Implications For Community Development Research Articles

Women’s Participation in August Meeting and its Implication for Community Development in Ezza North Local Area, Ebonyi State

Women’s Participation in August Meeting and its Implication for Community Development in Ezza North Local Area, Ebonyi State

Emerging Trends in Worker-Cooperatives in a Changing World of Work: Implication for Community Development in Nigeria

Worker-cooperatives are emerging as organizational structures responding to the trends within the world of work, ranging from technological, economical to social trends. They have a specific democratic governance structure of management and members being the workers and they are also in charge of decisions making in the enterprise. As part of the trends in a changing world of work, worker-cooperatives use different spectrums of technologies for local and international work performance. They buy out or take over business organizations that are failing as a result of the financial and economic crisis and transform the business organizations into productive enterprises. They also generate employment for members and non-members, provide financial assistance to members and non-members at a reduced interest rate and help to train community members to be proficient in different fields of endeavour. Obviously, in the Nigerian society today, worker-cooperatives are agents of bringing development in urban settlements and rural communities.

Providing mental healthcare through faith-based entities in Africa: a systematic review

Background: Psychological disturbances and mental illnesses are prevalent on the continent of Africa. There are shortages of mental health services and a lack of quality providers with limited training and supervision. It is perceived that faith-based entities for psycho-emotional health and wellbeing are filling the gap with positive impact. However, the risks associated with unconventional or extreme spiritual practices will be evaluated. The contributions of these entities, their roles in the global and African health system, and their implications for community development and policy making are highlighted. Methods: A mixed-methods systematic review was conducted in two phases to synthesise qualitative and quantitative data. The review sought evidence on faith-based health providers of mental health services in Africa looking at types, magnitude, and quality and included both peer-reviewed and grey literature published between 2007 and 2024 in English. A narrative thematic analysis was used for the qualitative part and meta-analyses was used for the quantitative part to back up the narrative element of this study. Results: This review identified 55 relevant items from 13 African countries. The results showed that faith-based, mental-health providers deliver a range of six types of alternative mental healthcare, faith-based, home care, and faith-based, biomedical, mental healthcare. The magnitude of these faith-based, mental health services were considered according to frequency of use and availability (accessibility, affordability, and acceptability), however evidence was limited. When the quality of the mental healthcare was assessed, some studies showed positive mental health outcomes from the utilisation of faith-based, mental healthcare, but some studies revealed bad quality practices due to harmful treatment. Conclusion: There are limitations regarding the vast array of faith-based, health providers and the mental healthcare they provide which include harmful practices used in Africa. Training interventions are needed to avoid harmful treatment. Faith-based, mental healthcare offers culturally influenced practices for mental-health which should be leveraged. Integration of faith-based, mental healthcare into any primary, health system is advised in order to attain universal health coverage. Finally, possible regulation of traditional and faith healing methods for emotional struggles could be implemented at a policy level.

Analisis strategi pemberdayaan masyarakat pasca pandemi: studi kasus di indonesia dalam perspektif ekonomi pertahanan

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on economic changes in Indonesia. Therefore, this study aims to analyze more deeply related to the post-pandemic community empowerment strategy in the perspective of the defense economy in Indonesia. This study collaborated with ten participants through a qualitative approach. Data collection was carried out with a 95-minute Focus Group Discussion to review data related to post-pandemic economic changes and community empowerment strategies. In-depth interviews were conducted to obtain information related to the planning and development of the post-pandemic defense economy. The interview technique was conducted face-to-face and there were five participants. The interviewees included one community empowerment strategist, two defense economists and two representatives of non-governmental organizations. The duration of time required for in-depth interviews ranges from 65-90 minutes for one participant. The results of this study indicate the process of ratification of community empowerment and economic recovery efforts in Indonesia. In addition, planning and development of the post-pandemic defense economy. This research has implications for community development through processes and actions that can increase community empowerment after the pandemic

Mapping the Landscape of Organized Sport in a Community: Implications for Community Development.

This study presents the landscape of private community sport organizations in the City of London, Ontario, Canada based on a profile of organizational features that align conceptually with critical aspects of community development. Features representing the scope—variety of sports offered, program age targets, and other offerings—and operations—nonprofit/commercial sector, open/closed program type, independent/affiliated/franchise status, and shared/exclusive facility use—of community sport organizations were captured from publicly available information about the population of 218 organizations. The location of sport delivery points for each organization was also mapped. The landscape is characterized by a balance of nonprofit and commercial organizations, offering a wide variety of sports, across all ages and City districts, but predominantly offered through closed programming that typically requires an extended financial commitment. Community sport organizations in this city are also most likely to operate independently, and share facilities. These features, and the landscape, are conceptualized as having implications for access, social inclusion, engagement and citizenship, and social capital that are fundamental to community development. Mapping the landscape in this community provides a valuable resource for understanding that potential.

Forms of Consciousness and Resistance in Native Adult Learners

This paper examines forms of consciousness and resistance displayed by Native adult learners in a community college setting. These are examined in the context of the college′s “takeover” of what was once a Native education department conceived and constructed by a Native political group. Current forms of consciousness and resistance within the college take the form of contestations over meaning rather than contestations over power. The paper suggests that inter- and intragroup variations in forms of consciousness and resistance are linked to forms of symbolic capital such as linguistic competence displayed by the students. Such a variation, it is suggested, may have implications for community development and the move towards self-govemment.

Social media and (im)mobility: implications for community development

Abstract The contemporary forced migration contexts of conflict, climate change and contagion present new challenges and opportunities for the ways in which community development is understood, practised and imagined. The accelerating trends of refugee persecution and high-impact weather events causing disasters now sit alongside the uncertainties of closed borders and rapidly evolving geopolitics. Despite these dislocations and constraints on human mobility and immobility, the possibilities for connection remain, although unevenly. Mediated predominantly through the smartphone, social media offers new opportunities, cautions and ethical considerations for the circulation of care, intimacy and trust. These flows can now significantly inform and shape everyday lives, political action and how ‘community’ is envisaged and enacted. In the ongoing context of dislocation and separation, this paper presents a longitudinal digital ethnography that examines how people from refugee backgrounds practise transnational connection and community when physical reunion is not possible. These online spaces represent opportunities to explore the implications for community development and more broadly social work education. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of the social organization of difference and its associated domains of encounters, configurations and representations, this paper articulates the possibilities and challenges for community development and more broadly social work education and practice when opportunities for physical co-presence are highly constrained.

Territorial stigmatization in theory and practice, and its implications for community development: an introduction to the themed section

Abstract This article introduces and outlines the rationale for a ‘Themed Section on Territorial Stigmatization’. It explains how ‘territorial stigmatization’ is conceptualised and understood, within the wider academic scholarship, and within the four articles that follow in this section. This introductory article outlines some key lines of academic debate and inquiry about the stigmas that adhere to communities of place and it acknowledges the pioneering theoretical contribution of Wacquant in particular. The article also discusses how the articles in this themed section of the CDJ can contribute to our ability to recognise and respond to territorial stigma as an ongoing challenge for community development theory and practice.

The Impacts of Covid-19 on Nature-based Tourism in Botswana: Implications for Community Development

COVID-19 has had significant impacts on industries and individuals globally. Due to restrictions put in place to reduce the spread of the disease, it has affected the travel and tourism industry. Using the concepts of ecotourism and sustainable tourism, a systematic qualitative document analysis of available literature was carried out to determine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on nature-based tourism and its implications on community development, using Botswana as a case study. Results indicate that due to the unsustainable and predominant dependence on the international market, the tourism sector in Botswana has come to a standstill. Furthermore, the promotion of domestic tourism to nature-based attractions may lead to conservation issues. COVID-19 has also had an impact on community development through abrupt losses of employment and income. However, several positive environmental impacts have also been experienced. This article calls for a transformation of the tourism sector to make it more resilient. As a response measure, it is necessary to assess whether there is a need to call for a change in policy from high-value low-volume to low-cost high-volume, which may have negative impacts on conservation. However, as an adaptive response, we assert the need to diversify tourism products to consider the needs of both domestic and regional markets so that the focus is not just on nature-based tourism and international clientele.

Rural Narratives on Travel and Safety, Implications for Community Development in Rural Communities in Southeast Nigeria

Rural Narratives on Travel and Safety, Implications for Community Development in Rural Communities in Southeast Nigeria

Digital inclusion and parity: Implications for community development

ABSTRACT This paper introduces the concept of digital parity – similar levels of connectivity, devices, and skills between groups – that can lead to more digital inclusive communities. Utilizing a household survey measuring digital inclusiveness and ANOVA analysis, findings suggest that there are different levels of digital inclusiveness between groups. Differences in internet use and benefits are larger between younger and older groups. There are also differences between urban and rural areas. A statistically modeled digital parity scenario still finds uneven levels of digital inclusiveness, though urban and rural differences disappear, implying deeper and more complex inequality issues are at play. Future research should gather nationally representative survey data and see if findings hold. Regardless and as shown by COVID-19, community development practitioners need to incorporate digital inclusion strategies to ensure their communities transition to, adapt, and prosper in a sustainable way in this unfolding digital age.

Impacts of cognitive behavior therapy on occupational stress among science and social science education facilitators in open and distance learning centers and its implications for community development: A randomized trial group.

Background:Extensive review of literature showed that no available study in Nigeria has explored the impact of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) on the management of occupational stress among open and distance learning (ODL) centers science and social science education facilitators. Thus, this study determined the impacts of CBT on the management of occupational stress among science and social science education facilitators in ODL centers in South-South Nigeria.Methods:A randomized controlled trial experimental design was adopted for the study with a sample size of 68 science and social science education facilitators in ODL centers in South-South states, Nigeria. Perceived stress scale (PSS) and Occupational stress index (OSI) were used for data collection. Using Cronbach alpha method, internal consistency reliability indices of 0.81 and 0.85 for PSS and OSI respectively were obtained in the Nigerian context. A 12-week cognitive behavior therapy intervention was conducted after which the participants in both the intervention group and the non-intervention group were administered posttest, while a follow-up assessment was administered after 2 months. Data collected were analyzed using mixed-design repeated-measures analysis of variance for the within-groups and between-groups effects.Results:It was found that CBT intervention led to a significant decrease in the occupational stress among science and social science education facilitators in ODL in the South-South region of Nigeria.Conclusion:Cognitive behavior therapy is effective in the management of occupational stress among science and social science education facilitators in distance learning centers.

Management of Test Anxiety Among Pupils in Basic Science Using Music-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy Intervention: Implication for Community Development

Effectiveness of music-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) intervention has been established on various participants such as students in secondary schools, university students, and other categories of adults. However, there is a dearth of literature on the effectiveness of music-based CBT intervention program on the management of primary school pupils’ test anxiety in basic science. Thus, this study sought the effectiveness of a music-based CBT intervention program on the management of test anxiety among pupils. A randomized controlled trial experimental design was adopted for the study using a sample of 58 primary three (3) pupils. Test anxiety questionnaire (TAQ) was adopted for data collection. TAQ was trial-tested due to the cultural differences of the participants. The internal consistency reliability of the items of TAQ was estimated to be .79 using the Cronbach alpha method, while its estimate of temporal stability index was .86 using Pearson product moment correlation. Data were analyzed using mixed-design repeated measures analysis of variance and analysis of covariance. The findings of the study revealed that music-based CBT had a significant effect on the management of test anxiety among pupils. This finding has implication for community development in the sense that test anxiety among pupils can be better managed using the music-based CBT intervention program. This will enable the children to grow better academically and contribute to the community they belong to. It was thus recommended that primary school teachers should be enlightened on how to make use of music-based CBT in the management of test anxiety among pupils.

The Role of Young Men's Christian Association in Community Empowerment Through Saul Alinsky's "Human Power" Approach and Its Implications for Community Development in Medan City

The purpose of this study was to analyze the empowerment process carried out by the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) through the "Human Power" approach and its implications for the development of the city of Medan. In this study carried out using qualitative descriptive and data collection techniques used in this study, namely in- depth interviews (In-depth interview) and documentation. The result obtained were changes in public awareness of economic and educational conditions. The aspect of education, the presence of YMCA in forming Community work with the alternative education program Duta Kasih Club which has encouraged children to continue to get education even with informal channels. Then YMCA as an organizer consisting of young people able to touch the issue of youth in joining and building a business unit or credit union (CU), a global alternative tourism package (GATN) and fostering youth capacity to gain skills (Citizenship Education). Empowerment is not a product but a process that is continually sought to build the quality of life of the community. The development approach asserted by Alinsky puts forward "Human Power" as the power to use human energy, the human spirit, and the ability to realize it to others.

Challenges of Revenue Generation in Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria

The Asa local government area of Kwara State, Nigeria, is largely challenged by dwindling revenue generation leading to sustained budget deficits and paucity of funds for sustainable development of the area. This paper examined the income generation capacity of the local government and its implications for community development. The study used both primary and secondary data research methodology, which were interpreted and analysed. Findings from the study were that Asa local government generates insufficient revenues from both internal and external sources due to weak federal allocation and irregular remittance of its statutory financial allocation from the state joint account. The capacity of the local government to generate sufficient internal revenue is also challenged by poor tax collection capacity and enforcement policy and embezzlement of a large chunks of internally generated revenue by local government officials. The low revenue generation has reduced the construction of feeder road and community markets, and reduced drug supplies to the local government dispensary. The study concluded that Asa local government lacks adequate capacity to generate the required revenue for community development and recommended better training for the revenue collectors, improved political and financial autonomy for local governments and proper utilisation of revenue generated to improve community development in As a local government.

Efficacy of music-based cognitive behavior therapy on the management of test-taking behavior of children in basic science using a randomized trial group: Implication for community development.

Background:This study sought the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy-based music group (CBT-Music) intervention program on primary school children's test-taking behavior in Southeast Nigeria.Methods:A pretest, posttest randomized controlled trial experimental design was adopted for the study using a sample of 53 primary three (3) children. A test-taking behavior questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by test development experts. Construct validation of the instrument was done by subjecting the instrument to factor analysis after trial testing. Data were analyzed using independent samples t-test and paired samples t-test.Results:The findings of the study revealed that CBT-Music had a significant effect on the management of test-taking behavior of among children. Furthermore, the test-taking scores of children in the music-based CBT group were significantly lower than those in the control group at the follow-up measure. This implies that the test-taking behavior of the children can be better managed using the CBT-music intervention program to enable the children to grow better academically and contribute to the community they belong to.Conclusion:Music-based CBT demonstrated significant efficacy in the management of children's test-taking behavior. Thus, primary school teachers should be enlightened on how to make use of CBT-Music in the management of test-taking behavior among children.

Effective Learning Skills and Labour Market: Implication for Community Developmen

Learning is a life-long process through which one uses acquired experiences to deal with new situations, develop new relationships and solve new problems. Learning in school must not be seen as being enough for solving everyday problem, hence there is need to learn and develop new skills that are practicable and can make people become employable in labour market. The problem of unemployment is all over the world now, however, those who had acquired necessary skills would find themselves employable in any situation. This study examines the effective skills that would make graduates of universities either employable or be self reliant in their own businesses. The researcher employed a descriptive research design of the survey type. A sample of 100 respondents was used for the study while a self designed questionnaire tagged “Effective skills for Labour Market and Implication for community Development” was used to gather the needed data. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. One research question and three hypotheses were generated for the study and the results show among others that there is a significant relationship between effective labour skills and employability and that employability is significantly related to improved living which is an index of community development. It is, therefore, recommended that for graduates to be gainfully employed in a bid to contribute to the development of their persons as well as their communities, they must be armed with effective skills which would lead to their productivity in the labour market. Thereby, improving their living standards as well as being able to make their impact felt in their communities.

Effective Learning Skills and Labour Market: Implication for Community Development

Abstract Learning is a life-long process through which one uses acquired experiences to deal with new situations, develop new relationships and solve new problems. Learning in school must not be seen as being enough for solving everyday problem, hence there is need to learn and develop new skills that are practicable and can make people become employable in labour market. The problem of unemployment is all over the world now, however, those who had acquired necessary skills would find themselves employable in any situation. This study examines the effective skills that would make graduates of universities either employable or be self reliant in their own businesses. The researcher employed a descriptive research design of the survey type. A sample of 100 respondents was used for the study while a self designed questionnaire tagged “Effective skills for Labour Market and Implication for community Development” was used to gather the needed data. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. One research question and three hypotheses were generated for the study and the results show among others that there is a significant relationship between effective labour skills and employability and that employability is significantly related to improved living which is an index of community development. It is, therefore, recommended that for graduates to be gainfully employed in a bid to contribute to the development of their persons as well as their communities, they must be armed with effective skills which would lead to their productivity in the labour market. Thereby, improving their living standards as well as being able to make their impact felt in their communities.

PRIMARY SCHOOLS’ ENROLMENT AND DROPOUT RATES IN LOW INCOME NEIGHBOURHOODS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN KASARANI SUB COUNTY, NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

ABSTRACT This study assessed primary school’s enrolment and dropout rates in poor neighbourhoods of Kasarani and their implications for community development. This neighbourhood is expanding and is rarely mentioned when or where other similar settlements are discussed. Motivation for this study was drawn from the fact that this area has many schools and the fact that, education is an important form of human capital that improves productivity, health and nutrition of the people and slows down the population growth. Education as a need for development transforms communities from poverty to self-reliance. It was carried out in this area because it remains undeveloped despite establishment of the many schools and industries as well as lack of documented studies pertaining to Kasarani area. This area was also selected as it is among the poorest neighbourhoods presented in the national poverty survey recently conducted by the government of Kenya. Objectives of this study were; to assess schools’ enrolment and dropout rates, to explore factors determining dropout rates in poor neighbourhoods; to examine implications of enrolment and dropout rates to community development, and; to examine measures embraced by community and roles of dropout youths towards community development. Social disorganization theory reinforced by status delinquency theory informed the study. This study adopted a descriptive research design capturing qualitative and quantitative data that was collected through interviews. From a population of 17,088, a sample size of 99 parents and 60 teachers was drawn. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences software and presented through tables, graphs and charts in the form of frequencies, percentages and correlation. It established that there was increased enrolment trend, 51.8% for boys and 48.2% for girls and a notable increase in dropout at 55.1% before completing primary education where by dropout rate for boys was 24.3% and that for girls was 30.8%. Schools’ dropout was due to lack of school fees, negligence, poor retention, sexual abuse and insecurity. Increased enrolment led to increased literacy level, better sanitation and while dropout has resulted to drug abuse, unemployment and insecurity. Generally, community and youths are playing a pivotal role in enhancing development via expansion of community based centres, formation of self-help groups, community clean-ups and variety of businesses. This study concludes that there was high enrolment at entry level to primary schools but also high rate of dropout towards higher levels. This study recommends relevant stakeholders to seriously address education issues in the poor neighbourhoods as a pillar in sustainable community development.

Experiences of Urban Environmental Conditions in Socially and Economically Diverse Neighborhoods

ABSTRACTEnvironmental conditions can vary widely in urban areas. Temperature, green space, air quality, and other parameters may have different patterns among and within cities. These conditions may also be experienced and perceived by residents in different ways, with implications for community development and social justice in the context of environmental change. This study examines in-depth interviews (N = 20) with residents from socially and economically diverse neighborhoods to understand this variability at a more meaningful scale than typically examined in the literature. Implications for social work, community development, and multidisciplinary efforts in the pressing area of environmental change are discussed.