ABSTRACT
The notion of community is associated with concepts of social cohesion and order. Those who followed in the wake of Tonnies have all considered community as an organic structure, wherein the groups and individuals who are part of it act to generate social cohesion and stability. The aim of researchers is to determine the significance of homogeneity, locality and the family - the critical elements of the organic structure - in generating social cohesion. Sexual segregation in north-eastern communities is not the consequence of the functioning of an organic structure which is in turn the consequence of the particular circumstances which led to the establishment of these communities. A research agenda which takes as its starting-point the premise that sexual segregation is a critical organising feature of community offers the possibility of a more comprehensive examination of the operation of community.
