1. Community Development
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
According to the professor, the most important areas to study for the
Comprehensive Exam in the area of Community Development are those
included in the study guides that the class received in preparation for the
class tests. In addition, the following questions and areas are emphasized as
potential questions. Additional questions are added from the study guide
after the special emphasis areas.
Potential Questions with Special Emphasis
1. Compare and contrast gemeinschaft and gesellschaft communities, noting
the types of social relations in each.
2. Considering Fellin's description of concentration and segregation, how
has concentration and segregation affected public school funding, fiscal
management and maintenance of school buildings?
3. Fellin writes that "an important feature of social systems theory is the
specification of boundaries of the system in relation to its environment.”
Describe the geographical and psychological boundaries of a typical
South Texas rural school district. Fellin notes that there is a second
feature of a systems model, the interaction of the system with 'outside'
systems beyond its own boundary. Using the same rural district, describe

2. the regional, state, and national entities with which the school district
interacts as part of its system.
4. Using your school district, describe the social class of the student body
and the extent of class awareness.
5. Characterize and define 'underclass' according to Fellin. Then debate the
extent to which there is an 'underclass’ in your school district and school.
6. Given the mobility of Americans within and between communities,
identify factors that can influence, positively or negatively, the social
issues of neighborhoods.
7. Describe how voluntary associations affect the public school setting?
8. How does Fellin describe the connection between volunteer involvement
and empowerment at personal, political, and interpersonal levels in the
Latino community?
9. The population of South Texas is predominantly Mexican-American, yet
Fellin writes that minorities tend not to participate in voluntary
associations because of cultural inhibition. How can self-help
organizations help the dominant Hispanic population in South Texas
overcome cultural inhibition?
10.Debate the advantages and disadvantages of multiculturalism. Identify
the difficulties in implementing this type of curriculum.

3. 11. Identify the stakeholders in a school bond election.
12. Discuss the issues in redrawing the boundaries of school districts.
13. Identify the factors that create a positive neighborhood community and
a positive school community.
14. How does the role of religion in the lives of students and their families
impact on schools in South Texas.
15. Discuss the Communitarian movement and its development.
16. As a superintendent, how would you implement the Communitarian
agenda in your school district.
17. Discuss how school reform movements attempt to bring about
equalization of educational resources for school districts and the two
major types of funding requests, for millage renewals and increases for
their budgets and bond proposals usually for new schools and school
renovations (Fellin, Chapter 9, p. 171, 1995).
Special Emphasis Topic
The following area was not formulated into question, but it is a critical and
timely topic with special emphasis.
1. School Reform to improve the educational system
Study Guide Questions
The following are questions from the Mid-term Study Guide, 2000:

4. 1. Communities are distinguished by common locality, or place, by non-
place characteristics, and in terms of an individual’s “personal
community.” Choose one of the types of communities that you are
involved in and discuss three advantages and one disadvantage to being a
member in this community.
2. Individuals participate in multiple communities. Choose a role of
superintendent, principal, or teacher and discuss as many of the
communities you can think of that the person in this position would be
involved in due to their profession.
3. Of the four conditions that enhance the competent functioning of a
locality-based community, which has the greater significance and why?
4. Ravendale is a “welfare community” where violence is a part of life.
Drive-by shootings, gang-related activities, drug abuse and drug
trafficking are an every day occurrence. In regard to “community
competence” what can the citizens of Ravendale do to save their
community.
5. In Warren’s discussion of “What is a good community? What are the four
values that appear to compose a good community and how do these relate
to education?”

5. 6. Is a school a special type of “planned community”? Review the
characteristics of planned communities in the textbook and compare
those characteristics to a school community.
7. What effect does public education have on the five identified functions
that a community performs?
8. In an attempt to introduce the competitive elements of a free market
economy into an educational system built on a tradition of cooperation,
business and political interests are introducing various programs and
accountability measurements into the ‘ecological system’ of education.
How could the ecologists’ definition of “competition” help a school
develop a mentality to adapt to the new climate?
9. Fellin cites a framework for understanding the activities of a local
community. He calls it a “community as an ecology of games.” What are
some of the “games” in a school district, and how does a newcomer learn
the rules to those “games”?
10. Describe the major, chronic social problems ensuing from the continued
and developing urbanization in what are called ‘edge cities’.
11.Compare and contrast life in the rural community and in the urban
community.

6. 12. Discuss three phases of urbanization. How might the future of
technology affect the metropolitan and diffuse phase?
13. Describe how the community of the inner city has significantly changed
over the last forty years.
14. How has technology affected the decentralization of people, businesses,
and industries?
15. What is gentrification? Does it have a positive or negative effect on
inner cities?
16. What are the phases of urbanization?
17. What are some of the demographic changes in the inner city?
18. Describe race and ethnicity according to Fellin.
19. Discuss the difference between social class and class awareness.
20. Discuss the six neighborhood types in the Warren & Warren model.
21. Discuss the three neighborhood types in the Litwak model.
22. Describe a slum and a ghetto.
23. Pretend that you are a school superintendent who needs to “test the
waters” concerning upgrading the school facilities. How would the
Superintendent use the knowledge of neighborhood socialization
patterns to help determine how to proceed.
24. Discuss settlement patterns and make reference to whites and ethnic

7. minorities and segregation and integration.
25. How many types of voluntary associations may be classified and what
are the characteristics that voluntary associations define as organized
Groups?
26. What are the roles of voluntary associations in the helping network
according to Powell’s information?
27. How does the organization of a voluntary group differ form the
organization of a primary group such as a family?
28. Describe voluntary groups that are related to student achievement.
29. How can voluntary associations build a sense of community of
learning in South Texas where empowerment is difficult to achieve?
Narrative Chapter
Major Points from the book, The Community and the Social Worker, by
Phillip Fellin
Defining Communities
Garvin and Tropman state that a community exists “when a group of
people form a social unit based on common location, interest, identification,
culture, and/or activities (Fellin, p. 3, 1995). Communities are classified as
A.) locality-based communities and B.) personal communities. The locality-

8. based communities are “1.) a functional spatial unit meeting sustenance
need, 2.) a unit of patterned social interaction, 3.) a symbolic unit of
collective identity” (Mid-term Study Guide, 2000). An example of a
locality-based community is a neighborhood community. A personal
community is based on “1.) locational, 2.) identificational, and 3.) interest”
(Mid-term Study Guide, 2000). Communities also have the characteristics of
common locality, and place, or non-place in an individual’s personal
community. A non place community is being a community of identification
or interest. An example of a non place community is being a part of the
Jewish community.
The four conditions that enhance the functioning of a local community
are:
1.) residents are committed to there community,
2.) various community groups have a self-awareness of their values
and self-interests
3.) community groups are articulate and can communicate with one
another, and
4.) residents identify goals and their implementation.
When people think about a good community, they conjure up an individual
picture or image and could be described as a good place to work, raise kids,

9. or retire. Images of a good community include “1.) the opportunity for
primary group relationships, 2.) the attachment of citizens to their
community, 3.) the absence of serious social problems, 4.) the presence of
solid, functional, safe neighborhoods, 5.) the presence of opportunities for
education and employment, and 6.) a positive and cultural environment”
(mid-term Study Guide, 2000).
In approaching education from the ecological system perspective,
educators can view the “population characteristics of the community (size,
density, heterogeneity), the physical environment (land use), the social
organization or structure of a community, and the technological forces in a
community” (Fellin, 1995, p. 11). Ecological systems explain the features of
the population, such as social class, racial and ethnic composition. The
ecological perspective helps us understand “1.) community changes, 2.)
movements of population groups, 3.) Patterns of migrations and
immigrations, 4.) succession and segregation,” and “5.) growth dynamics of
communities” (Mid-term Study Guide, 2000). The next step to consider is
the interdependencies of people and services to their local and broader
environments in the context of community changes due to movements of
populations.

10. The social systems perspective is the relationship of social institutions
within the community and the social functions the institution provides. It is
important to focus on how the formal organizations (economic, political,
educational, social welfare, and health care) function as subsystems within a
community. Production/distribution/consumption, socialization, social
control, social participation, and mutual support for individuals and for the
community are all-important features according to Warren (Fellin, 1995, p.
12). These features of the community are especially important to consider
when planning or projecting for future trends and social change.
The barriers to community competence are the values, attitudes, and
practices of people toward special populations. The special population
groups are ethnic minorities, women, the physically and mentally disabled,
gays and lesbians, cultural and religious groups. The values, attitudes, and
practices shape how the community responds to these specific groups. Fellin
quoted Longres to say that racism could be institutionalized when racism
could be built into the norms, traditions, laws, policies and could be found in
the subsystems of a community through economic discrimination,
inadequate services to minorities, and insensitivity to the needs of
minorities. Barriers for ethnic minorities include “discriminatory policies
and practices, institutionalized racism” (Mid-term Study Guide, 2000). For

11. women, communities might need to consider the location of day care,
transportation systems, and equal pay structures when considering whether
or not there are barriers to working women. Barriers “place women in a
disadvantageous position and impose burdens upon them which restrict their
full participation in the community” (Mid-term Study Guide, 2000).
Architectural designs, transportation, job training, housing, public
accommodations, employment, communication, recreation, services, and
equal opportunity must be considered to determine whether there are barriers
for the disabled and whether there is compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990. Gay and lesbian individuals must not denied civil
liberties or be excluded from social participation, must not be subjected to
violence or stigma, and should have equal employment opportunities. All
religious and cultural groups must not suffer discrimination, oppression, or
prejudice. Myths, stereotypes, and negative behaviors must not be directed
at those members of cultural or religious groups.
In the development of communities it is helpful to understand the
phases of urbanization, edge cities, gentrification, and the immigration and
heterogeneity of communities. The overlapping phases of urbanization
include the city-building phase that occurred from the 1830’s to 1925, the
metropolitan phase that began about 1920, and the diffuse stage that began

12. about 1950 to the present. Presently, all three phases exist with the
metropolitan phase showing more increased populations around the larger
urban cities and a move of industry away from central cities. There was also
a migration to suburbs. The diffuse stage is characterized by less dominance
in central cities and a furthering broadening of industry and business. It is
also characterized by major entertainment centers beyond the center of the
city. Examples of these entertainment centers are superdomes, concert parks,
national corporation offices, and hotels.
Edge cities were created as the diffuse phase created new cities on the
outskirts of central cities. Office and retail space became available in the
once called bedroom communities. The Edge City would then begin to have
its own identity as a place.
Gentrification occurred as a result of the changing land use in the
inner cities. Young professional people began to buy the old dwellings that
investors developed into up scale residential use. There has been an increase
in this movement but it should not be interpreted as a large movement. A
disadvantage of gentrification is a lack of housing options for people who
typically lived in rooming housing or single rooms.
Migration and immigration affect communities. Western Europeans
immigrated in the mid 1800’s, and southern and eastern Europeans

13. immigrated in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Other large immigrant
groups include Africans, Hispanics from Mexico, Japanese, Chinese, and
Indians. Many ethnic populations followed the process of social and spatial
concentration, segregation, acculturation, and assimilation.
Stratification in communities occurs based on class, race, and
ethnicity. Social class is further stratified by socieconomic class, family,
social standing, and lifestyle. Socioeconomic status is measured through the
census by occupation, income, and education levels which is used to develop
social profiles of communities. In 1955, Skevsky and Bell developed a
social area analysis that was based on the three areas of (Fellin, 1995, p. 61):
“1. Social rank (education and occupation)
2. urbanization or family status (type of housing, marital status,
children, members of household working)
3. segregation or ethnicity (proportion of minorities in an area
compared to the total community population).”
Each area is scored and then ordered to gain a better understanding of
communities for assessment of social class levels, as well as occupational,
income, and educational levels.
Social class is related to lifestyles and is indicated through “value and
location of homes, clothing styles, consumer spending patterns, club

14. memberships, restaurants, bars, lounges, summer and winter homes, travel
and vacation styles, type of automobile, cooking and food styles,
participation in sports, and choices of reading/magazines/books” (Fellin,
1995, p. 62). The most evident is the value and location of residence.
Neighborhoods serve functions for their residents as illustrated in a
framework developed by Warren and Warren in 1977. They identified the
functions of a neighborhood as a “sociability arena, an interpersonal
influence center, a source of mutual aid, an organizational base, a reference
group, and a status area (Fellin, 1995, p. 80). Other models include the
Litwak model, the Fellin and Litwak model, and the Figueira-McDonough
model. Each model of neighborhood types is described in the Table 1.
below.
Figure 1. The Models of Neighborhood Types

15. Warren and Warren 1977
Focus:
Social identity, social interaction, and linkages to the
wider community
Integral neighborhood –
High identity, interaction, and linkages
• High capacity to identify problems and take action
• Easier for higher social classes to create but is also in
white-collar suburbs, inner city and blue-collar
industrial communities
Parochial neighborhood –
High identity and interaction, low
Linkages
• Strong group identity due to race, class, age, and
physical isolation there is a strong commitment to
locality and getting things done
• May be limited due to lack of linkages to larger
community
Diffuse neighborhoods –
High identity, low interaction and linkages
• Doesn’t act on its high degree of collective capacity
• People think they don’t need the help
• Found in upper-class suburban dwellings and high-
rise luxury apartments
Stepping-stone neighborhoods –
Low in identity, high interaction and linkages
Transitory neighborhoods –
Low identity and interaction, high linkages
Litwak 1985
Focus:
Emphasizes two important dimensions of neighborhood
primary groups
1.) level of membership change/turnover
2.) capacity to retain primary group cohesion/social
integration
Mobile neighborhood –
• high turnover of residents, quickly integrate
newcomers, retain neighborhood cohesion
Transitional neighborhood –
• stable membership, not well suited for integrating
new residents
Mass neighborhood –
• high mobility of residents, little capacity for
integrating new or retaining cohesion

16. Fellin and Litwak 1968
Focus:
Organizational, value, and change dimensions of
neighborhood primary groups
Neighborhood with positive values, organized –
Neighborhood with positive values, unorganized –
Neighborhood with negative values, organized –
Neighborhood with negative values, unorganized –
Figueira – McDonough 1991
Focus:
Uses ecological perspective for typology to understand
delinquency rates by the dimensions of population factors
and organizational factors
Stepping-stone community –
• nonpoor and mobile, low primary networks, high
secondary networks, high external links
Established community –
• nonpoor and stable, high primary and secondary
networks, low external links
Disorganized community –
• poor and mobile, low primary and secondary
networks, low external links
Parochial community –
• poor and stable, high primary networks, low
secondary networks and low external links
A slum and a ghetto are two different terms and cannot be used
interchangeably. A ghetto is a “bounded residential are in which a defined
racial or ethnic group is forced to live” (Choldan, 1985). A slum is a
physical environment that is “deteriorated, run-down and undesirable
housing units, evidence of filth, dirt, unsanity conditions,” including
“boarded up and unoccupied structures” (Fellin, 1995).
Suburban neighborhoods are classified according to the three
dimensions of social interaction, identity, and linkages to the wider
community therefore the suburban neighborhood types in Warren and
Warren’s model are integral, diffuse, and stepping-stone. Some of the
functions of neighborhood primary groups are sociability arena,

17. interpersonal influence center, organizational base, reference group, and
status area (Mid-term Study Guide, 2000). Older neighborhoods exhibit
lower interaction.
Social class neighborhoods are evident due to the status symbols of
location, house, and people in varying combinations. The status of suburban
neighborhoods changes much more slowly than urban neighborhoods. Until
the 1960’s, many African-Americans and Hispanics continued to reside in
the same neighborhood regardless of social status. These groups had ties of
religion, family, ethnic, and small towns.
Ethnic neighborhoods, also called communities or commonalities, are
areas in large cities with a high concentration of a similar minority group.
Mixed land use characterizes the neighborhood to include residences,
businesses, agencies, and schools. Zones of emergence describe the areas in
the central city or suburbs where the middle class minority have moved in
large numbers.
Housing segregation is attributed to discrimination and prejudice that
the New York Times and others state that is due to race or ethnicity.
Segregated housing still exists due to socioeconomic factors and preference.
Some housing costs are prohibitive to some and nonwhites have preferred to

18. live in homogeneous neighborhoods. Segregated housing continues to
persist.
White flight occurred in dramatically after World War II to bring
more white families to the suburbs. There were nonracial “pushes” and
“pulls” as well as racial causes to generate this movement. White families
had pent up housing needs which the accessibility and size of suburban
housing filled. The economy allowed for upward mobility, lower interest
loans were available, and there were lower taxes. The segregated
neighborhoods in the suburbs were also attractive to the families.
Succession, a series of events that caused the replacement of a
neighborhood by a population or land use, is seen as part of the process of
change of a neighborhood. The text termed the incoming group as
“invaders” and the original group as “established” (Fellin, 1995, p. 105). The
succession of the movement of minority groups into white areas should
consider “1.) the causes and conditions of the process, 2.) the process of
radical change itself, and 3.) the social and economic consequences of the
process” (Aldrich in Fellin, 1995, p. 105). Whites view the incoming people
negatively and make assumptions according to Aldrich. The assumptions are
that single family dwellings will become multiple, household membership
will increase, more people will gather at residences, and the business

19. ownership will change (Aldrich in Fellin, 1995). Ultimately, tipping will
occur when whites begin moving away.
Hernandez (1985) has explained the settlement of new immigrants as
a framework of neighborhood typology. The first is a ghetto or barrio which
is described as heterogeneously mixed with a single group dominating. The
second is a heterogeneous mix with no predominant group. The next is
multi-ethnic, multi-racial with a gentrification of white middle class. Then
immigrants might enter or move to an older neighborhood. The last is
scattered suburban settlements with lower and upper middle classes.
Voluntary associations in America are viewed as social units with
many diverse forms and functions. The associations can be a vehicle for
“worship, social support, social participation, political influence, self-help,
service, and client organizations” (Mid-term Study Guide, 2000). The
organizations are helping networks involving citizen volunteers as well as
formal human service organizations. The four systems are 1.)lay informal
service systems, 2.) quasi formal and self-help systems, 3.) professional
service organizations, and 4.) inter-organizational relationships. Voluntary
associations link individuals with the larger community and help with
integration into the primary group of neighborhood. The associations serve

20. an important role in influencing minority groups regarding empowerment,
mutual aid, social support, advocacy, and in dealing with relevant issues.
Women are important to volunteer organizations and have comprised
the majority of membership due to their interest in connecting with their
communities. Women have also gained power through their involvement in
self-help groups. Women have joined with others to bring about changes in
their communities.
Religious groups can be viewed as voluntary associations and can
identify themselves as communities of identification and interest. These
associations play important roles in the community’s social welfare systems.
A direct service agency in an agency that meets the social welfare
needs of the community residents. Some of the services provided are
vocational rehabilitation and counseling. These agencies could be either
public or voluntary and provide services to families and children ranging
from social welfare policies, child protective services, to parenting
education. Health care services, public and private, provide services at
hospital, clinics, and mental health centers. Lack of coordination between
public and private as well as between physical and mental health subsystems
have been the major criticisms of health care.

21. The role of the federal government has been strong in the area of
service and educational. Government programs include the Head Start
program, the National School Lunch Program, and programs for children
with special needs. Brown vs. Board of Education ruled against segregation
because it deprived students of educational opportunity. The role of the
school board was clarified and the Buckley amendment ruled that all student
records must be kept confidential. Many states were teaching sex education.
In Texas, there were several cases of Edgewood vs. Kirby, etc. to equalize
funding resources for all school districts. School reform was beginning to be
the new focus with a “Nation At Risk” presenting the state of education as
the lack of improvement in SAT scores.
Multiculturalism is the study of minority cultures. The study is an
emphasis on everyone’s uniqueness but some argue that the American
culture is being minimized. The Children of the Rainbow in New York City
is an example of cultural diversity as a valuable asset. Critics of this program
refer to the family situations particularly gay and lesbian couples with
children.
Political economy is the community interdependence with
organizations, groups, and individuals engaged in the production,
distribution and consumption of goods and services. The economic system

22. of local community includes “1.) numerous bureaucratic organizations such
as industrial companies and commercial businesses, 2.) offices of
professional and private or group practice such as accountants, lawyers,
physicians, social workers, psychologists; 3.) small, less formalized
businesses, home industries, service operations, and 4.) an underground
economy which includes a variety of legal and illegal remunerative activities
by individuals or groups” (Mid-term Study Guide, 2000).
Equal employment opportunities for employment, pay, and
advancement differ in communities. Pay for women is less than men and
even lower for Black and Hispanic women. Felice Schwartz (1989)
introduced the career track idea so that women could be viewed as
individuals with varying needs. One track was a career-primary woman and
the other was a career-and-family track. Schwartz has also developed a
questionnaire for businesses to assess how they treat women employees. The
issues for women in workplace are 1.) support of women in the workplace,
2.) in the home, and 3.) on options of workplace and/or home.
The Americans with Disabililities Act of 1990 applies to the
economic, social, vocational, and educational discrimination to individuals
with physical or mental disabilities. Businesses with 25 or medical more
employees must comply with this act. The employer cannot inquire about

23. such areas as medical history, insurance claims, work absenteeism; must
make reasonable accommodation; defines a disabled person as one with
physical or mental disability that impairs one ore more life activities; and
defines a qualified disabled person as one who can perform the essential
functions of the job.
Sexual harrassment is addressed in the Titles VII and IX of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination in hiring practices of gays and lesbians
may fall under this act. Sexual harassment is a critical area of knowledge for
an employer.
Problems in the Community Economics system include opportunities
for various occupations, discrimination in hiring, promotion, and unequal
benefits. Enterprise zones, established in Florida in 1981, focused on hiring
area residents and was a local response to high unemployment, high crime,
and welfare dependency. The employer received tax incentives for
participating in the program.
The feminization of poverty is apparent when discussing the
underclass and the economy. The underclass is composed of individuals who
rely on the public welfare system for income and services. The reliance is
due to a lack of education and training as well as lack of occupational
training for women.

24. High unemployment and low wage industries such as nursing homes,
hospitals, hotels, small businesses, department stores, and retail food stores
characterize the economy of the ghetto. The low occupational and residential
mobility prevent movement out of the ghetto (Mid-term Study Guide, 2000).
When redrawing district boundaries, it is worthwhile to be aware of
the pitfalls of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the drawing of voting
districts so that white and non-white groups outnumber other groups
assuring specific groups majority residential group of representation in local,
state, or federal government. Social power is the potential ability to select,
change, or attain the goals of the social system. Ethnic minority groups,
women, and community power can be assessed by identifying the
community leaders according to their position, reputation, or the policy
decisions they have made.
Community conflict serves positive functions in a community.
Conflict allows a community to establish and maintain identity and
boundaries of societies and groups, provides opportunities to vent hostility
and express dissent, allows group to assess the power and influence of
another group and serves as a balancing mechanism, and brings people
together in coalitions.

25. Religious institutions and organizations serve important functions in
communities as instruments of socialization, education, social control, and
mutual support. Formally, they facilitate community integration through
religious-oriented schools, social agencies, volunteer groups, creation of
own volunteer groups, and through the informal relationships of leading
mutual aid and social supports among families connected to a religious
congregation.
Major Points from book, The Spirit of Community, by Amitai Etzioni
Many writers such as Sinclair Lewis and John O’Hara describe small
towns as narrow places “inhabited by petty, mean spirited people” which
gave a negative view of the idea of gemeinschaft, the German word for
community (Etzioni, 1993, p. 116). Tonnies labeled social relations as either
gemeinschaft, which means community or gesellschaft, the German word
for society. During the twentieth century there was a transition to
gesellschaft even though large cities were portrayed more favorably than
they were in reality.
James Q. Wilson, a political analyst, saw the cities as gesellschaft and
he thought that the YMCA and other associations were trying to provide a
“socially appropriate, morality-sustaining context” (Etzioni, p. 118, 1993).
Herbert Gans, a Columbia University sociologist, painted a different picture

26. of cities through his observance of urban villages, or gemeinschaft, in which
neighbors were friendly and diverse groups of people lived side by side.
Suburbs that share similarities with small communities now characterize
America. The author describes this movement as an enhancement to the
Communitarian nexus. The Communitarian movement is an environmental
movement dedicated to the betterment of our moral, social, and political
environment (Study Guide Test #2, 2000, p. 5). It is characterized by a four
point agenda including 1.) a Moratorium, a transition period, which puts a
tight lid on new rights; 2.) Rights Presume Responsibilities, claiming rights
without assuming responsibilities is unethical and illogical; 3.)
Responsibilities without rights, we have some duties of moral claims; and
4.) Careful adjustments, outlaws unreasonable searches and seizures (Study
Guide Test #2, 2000, p. 5).
The Communitarian recognizes a need for a new social map. In the
50’s, there was a clear set of values for most Americans, discrimination
against minorities was commonplace, and was very authoritarian.
Challenging voices came out in the 1960’s to embrace new values. Violent,
sexual, and commercial messages were heard. The 80’s were the “me-istic”
time with self-interest and greed considered to be virtuous. The 90’s had a
growing awareness that there were few firmly established moral positions.

27. Marriage was a disposable relationship and the moral values included
malingering at work, drug and alcohol abuse, physical force used against
another person, and a tendency to violence. There was a call for moral
commitment in the early 90’s and a positive response. The opponents
dubbed the movement “neopuritanism” (Study Guide Test #2, 2000, p. 7).
The Communitarian nexus is further sustained by the reluctance of
Americans to move as frequently breaking ties to friends and to roots. There
have also been new, nongeographic communities developing. Examples of
these communities are the work-based and professional communities made
up of people who work together, interact with each other, grow to care for
each other, and also reinforce moral expectations.
Etzioni describes those people who are supporting the gesellschaft and
investing themselves into making higher salaries and moving to a higher
rank but points out that this is an unsatisfying activity because there is
always someone else who makes more money or has a higher ranking
position. The author writes that people should instead “combine their self-
advancement with investment in their community” and a “we-ness”
approach with one or more groups of people (Etzioni, 1993, p. 124).
Examples of we-ness are neighborhood crime watches, soup kitchens for the
less fortunate, a folk dance group that meets weekly, an Alcoholics

28. Anonymous chapter, and especially centers for senior citizens which
provides activities for groups. It is possible to train recruiters and facilitators
of we-ness to foster a Communitarian nexus to revive communities.
Etzioni continues to support the importance of gemeinschaft or
Communitarian activity and writes that it should not be trivialized.
Volunteer efforts are more important than ever to education and to national
service. Educators can help to identify ways that the public can help
education. Volunteers provide an enormous service, as almost half of the
emergency medical technicians are not paid.
Institutions are important to the communities because of the services
they provide but play an even more important role in that communities come
together around these institutions. Local schools provide a source of identity
for the community. Many times loss of community is a social cost when
schools consolidate. Churches, synagogues, senior citizen centers, and the
local grocery store serve as unifying institutions within the community.
Etzioni suggests that Communitarians should consider the moral and social
as well as the financial consequences when they are considering the closing
of shops or the consolidation of schools.
The movement to community policing is an example of trying to
reconstruct a core institution for the purpose of rebuilding communities.

29. Other examples are restoration of housing projects and opening community
mental health centers. Community policing allows for the officers to develop
relationships and communicate with people as they patrol their beats on foot.
Grievances are resolved more directly and the police work is a more integral
part of the community.
In order to enhance public safety, Communitarians can support crime
watches, citizen patrols, build community bonds, sentence nonviolent
offenders to community service, and public humiliating or public shaming
by publishing the names of people frequenting prostitutes or requiring
convicted drunken drivers to display signs on their cars. Communitarians are
also expected to participate in politics and governance as an important way
to build community. Schools, hospitals, libraries and other community
activities offer ample opportunities for public participation.
The Communitarian family has a commitment to the children who
require attention, time, energy, and self. Communitarianism is a movement
away from the institutionalization of children into child care centers where
bonding with families was not occurring. Etzioni favors two parent families
over single parent families and supports the division of educational labor.
Parents need to parent more and have to make choices between income and
better relationships with their children. Divorce moves fathers away and

30. children are faced with the adjustment to fragile relationships with the
revolving boyfriends and girlfriends of parents. Etzioni supports a slow
movement to marriage with counseling for young people. During marriage,
families should eat together, go to marriage encounters, renew vows, and get
counseling when it is needed. Mechanisms have been suggested to slow
down family break-ups and divorce such as a waiting period. The benefits of
marriage include greater happiness, less depression, stable identity, bonding,
and the we-ness of being a couple.
Key Terms and Definitions
Centralization – a clustering of institutions and service in a central location
Communitarianism – a community member with a sense of gemeinschaft
and who works to build and maintain the community
Community policing – a local, usually on foot, police who work within the
community and build relationships with people in the community
Crowding – a stress producing environment, either psychological or
subjective, resulting from a person recognizing that he/she has less
space than desired, described by Krupat
Gemeinschaft – the German term for a small, traditional community, a type
of social relation described by Ferdinand Tonnies, a German
sociologist

31. Gesellschaft – the German word for society, another type of social relation,
which Tonnies used to refer to “people who have rather few bonds,
like people in a crowd or a mass society” in which isolation and
individuation in the place of communal ties could occur (Etzioni, 1993,
p. 116; Fellin, 1995, p. 45).
Minority group – people of color, groups identified by the Equal Rights Act
of 1964 as African American, Asian American, Native American, and
Hispanic (Fellin, 1995, p. 68)
Nongeographic community – a community made of people who do not live
near each other such as a work-based or professional community
(Etzioni, 1993)
We-ness – a shared sense of belonging to a group or groups comprised of
significant others with whom they have meaningful, stable, and
affective relationships (Etzioni, 1993)
Internet Links:
Gemeinschaft and gesellschaft
http://www.imsa.edu/~bernie/gemeingesell.html
http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/frameset_students/introsoc/gemein.html
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed376996.html
Concentration and Segregation

32. http://www.scp.nl/boeken/cahiers/cah123/uk/samenvatting.htm
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/resseg/def.html
http://education.mit.edu/tep/11124/school.htm
http://www.idra.org/Newslttr/1997/Oct/Albert.htm
http://www.nber.org/reporter/spring98/hoxby_spring98.html
http://www.uncfsu.edu/NCcatalyst/new_page_15.htm
Social Class
http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/soc/class/class.htm
http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/strat.html
http://hss.fullerton.edu/sociology/orleans/436.htm
Social Issues and Neighborhoods
http://www.neighborhoodcoalition.org/

33. References
Anderson, T. & Cohort VIII. (2000). Mid-term study guide, SOCI
6302 Community Development, Kingsville, TX: Texas A & M University.
Anderson, T. & Cohort VIII. (2000). Study guide test #2, SOCI 6302
Community Development, Kingsville, TX: Texas A & M University.
Etzioni, A. (1993). The spirit of community: The reinvention of
american society. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Fellin, P. (1995). The community and the social worker. Itasca, IL:
Peacock.