Community Concerns and Solutions - Essay Example

Surname: Presented to Institution Name, Location Date Community concerns and solutions Introduction There have been numerous efforts in both the academic and professionals levels to find a very precise and credible definition of the term community; this indicates clearly that the term is quite hard to define. It is known by most people that it has something to do with people but it meaning beyond this and many phrases are used in an effort to come to terms with both the complexity and varied definitions (Bridgman, 2000). There are very many terms that are used in explaining the meaning of community. These include such words as group of relationships, associations, having a common sense of identity or even networks. According to the researchers on public health group that are based in the united states the most common definition that is used is a group of persons having different characteristics and are highly linked by great social ties, have a share of universal perspective and engage in dual action in a environmental locations and settings. There are also other approaches, in which a community can be viewed; we have a hierarchical model that has been developed to explain deeply the meaning of a community. The terms that form the inverted pyramid-like structure of the model that explain the meaning of community include, the house or home community; this was the foundation of the society during the middle ages and earlier. The most significant part is the relationship between the parents and their children was reinforced heavily by the extended family which comprised of the grand parents, aunts and uncles. The system of extended was the main foundation of social life in many countries in the world particularly to the people who spent life in the rural areas. The formation of the social life has changed due to economic development that has advanced the system of nuclear family that originated from the modern western countries (Bell, 1971). Another type of the communities in the model is the neighbourhood community which varies widely from one city or town to another just as the need come up. It was very common to find people living in agricultural areas helping each other in harvesting and also dealing with the natural. It was a tradition in some communities to work together like bees when one of their own marries in helping build a house (Bridgman, 2000). Religion was also another factor contributed a lot in cementing the social conventions shared within the community, it helped in putting stress on the member to always conform to the traditions and the common code of conduct. The new comers were treated with high expectations to conform to the community or else they were expelled. Due to high growth of population in the towns they changed the way they operated to conform to the new conditions, they initially clustered as small groups and eventually formed a large unit. This is how most of the local governments came to be as the people wanted to participate in decision making of the deals that involved their well being (Bell, 1971). An economic type of community is mostly seen in areas where most of the people have similar occupation, a good example would be livestock rising or sugarcane growing communities. It usually very advantageous for the community to form an economic unit which gives them good chances of selling or bargaining power (Bridgman, 2000).The cooperation from the community members in the bid to boost the economy of the community has always brought more rewards compared to situations where there is high competition among the community members. Many and large towns or city communities always try to find economic groups that emerge. They always move to where there are a good number of trade groupings and that way they get more rewards by working together. It is an inborn characteristic of people forming communities that are based on the ethnic lines. The people believe a person you share same ethnic lines will always be loyal to you in times of crisis, the tradition that are held over very long times bind the groups of people together, this has produced feelings of security for members who have fears. The traditions that have been adopted over many centuries make the life cycle stages and are easier adopted and coped with especially with the help of the community (Bridgman, 2000). National community is another critical type of community; it is very hard to find a country in which all of its inhabitants share the same likeness in all aspects of living and thinking. People living in any kind of environment even those in stable geographical places have various communities whose live circumstances are not the same. In paces where large areas geographically have advanced to create a national image, the relative prosperity of each diverse group has to slightly change their priorities or clan groups who were a little bit cohesive (Singleton, 2000). Social scientists have long established the fact that the importance of the community as an agency of socialising is very powerful. As it has been clearly depicted, the power of socialising of a community was more apparent in the traditional and the rural cultures as compared to the urban and modern cultures. In the traditional society, the demarcation between the community and work was not there if any it was negligible (Bridgman, 2000)... The local culture or community pervade every other characteristic of family unit and the social life. In the urban cultures, or we can call it the industrialised society work is commonly divorced from home, many organisation and institutions take over many roles once it is made the province of the local communities (Singleton, 2000). There have been claims that the local communities have ended up being subservient to both the renowned large organisations and the centralised political equipment. The concept of community is still very relevant to the modern society. Most of the present generations think in a global way but act locally this increases a lot of influence to the society concerning the social relationships. It is not a unique thing in the large cities to find strongly build neighbourhood groups including organisation that surround the big organisations many of these may include clubs, churches, schools and voluntary associations, these groups strongly affect the ideas and performance of the people and organisations that become involved in them(Bridgman, 2000). The issues that have been of concern to community groups The concept of community has done a lot in solving issue in the society; it has always played a very important part in solving the issue environmental concerns that bothers the local people, this particular issue hinders them from getting some of the powerful both external commercial and political interests(Bell, 1971). The concept of community is not just an adversary of movement; the well organised community activities such as the community watch are made in such a way that they protect the local property and maintain high standards of individual’s safety. According to the records of the recent history, a person can recognize at least one or two periods in which there has been a renewal of the concept of community (Singleton, 2000). According to wild (1981), the need to create a sense of belonging in the countenance of impersonality that was created by the system of government and this resulted in the bringing back of the community values this has led to the occurrence of the counter-culture and the commune movements which has a lot concerns with the surroundings, the rate of pollution and living lives that contributed towards anti-urbanisation, anti-industrialisation and anti-development of sentiments, this fact has also led to the renewed desire to continue living in the real communities(Bell, 1971). Another issue concerning the concept of community is the globalisation of the economy of the world the highly esteemed united nations commission on the global governance has appreciated the fact that there is no any other alternative that could replace the power that is immersed when we work together globally to create a greater and batter world to live in. The working together of people throughout the world in shaping the future is very great at the moment as compared to times before; the need to put it into practice is very compelling. The foremost challenge that faces the generations of this 21st century is the use of globalisation to democracy, security and sustainability. The entire world at the moment requires a new reinforced vision that will boost higher levels of collaboration in the areas where community groups share general concerns and common destiny (Bridgman, 2000). From this kind of thinking we get the meaning of the notion of global village, the commission extends this concept to mean the same as that of the global neighbourhood. There are several factors that determine the quality of global leadership this is according the sentiments that were put forward by the commission (Singleton, 2000). The most highly important factor is the reception of the worldwide civic ethics that are used to guide the behaviour of persons that operate within the global neighbourhood. Another one is the courageous leadership that is highly infused with the ethics that are gained from all the levels of the society. Ethics within the global leadership is very important in that it reduces the friction and worries that are created by bad characters will automatically multiply in the global neighbourhood. Without good leadership even the strongest and most desired with best designs and great strategies will finally collapse (Singleton, 2000). Whether the achievement of the global ethic becomes a reality or not, it will always remain to be seen and desired by all the people who want a world that is at its best. The significant that the commission has put on good global leadership based on ethics is well placed; according to the commission the leadership should maintain a stable, fulfilling and democratic social relation in the global neighbourhood. According to the research done by scholars, the communities does not naturally function as most people think, a community is collection of all the activities that are done by the people living in the community. In most of the theories that involve the concept of community, the notion of rationality and consciousness of the human actor or agent are either explicit or implicit. The emphases that are put in the definition and also the theories of community are highly abounded in the literature on sociological and the political sciences (Bridgman, 2000). The broad and very detailed meaning of a community is as a specific particular kind of a social scheme is highly distinguished by characteristics which include the people who are part of the system and have a great sense and acknowledgment of the relationships and the areas of universal concerns with the other members of the community. The system is expected to persist as it has longevity and high level of continuity. The operations of the system rely mainly on the charitable collaboration which has very negligible use or threats of sanctions or coercion (Singleton, 2000). It is very fascinating to realise that the reference used in the concept of global neighbourhood that has been discussed in details refer back to the old aged idea of sociology concerning the evolution of the social order. The notion has a lot of strong ground in the social knowledge of Darwinism that has it that all the societies have to evolve from the highly cohesive traditional communities to the contemporary communal structures that are identified mainly by individualism, independence and alienation. According to the German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies there only two main types of societies and these are Gemeinschaft and the Gesellchaft. A Gemeinchaft is that kind of a society where all individuals feel they belong to there together due to their same likeness. Explaining this in broader terms is that the member of the community are kin and therefore they can never easily renounce their membership in the community, this is due to the fact that renouncing the membership will involve great emotional meaning not only for the group but also for the individual(Singleton, 2000). This type of community contrasted with the Gesellshaft, the main social tie in the community is voluntarily and therefore they are based on the rational hunt of individual’s interest. People enter into relations with another not just because they have to or because it is a natural thing, but as a realistic way of achieving a set goals and objectives. These theories have been highly criticised as a theory of predictable social evolution from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft but they have been very useful as they are the ideal types. From the community to the society Tonnies theories concerning the social modification is simply dualistic to an improbable degree just as Emile Durkeim clearly contrasts between mechanical and organic solidarity (Bell, 1971). Most communities exist within a specific time and space, according to Hervey (1990) he argues in the social action time and space cannot be comprehended independently. This particular issue raises the hard question of how can geographical space end up becoming the social space, this was a question that was of concern in the work written by Manuel Castell who goes ahead to ask the critical question that in what particular way does a certain social structure add to the formation of the area that is of very high concern. To give a good answer to this scrupulous question it is not sufficient to just explain some meticulous events, one must at first comprehend very well the theory of formation of space (Bell, 1971). The contact between the broad and far reaching social forces and local possessions generates a particular position in the society at large that is highly occupied by the local communities that have some particular kind of characteristics. There is no way that a local community can function independently of the broad and wide political and economic schemes of which they are part and parcel, the precise arrangement of the local community is that it has to depend also on the resources that are accessible locally. These resources can either be mineral deposits, labour resources and other that are always of high demand (Bridgman, 2000). The expansion of the global leadership is part and parcel of the changes of the effort of the human beings to reorganise the life in the planet, this is a process which is continuous. Our main role in the journey of transition is no more than just a stop; we are not supposed to give a blueprint at all the instances in the journey. But we are highly convinced that, it is the time for this world to take another step from the designs that have evolved over many years and have been granted new forms in the organization of the United Nations that is at about fifty years ago. We are in an era that really requires high levels of innovation and freshness in the global leadership (Bell, 1971). The need for a vision is another great issue that have always affected the community, in the last about fifty years there has been very radical and rapid conversion of the world and its prominent agenda which of a high concern in the world. This is not the first generation to live in a time of great change and transformation. The turbulence of change in the last ten years is just the same as the one that came after the rise of Islam in 1492, this particular events market the beginning of the industrial revolution that came in the eighteen century(Bell, 1971). A change that comes when the future patterns of life cannot be undoubtedly discerned as inevitable as this is a time of doubt. At times of uncertainty it is important that people take a lot of caution and balance to avoid stumbling into tragedies, vision also has to remain as the point of focus. Our future in the world depends mainly on how our leaders and people we live together are going to develop a great vision. Good strategies and institutions have to bee put in place to be able to achieve our global goals. The main task of the commission is to enlarge the chances of achieving the vision by suggesting batter approaches to the global leadership, in the more and more interdependent society of human beings (Bridgman, 2000). The rise of the civil conflict is another challenge to the global leadership, there has been rampant major armed conflicts in the world in the last few years. These civil conflict cause lose of life’s of about one thousands every year. Many of these conflicts have taken many years and they have their unique origin and their proximate causes. The risk of having wars arise in between many countries have not been eradicated there are several bad sources of conflict that could spark an interstate war in many countries are still there (Singleton, 2000). There are flash points that still exist in many parts. Until most recently, the united nations have been setting itself aside from these dangerous conflicts, the peace and security charter of the united nations have been designed to deal effectively with the conflicts between countries, it was not envisaged that the united nation were allowed to intervene with the internal affairs of any particular country. The united nations are always under great pressure to take action whenever these conflicts ands wars arise and leads to suffering of human beings or even the internal conflict threatening the security of the neighbouring countries(Bell, 1971). The economic trends in the global markets have also been a very critical issue to the global community. The great and dazzling performance in the economy of several developing states has always led to the blurring of the relentless growth in the good number of very poor countries. Many developing nations have tried to achieve higher rates of growth as compared to the already industrialized world; these countries have also showed great effort in fighting hunger and spread of diseases. Improvement of the sanitary conditions in schools and provision of quality education have also been some of the major strides taken (Bridgman, 2000). The problem is that the gains from the national cake in the developing communities have not been shared well hence some people are still suffering while other is enjoying and this is not fair at all (Bridgman, 2000). Conclusion It is very clear that living as community in a society is very important in the society. A well developed community can be advantageous to the people who live in the society, with the community coming together all the issues that bother people even up to the global scale are conquered, negative things like conflicts, economic downturn and even environmental concerns are dealt with easily (Singleton, 2000). References Bell, C. &. (1971). Community studies. London: George, Allen & Unwin publishers. BlackwellMBlackwell D.S., K. S. (2001). What is community? An evidenced-based definition for participatory public health. , 91(12), 1929–43. The American Journal of Public Health , 1929–43. Bridgman, P. &. (2000). The Australian policy handbook (2nd edn.). Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Broom, L. &. (1963). Sociology. New York: Harper and Row. Castells, M. (2000). End of Millennium. Blackwell: Oxford universiy press. Cook, J. (1999). Community development theory. Columbia: Department of Community Development University of Missouri. Giddens, A. (1989). sociology. Oxford. Oxford: Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1998). The third way. The renewal of social democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Harvey, D. (1990). The condition of postmodernity. Oxford: Blackwell. Jackson, R. J.-M. (2005). Politics in Canada. Scarborough. Ontario: Prentice-Hall inc. Marsh, I. (1988). Interest group analysis. new york: In D. Woodward, A. Parkin, & J. Summers (Eds). Marsh, I. (1988). Interest group analysis. In D. Woodward,. Sydney: A. Parkin, & J. Summers (Eds). Michael, E. (2006). Public policy: The competitive framework. Melbourne: xford University Press. Quelch, J. &.-K. (2006). he new global brands: Managing Non-Government Organizations in the 21st Century. Thomson: South-Western. Singleton, G. A. (2000). Australian Political Institutions. Melbourne: . Longman. publishers. Stacey, M. (1974). The Myth of Community Studies.The Sociology of Community. London: Frank Cass. Tonnies, F. (1954). Community and association (Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft). In C. Bell & Newby (Eds) , 62–72. Wild, R. (1981). Australian community studies & beyond. Sydney: eorge Allen & Unwin publishers. Read More

It usually very advantageous for the community to form an economic unit which gives them good chances of selling or bargaining power (Bridgman, 2000).The cooperation from the community members in the bid to boost the economy of the community has always brought more rewards compared to situations where there is high competition among the community members. Many and large towns or city communities always try to find economic groups that emerge. They always move to where there are a good number of trade groupings and that way they get more rewards by working together.

It is an inborn characteristic of people forming communities that are based on the ethnic lines. The people believe a person you share same ethnic lines will always be loyal to you in times of crisis, the tradition that are held over very long times bind the groups of people together, this has produced feelings of security for members who have fears. The traditions that have been adopted over many centuries make the life cycle stages and are easier adopted and coped with especially with the help of the community (Bridgman, 2000).

National community is another critical type of community; it is very hard to find a country in which all of its inhabitants share the same likeness in all aspects of living and thinking. People living in any kind of environment even those in stable geographical places have various communities whose live circumstances are not the same. In paces where large areas geographically have advanced to create a national image, the relative prosperity of each diverse group has to slightly change their priorities or clan groups who were a little bit cohesive (Singleton, 2000).

Social scientists have long established the fact that the importance of the community as an agency of socialising is very powerful. As it has been clearly depicted, the power of socialising of a community was more apparent in the traditional and the rural cultures as compared to the urban and modern cultures. In the traditional society, the demarcation between the community and work was not there if any it was negligible (Bridgman, 2000). The local culture or community pervade every other characteristic of family unit and the social life.

In the urban cultures, or we can call it the industrialised society work is commonly divorced from home, many organisation and institutions take over many roles once it is made the province of the local communities (Singleton, 2000). There have been claims that the local communities have ended up being subservient to both the renowned large organisations and the centralised political equipment. The concept of community is still very relevant to the modern society. Most of the present generations think in a global way but act locally this increases a lot of influence to the society concerning the social relationships.

It is not a unique thing in the large cities to find strongly build neighbourhood groups including organisation that surround the big organisations many of these may include clubs, churches, schools and voluntary associations, these groups strongly affect the ideas and performance of the people and organisations that become involved in them(Bridgman, 2000). The issues that have been of concern to community groups The concept of community has done a lot in solving issue in the society; it has always played a very important part in solving the issue environmental concerns that bothers the local people, this particular issue hinders them from getting some of the powerful both external commercial and political interests(Bell, 1971).

The concept of community is not just an adversary of movement; the well organised community activities such as the community watch are made in such a way that they protect the local property and maintain high standards of individual’s safety. According to the records of the recent history, a person can recognize at least one or two periods in which there has been a renewal of the concept of community (Singleton, 2000).

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