Alan S. York

Sociopolitical control and empowerment: An extended replication

Although much of the empowerment research and literature deals with the individual in his immediate environment, there is clearly a branch that focusses more on the wider community and sociopolitical empowerment. Zimmerman and Zahniser (1991) developed an integrative measure of sociopolitical control containing two indices—Leadership Competence and Political Control, and they reported three tests of their measure. This study reports the use of the measure, as well as the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale (Bradburn, 1969) and a measure developed for measuring a sense of Community Belonging. The Pearson correlations for these measures were compared with Pearson correlations for measures of participation and decision-making for two similar groups of activists in the same community; one group had been active for two years longer than the second group. The comparison shows statistically significant differences between the two groups. Not only are the sociopolitical control indices of Zimmerman and Zahniser found to be effective, but they and other community empowerment measures are shown to be sensitive to the passing of time and accumulation of experience.

Child sexual abuse and incest: community-based intervention

OBJECTIVE The primary aim of this article is to determine the effectiveness of community intervention in the case of child sexual abuse. The article describes and analyses an actual case in a small urban community in Israel. METHOD After several incidents of child sexual abuse, much of it incestuous, were brought to light in the community, they were discussed openly, contained, and punished. A community campaign, in which community activists as well as all the service providers were involved, was organized by community social workers. Individual, group, and community interventions were used. RESULTS The continuation of the abuse has been checked, and, so far, there is no evidence to suggest its resurgence. Community apathy to child sexual abuse seems to have been halted and reversed. The involvement of community residents, particularly the activists, has increased, and this appears to be the major factor in changed community norms toward child sexual abuse. CONCLUSION Implications of the individual, group, and community interventions are discussed. An integrated program of intervention practices is advocated to contain and prevent the incidence of child sexual abuse and incest.

Client Participation and the Effectiveness of Community Social Work Intervention

Client participation is a central value of social work, and it is generally assumed that inter vention involving clients will be more effective than that in which they are not involved. This article presents a study in which this assumption was tested empirically by questioning 200 senior workers in Israeli community centers as to the techniques of client participation they used in their work and the outputs in their centers. The assumption that client participation leads to effectiveness, at least in community social work, seems to be supported and suggests that community center staff should be trained and motivated toward working with their clients.

Youth Leadership Program for Changing Self-Image and Attitude Toward People With Disabilities

Society has a negative attitude toward people with intellectual disabilities or psychiatric disabilities. It is well documented that they are subjected to prejudice, stigma, and negative attitudes (Di Giulio, 2003; Finger, 1994). Professional literature indicates that information about disabilities and encounters with persons with disabilities can change negative attitudes (Carter, Hughes, Copeland, & Breen, 2001; Krajewski & Flaherty, 2000). This study accompanied 164 9th-grade students from various junior high schools throughout Israel. Half of the students participated in an integration program for changing attitudes toward persons with disabilities, and the other half served as the control group. The research examined the existence and the degree of relationship between participation in the program, changes in attitudes toward people with disabilities, and self-image. The research findings pointed to a positive change in attitudes of the participants of the program in comparison with the control group, resulting mainly from personal contact with people with disabilities. No relationship was found between levels of self-image of the research group and attitudes toward people with disabilities.

The importance of the community and its resources

This paper examines the concept of community, and defines it in terms of boundaries, shared needs and social interaction. It considers types of community and the functions they perform. After discussing different community resources the paper concentrates on the resources of authority and legitimation, which may be achieved by the use of client involvement and general community representation. An empiric test of the connection between client representation and effectiveness is used to illustrate the value of involving clients, their families and other community representatives is community services such as home care.

The autonomous apartment block: Israeli house committees

most elementary forms of territorial community organizations in the modern urban setting: the condominium apartment building house committee. Although this may well be the primary building block in any form of urban community formal organization, the research on the house committee is very limited and so our knowledge about its capabilities and potential is small. (It is probably indicative that Yin [1982] does not even include house committees in his otherwise comprehensive list of neighbourhood feedback mechanisms.) But, as urbanization continues in most developed and developing societies, the multiple family dwelling unit must increase in numbers and importance, and social workers generally and community workers in particular will have to understand better the composition and dynamics of the apartment building. In the United States, the best-documented attempt to work with housing committees in condominium apartment buildings is the National Tenant Management Demonstration Program of 1975 in