Close to Home

Human Services and the Small Community

Emilia Martinez-Brawley’s latest work on rural social work and the small community follows decades of research on understanding and working with such communities. Close to Home explains the dynamics of small communities in terms that are essential for scholars of rural services and rural life. The book covers the major issues facing human services delivery in small towns—in some cases for the first time in the professional literature. The book will be a boon to students and human services practitioners who are working in or aspire ot serve in small towns and rural areas.

Leon Ginsberg

Carolina Distinguished Professor, University of South Carolina

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Against many predictions to the contrary, the small-scale local community remains a vital and highly valued part of the contemporary social fabric. Drawing on a rich variety of sources, this challenging and penetrating book looks afresh at the nature of these small communities and their special significance to us. Close to Home provides an excellent introduction to anyone with an interest in this field and will be an indispensable resource for social workers, other professionals, and lay citizens embarking on work in local communities.

Roger Hadley

Emeritus Professor of Social Administration, Lancaster University, England

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Dr. Emilia Martinez-Brawley has produced a book that will be must reading for both the novice and veteran social worker in the small community. A strong conceptual/theoretical base is well buttressed with examples from cultural and literary perspectives. This book will be a standard reference for those interested in the small and/or rural community and should be an excellent text for classes on community and rural social work.

Judith A. Davenport Joseph Davenport, III, PhD

School of Social Work Consultant, University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, Missouri

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Emilia Martinez-Brawley’s new book addresses a neglected but important topic in social work today. It takes a major contribution to the literature on rural social work and deserves to be widely read.

James Midgley

Harry and Riva Specht Professor of Public Social Services, Dean, School of Social Work, University of California at Berkeley