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Economic and social trends pose serious problems for communities in rural areas, and for the future. A useful approach to understanding the contemporary situation is to recognize that the community in rural areas is in flux and not necessarily in transition. "Rural change" has been a central concern of the rural social sciences for many decades and a fact of life for many more. The community is where people experience "society" directly in their daily lives. Turning from the discussion of problems to the search for solutions, a most important starting place is the recognition that opportunities exist for community development even in the turbulent environment of rural areas in the modern world. Development of economic resources and social infrastructure in small towns and rural areas to strengthen rural-urban relationships could contribute to a most attractive future alternative to the extreme forms of urban and rural living conditions found in many societies.

Actions by local groups and leaders constitute an essential but poorly understood element of many rural development strategies. Previous studies suggest that local development efforts can influence community change, but questions remain about why localities differ in mobilization to achieve development goals. Drawing upon community field theory and human ecology, this study uses data for rural school districts in Pennsylvania to examine the argument that activeness in the past and development of solidarity can contribute to a higher probability of local mobilization than would be predicted by ecological characteristics alone. Hierarchical regressions support this argument for some local actions, while canonical correlations show a generalized pattern strongly associated with past activeness and solidarity.

Can leaders in small towns and surrounding areas actually influence local economic and demographic growth? Competing views but few studies of this issue characterize recent debates about the effects of “growth machines” in local areas. This paper uses alternative indicators of growth during the 1980s for a sample of local areas in rural Pennsylvania to examine the effects of development efforts, controlling ecological and structural characteristics. The analysis considers local participation in state programs and maintenance of a favorable business climate as well as measures of local growth promotion for business and industry, recreation and tourism, development of forest products, and services development. Hierarchical regressions, taking account of the statistically dominant effects of ecological and structural variables, show that local efforts can influence local growth.

Empirical research findings suggest that suicide increases with rurality, but research on rural suicide leaves many questions unanswered. This study specifies problems of community organization as a reason for expecting a positive effect of rurality on the suicide rate. A multiple regression analysis of county data shows that rurality has a substantial positive effect and is, in fact, the best predictor of the suicide rate among several variables selected from the previous literature. Additional research is needed to test the interpretation that rurality contributes to an incomplete, fragmented form of community organization which influences the suicide rate by disrupting primary relationships.

Social workers and other human service professionals who practice in the energy-development "boomtowns' of the western United States report dramatic increases in the abuse and neglect of children. The comparative research to-date however has given little attention to the ecological processes that precede these increases. This study uses a pooled cross-sectional time-series design to estimate the effects of various aspects of energy development on changes in the rate of severe maltreatment of children in Utah, a state with traditional social institutions expressing strong values of family, church and community cohesion. The findings show immediate, substantial effects of energy development in this setting. Implications for intervention strategies are discussed.

This study investigates the relationship between change in public affairs participation and involvement in a leadership development program for young adults in Pennsylvania at high and low socioeconomic-status levels. In a comparison grouping, the association between change in public affairs participation and socioeconomic status is positive, as in many previous findings; but among those involved in the leadership development program, the association between change in public affairs participation and socioeconomic status is negative. Thus, leadership development mediates the familiar relationship between public affairs participation and socioeconomic background.

Recent findings suggest that suicide increases with rurality, but research on rural suicide leaves many questions unanswered. This study specifies problems of community organization as a reason for expecting a positive effect of rurality on the suicide rate. A multiple regression analysis of county data shows that rurality has a substantial positive effect and is, in fact, the best predictor of the suicide rate among several variables selected from the previous literature. Additional research is needed to test the interpretation that rurality contributes to an incomplete, fragmented form of community organization which influences the suicide rate by disrupting primary relationships.

This is a study of the “Great Change” in a small town: Seabrook, New Hampshire. Previous sociological literature suggests that many elements of “community,” such as cohesion, autonomy and local leadership, tend to disappear as the larger society comes to dominate local activities. Case study data on community actions and leadership in three phases of Seabrook's history (pre-boom, boom, post-boom) over the years 1950– 1980 give evidence of persistence of community despite changes in local characteristics. The community retained its essential pattern of leadership and action while it became more diverse and dynamic. The findings suggest that substantial change, while perhaps inevitable for small towns on the fringes of a metropolitan society, need not spell the demise of community.

Case studies of “boom towns” in the western United States and the theory of social disorganization predict positive effects of recent growth and energy development on the violent crime rate in small towns and rural areas. Regression results, with controls for local characteristics prior to the energy boom of the 1970s, give little evidence of additive effects of recent growth and energy development on the violent crime rate in nonmetropolitan counties of the major energy-producing states. Long-standing structural problems are better predictors of the violent crime rate than are recent changes associated with energy development.

An interactionist perspective is used to show the influence of community in the well‐being of people. Well‐being is discussed in terms of the humanist concept of self‐actualization. The thesis is d...

The major objectives are (1) to identify the problems involved in measuring the environmental impacts of public projects from selected perspectives, and (2) to elaborate a sociological approach used in an empirical investigation in that respect. The construct of environmental impact of a planned action is generally operationalized from different perspectives and with different methodological emphases in the various disciplines. Even the term environment does not elicit agreement among users as to its exact meaning. Although there has been a steady increase in the number of studies from a sociological perspective concerning environmental problems, there is lack of sociological counsel in writing environmental impact statements. Overall, we lack sociological methodology and operational procedures for that purpose. In an attempt to bring some empirical focus to this field, attitudinal measures employed to discover how residents of a river basin perceived negative and positive environmental impacts of a proposed watershed development project are reviewed. These come from a study of creation of the Cooper Reservoir and Dam in Texas. Data on 343 heads of households m the selected areas were collected through structured questionnaires with items on personal information, a vested interest scale, a knowledge of the project scale, and an environmental impact scale. Data show that perception of impacts by residents is influenced significantly by degree of their vested interests involved. Variables for inclusion in a sociological model of environmental impact are suggested.

The assumption that energy development causes social disruption in western communities is based on undocumented assertions, questionable interpretations of evidence, and superficial analyses. Theor...

Three innovative program concepts-work experience with incentive income, special welfare services other than financial assistance, and increased financial assistance-were introduced in a demonstration program involving AFDC clients in two predominantly rural Mississippi counties over a one-year period. Before-and-after interviews of 181 adult female clients randomly assigned to program groups and a control group revealed changes in economic status, life-style, and personal outlook related to program outputs. No reliable pattern of statistically significant differences among groups was noted, although there were substantial changes on many client characteristics during the year.

A field concept of social organization is proposed as an alternative to systems theory with special reference to the case of the community. Field notions in physics, biology, and psychology are shown to reflect a view of reality as emergent and dynamic. The concept of the field is distinguished from the method of field analysis. The assumptions of interactional theory are taken as a frame of reference for delineating characteristics of the social field. Contributions of ecological, cultural, and psychological factors are noted, but the social field is described as having a distinctive existence. Theoretical and methodological implications of conceptualizing the community as a social field are discussed, and the concept of the community field is elaborated.

A positive association between change in the divorce rate and net inmigration [in the United States] has been suggested in discussions of recent rural population growth particularly in areas affected by rapid development of energy resources. Previous research findings suggest that the divorce rate is affected by stress and by effectiveness of constraints to divorce and that these might be influenced by net inmigration. Data on change in divorce rates of 292 counties of the Old West region from 1970 to 1975 were examined. Multiple regression results indicate that new inmigration had little effect on change in the divorce rate. (EXCERPT)