THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COMMUNITY SOCIAL WORK

The reasons for the underdevelopment of theory to guide community work practice are many and complex: some experts believe that the development of appropriate theory is imminent; others worry that premature development will hinder the growth of practice and limit consideration of alternative conceptual frameworks; while others contend that the development and adoption of practice theory are either irrelevant or not likely to appear for some time to come. A careful review of the literature available on the subject does convince one that distinct approaches do exist which can serve as a springboard for organizing more cogent conceptual frameworks that would be of value to practitioners and researchers. While trying to organize the knowledge that has developed out of community work, it was discovered that much of the literature does not have a theoretical orientation; instead, it focuses on the historical development and pragmatic realities of community work in specific fields or with particular problems or populations. The focus of the book is to present a combination of both theoretic frameworks and empirical realities: one group of authors would address the major theoretical models or approaches, while another group would survey and deal with community work as it is actually practiced in various fields of practice.