ABSTRACT

C OMMUNITY PROVIDES THE PLACE IN WHICH PEOPLE FIND identity and meaning for their lives in their various roles as individuals, parents, children, partners, friends, and professionals. Community is the structure, both tangible and metaphoric, that supports interaction and connectedness among people over time. The characteristics of the community in which people grow, live, and develop can

have important implications for the resources and opportunities available to those who inhabit the community. Communities are the central context of social work practice with all types of client systems; therefore, community practice is an important aspect of generalist social work practice.