Community Work Theory

Abstract

A claim which is continually repeated in the community work literature is that practice theory remains disjointed and underdeveloped (Schwartz, 1977; Kramer and Specht, 1983, J. Fisher, 1984; S. H. Taylor and Roberts, 1985; Rothman and Tropman, 1987). There is even a tendency for some authors (such as York, 1984) to look longingly at the casework literature which they believe is better able than community work theory to guide the actions of its practitioners. But while the community work literature may be disjointed, it is hard to see why it should be described as underdeveloped. At least since the decolonisation activities of European powers earlier this century, a plethora of practice approaches have found their way into the community work literature. The real problems for practitioners relate more to the classification and choice of theories rather than to the dearth of them.