has been primarily composed of persons of German ancestry, has experienced an influx of Latino and…

Offers theses to encourage search for community in the changing countryside: because of its influence on social well-being, the community is alive; rural areas present special community development advantages/problems; strategies must address sources of rural problems in larger society; rural sociology can specify/measure parameters of rural…

Provides the personal narratives of three Rosebud Sioux tribal leaders: Geraldine Ancoren, a mother of 7 who has worked for the tribe in various departments for 16 years; Ned Metcalf, who organized several development projects for his extended family; and Duane Hollow Horn Bear, a Lakota Studies instructor at Sinte Gleska University and member of…

Describes the "rurban" community of Freeport, Maine, and community changes that occurred during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The coordinator of Freeport Community Services facilitated the identification of community problems (including concerns about the quality of public education), analysis of the dynamics of the social situation,…

Describes institutional overload and cultural clash as principal forms of disturbances which create problems in the areas of education, community solidarity, health care, social welfare, crime and public safety, and other municipal services. Advises rural planners and developers to focus on objective indicators of these areas, for successful…

During the 1980s, population increased 42 percent and per capita income doubled in Oconee County (Georgia). Surveys of 52 persons holding 27 county positions in 1981 and 1991 show how local leaders' personal characteristics (including educational attainment), network connections, and views of community problems changed with the changing social…

Data from 83 Minnesota newspapers support the hypothesis that as communities become more pluralistic, their newspapers will report more conflict. Between 1965 and 1979, Minnesota saw an increase in population and proportionate increases in income from manufacturing and agriculture. During this period of growing pluralism, the amount of newspaper…

Designed to discover the influence of rapidly increasing commercial recreation on social interaction, this study dealt with the nature and changing significance of community institutions. The study was conducted from 1963 to 1965 in the emerging community of Osage Beach, Missouri, as a basis for the author's doctoral dissertation. Data for the…