Introduction to Community Development: Theory, Practice, and Service-Learning

Historical context, theoretical grounding, critical issues perspective, and the "how-to" for community development

This collection of work by leading community development scholars presents students with a theoretical and practical introduction to the field. The text progresses seamlessly from a theoretical overview to a historical overview to three approaches to community development (ecological, interactional, and structural-functional), then explores the practice of community development along with technical assistance, action research, evaluation research, and the role of local organizations, local leadership, and coalitions. The book concludes with critical issues, such as rural development, inner-city development, youth in community development, health care, public schools, and sustainable development.

Key features include:

• New community development intervention models, using examples from recent events to demonstrate the strengths and challenges of such models
• Community service-learning activities, providing useful examples and case studies of successful service-learning programs in communities
• A hierarchy of learning activities and exercises within each chapter, ensuring that students learn how to apply concepts to real-world issues
• Relevant cases of successful community development interventions, giving students examples of ′best practices′
• Major trends, challenges, and prospects for the future in community development, helping students identify key issues and opportunities
• Instructor Teaching Site: Password-protected resources contain learning modules, developed by the authors, which include exercises and activities which reinforce chapter content, and demonstrate application of concepts in real-life communities.
• Student Study Site: Open-access study materials include chapter self-quizzes to aid content learning.

This comprehensive, introductory survey text is designed for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in Community Development, Urban Studies, Rural Development, and Introduction to Service Learning found in departments of sociology, public administration, management, and social work.

Jerry W. Robinson, Jr. is Distinguished Professor of Rural Sociology, Emeritus at Delta State University (DSU) and Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1994, Robinson accepted an endowed Chair in Economic and Community Development at DSU. At Delta State, he founded the Center for Community and Economic Development. He is known around the world for his creativity in developing and leading practical and multi-disciplinary programs in human relations, organizational development, and leadership and community development. He has written a dozen books on organizational development, human relations, stress and wellness, leadership and community development, and traffic safety. His research has been published in The ABA Journal, American Sociological Review, The Economic Development Review, The Community Development Journal, Rural Sociology, and Social Forces.

Gary Paul Green is a professor in the Department of Community & Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a community development specialist in the Center for Community & Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Green’s teaching and research interests are primarily in the areas of community and economic development. In addition to his work in the U.S., he has been involved in community and economic development research and teaching in China, New Zealand, South Korea, Uganda, and Ukraine.