Definition of Community

DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY
Submitted by: Joe Smolensky (CMT-220 Spring 2010) Section CE1-01

There are several descriptions unto what a community actually is. A close look at all those definitions however point out and capture certain points without which a community would not be existent (Andy, 3). A community is a body of people having common rights, privileges, or interests, or living in the same place under the same laws and regulations (Peter, 21). It could also be used to refer to a number of animals living in a common home or with some apparent association of interests (Peter, 23). Biologically, a community could be described as a collection of organisms that in one way or another interact within a common environment (Andy, 17).
The first definition of a community was put ahead by Aristotle who described it as a group of established men having shared values (Andy, 10). Through time, technology has brought about changes, so that people in the world can easily belong to a number of communities at the same time. These are communities of place, communities of memory in which case members share a history, cultural communities, and psychological communities, Peter explains.
In general, when addressing people, a community could be the society, a commonwealth or state, a body politic, the general public, or just people (Peter, 27).
There are various characteristics of a community. In a community, there is the aspect of place, otherwise describing a sense of locale or boundaries (Andy, 33). For a community to exist, it must be within an identifiable location such as a city, a place of work, a township or even a district (Peter, 51). A community is also characterized by the sense of sharing common perspectives. For people to be described as belonging to a
community, they must be sharing some values, needs, norms, suffering, religion, happiness, and interests together (Andy, 38). Experts have established that such factors have been shared for a long period of time, say centuries.
In a community, there is the aspect of joint actions, where special bonds bring the people together- friendship, families and even working environments (Peter, 49).
In all communities of the world, there exists community spirit, though variable from a region to another (Andy, 51). All communities hold some ideas about themselves, and always identify themselves by them. In all cases, the people have positive notions, they view their community as one with a great future and this always enables them to give great contribution to the community in whatever form (Andy, 55). All persons who identify themselves with a community always sacrifice to it in the welfare.
Another major attitude in people belonging to a community is loyalty (Peter, 80). The persons always have some goodwill for the general good and always abide by it. They have a good expression of optimism, in that they know right behind their minds the community holds good for them. The attitudes are portrayed in the individual behavior, coupled by their unity and therefore contributing to the common good.
In any community however, leadership is very important. All successful communities call for coordination by a person or a team that is unanimously recognized. Such leaders are expected to steer the community ahead in the right direction. They are persons of integrity, lead by example and operate within the set norms or community ethics. For a community to be bound together, it requires proper means of conflict
resolution incase need arises (Andy, 80). Once in a while, the members cross each others’ paths, which is a normal practice. The community leaders come in and solve such misunderstandings so that the people live in harmony.


References
Peter, B. Community: The Structure of Belonging: San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, Inc., 2008

Andy, S. Creating Community: Five Keys to Building a Small Group Culture. USA: Multnomah Publishers, 2004