Case study of grassroots community development: sustainable, flexible and cost-effective responses to local needs

This paper presents the results of a case study of a grassrootscommunity development initiative in St. John, New Brunswick.It was part of a larger study designed to investigate the sustainabilityof community-based crime prevention activities. This case studyhighlights a unique strategy for addressing local communityneeds. The lessons learned in St. John address many of the commonchallenges related to community development such as communitymobilization, capacity building, planning, partnerships andsustainability. Some attention is also directed at the roleof government and non-governmental agencies in community-basedinitiatives since this represents an ongoing concern for thoseinvolved in community development.     

Taxonomy of mediated crisis responses

This paper examines how organizations integrate the Internet into crisis communication. The findings of a 7-year longitudinal study provide a taxonomy explaining how mediated communication creates new possibilities for crisis response. We translate the study findings into suggestions for how public relations managers can integrate new communication media into their mix of communication tactics in crisis and risk management.     

Rural brewing,exclusion, and development policy-making

This article highlights the economic role of women in the brewing industry in rural and periurban areas of sub-Saharan African countries. Local beer drinking is a form of social exchange and a reward for time-intensive work. Modern beer brewing in rural areas is a family operation. Beer is produced for subsistence and for sale. Locally brewed beer has a lower alcohol content than commercial brews. The author refers to Pradervand's (1990) study of local brewing in five east and west African countries. Pradervand found that men spent an estimated CFAF 18 billion per year on local brews compared to the value of total national exports of CFAF 21 billion per year in 1996. The male Kitui in rural Kenya were found to spend 60% of their weekly income on beer. Women dominate brewing in eastern and southern Africa. Rural beers are grain based (maize, millet, or sorghum), but may also be made from bananas, bamboo, sugar cane, or coconut. An estimated 25% of women in a village survey in Tanzania reported that beer was brewed one to four times a month. Another survey in the 1980s found that 73% of women brewed beer at some time. Beer brewing is a very significant economic activity for rural women. It provides higher levels of income and employment. Urban brewing by women has a negative image that rural women's beer brewing does not have. Grain for brewing comes from family farms or markets. Women's clubs are used as income generation groups for loans and as support groups. Women's beer brewing is not supported by development interventions or recognized by UN agencies. There are resource implications due to an estimated 5%-30% of annual wood consumption used for beer brewing. If women's role in beer brewing is ignored, male-dominated commercial interests will further marginalize rural women.     

Images for change: community development, community arts and photography

This article explores how community development objectives canbe achieved through critical photographic practice. It summarizesthe literature relating to community arts practice and its potentialfor social regeneration. Photography is then located withinthis context and explored as a critical practice, with particularattention being given to photo-elicitation, photo-novella andphotovoice methods. The literature is discussed and analysedto explore how far critical photographic practice can meet theobjectives of community development.     

Embodiment,care and practice in a community kitchen

This article explores activist practices in a community kitchen based in the south of the United Kingdom with a dual focus on social and environmental justice. It draws on these practices to develop further feminist, and specifically ecofeminist, concepts of care ethics by arguing that embodiment is an essential element in lived relationships of care. Moreover, we show that these embodied components enable learning that can disrupt settled understandings of social and environmental injustices, including negotiating tensions relating to class and race. We demonstrate how this disruption combines with imaginative processes to stimulate critical political analysis of the relationship between local contexts of need and broader socio‐political structures and power relations. Crucially, we work towards illuminating how care ethics and social practice combine to stimulate and inform political action.     

Client satisfaction in a community crisis center

Variables determining client satisfaction with crisis intervention services were evaluated. The short version of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8), and open ended questions were used in telephone interviews of clients and significant others. Results showed that 40% of the total variance of client satisfaction was explained by clients' evaluation of workers. Low correlations were found between reports of clients and significant others, implying that different factors determine satisfaction for each group.     

Integrating education: Parekhian multiculturalism and good practice

This paper explores the concept of good practice in integrating education in divided societies. Using Northern Ireland as a case study, the paper draws on data from eight schools (both integrated Catholic and Protestant, and separate) that are identified as exemplifying good practice in response to cultural diversity. Analysis is provided through the lens of Bhikhu Parekh’s reconceptualization of multiculturalism from 2006 Parekh, B. 2006. Rethinking multiculturalism: Cultural diversity and political theory, , 2nd ed., Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.  [Google Scholar]. The data provide insights into characteristics of good practice from the perspectives of pupils, support staff, teachers and principals, in a society that is not only moving out of conflict but is also responding to the challenges of incoming minority students.     

Social policy,community service development,and religious organizations

The retrenchment policies of the Reagan and Bush administrations have made human service much more locally oriented. As a result, religious groups have become increasingly involved in providing services. This article explores some of the historical and contemporary aspects of service involvement by religious groups, focusing on the meaning this involvement has for the social work community. Recommendations are provided to aid community planners in working more effectively with the resources of religious groups.     

Tracking the defining moments of crisis process and practice

Crisis holds the potential for profound change in organizations and industries. The past 50 years of crisis management highlight key shifts in crisis practice, creating opportunities for multiple theories and research tracks. Defining crises such as Tylenol, Exxon Valdez, and September 11 terrorist attacks have influenced or challenged the principles of best practice of crisis communication in public relations. This study traces the development of crisis process and practice by identifying shifts in crisis research and models and mapping these against key management theories and practices. The findings define three crisis domains: crisis planning, building and testing predictive models, and mapping and measuring external environmental influences. These crisis domains mirror but lag the evolution of management theory, suggesting challenges for researchers to reshape the research agenda to close the gap and lead the next stage of development in the field of crisis communication for effective organizational outcomes.