Class 7

Conceptualizations of Community

Community as shared physical space

Community as social interaction

Community as shared sense of identity

Two Types of Community (Toennies)

Gemeinschaff: A type of human association based on warm, intimate, natural, face-to-face relationships grounded in common understanding and mutual aid.

Gesellschaff: A more formalized type of relationship that is much less personal, characterized by rational will, a more contrived character, and more specialized, segmented social relations.

Different Approaches to Understanding Community

The community as space

The community as people

The community as shared institutions and values

The community as interaction

The community as a distribution of power

The community as a social system

Theoretical Perspectives on Community

Ecological Perspective (Human Ecology): Concerned with relationship between humans and their environment.

Social Systems Perspective: Concerned with performance of basic social functions by subsystems in the community.

Ecological Perspective

Views community as an open system that engages in transactions with its environment

Focus is on spatial organization of the community

Population characteristics

Land use patterns

Distribution of goods and services

Relationship between physical environment and social organization of the community

Social and psychological meaning associated with physical barriers

Separation and isolation

Stereotypes and stigma

Impacts on "life chances"

Draws attention to such things as social class, social stratification, population mobility

Key Concepts of Ecological Perspective

Centralization vs. decentralization

Concentration vs. dispersion

Segregation

Invasion and succession

Integration

Repulsion

Definition of Community as a Social System (Warren)

Community: That combination of social units and systems that perform major social functions having locality relevance.

Key concepts:

Social units and systems

Social functions

Locality relevance

Social Systems Perspective

Communities have boundaries

Communities interact with their environment

Communities are comprised of sub-systems (social institutions)

Sub-systems perform basic functions for the community

Major Community Sub-Systems (Social Institutions)

Economy

Government

Education

Religion

Health

Social Welfare

Basic Functions of Communities

Production-distribution-consumption

Socialization

Social control

Social participation

Mutual support

Community Dimensions

Local autonomy: extent of dependence on extra-community units for basic functions

Coincidence of service area: degree to which local service areas correspond (schools, fire, police, human services, etc.)

Psychological identification: extent to which residents view community as significant social referent

Horizontal patterns of interaction: strength of relations among various local units (schools, fire, police, human services, etc.)

Neighborhoods in American Communities

Context for primary and secondary groups (family and friends)

Place of first interaction with people outside our family

Often refers to a geographic area (where you grew up)

Like communities, neighborhoods have boundaries, although often those boundaries are psychological rather than physical

Functions of Neighborhoods

Sociability arena

Center for interpersonal influence

Source of mutual aid

An organizational base

A reference group

A status arena

Dimensions of Neighborhood Assessment

Identity: extent to which people identify with the neighborhood

Integration: extent to which there is social interaction among the residents of the neighborhood

Linkage: extent to which the neighborhood is connected to the larger community

Types of Neighborhoods

Type	Identity	Interaction	Linkage
INTEGRAL: A cosmopolitan as well as a local center. Individuals are in close contact. They share the same concerns. They participate in activities of the larger community.	+	+	+
PAROCHIAL: A neighborhood having a strong ethnic identity or homogeneous character. Self-contained, independent of the larger community. Has ways to screen out what does not conform to its norms.	+	+	-
DIFFUSE: Often a homogeneous setting ranging from a new subdivision to an inner-city housing project. Has many things in common. However, there is no active internal life. Its not tied into the larger community. Little local involvement with neighbors.	+	-	-
STEPPING-STONE: An active neighborhood. A game of "musical chairs." People participate in neighborhood activities not because they identify with the neighborhood but often to "get ahead" in their careers or some other non local point of destination.	-	+	+
TRANSITORY: A neighborhood where population change has been or is occurring. Often breaks up into little clusters of people--frequently "old-timers" and "newcomers" are separate. Little collective action or organization takes place.	-	-	+
ANOMIC: It's really a non-neighborhood. Highly atomized; no cohesion. Great social distance between people. No protective barriers to outside influences; thus it is responsive to some outside changes. It lacks the capacity to mobilize for common actions from within.	-	-	-

Source: Warren, D. I. & Warren, R. B. (1977). The Neighborhood Organizer's Handbook. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.

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