ABSTRACT
The field of community organization needs a more solid foundation of empirically based knowledge and theory. Recent efforts to identity a theoretical framework have been unsuccessful (Taylor & Roberts, 1985). Rothman's (1974) compilation of empirical findings in 1974 was a major step in the right direction, but that kind of effort has been neglected over the last sixteen years. To build knowledge and theory will require empirically derived theory and theoretically based empirical research. Little empirically based theory can be found. Germain's discussion of ecological theory is useful, for example, but it is non-empirical and avoids giving attention to the organizational component in community organization (Taylor & Roberts, 1985).
