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Case studies of classroom-based pedagogy linked with service-learning practicum experiences, which promote population health by encouraging civic engagement and community-based participatory actions, are highlighted. The community diagnosis activities engaged in by the Department of Community Medicine, Manipal University, Karnataka, India and the community health fair implemented by the Department of Public and Community Health (in partnership with the Seat Pleasant community), University of Maryland, USA are described. Opportunities for service learning, community collaboration, and health education are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial percentage of volunteer needs are met by a relatively small percentage of individuals. Community volunteer organizations may address these shortages by recruiting volunteers using media campaigns. However, problems occur when perceptions of volunteering differ between volunteers and the organization, with race emerging as a key factor in shaping these perceptions. This article addresses such a gap in perceptions by using focus group data to consider the extent to which African American male volunteers' perceptions and actions align with those of a major US volunteer organization. Our results provide insights on how groups can more successfully reach out to potential volunteers by recognizing and overcoming perceptual and actual differences regarding volunteerism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on works related to the sources of power for industrial freedom in the U.S. Information is given about a previous committee, that reportedly had its own limitations. To better it, a meeting was reportedly arranged to deliberate on issues like hours of work, unemployment, and wages. The discussions reportedly started from a similar platform in 1912, that asked for the eight-hour day, the six-day week, and the elimination of night work for minors and for women.

In the last two decades, the income and security of the individual middle class worker has declined, and the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. In contrast to the last twenty years and the “gilded age” that preceded it, from the time of the first New Deal through the 1970s, the middle class prospered. Wealth and income were more equitably shared in America. This article examines policies that strengthened the middle class during the New Deal, during World War II, and after World War II. These policies strengthened the bargaining power of labor. This article offers suggestions for reviving the middle class now with particular focus on empowering labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares economic justice, measured by income inequality and child poverty rates, across industrialized countries. Labor market training, social service expenditures, unions and taxes were significantly related to economic justice. The United States had the highest income inequality and the second-highest child poverty rate of the countries studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land trusts are a means to conserve land and/or wildlife (e.g., donating one's farm to The Nature Conservancy) or encourage affordable homeownership and local control of land. The topic of this article is the latter type of land trusts, called Community Land Trusts (CLTs), that have been touted as an innovative means to provide and preserve affordable housing. Through a synthesis of the literature, this article introduces social workers to CLTs. This includes defining Community Land Trusts, reporting on their brief history in the United States, discussing their advantages and disadvantages, and examining the limited empirical evidence. This review suggests that Community Land Trusts are an arena for future social work practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports and analyzes findings of a mixedmethods study which examined correlations between select organizational factors-budget size, staff size, age, local government funding, and leadership-and the advocacy behavior of human service agencies in Washington, DC. Surveys were sent to 100 agency executive directors, and 43 were returned. Follow-up interviews with staff from the five highest scoring and five lowest scoring agencies are reported. Findings show that budget size, staff size, leadership, and local government funding are positively correlated to agency advocacy behavior. Barriers and enhancements to agency advocacy behavior are also discussed. doi:10.1300/J125v15n03_08 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article looks as the conceptualization and practice of interdisciplinary community collaboration and development (ICCD) in Israel and the US. It is based on the work of two interdisciplinary professional groups which were initiated by social workers-one in Israel and one in the US. This article present a mapping of key issues and concepts, including distinguishing between mono-, multi-, and inter-, trans-disciplinary and inter-perspectives. The article addresses the issues of multiple professional identities, identification of a common core knowledge base and skills among disciplinary specializations for community development practice, and an understanding of inter-organizational perspectives. A qualitative methodology was use Ito conduct a content analysis of data from dialogues among professional practitioners in the Israeli and the US groups. Despite differences in the purpose, frequency and intensity of the two forums, there is an underlying belief in the importance of these discussions and in the commitment to interdisciplinary practice. Both groups believe that multiple types of expertise are needed, alongside new models of both inter-organizational and interdisciplinary relationships as well as professional-community interactions. Recommendations include the need for further examination of interdisciplinary community collaboration and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The story of the Sherman Park Community Association illustrates how concurrent commitments to ideology, community, and organizational viability pose challenges to a community-based organization. Information was gathered from public documents, archived records, and retrospective, audio-taped interviews to review the history of an organization's survival through twenty-five years of changing demographics and public policies. Institutionalization, professionalization, funding, and goals and strategies were identified as tensions which surfaced periodically throughout the history of the organization. Considerations for macro practice are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines a community practice methodology developed at the Center for Participatory Change, a nonprofit organization in the Appalachian mountains of Western North Carolina. This methodology, which we call participatory change, signals confluence of three practice approaches that have rarely been integrated: community organizing, popular education, and international participatory development or Participatory Rural Appraisal. The article provides an overview of these three practice approaches and discusses their strengths and limitations. Participatory change as a community practice approach is presented along with an introduction to the core values, attitudes, and behaviors that guide the use of the methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report assesses the available evidence on a community-wide pregnancy prevention campaign for pre-teens. In January 1997 a five-year media and educational campaign to combat pregnancy among pre-teens was launched in metropolitan Atlanta, combining an educational campaign in the media market with the distribution of educational materials in public school systems and youth-serving community organizations in two urban counties. The nonexperimental evaluation of the campaign draws on feedback from multiple perspectives-teachers who requested the campaign materials, the general population of adults and parents, and youth in the metro area. In addition, preliminary data on birth rates are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of current discussions among social commentators about the status and well being of community in American society, this article examines the nature of civic engagement and sense of community in the U.S. military. Framed by social disorganization theory, a conceptual model is developed and tested with a sample of married active duty Air Force (AF) members. Our analysis examines variations in perceptions of sense of community as a consequence of three indicators of civic engagement: community capacity, community connections, and community participation. The results suggest that community participation plays a particularly important role in influencing the sense of community that active duty members feel. Human service organizations and unit leaders are discussed as critical resources in promoting civic engagement and strengthening the sense of community among AF members. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Traditional practice models of family support often lack a community focus. Increasingly, human service professional who work with families focus their intervention and prevention efforts on the communities in which families live and work. The Family Advocacy Division of the United States Air Force recently revised its program standards to address community issues in an effort to strengthen families through community based prevention activities. This article present a basic framework designed to inform this expanded practice initiative. Key terms are defined for understanding communities as a context for family life, inducing community results, community capacity, and social capital. The model is considered to have implication for informing community-oriented interventions in both military and civilian communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]