NOTRE DAME OF JARO, INC.

Msgr. Lino Gonzaga St., Jaro, Leyte

notredame.jaro@yahoo.com.ph

That which pleases God, I stive to do always.” Jn 8:29

NAME:__________________________________YR&SEC:__________DATE_______
MODULE IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, SOLIDARITY AND CITIZENSHIP 12
(HUMMS) WEEK 2
LESSON 2: THE FOUR PERSPECTIVE OF THE COMMUNITY
LESSON OBJECTIVE:

 Explain the importance of studying community dynamics and community action in relation to
applied social sciences and the learners' future career options.

CONCEPT:

Concepts and Perspectives of community

 Learning about communities is a key to appreciating our daily interactions

with others, as we locate ourselves in a web of social connections.
 Understanding the dynamics within our community aids us in responding to the
collective challenges we face.
1. Definition of Community
Etymology

 Derived from the Latin word communitas  meaning “fellowship”.

 Its Latin roots, communis, means common. Com translates to “with” or
“together”; whereas munire translates to “to strengthen”, “to fortify”, or
“to defend”

THE FOUR PERSPECTIVES

1. Social Science Perspective

 An informally organized social entity, characterized by a sense of
identity.
 A group of people living in the same defined area, sharing common
basic values, organization, and interest.
 A group of people whose connections and relations are formed by their
shared histories, experiences, geographies, and identities.
2. Institutional Perspectives
 Communities have a mechanism for coordinating values, goals and actions of
its individual members.
 Social institutions perform this function.
Institutions – are established rules that ensure the regular and predictable
behavior of people within a community.
 Formal Institutions – explicitly communicated, embodied in legally codified
documents or artifacts.
example:  laws and policies that are implemented by government agency or
office.
 Informal Institutions – Are practices, norms, traditions, culture, conduct
and belief systems of a community.

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These are not codified or written, but are nonetheless embedded in communities,
operating due to the interactive process of preference exchanges and social
expectations that occur therein.

1. Civil Society Perspective

 Communities are built in pursuit of advocacies, causes and goals.
 Civil society is the “aggregate of non-governmental organizations and
institutions that manifest the interests and will of citizens”
Examples: Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

2 .Organic Perspectives
 An organic perspective of community refers to local or grassroots
groups within a particular locale that are driven and organized because of
community issues and concerns.
 Address particular issues, such as crime prevention, environmental
protection, or waste management.

Elements of a Community

1. Structural Dimensions– Represents the configuration of a community.

2. Dynamic and Processes– focus on community power relations, leadership, and
social changes.

Structural Dimension

1. Geographic Dimension
 Geographic Dimension – focuses on how a community is shaped by the physical
space it uses and the location of its resources – human, natural, and
technological.
 An examination of a community’s geographic system would typically start by
looking at the scope and limits of its territory, distribution of its
population, and the location of its resources.
2. Socio-Political Dimension
 It refers to the relationships of power and control between individuals and
groups in a community.
 Political leadership, whether formal or informal, and how it is accepted and
sustained by community members are important factors that help analyze the
quality and processes of decision-making in the community.
3. Economic Dimension
 Refers to the means by which members of a community allocate, produce, and
distribute scarce resources to address their wants and needs.
 It is the aspect of the community that is concerned with how exchange value
is created and what systems of exchange occur within a community.
4. Cultural Dimension
 Refers to people’s way of life.
 It encompasses the values and beliefs that are passed on from one generation
to another.

Community Dynamics

 Communities are composed of populations which share a defined area and

interact.
 Community ecology examines how people interactions influence community
structure and function
 Communities are composed of populations which share a defined area and
interact.

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  Community ecology examines how people interactions influence community
structure and function Disturbance & Succession
 Disturbance and succession are two common causes of change in community
structure.
 Disturbance is “any relatively discrete event in time that disrupts the
community, or population structure and changes resources, substrate
availability, or the physical environment.”

ACTIVITY:
DIRECTION: Describe your community/village/town/barrio/through illustration. Put your answer
inside the box.

PREPARED BY:

MR. MARK JAY S. LEGO

TEACHER

NAME& SIGNATURE OF THE

PARENT/ GUARDIAN

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