Promoting Community Change: Making It Happen in the Real World

by Mark S. Homan

Mark Homan's practical--and often humorous--text addresses the real world experiences facing those in the helping professions who focus on communities and organizations, and who want to learn how to actually affect community changes, not only discuss theory. PROMOTING COMMUNITY CHANGE, Third Edition doesn't simply describe issues related to change--it illustrates exactly how readers can personally become effective change agents. Many Social Workers know the techniques for dealing with individuals, but not as many know the techniques for improving communities in which those individuals live. Homan emphasizes the role a strengthened community can play in preventing problems (as well as producing solutions) to problems that individuals and families experience. Rather than a passive 'service' model, Homan presents a development model that empowers communities to transform their own conditions.

Genres: Nonfiction, Social Change, Social Work

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Aimee J Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my required textbook for my 'Working with Communities' class. The book was fairly well written but was a bit of a challenge to get through. Although community change is important to me, it is not my focal area of study which made it a bit more of a challenge to get through but I managed to pull of an 'A.'

After each chapter, the reader gives the student both theoretical and practical strats of human services work. It is extremely helpful, even though it may not be your field of study, everyone would like to make some kind of difference in some way, in their community, promote change, have a voice, or whatever it may be. I would def suggest if you are interested in wondering how to start change in your community, where to begin, what tools to utilize, what stats to implement, how to go about it, how to follow-through, and ideas on how to 'get it done'.. then this is a GREAT book for you.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another book from my university days as a social work student working towards her degree. I love, love, love community change, grass roots level work, the kind of work where you are working the front lines. This book gives the reader great ideas on how to accomplish more than just working one on one (which is great too) but how can you incorporate significant changes within a community from lobbying techniques to fundraising ideas to cultural awareness (which is crucial now more than ever!). I would recommend this book to any social work student or anyone who wants to work directly at bettering their own communities in some form or another.

[Melissa Lee-Tammeus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forced to read, but wasn't too bad at all. Homan has some great quotable stuff in here and I was glad I had him to reference on occasion. Nothing mind splitting here, but it does have some great reminders regarding social change, advocacy theories, and leadership know hows. I suppose the best way to put it is, if you don't now the stuff in this book and you consider yourself a leader, you might want to check again.

[Crytle Creki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changing communities isn't as easy as it looks