Community Resource Centers Research Articles

The systemic neglect of New York's young adults with mental illness.

The systemic neglect of New York's young adults with mental illness.

Involvement in (the Information) Society - The Joensuu Community Resource Centre Netcafé

Finland is said to be at the forefront of information society development. However, the rhetoric has been deterministic, presenting an inevitable phenomenon to which all citizens have to adapt. There has been a tendency to ignore all social, regional and local differences. The province of North Karelia aspires to be a more citizen-oriented information society. The Joensuu Community Resource Centre (CRC) Netcafé is a place which provides the opportunity (but not the necessity) for spontaneous involvement and participation in (the information) society. It creates space for local interpretations and views about information society and technology. The research is based on a questionnaire and interviews. When information technology is combined with the CRC's various other activities, it cannot be an independent, self-governed phenomenon. The CRC provides a context that allows a sense of proportion to develop in relation to information technology and the rhetoric of information society strategy.

Social Integrity and Private ‘Immorality’ The Hart-Devlin Debate Reconsidered

In a debate between tolerance and intolerance one is disinclined to side with intolerance. Nevertheless that, in a sense, is what I want to do in this paper. The particular debate I have in mind is the old one between H.L.A. Hart and Patrick Devlin about the legal enforcement of moral values. It should be noted, though, that the issue has by no means been settled in the minds of many people. The proposed repeal of the British law prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality (a law known as Section 28) “could destroy Scottish society,” according to Mazhar Malik of Glasgow’s Ethnic Community Resource Centre, echoing Devlin’s concern from the 1960s. In what follows I will first sketch and defend, partially, what I take to be Devlin’s communitarian argument and then attempt to explain what is wrong with it and how this should affect our estimation of the proper relation between law and morals. I will argue that at least some private ‘immorality’ can be defended without recourse to the liberal belief in a morally private sphere. In part I I look at the kind of communitarianism that can be found in Devlin’s work, in part II I support this reading of Devlin and expand on it by looking at some important passages from his work, and in part III I consider the reasons why his argument does not support legislation against gay sex, and, in fact, could be used to defend gay rights.

Coping with spinal cord injury: personal and marital adjustment in the Hong Kong Chinese setting.

A cross-sectional retrospective study was carried out with structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews on 66 persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and 40 spouses. The study aimed to explore the psychosocial adjustment of Hong Kong Chinese couples at the post SCI stage. An important study interest was the impact of care-giving in spouses of persons with SCI. Three major regional rehabilitation centres and one community resource centre in Hong Kong. A set of psychometric measures tapping different aspects of psychological functioning was included. These were locus of control (Levenson's Internality, Powerful Others, and Chance Scale), perceived social support (Provision of Social Relationship), coping strategies (Ways of Coping Checklist), marital adjustment (Dyadic Adjustment Scale), caregiving burden (Caregiver Burden Inventory), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), life satisfaction (Satisfaction with Life Situation), and social role adjustment (Katz Adjustment Scale - Relative Form). Persons with SCI with pre-injury marriage were more depressed (P<0.05) as compared with those with post-injury marriage. However, the two groups did not differ in terms of satisfaction with life situation and social role dissatisfaction. The spouses in the preinjury marriage reported a significantly higher score in time-dependent burden than those in the post-injury marriage (P<0.05). Care-giving burden was associated with locus of control, social support, and modes of coping (P<0.05). The impact of SCI is a long-lasting effect not limited to the patients but also extending to their spouses. Findings from the adjustment outcomes and coping styles of persons with SCI and their spouses indicate that they are not passive victims. A similar injury may produce different outcomes in different individuals. Rehabilitation professionals should thus be alert to both the couple's differing needs and idiosyncrasies in their helping process.

Valuing Unpaid Work in the Third Sector: The Case of Community Resource Centres

Issues of unpaid work in poor communities are examined. Data from community centres are used to analyze debates which underlie differing approaches to valuing unpaid work and the particular form it takes when called volunteering. Monetary valuations draw on market principles; others are embedded in the experiences of volunteers. Differences between volunteers, funders, and program planners arise from the differing social locations these parties occupy in the mixed economy of welfare that now typifies Canadian social policy. Policy debates about volunteers need to be sharpened by casting them within the larger framework of unpaid work and citizenship.

Promoting engagement: An organizational study of volunteers in community resource centres for children

The article examines how people living in poor communities speak of their volunteer experiences in multicultural community resource centres for children, and how they understand the organizational conditions that promote or discourage meaningful volunteer work. Their volunteering experiences in community resource centres geared to the development of children and neighbourhoods are explored in focus groups. Calculations of volunteer hours over three years complemented the qualitative data along with participant observation and documents. Respondents value three dimensions of volunteering: engaging in relationships; accomplishing tasks; and experiencing the power to make decisions. Volunteering is fostered when organizations contribute financial resources to pay core staff and cover some costs of volunteering; ensure core staff build and maintain a respectful atmosphere in which meaningful participation is supported; and create substantial opportunities for community governance. The discussion speaks to several options that can be considered when the organizational supports for the experiences that volunteers value are threatened by economic restructuring and public cut-backs in services.

Some Lessons Learned in the Care of the Elderly

This article is designed to acquaint physicians not trained in geriatrics with some precepts concerning the care of the elderly. It presents a summary of the experience in the care of over 2,000 outpatients over the age of 65 who were seen at a community hospital geriatric evaluation unit and resource center. The findings reaffirmed the importance of concentrating on the preservation and restoration of function in the care of the frail elderly. Although there are no clinical skills unique to geriatrics, but the approach to the gathering of clinical data in people with multiple and overlapping problems and disabilities must be structured differently. There is less emphasis on precise diagnosis, much less emphasis on the concept of cure, and more emphasis on structuring a medical/social response to the dominant problem or problems.

Anxiety, depression and PTSD in asylum-seekers: assocations with pre-migration trauma and post-migration stressors.

Research into the mental health of refugees has burgeoned in recent times, but there is a dearth of studies focusing specifically on the factors associated with psychiatric distress in asylum-seekers who have not been accorded residency status. Forty consecutive asylum-seekers attending a community resource centre in Sydney, Australia, were interviewed using structured instruments and questionnaires. Anxiety scores were associated with female gender, poverty, and conflict with immigration officials, while loneliness and boredom were linked with both anxiety and depression. Thirty subjects (79%) had experienced a traumatic event such as witnessing killings, being assaulted, or suffering torture and captivity, and 14 subjects (37%) met full criteria for PTSD. A diagnosis of PTSD was associated with greater exposure to pre-migration trauma, delays in processing refugee applications, difficulties in dealing with immigration officials, obstacles to employment, racial discrimination, and loneliness and boredom. Although based on correlational data derived from'a convenient' sample, our findings raise the possibility that current procedures for dealing with asylum-seekers may contribute to high levels of stress and psychiatric symptoms in those who have been previously traumatised.

The Nain Daycare Project

Given the unique opportunity to develop a preschool in an isolated environment we developed a simple but effective model. This was to meet the projected needs of the community rather than our own, fully integrate all children, overlap program planning with primary teachers and preschool staff, involve parents, create a community resource centre for parent support, and incorporate the cultural heritage into the day-to-day program. While the success of the program can only be evaluated over a long period of time, the indications are that the preschool program not only works (i.e., meets the goals we set for it) but also has become widely accepted in a community where education has not been a high priority.

An application of triad for gifted enrichment: The organization of a community resource center

The author describes how a community resource program was established in a small city as part of the program for gifted students.

Community resource centers

AbstractCommunity resource centers are a new community development strategy for community colleges.

Community resource centers: Need, reality, potential

Community resource centers: Need, reality, potential

The distribution of community information: the role of the computer and computer‐based networks

The concept of community information or social information is defined and related to other forms of information. The sources of information for residents of a specific community are determined. A ‘computer assistant’ (CACTIS) for a local community information centre is described. Different types of information networks are presented and related to regional characteristics. A networking study for community information centres, resource centres, and constituency offices in southwestern Ontario, with CACTIS as its focus, is described.