People acting as a strong, cohesive community can achieve more than individuals. When
people work together in community, strategies for change that are sustainable are
possible. When people identify with their community, they want to see it survive, which
encourages a long-term perspective.The alternative, when instead of seeking community,
people engage in individualistic, self-seeking behavior, forms a vicious circle that leads
to greed, violence, and crime. The stubborn persistence of violence in the United States
and throughout the world is related to a loss of community. This is the case whether we
are talking about the United States, Bosnia, Rwanda, Palestine, or anywhere else where
violence is endemic.
When violence is an expression of powerlessness, isolation, and exclusion,
participatory community development from the bottom up has the potential to counter it.
Community development at the grassroots level taps into and builds the integrity and
leadership of members of the community and has the potential to break the cycle of
violence. Social workers must become involved with communities at this level by learning
from them and allowing themselves to be influenced and changed by them.
The National Association of Social Workers is committed to bringing a deeper analysis
and more lasting solutions to the crisis of violence facing many U.S. communities. We are
committed to exploring new paradigms and models in community building and violence
prevention.
The Global Crisis of Violence: Common Problems, Universal Causes, Shared Solutions
is a valuable contribution to this commitment. It expands the context within which the
social work profession addresses violence and its attendant problems. It reflects NASW's
investment in training social workers to be better informed and more sensitive
"global professionals" so that they might develop more effective strategies for
reducing violence through promoting development. It highlights homegrown strategies to
address violence so that social workers can learn about what works and why. Finally, it
makes clear social work's and NASW's appreciation for the increasingly cross-border nature
of the systemic problems that give rise to violence by expanding the search for solutions
to our social problems beyond U.S. borders.
It is anticipated that faculty, students, and practitioners who read this book will be
stimulated to stretch their understanding about violence and its relationship to
development, renew their commitment to community practice, and expand their global
consciousness.
Josephine Nieves, MSW, PhD
Executive Director
National Association of Social Workers
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