A Review and Application of Existing Theories in Neighborhood Research: Toward a Model for Social Work Practice

Abstract

The application of existing theory in regard to assessing and addressing neighborhoods from a social work perspective is largely unexplored. Current theories informing neighborhood-level interventions draw little on social work literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore literature from varied fields to assess their utility and inform neighborhood-level intervention methods for social workers. Examining neighborhood theory from all fields and comparing it to those most commonly used in social work is helpful to understanding how practitioners can advance this work and research.

KEYWORDS:

• Neighborhood research
• theory
• social work practice
• ecological
• social comparison
• culture of poverty
• social disorganization
• functionalist
• classical
• conflict