Overview

Concentrating on three main themes-environmental complexity, community as the target of intervention, and commitment to social justice. Community Theory and Praxis updates and expands the current boundaries of thinking about community organization. Each theme is developed according to four sequential steps. First, evolving definitions and theories of community are examined as the author develops a multi-dimensional assessment model for communalism as a target of change. Next, crucial studies demonstrating the influence of community contexts on residents' behavior are reviewed, as is the impact of economic, political, and urban restructuring on such localities. Following this discussion, the author examines and evaluates community experiments and professional practice in the United States, while the last section argues for the need to recreate civil societies based on networks of marginalized communities, particularly in poor areas. A potent and provocative exploration of community organization and intervention. Community Theory and Praxis aims to encourage critical thought and provoke discussion by merging theory, praxis, and recommendations for social change. Josephina Figueira-McDonough expands the current conception of community intervention, and in doing so inspires novel ways of viewing and organizing communities for the future. This book is an important resource for social work students, educators, and practitioners, as well as those who work in the areas of sociology, urban studies, community organization and development, and criminology, and other areas of social study and policy. Designed especially for students and mental health professionals in the early stages of their careers, this primer is a practical guide to psychotherapy. Short and concise, it addresses virtually all questions that a neophyte therapist might have. The author presents the basics in a clear and succinct way, with special emphasis on techniques and clinical examples.

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9781583910191

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Reviews

""Community Analysis and Practice contains an excellent review and creative synthesis of more than a century of community theory, public policy, and community initiatives in the United States. I know of no other work that brings together so much theoretical and empirical work, drawn from both research and practice, that is related to communities. Figueria-McDonough outlines a logically derived framework...with the goal of enhancing social justice through the promotion of viable communities."" -- William Barton, Ph.D., School of Social Work, Indiana University ""In its common usage, the concept of 'community' is surrounded by a warm fuzziness referring to favorable or appealing relationships. Josefina Figueira-McDonough's book represents a step towards moving the concept from this empty location to a clear, and theoretically useful position. For its attempts at establishing solid grounds for community work this book is a timely addition to the literature...In addition, the focus of this book is also timely due to the increased consolidation and expansion of clinical individual work which incorporates recent theoretical critiques, leaving community work begging for an approach capable of reinvigorating and infusing a practice that has, in many cases, dwindled into community management with contemporary progressive social tranformation ideas and developments."" -- Journal of Progressive Human Services

'Community Analysis and Praxis contains an excellent review and creative synthesis of more than a century of community thepry, public policy, and community initiatives in the United States. I know of no other work that brings together so much theroretical and empirical work drawn from both research and practice related to communities. Figueira McDonough outlines a logically derived framework with the goal of enhancing social justice through the promotion of viable communities. - William Barton, Indiana University

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Josefina Figueira-McDonough

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