Community and Neighborhood Organization

Abstract

(from the chapter) This chapter outlines the reasons why community psychologists should be directly concerned with community and neighborhood organizations. The definition of community organizations is given, as well as different categories or models of community organizations. This chapter describes sources of evidence that need to be examined relative to what works in community organizations. The author lists conditions associated with, and conducive to, successful organizing attempts that are drawn from both individual and small-community levels of analysis. An organizational attempt at success is noted in terms of setting, communication aspects, functional and structural qualities, and research into community psychology. Integration must follow research. After integration comes dissemination. Once disseminated, the research findings must be applied, so that they impact on daily life. To the extent that community and neighborhood organization embody our underlying disciplinary values and goals, the community psychologist may incur some obligation to foster them both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)