A 21st-century Map for Healthy Communities and Families

Abstract

Social policymakers traditionally focus on systems and individuals and tend to ignore local communities and associations. However, these local structures are vital components of any process that seeks to address social problems successfully. A social policy that attempts to deal with the modem condition of families and their children will necessarily include local community structures as well as systems. Understanding the function of these local structures will require a paradigm shift in policy assumptions. Systems will assume a secondary support role and policy will primarily address the basic associational community that is the primary family environment.