West Corporation: The Strengths Of Community

Communities play an essential role in the development of the self and learning about the stranger. Through communities, individuals are able to socialize and gain a greater understanding of each other. A community can be defined in many different ways based on every individual’s experience with it. Developing a strong community takes time. Some people, like Jeannette Walls, do not have the opportunity to develop strong communities throughout their childhood.

A community is a place where people around supposed to be able to live and thrive together. When one thinks of a community, the image that most likely is visualized is one of a place where each person lives harmoniously with all the other members of that community. While this may be the typical image of a community, it is not the realistic view. In reality communities can share both good and bad aspects. In Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century Peter Dreier, John Mollenkopf, and Todd Swanstrom make the argument that the place a person lives ultimately matters over all else; the place which a person lives effects the choices that that he/she makes and determines his/her ability to obtain a

According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2008) defines a community as: “A social group determined by geographic boundaries and/or common values and interests. Its members know and interact with one another. It functions within a particular social structure and exhibits and creates norms, values, and social institutions” (World Health Organization [WHO], 1974, pg. 7).

The best way to define a community will never be clear. You have your own feelings on communities and our thoughts on it will always be different from everyone else's. Everyone has a different perspective on communities, it is endless. All of the definitions relate to what I think about a community. Community to me means “home”. A community is where I have grown up and learned important life lessons. The things that matter most to me in my community are my family, my

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, “. . .

A community is a group of people who live in the same area, interact with each other, and share certain norms and values. A community is defined as a locality-based entity, composed of systems of formal organizations reflecting societal institutions, informal groups, and aggregates that are interdependent and whose function or expressed intent is to meet a wide variety of collective needs (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012).

In Alycia’s writing she mentions that in her community people have helped each other learn about themselves and their culture, and in turn helped to shape their identity. I believe that our experiences help us define who we are and who we aren’t and Alycia is right a community is something we all live in and believe it or not it really affects our identity. For me I would consider my family, friends, teacher, and other important people in my life part of my community. These are the people that created me, I was born from my parents, but my community has shaped me, it has given me my identity. If the community wasn’t there, then I would still be trying to find out who I am.

At work this was rather easy since it is basically my job to interact with people, and typically the person coming into the store is expecting

A community is a group of people that share a common or similar characteristic with each other. Some communities can also consist of people living together or practice worship. My essay will include the communities that I am part of which are my dance, school and church communities.

The definition of community when I google it, is “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.” I would describe community as a group of people who have common goals, thoughts, or interests.

The definition provided in The American College Dictionary from 1964 says “a group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.” I never really viewed community in this manner. Many of us think of the word “community” as a group of people who live near each other. We forget that a community is actually just a group of people with common interests or characteristics who often happen to live near each other. Communities can be bound by race, religion, economic standings, political standings, and most commonly, location. Frequently, communities fall into more than one of these categories.

Communities are affected, and in a sense defined by, forces that affect community members and their space. The forces can range from outside organizations such as the government and large corporations … These components of the community vary infinitely, and thus no two communities are the same; even a given community is not the same over time (Cnaan & Milofsky, p. 1)

Early definitions of community considered term primarily as one related to social integration and face-to-face communication involving a feeling of membership and shared emotional connection (Tonnies, 1957). In this way, communities acted similarly to extended families and the likely result was members who remained united despite factors that might divide them, including distance (Tonnies, 1957). These early meanings partially explain why people often consider community in terms of geographic proximity (Jankowksi & Prehn, 2002; Tonnies, 1957). These early researchers understood that living in close proximity did not ensure community; consistent social interaction outside of commerce was necessary (Jankowksi & Prehn, 2002; Tonnies, 1957). This differs from society, which Tonnies (1957) considered to people who might have reasons to be united, but remain fundamentally separated. Other research proposes that society represents an

Throughout my life, I have been privileged to know a strong sense of community. My understanding of community has been carved out and shaped by each community that I have been a part of and the subsequent life experiences that I have had by being a part of these communities. To me, community means a sense of belonging with people who have some capacity of like-mindedness. When you belong to a community, you feel like a piece of a larger puzzle that comes together to create a whole. Each community you belong to both influences you, and is influenced by you. Moreover, your belonging to a community generates a sense of unity and shares a common goal, value, or outlook.

The term community is a more than geographic boundaries. It is a group of people