ABSTRACT
There are many different approaches to working with communities. Some, like community work or community organising, developed forty years ago or more. Others are blending older approaches with newer forms of community intervention. Often these newer approaches are based in specific services or are developing within services to specific groups of people, for example families with children under five, young people dependent on drugs, or older people who want to remain engaged in their neighbourhood. The concept of ‘community practice’ embraces this newer range of practitioners, who may be social workers, police officers, housing officers, community artists, youth workers or health workers, who have a community dimension to their work. Their roles and responsibilities require them to get to know their community’s people and social circumstances, activate supporting networks, assist community groups to form and evolve, and develop links with community organisations. To do this they are developing new tools and approaches and hybrid roles. Although they remain
By the end of this chapter you should:
j Be familiar with the difference between community-level services and community-based services
j Have a working definition of community practice
j Know some of the specific sources of information available on the neighbourhoods in which you work
j Be familiar with the four pillars of community practice: capacity building, outcomes, prevention, and knowledge management.
