Group and Community Organization

Abstract

Community organization among foreign-speaking peoples in America reflects the results of immigration, showing a shift from mutual aid organizations of adults on the "town society" model to English-speaking organizations in the control of the younger generation. Education and training for participation in American life are emphasized but cultivation of unity within each language group is a chief end. The German groups of pre-war and post-war immigrants find themselves in need of organizations of adjustment to each other. Studies of racial groups have taken the form of inquiry into the complex of relations known as "The Negro Community," "The Jewish Community," etc. Relief and social service organized on a city basis is making an effort to adjust its appeals to the concentration of ownership in business that puts the control of finances outside many of the cities of operation. Public provision for group organization and recreational association developed in scope and importance. City planners formulated principles of subdivision planning involving neighborhood units. Adult education methods in group organization spread. Studies of communities were of the nature of cultural inquiries.