| The study concerns the connections among community-based services, community participation, community organization, and community development. The study is specially placed in urban China, while community welfare services bear meaningful characteristics and duties: market-dominated approach, local economic development, and local democracy. A case study was conducted in Beijing, China. Data from multiple sources were collected and appropriately analyzed. The study found: (1) community-based services have been successful in terms of its greater contributions to community funding ability, residents' increasing acknowledgment of the sense of community, and the improved community internal communication; (2) community-based services have built a stronger resident representative organization---the Residents' Committee since its leading position in the community-based service delivery; and (3) there are evidence that due to the community-based service, community participation has been greatly improved in both quantitative and qualitative perspective, however, the community participation could not be exaggerated lack of the strong involvement in the decision-making process. This study suggests that the community in developing countries, like China, can benefit from the growing local economic development. The alternatives of community practices, in other words, practices with market-dominated approaches, leave spaces for the growing of community organization, and the building of local democracy. Although in this study, China's special public policies which are dealing with welfare programs and community development have played a critical role, the study still suggests that any social work practice with the objective of exploring community resources, both material resources and human resource, would greatly increase the community capacity, which will build the base of seeking the meaningful community life. |
