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Social Work

Community Development & Advocacy

Scope

"Community development is a process where community members are supported by agencies to identify and take collective action on issues which are important to them. Community development empowers community members and creates stronger and more connected communities." (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2019)

"Community advocates are those individuals that have a vested interest in the development and redevelopment of a neighborhood or community. They are willing to participate in block clubs, neighborhood planning activities as well as religious and social activities." (Wooten, 2013)

Selected Books

Reclaiming Community : Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work

Baldridge captures the stories of loss and resistance within this context of immense external political pressure, arguing powerfully for the damage caused when the same structural violence that Black youth experience in school, starts to occur in the places they go to escape it.

Community Economic Development in Social Work

This cutting-edge text explores the intersection of CED and social work practice, which both focus on the well-being of indigent communities and the empowerment of individuals and the communities in which they live.

Homelessness and Social Work: An Intersectional Approach

This book invites social work students, practitioners, policy makers and academics to re-examine the subject by exploring how homelessness and social work are constituted through intersecting and unequal power relations.

Interpersonal Social Work Skills for Community Practice

This textbook describes the essential interpersonal skills that social workers need in community practice and helps students cultivate them.

Community Organizing and Community Building for Health and Welfare

This book provides new and more established ways to approach community building and organizing, from collaborating with communities on assessment and issue selection to using the power of coalition building, media advocacy, and social media to enhance the effectiveness of such work. 

Recommended Scholarly Journals

Scholarly Journals contain academic articles, these are often reports on original research, theoretical, experimental or applied. Many are refereed/peer-reviewed.

Finding Journal Articles

Below are a list of databases for the topic of human resources management. Try all of them to see different results.

Journal articles can be useful sources of information for almost any subject area. They contain current information or research, and are usually written on specific aspects of a topic.

Use research databases to search for articles on a specific topic. Databases can be accessed from off campus by current UFV students and employees.

Not all journals are created equal, and not all will be appropriate for every research need. These are the most common types of journals you are likely to encounter in your research, presented in order from most to least academic or scholarly:

  • Scholarly Journals: reports of original research, theoretical, experimental or applied; many are refereed/peer-reviewed
  • Trade/Professional Journals: current trends, news & events in a particular field; some are peer-reviewed
  • Journals of Commentary or Opinion: commentary on political & social issues; often source of specific political viewpoint, e.g., conservative, liberal, or specific interest group
  • Newspapers: current information, news stories; local & regional focus
  • Popular Magazines: current events & news; primary source for popular culture

References

Australian Institute of Family Studies. (2019). What is community development? https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/expert-panel-project/what-community-development

Wooten, R. (2013, July 23). Who are local community advocates and what role do they play in community development? https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/who_are_local_community_advocates_and_what_role_do_they_play_in_community_d

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