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Essentials of Community Intervention

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Community Intervention

Part of the book series: Clinical Sociology: Research and Practice ((CSRP))

Abstract

Clinical sociology is a creative, rights-based, interdisciplinary specialization that seeks to improve the quality of life in the world around us. Clinical sociologists incorporate scientific knowledge from a number of disciplines and their experience, in a variety of settings, when they assist with or undertake interventions. This chapter presents some of the basics regarding interventions that are undertaken when working with and in communities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Block’s (2011, pp. 37–50, 121–126) “flawless consultant” has authentic behavior (which, he says, leads to higher trust from the client) and knows about the requirements of each stage of a project (contracting, discovery/inquiry, engagement/implementation). In addition, Block described the similarities and differences between internal and external consultants. For instance, Block mentioned that an internal consultant’s job level/status in an organization can limit the internal consultant’s access to high-level people. An external consultant’s status is ambiguous and that allows the external consultant to more easily move among the levels of an organization.

  2. 2.

    Neoliberalism is “a philosophy and a political approach to governing that includes the belief that the state’s role is to protect individual and property rights. According to this view, the state should not interfere in areas beyond these two and especially should not interfere in the operation of free markets” (Kelly and Caputo 2011, p. 112).

  3. 3.

    Structural conduciveness refers to the organization of the larger entity (e.g., society, region) in which a community is based. For instance, it the larger entity has a good communication network and open administration, this sets the stage for certain changes to be considered or implemented in a local community (Fritz 2002).

  4. 4.

    Rothman’s three models were social action, social planning and locality development.

  5. 5.

    According to Cochrane and Corbett (2018, p. 2), “Participatory mapping employs a range of tools. These include sketch mapping, transect mapping, and participatory three-dimensional modeling. More recently, participatory mapping initiatives have begun to use geographic information technologies including Global Positioning Systems (GPS), aerial photos and remote-sensed images (from satellites), geographic information systems (GIS), and the geospatial web …”

  6. 6.

    Security Sector Reform (SSR) “aims to increase a country’s ability to meet the range of com- munities’ security needs in a way that is efficient but also consistent with the standards of civilian control, transparency and the rule of law. SSR also works to ensure security sector institutions operate with full respect for human rights and do not discriminate against anyone” (Bastick and Whitman 2013, pp. 5–6). Security is broadly defined and includes, for instance, the ability to go to school and walk down a street as well as have access to justice systems.

  7. 7.

    Servant leadership has been identified as one of the leadership theories that can be used for leadership development. Megheirkouni and Mejheirkouni (2020) identified the others as “traits approach, skills approach, leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, transformational leadership… authentic leadership, ethical leadership, team leadership and self-leadership.”

  8. 8.

    The Austrian town of Wörgl started a community currency during an economic depression in 1932 (Zeller 2020).

  9. 9.

    In western Uganda, for instance, “workshops were conducted for traditional leaders and officials of Bunyoro kingdom to strengthen their capacity to resolve conflicts.” The workshops included discussion of the “relative strengths of traditional and modern conflict resolution and mediation approaches” (Kansiime and Harris 2020, p. 71).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Jan Marie Fritz

  2. University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Jan Marie Fritz

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  1. Jan Marie Fritz
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Correspondence to Jan Marie Fritz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Jan Marie Fritz

  2. Department of Social and Public Communication, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Jacques Rhéaume

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Fritz, J.M. (2022). Essentials of Community Intervention. In: Fritz, J.M., Rhéaume, J. (eds) Community Intervention. Clinical Sociology: Research and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93695-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93695-2_2

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