Purpose of Community Development

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The role of community development and its varying element in the process of effective community functioning may be liken to planting a tree, providing it with the essentials such as water and sunlight so that others may shelter from its branches and eat of its fruit. Community development in social work seeks to build a functional structure that is in the best interest of community members and the various institutions present in a given community. This functional structure seeks to provide needed shelter from harsh economic conditions, incidence of crime and violence, joblessness, drug addiction, poor transportation, absence of education etc. However, for community development to be successful there are certain prerequisite knowledge that is necessary. The worker must first understand that a community does not only consist of community members. If this mindset is perceive then the worker would run the grave mistake of perceiving all other aspect of the community life isolated from its members, consequently disregarding the fact that a community consist of members as well as different institutions. To disregard the sum of the various parts that constitute a community will only result in counterproductive outcome in the process of community development. Affirm by Harper & Dunham (1959) a community consist of social or cultural homogeneity, consensus, self-help, or other forms of communal bahaviour and interacting relationship whereas community development is a constructive process in which people involve themselves to eradicate needs or solve problem Therefore watering the tree (community) with constant inspiration that ensure collective identity, positive social interaction and sustenance of needs are essential Rothman et al (1995). Before a worker seeks to bring about a change in a given community he must first have an understanding of the felt needs of community

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