CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY:

MEANING, DEFINITIONS,
CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPES
WHAT IS COMMUNITY
 The word community is derived from Latin and has been used in
English since the 14th century. The word community is derived from
the Latin communitas, which is in turn derived from communis,
which means common, public, shared by all or many (encyclopedia).
 Comm and Munis: comm means together and Munis means serve

 It means to serve together.

 A group of individuals or a collection of individuals come together

and serve together.

 A community is a group of people living in the same place or having

particular characteristics in common, such as norms, religion, values

or identity.
 Community is a group of people are having we feelings (common

goal, common interest, common culture).

CONT….
 It is a group of people who share the same things, such as
where they live and work.
 Communities are also the places where people solve problems

together.
 Communities are one of the social systems in which people live

and shape their individual and group identities.

 They also develop individual and group identities through

associations that connect them to life-long community

experiences.
DEFINITION
 Maciver and Page state that “a community is wherever the
members of any group, small or large, live together in
such a way that they share, not this or that particular
interest, but the basic condition of common life, we call such
a group a community”

 Robert Bellah defines community as “a group of people who

are socially interdependent, who participate together
in discussion and decision making, and who share certain
practices that both define the community and are nurtured
by it.”
 Bryon Munon ( 1968) defines “A community is a relatively
self-sufficient population, residing in a limited geographic
area, bound together by feelings of unity and
interdependency.

 C. Farrington and E Pine define a community as a “ group of

people lined by a communications structure supporting
discussion and collective action.”
UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY
 Further, two other aspects besides the above are useful to understand
communities. Community is seen as
 a) a shared physical space or geographic community and
 b) a community based on a shared interest or identity or functional
community.

 Community as Bounded by Geographical Space

Brueggemann (2006) contends that community needs to be embodied to
have existence, meaning that it requires a physical space that
symbolizes the community for its members and for those who are not part of
the community. Bounded is referred to as a location-based community.
The boundaries of this community are often established with a recognised
authority such as the Panchayat, the Mohalla, and the Municipal
government.
CONT.….
Shared Interest
This refers to communities where the membership is based not
on shared physical space but on shared interests or
characteristics that unite members and provide the
basis for one’s personal identity.
Things like race, ethnicity, religion, culture, social class,
professional affiliation.
COMMUNITY CONSTRUCT: SOCIAL WORK
PERSPECTIVE
 as a social system,
 b) as an ecological system, and

 c) as a center for power and conflict.

 Community is a social system,

 A system is viewed as being composed of multiple interacting

components that relate to one another in an orderly, functional

manner. Moreover, systems are embedded within larger systems,
thus providing a framework for understanding the connection
between different systems levels.
 For example an individual might be viewed as one element within

a family or kinship group, the kinship group exists within a

community.
CONT.…..
 Community as an Ecological System:
 In this community, it is seen as having a close interrelationship with
the environment in a symbiotic manner.
 Geo-cultural perspective where in the spatial features (land use
patterns and distribution of services) of a specific location interact
with the community- its population characteristics (such as size,
density, diversity) and technology (production of goods and
services, transportation, communication.

 As a centre for power and conflict:

 Communities are seen as arenas where competing groups are constantly
engaged in conflict over power and the control of scarce resources.
Some groups, often based on social class, caste, religious,
linguistic and regional affiliations, dominate over other groups
CHARACTERISTICS OF A COMMUNITY
 Locality
 Locality means a community occupies a territorial area

permanent or changing. The people are having belonging

to their locality and develop "we" feelings with each
other.

 Sentiments
 Community sentiment refers to the social cohesion that

individuals develop within themselves. It reflects a sense

of belonging to one another and to the shared living
space. This sentiment is the essence of a community
 Group of People
 Community is the totality of individuals with similar conditions of

life. Thus it is a group of people living together similarly.

 Common Life
 One of the elements of community is that there is always

common life. There are no ups and downs and inequality in

the community.

 Particular Name
 A community is always identified by its name. Thus it has its own

particular name.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A COMMUNITY
 We feeling
 Common interest

 Natural created

 Similarly, among members

 Particular name

 Permeant

 No legal status
CONT.
 Mutual Support
 A key characteristic of a community is that its members

provide assistance and encouragement to one another. This

support can take various forms, such as emotional
help, sharing resources, or working together to solve
problems.
 Closeness
 The people in the community have to face to face interaction

and free communication.

 E.g. mostly in small communities like small villages and

neighborhoods.

 Self-sufficiency:
 The community provides all such means and facilities which

help in meeting the basic needs of its people. The space to

live, means for livelihood, education, protection and security.
FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNITY
 Production, Distribution and Consumption.
 The community provides its members with the means of their living. This
may be agriculture, industry or services.

 Socialization
 The community has means by which it instills its norms and values in its
members. This may be tradition, modelling and/or formal education.

 Social Control
 The community has the means to enforce adherence to community values.
This may be group pressure to conform and/or formal laws.

 Social Participation
 The community fulfils the need for companionship. This may occur in a
neighborhood church, business or other group.
 Solidarity or sense of togetherness
 There is unity and cohesiveness among the members in the

community which is based on their interaction and

belongingness to community.
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNITY
 Community based on Location
 : It can be classified into rural, urban and tribal communities, which range from the local neighborhood, suburb,
village, town or city, region, nation as awhole. It also includes a municipality which is an administrative local
area composed of a clearly defined territory and community referring to a town or village.

 Community-based on Organization
 : These communities are informally organized around family or network-based guilds and associations and
associations to more formal incorporated associations, political decision-making structures, economic
enterprises or professional associations at a small, national or international scale. It can also be called an
intentional community.

 Community based on occupation:

 Communities can be classified by their occupation, such as Agricultural Community, fishermen community,
and washermen community.

 Community based on caste:

 Community can be classified into many types based on caste such as Chettiar Community, Vanniar Community,
and Nadar Community. These classifications are made based on the birth
 Community based on Identity:
 It rage from local group, sub-culture, ethnic group, religious ,multi-cultural or the
global community cultures of today, which may beincluded as communities of need
or identity, such as differently abled persons or frail aged people. It would have more
defined and formalized guidelines for their group living.7.
 Community based on class:
 The living style including the status, wealth, power and position can be the
indicators to classify communities as upper class, middle class and lower class.
 8.
 Community Based on Ideology:
 Based on the faith and practices, the communities can be classified as Islamic
community, Christian Community, Hindu Community, communist community,
socialist community
TRIBAL COMMUNITY
 Strong sense of community
 Traditional cultural practices

 lose connection to nature

 Strong oral traditions

 Elders as repositories of wisdom: Elders hold a revered position in many

tribal communities and are respected for their wisdom, experience, and
knowledge of traditional practices.
 Collective decision-making

 Distinct language and dialects

 Resilience and adaptability

REFERENCES
 Henderson Paul, Jones David and Thomas David N ( Ed) 1980
The boundaries of change in community work Allen and Unwin,
London.

 Hadley Roger, Cooper Mike, Dale Peer & Stacy Graham.(1987) A

community Social Worker’s Handbook. Tavistock Publications,
London.