Kenneth P. Wilkinson

Local Social Disruption and Western Energy Development A Critical Review

The assumption that energy development causes social disruption in western communities is based on undocumented assertions, questionable interpretations of evidence, and superficial analyses. Theory used implicitly in research on western communities that are affected by energy development is inconsistent with the history of the region and with recent developments in community research. The literature provides suggestions for research, but improvements in theory and methodology will be needed if responsible contributions to energy development policy are to be made in this research.

The Community as A Social Field

A field concept of social organization is proposed as an alternative to systems theory with special reference to the case of the community. Field notions in physics, biology, and psychology are shown to reflect a view of reality as emergent and dynamic. The concept of the field is distinguished from the method of field analysis. The assumptions of interactional theory are taken as a frame of reference for delineating characteristics of the social field. Contributions of ecological, cultural, and psychological factors are noted, but the social field is described as having a distinctive existence. Theoretical and methodological implications of conceptualizing the community as a social field are discussed, and the concept of the community field is elaborated.

Social Well-Being and Community.

Abstract An interactionist perspective is used to show the influence of community in the well‐being of people. Well‐being is discussed in terms of the humanist concept of self‐actualization. The thesis is developed that sustenance adequacy and community are social conditions which encourage emergence of the self‐actualization motive. Hypotheses are presented concerning the contributions of various community types to social well‐being. Community development is defined in interactional terms, and strategies of community development to encourage social well‐being are suggested.

Violent Crime in the Western Energy-Development Region:

Case studies of “boom towns” in the western United States and the theory of social disorganization predict positive effects of recent growth and energy development on the violent crime rate in small towns and rural areas. Regression results, with controls for local characteristics prior to the energy boom of the 1970s, give little evidence of additive effects of recent growth and energy development on the violent crime rate in nonmetropolitan counties of the major energy-producing states. Long-standing structural problems are better predictors of the violent crime rate than are recent changes associated with energy development.

Does Leadership Development Intervene in the Relationship Between Public Affairs Participation and Socioeconomic Status

This study investigates the relationship between change in public affairs participation and involvement in a leadership development program for young adults in Pennsylvania at high and low socioeconomic-status levels. In a comparison grouping, the association between change in public affairs participation and socioeconomic status is positive, as in many previous findings; but among those involved in the leadership development program, the association between change in public affairs participation and socioeconomic status is negative. Thus, leadership development mediates the familiar relationship between public affairs participation and socioeconomic background.

Divorce and Recent Net Migration into the Old West.

A positive association between change in the divorce rate and net inmigration [in the United States] has been suggested in discussions of recent rural population growth particularly in areas affected by rapid development of energy resources. Previous research findings suggest that the divorce rate is affected by stress and by effectiveness of constraints to divorce and that these might be influenced by net inmigration. Data on change in divorce rates of 292 counties of the Old West region from 1970 to 1975 were examined. Multiple regression results indicate that new inmigration had little effect on change in the divorce rate. (EXCERPT)

Evaluation of the Mississippi AFDC Experiment

Three innovative program concepts-work experience with incentive income, special welfare services other than financial assistance, and increased financial assistance-were introduced in a demonstration program involving AFDC clients in two predominantly rural Mississippi counties over a one-year period. Before-and-after interviews of 181 adult female clients randomly assigned to program groups and a control group revealed changes in economic status, life-style, and personal outlook related to program outputs. No reliable pattern of statistically significant differences among groups was noted, although there were substantial changes on many client characteristics during the year.

Persistence and Change in a Growing Community: a Case Study of Seabrook, New Hampshire

This is a study of the “Great Change” in a small town: Seabrook, New Hampshire. Previous sociological literature suggests that many elements of “community,” such as cohesion, autonomy and local leadership, tend to disappear as the larger society comes to dominate local activities. Case study data on community actions and leadership in three phases of Seabrooks history (pre-boom, boom, post-boom) over the years 1950– 1980 give evidence of persistence of community despite changes in local characteristics. The community retained its essential pattern of leadership and action while it became more diverse and dynamic. The findings suggest that substantial change, while perhaps inevitable for small towns on the fringes of a metropolitan society, need not spell the demise of community.

[Local Social Disruption and Western Energy Development: A Critical Review]: Response

Mark Twain could have told them what they were going to find, and they found it: murder, robbery, assault, child abuse, wife beating, divorce, alcoholism, depression, madness and suicide all out of proportion to the number of people in town. They began calling it Gillette syndrome, and then, in the best traditions of sociology, they began to argue whether itreally existed or was just a statistical berration built of shabby data [1982: 118].

The Community in Rural America.

Preface Introduction: Studying the Community in Rural America The Community: An Interactional Approach The Rural-Urban Variable in Community Research The Community and Rural Well-Being Rural Community Development In Search of the Community in the Changing Countryside References Index