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This book explores the intersection of community development and local capacity building as a basis for effective disaster mitigation and the alleviation of suffering in times of crisis. Beginning with the Community Development section, the process, context, and methods for community, engagement, and development can be viewed from different structural and logical approaches. This section explores some of the more relevant historical arguments, as well as more contemporary examinations. The second section looks at Critical Human and Community Considerations and sheds light on some of the key concepts that are often overlooked (poverty, race, inequality, social justice, mental health, social division) when framing community responses to disaster. The third section focuses on Fundamental Elements of Caring Communities. This section explores the importance, practical, and measurable impacts of social support, empathy, inclusion, and conflict resolution in creating effective and caring community responses. Finally, the last section focuses on practice and brings together research and theory into applied programming, examples, and evidence from on-the-ground efforts to establish caring communities that respond to local needs in times of crisis and beyond.
By addressing these objectives, this book provides a more complete understanding of the essential role that community can play in disaster mitigation. Doing this will provide a better focus for ongoing research endeavors, and program and policy initiatives at the community level that seek to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and other disasters. As a result, this book contributes to wider and more sustainable development of our communities beyond disasters, while furthering dialog among community scholars and practitioners.
List of contents
1. Introduction: Creating Caring Communities to Overcome Times of Crisis SECTION I: UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY, DEVELOPMENT, AND CAPACITY BUILDING 2. Community as a Mechanism for Transcending Wellbeing at the Individual, Social, and Ecological Levels 3. Conceptualizing Community Resilience 4. A Community Resilience Framework for Community Development Practitioners Building Equity and Adaptive Capacity 5. Community Resilience and Community Development: What Mutual Opportunities Arise from Interactions between the Two Concepts? SECTION II: CRITICAL HUMAN AND COMMUNITY CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER CRISIS 6. Ensuring Social Justice in Times of Crisis 7. Issues of Race, Inequality, and Disaster at the Community Level 8. Responding to Social Isolation among Older Adults through Lifelong Learning: Lessons and Questions during COVID-19 9. Community Recovery, a New Value Proposition for Community Investment 10. The Role of Social Cohesion in Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health within Marginalized Communities 11. Community and COVID-19 across Australia: Contextual Considerations SECTION III: BEYOND STRUCTURAL RESPONSES: FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS FOR SUPPORTIVE, STRONG COMMUNITIES 12. Community Resilience 2.0: Toward a Comprehensive Conception of Community-Level Resilience 13. Empathy, Social Support, and Community: The Intersection of Concepts in Achieving Caring Communities 14. The Centrality of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to Community and Crisis Response: An interactional approach 15. Leading Communities in Times of Uncertainty SECTION IV: TOWARD CARING COMMUNITIES 16. Beyond Recovery and Resilience: Achieving Caring Communities 17. A Model for Making Caring Communities a Reality 18. Conclusions: Aspiring to Become Caring Communities
About the author
Mark A. Brennan is a Professor and UNESCO Chair in Community, Leadership, and Youth Development at The Pennsylvania State University.
Rhonda Phillips is a Professor and Dean of the John Martinson Honors College, Purdue University.
Norman Walzer is a Professor Emeritus at the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, Western Illinois University.
Brent D. Hales is Associate Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Director of Penn State Extension.
Summary
This book explores the intersection of community development and local capacity building as a basis for effective disaster mitigation and the alleviation of suffering in times of crisis, contributing to the sustainable development of our communities beyond disasters, while furthering dialogue among community scholars and practitioners.
