Relationship Between Community And Community Development

In the book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman there are many different characters, and even some of them cross paths. A community garden was started in Cleveland Ohio just by one person therefore everyone follows. They all learn how to get along with other people, how to not stereotype so much, and how to depend on each other in their community. All of them struggle with something, whether it's with family, friends, or feeling stereotyped. They learn the importance of a community, and realize how much they really depend on each other. Seedfolks shows that having a community is important for all people to incorporate diversity, culture,and unique stories into their lives. You don't realize how much people depend on their community until its gone. The importance of a community is shown through the characters and shown by how they act, what they say, overall how they are perceived by other people.

Community development involves changing the relationships between ordinary people and people in positions of power, so that everyone can take part in the issues that affect their lives. It starts from the principle that within any community there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channeled into collective action to achieve the communities' desired goals.

Communities play an essential role in the development of the self and learning about the stranger. Through communities, individuals are able to socialize and create a greater understanding of each other. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls describes the community of which she felt most part of during her childhood. Walls says, “. . .

We don’t value community since we don’t make decisions for the whole group we make them for ourselves only. In our jobs we only do what will lead us to a higher paying position, and if our position is in jeopardy we will do what ever it takes to keep it even if it means going against co-workers. This leads many people to ask the question “do I act selfishly or do I cooperate?” (Innes 2) The ways in which we raise our children has a significant affect on how they will act. If they put themselves before others constantly and think only of their own benefits, it can make them become a selfish person which will lead them to be seen as an outcast by our society. In “Behind Grandma’s House” Gary Soto shows us this when he tells us:

A community in the U.S. is form when individuals come together base on different outlooks. “...consist entirely of refugees from other nations, that people of different,even warring religions and cultures can live, if not side by side, the on either side of the country’s Chester Avenues” (Quindlen). Despite all these differences, we can all live together as a community and form relationships based on whatever. Unlike other countries, we have freedom of speech which causes conundrum and a clique.  Though we all have different backgrounds and customs, we respect each other, even if we disagree.

Community is built of two main elements. First, community requires communal caring. Members need to put themselves in positions where they are able to relate to other members and does everything “within reasonable limits of self-sacrifice” (65). The second is communal reciprocity. Individuals will serve other members of the community, not for exchange of goods, but to provide generosity and support. These elements of community appear in the lives of all individuals, even the most capitalist ones. Humans are entirely capable of these.

Throughout history we see a pattern that includes a boom in society alongside a boom in industry. As industry increases, many people move to cities, causing a lack of community and a greater sense of contribution to society as a whole. On the contrary, when we look at time periods with greater agricultural importance, there are many more close-knit family groups or small communities. This idea came into fruition after reading The New Community by Amitai Etzioni. This piece discusses the role of community and society, and how community is defined as unity and society is defined as diversity. On a basic level, we agreed with this statement. As industry booms, the role of the individual becomes less important, and the diverse skill set of a society becomes more important. In a community, there can be diversity, but all people involved need to have a strong commonality that bonds them. I agree more with an idea presented later in The New Community more. “What we need now are communities that balance both diversity and unity.”(Etzioni) This statement reflects our current society, which is extremely diverse. As a large populace, we need to find communities that will accept our diversity, while still sharing a

A community is a group of people living in the same place or have a particular characteristic in common. In todays society where you grow up has a huge impact on your life that could be negative or positive. If you are the individual who did not turn out like others in your community then you should be proud of yourself because you beat out the odds of every statistics thoughts. “You choose the life that you put out to live”. Which means that if you choose to live by a tough boy image than that’s the image you will pay for if you do not change the way you are living. A community can make or break people of good quality and positive role models. A negative affect a community could partake in is having you get involved and doing things you never done before. A positive effect that your community can have on you is helping you be knowledgeable of life and paying attention to your surroundings. Even so, their may be times when you do not feel loved

The community is made into a single entity by their collective thinking and actions. The separate members are no longer separate since they are not given individual identities. They merge into one and think, even speak, as a collective

Tonnies discusses the concepts of Community and Society in great detail, from the differences between the two to the wills that fuel them. Perhaps the main argument in the book is the differences between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, or Community and Society. Tonnies defines Gemeinschaft as a more intimate grouping of people who rely on each other and have shared goals that places emphasis on the cohesive unit. On the other hand, Gesellschaft is the impersonal grouping mainly found in city and urban areas. Societies are made up of people more interested in personal goals and the places an emphasis on individualism. I agree to an extent that communities are more personal and intimate and can foster stronger relationships within it. Communities require people to be more dependent on each other than cities and metropolitan areas and as a result the chances for tighter bonds are higher. However, present day Society and Community are vastly different than the time it was written. With technology and travel, communities can grow all over as well as virtually and can be present in a society location.

These Ecological concepts demographics, competition, segregation and integration can help social workers analyze a community in terms of its fairness and support to all of its members. One of the strengths gathered from this perspective is that it allows for the issues to be identified and it implements change as needed. The Human Ecology perspective can help frame subsequent questions like how to change the situation. It has concern for the individuals within the community but its main focus is on the environment. With the focus on the environment it will be better to determine why people behave the way they do. One of the concepts of this perspective is also one of tis strengths and that is when integration occurs. Members will come together and function as a whole. However, this theory does have its weaknesses. For one when the demographics mentioned are becoming unlivable members will compete and segregate themselves. This causes the community to always be in chaos. Viewing communities from a Human Ecology perspective it provides a useful assessment mechanism for understanding why people act as they do within the context of the larger community macro system.

Community development around the world is being practised by various entities, addressing various socio-economic issues that are unique to different communities worldwide. According to Bhattacharyya (2004), community development initiatives are dominant in democratic countries. There are various initiatives that have led to significant shifts in the wellbeing of communities using different development tools to develop communities around the world. South African, which is a democratic country has one of the highest income gabs in the world. The country’s income difference is evident in many townships/rural areas around the country’s underdeveloped communities. The positive impact of community development may be seen in the fields of public health, micro-macro development, food and violence (Bhattacharyya, 2004).

A community is established when more than two people share the same values and through time this personal connection evolves into a fellowship governed by rituals, traditions, and a particular form of communication that when taken together makes a group of individuals whether living in a specific geographical area or connected by ideals so distinct that their distinguishing marks allow them to stand out from among the crowd. They do not just believe in something like an organization but they need each other to survive and thrive. A good example is the Old Order Amish Mennonite community wherein the community serves as source of identity, strength and provides the reason why they should sustain the community’s way of life.

Community is established locally but community development is a process that includes actors from inside and outside of the community to achieve sustainability. My previous essays have addressed the progression of community development from place-based attachment, organizing and advocacy to addressing the need and effect of government involvement. The final stop on the continuum of the community development is to analyze market-based approaches to community development. This paper will look at how a market based approach to community development is an important component of community development because it is the appropriate response to the current socio-economic, and political context that our country is in. A market-based approach provides a mechanism to define relationships and allocate economic resources to create systemic change within communities. increasing opportunities for social inclusion and economic sustainability

Community development (CD) has been playing an important role within the society as it is a critical practice that identifies and attempts to address unequal relations of power (Forde & Lynch, 2015). In CD, social capital is an important term as it refers to the networks and norms that enable collective action. In general, social capital is the level of trust between members within the community. Social workers need to understand and empower the social capital to strengthen the community through collective action based on the existing resources.