Social Work and the Community

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with different dimensions of community problems. It deals with inner city problems and some lessons from community work and the problems of social isolation and loneliness. It also deals with the way sociological analysis contributes to social work intervention in social networks. Large towns and cities have poor, deprived areas which house the poorest sections of the population. These areas in themselves give rise to serious social problems. While it must be recognised that these areas do not have the monopoly of such problems they are often places where all the basic problems of society are found. Crime rates are higher in urban areas. The population is more concentrated there, and there are greater opportunities for delinquency. The rate of conviction is higher and the police are present in greater numbers. Various forms of pollution lead to problems for city dwellers. For example, environmental hazards, such as those caused by traffic, destroy amenities which are often in short supply in areas where there is greater density and congestion of population. Accommodation and housing is scarcer and therefore more expensive.