El Rol de La Comunidad en La Vida Rural Thomas Lynn Smith

8/12/2019 El Rol de La Comunidad en La Vida Rural Thomas Lynn Smith

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The Role of the Community in American Rural LifeAuthor(s): T. Lynn SmithReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Educational Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 7, Current Social Problems in RuralEducation (Mar., 1941), pp. 387-400Published by: American Sociological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2262423.

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THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY INAMERICANRURALLIFET. LYNN SMITH

American ural ife has suffered orwantof a strong, ighlyintegrated,nd clearlydefined uralcommunity.ocal govern-ment, rganized n either townshiprcounty asis,hassufferedbecauseof theartificial ature f thepolitical oundaries; ural-school ttendanceineshavebeen bletofollow osharplyifferen-tiated ocialboundaries;nd economic, ecreational,ndreligiousfunctionslsohavebeenadverselyffectedy theconfused atureofrural ocality roupings.Inpart he ackof learly efinedndwell-integratedommunityunitsn ruralAmerica sdue tothesettlementattern sed n ar-ranging hepopulation n the and. For themostpartthesingleorisolated armsteadrevails hroughoutheentire nitedStates.Where his sthecasecommunityines renecessarilyessdistinctthanwhere armers'omes reclusteredogethers n theEuropeanfarm illage. ut npart henebuloustate fAmericanommunityoutlinessduetothefailurefgovernmental,ducational,eligious,economic,nd othernstitutionsoplaytheir art n thedevelop-mentofdistinctnd integratedommunitynits.Whereattend-ance, axation,ndservice istrictsremarked ut n a haphazardmannerwithout espectosocialgroupings, eakas thesemaybe,theresults renotconduciveo thedevelopmentfa strongerom-munityonsciousnessnd ife.The foregoingommentshouldnotbeinterpretedomeanthatruralAmerica s entirelyacking ncommunities,utmerelyhatthesebasicsocialgroupingsrenotas healthy nd flourishingstheymighthavebeenwithmore ntelligentocialplanning.Certain ocialgroupingseemtobe inevitableoncomitantsfhuman ife.Kinshipgroupingsfferne ofthebestexamples f


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388 TheJournalfEducationalociologythese.hefamilyasbeen bservedmongvery eople nownoanthropology.omekindofa localityroup lso falls nto hiscategoryf nevitableocial roupings.heneighborhoodndthecommunityre he rincipalroupingsf his ype. ecausef helimitationsftime,pace,nd man's bilityomove bout neorthe therrboth f hesewillbe foundneveryociety.hecom-munityrneighborhooday estrongrweak,heirutlines aybe distinctrblurred,ut vennrural mericaheyre lwaysobefound.hefacthatheirerritorialimitsan ervesboundariesfor ariouservicereass sufficiento make hem futmostm-portancenplanningctivities.The ommunity.hetermommunitysveryifficultodefinenany pecificense.npopularanguagets onnotationsary idely,and even n scientificsages ommunitys a highlymbiguousterm.n sociologicaliteraturet s used n twoprincipalenses,both fthem aving ery ood uthorityn theLatinderivation.Oneofthese efers erelyothe ualitiesf olidarity,utuality,ortogetherness;he econd enotespecificallybody f peoplein a definiteeographicrea.Inthe resenttage four ociologicalhinkinghemeaningt-tachedotheword ommunityasderivedrom hework ftwoprincipalroups fworkers.ne oftheses the urelyheoreticalgroup eaded yProfessorobertM. MacIver.Membersf thisgroup avecombinedheLatin onnotationsndhaveusedthetermommunityodesignateny ocialgroup aving definitelocalityasis. o quote romn earlywork yMacIver:Bycommunitymean ny rea f ommonife, illage,rtown, rdis-trict,rcounty,revenwider rea. o deservehe ame ommunity,heareamust e somehowistinguishedromurtherreas, he ommonifemay ave ome haracteristicsf ts wn uch hat he rontiersf he reahave omemeaning.''R. M. Madver, CommunityLondon:TheMacmillan ompany,9I7), p. 22.


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TheCommunitynAmerican uralLife 389Morerecentlye hasgiven neven learer tatementfthis ositionin thefollowing ords:Any irclefpeoplewho ive ogether,hobelong ogether,o thatheyshare, ot his r hat articularnterest,ut whole et f nterestsideenough ndcompletenougho ncludeheirives,sa community.2The influencef this ine of thought pon currentociologicalpractice asbeen onsiderable.Even moreimportant,owever, specially orall those whowouldattemptouse the ommunityonceptnactivityrograms,including ural ducation, re thecontributionsfthegrouppio-neered y Dr. C. J.Galpin.Galpin'searlyWisconsin tudies, blyseconded y those f Sanderson ndhisstudents tCornell,KolbatWisconsin, aylor n Missouri nd NorthDakota, and manyothers orkingnthefield frural ociology,avedetermined ithsomedegree fcertaintyhe nature f thepresentocality roupstructurefruralAmerica, nd havepointedhedirectionnwhichit smoving.n sharp ontrast iththe workofMacdver nd hisassociates,heirworkhasbeen strictlympirical.Galpin'spioneerworkhas done most ogive soundorientationwith espectothemeaningttached otheword ommunitys wellas anunderstandingfthemanner nwhich tsboundariesmaybedetermined.e beganhiswork n a daywhen hinkingoncerningtherural ommunity as ina very ebulous tage. catteredettle-ment atterns,elativelyargeholdingsnly artiallyultivated,hepersistencefmany ocial haracteristicsfthefrontier,nd manyother actorset thetypicalAmerican andscape ntosharpcon-trastwith henucleated illage ettlementsf theoldworld.Earlyattempts y Butterfieldnd others etthelimits f therural ommunityn terms fthe teamhaul. Nevertheless,or hemost art, he loseof thenineteenthenturynd theopening ec-2R. M. Macdver,ociety: tsStructurend Changes New York: The Macmillan ompany,I931), pp. 9-IO.


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390 TheJournalfEducational ociologyade ofthe wentieth asa periodn which hefarmer asthoughtofasa manwithout community.

InterestinglynoughGalpinfirstensed henature f the nter-relatedwebof ife niting illagersnd farmersromhe urround-ingarea nto functioningocialgroupwhilehewasteachingnasmall-towncademynNew York State.As a health-seekingesi-dent fthe skims n theLake State's utoverrea, nd ater s anorganizer or milkcondensarynWalworth ounty,Wisconsin,Galpingraduallyameto a realizationf he ealnature f he uralcommunity.ater ttheUniversityfWisconsin eformulatednobjectiveerms isdefinitionf community,ndset orthn a pre-cisemannerhemodeofdeterminingts imits.Galpin'sclassic tudywas conducted nWalworthCounty.Hisproblemwas twofold: i) from hestandpointf thevillageortowntrade enter e sought odeterminell ofthe and area,allof thefarmhomesunder ts nfluence;nd (2) from hepointofviewofthefarm amily e sought o knowspecific amlet, illage,and town attachments. ata gatheredfrom each familywereutilized y ngeniousmapping evicesndeterminingherelation-shipsbetween achfarm amilynd thecentersfthecounty. nthesemapswererevealed or hefirstime hecommunityroup-ingsof an American ounty. urroundinghetwelve ownandvillage rade enters fthe ountywere welve rade onesor tradebasins ependentpontherespectiveenters,ounded y rregularlines, aying oregard opolitical oundaries,verlappingo someextent,ndoccasionallyhading ff ntosort f a no man's and.Tributaryo thetwelve radingnd commercialenterslso wererevealed levenbanking ones,sevendistributionreas for ocalnewspapers,welvemilksheds,ninehigh-schoolatronage reas,and four ibraryirculationreas.ConcludedGalpin:It is difficult,fnot mpossible,oavoidthe onclusionhat he radezone bout neofthese atherompletegriculturalivic entersormsthe oundaryf nactual,fnot egal,ommunity,ithin hich he p-


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TheCommunitynAmerican uralLife 39Iparentntanglementfhumanifesresolvednto fairlynitaryystemof nterrelatedness.hefundamentalommunitys a compositefmanyexpandingndcontractingeatureommunitiesossessinghe harac-teristiculsatingnstabilityfall real ife.3Like theconcept laborated yMacIver,Galpin'sdefinitionn-cludesboth fthe onnotationshich he erm ommunityerivesfrom heLatin. nvolved re a definiteeographicalrea, ocial n-stitutions,nd social nteractionetween hepeople iving n thearea.UnlikeMacIver's oncept,hat volved yGalpincanreadilybe applied n the delimitationfspecificnd definiteommunityareas uchas those hat ouldbe used n determiningural-schoolattendanceones.'Theneighborhood.mphasis nthe ommunityhouldnot ausethe mportantoleoftheneighborhoodo be obscured. hesearethe mallest f the ocality roups. heyconsist fsmallclusters ffamilies. heyarethenextgroupbeyond hefamilyo havesocialsignificance.eighborhoodsre areaswithinwhichneighboringandmutual idarecommon ractices-theyreareaswithinwhichthefamilies reconscious fintimate elationswithone another.It shouldnotbeforgottenhatCooley ncluded heneighborhood,alongwith hefamilyndtheplaygroup,nhisclassof primarygroups. He styledsprimaryroups hose characterizedy nti-mateface-to-facessociationnd cooperation. ' heyareprimaryinthat hey rethemolds nwhich reset he ndividual's erson-ality,ocialnature,nd deals.For the dult heneighborhoodstheonlyprimaryroup ther han hefamily,fact fnolittle ignifi-cance othefarmer.Duringyolonial imes, heneighborhood as thebasic ocalitygroup, nd itmight e said that ocietywas in theneighborhoodCharlesJ.Galpin,The SocialAnatomy fan Agriculturalommunity. adison,Wis.:WisconsinAgriculturalxperimenttationBulletin 4, 19I5, pp. i8-i9.

4 An excellentxample fpractical elineationfneighborhoodsndcommunitiesor uchpurposess IrwinT. Sanders nd DouglasEnsminger,AlabamaRuralCommunities:Study fChilton ounty, labamaCollegeQuarterlyulletin, XXIII,No. IA (July940).'CharlesH. Cooley, ocialOrganizationNew York:Charles cribner'sons, 9I2), p. 23.


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392 TheJournalfEducational ociologystage.n recent ears he mportancef theneighborhoodasbeenovershadowedythecommunity.n fact,n modernAmerica heneighborhoods forthe mostpartmerely segment f a givencommunity.n the Souththeneighborhoodtillretainsmuchofitsformermportance,hile he ommunityscomingnto tsowntheremore lowly han lsewhere. ut even n theSouthneighbor-hoodsaregraduallyosing n importancend beingtransformedintoparts ftheemergingommunity.Trends n the tructurendroleof he ommunity.6 t east eventrends f fundamentalmportanceremodifyinghenature ndroleoftheAmerican ural ommunity:i) thecommunitys ex-panding n size; (2) communitiesresupplantingndoverlayingneighborhoodss the basic ocality roupings;3) internallyhestructuref thecommunitysbecoming erymuchmoredifferen-tiated; 4) communityoundariesr ines rebecomingvenmoreblurred rindistinct;5) the ocial olidarityfthecommunitysgraduallyhiftingrom type asedonsimilaritieso onebasedondivision f abor nd theresultingmutual nterdependencefper-sons n the ocality roup; 6) class ineswith herural ommunityarebecomingmoredistinctnd ofmore ocial ignificance;nd 7)basic ocialprocessesrenowoperatingn a manner uitedifferentfrom hatwhichhas beencustomarynthepast.The availablesoundings n communityize indicate hatthelimits f thecommunityreexpanding. tudies ySandersonndothersnNew YorkState reamong hemostpainstaking.heirresultseveal hat he arger illages rereceivingncreasedatron-age inbusiness ut not n other ocialactivities.'runnerndhisassociates avemade someofthemost omprehensivetudies. e-tween924 and 930, the reas f nfluencefvillagesf all sizesincreased,lthough largepart of the individualvillageswere6 The analysisn thissection ollows losely hat n myarticle, Trends n CommunityOrganizationndLife, merican ociological eview,V (June 940), pp. 327-330.Dwight anderson, uralSocial andEconomicAreas nCentral ewYork. thaca:CornellAgriculturalxperimenttation ulletin 14,1934,pp.93-94.


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TheCommunitynAmerican uralLife 393static.8ixyears ater,n i936, a secondresurveygainrevealedgradual rend n thedirectionf xpandingommunityoundaries.Between930 and i936 therewas a significantncrease n the sizeof thetradebasin n one third f the 40 communitiestudied.9Colonial ociety asveryargely uttotheneighborhoodattern.Withminor xceptions,heprincipalocality roupings ere mallinsize,consisted fpersons losely nit ogethery ntimateocialbonds,wereareaswithinwhichthe social nteraction as almostexclusivelyn a face-to-faceasis, ndweregroupingsolimitednscopethat, espite highdegreeoffamilyelf-sufficiency,t wasnecessaryogo outside he imits fthegroupfor hesatisfactionofmany ftheelemental eedsof ife.As thefrontierdgedfor-wardfrom heAppalachians o thePacific,neighborhoods erethe basesused for stablishingrderlyocialrelationshipsmongthepioneersnd their escendants.As locality roups aveenlarged heir oundaries,t hashadtheeffectfmaking he ommunityupplantheneighborhoods thebasic ocalityroupn Americanife. histrend asbeenunderwayformanyyears.n the reas urveyed yBrunnernd hisassociates,over nethird f ll the ocality roupingslassed sneighborhoodsdisappearedetween924 and 936, andnearlynefourthf hemhadfallen ythewaybetween930 and 937. Especiallyn theSouth heresoccurringeforeureyes very apid ransformationof ociety rom neighborhoodoa communityasis.As thecommunitynlarges,s neighborhoodinesbecome n-distinct,s one communityeclines n importanceo theextentthat tbecomes mere atelliteneighborhood)within he nflu-enceofanother,nd as the nternal tructuref thecommunitybecomesdifferentiated,tbecomesharder odistinguishreciselywhere he imits fonecommunityndandthose f nother egin.8Edmund deS. BrunnerndJohn . Kolb, RuralSocialTrends New York:McGraw-HillBookCompany,933),p. 94.9EdmunddeS. Brunnernd Irving orge,RuralTrends n Depression ears New York:ColumbiaUniversityress, 937), p. 85.


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394 TheJournalfEducationalociologyAsresurveyas succeeded esurvey,runnernd his associatese-port ncreasing ifficultyn determininghe limits f thecom-munitesn theirample.Thata combinationf therural ndurbanmodesof iving,.e.,rurbanization,s occurring ewwill be inclined o doubt.Onthebasis f ntensivetudies f ommunitiesnthe tates f ndiana,Minnesota,nd NorthDakota, ndof the ocality roupingsntheState fLouisiana ver thirty-yeareriod,hewriter asdescribedtheobserved rends n locality rouprelationships.hese are asfollows:There asbeen tendencyor entersfvariousizes odistributehem-selvesmore niformlyith egardothe rea, opulation,ndresourcesof he tate. r, he hangeseemobe nthe irectionf morefficientpatternfrural rganization.hisredistributionfcentersnconjunc-tionwithmproved ethodsfcommunicationndtransportationasplaced achfamilynfrequentontact itheveralradeenters,hichmeanshat he oyaltyfthe armamilys dividedmongeveralen-tersnsteadfbeing onfinedoone.This, oo,makes or eterogeneityintheocalityroupnddecreaseshe ifferencesetweenariousocalitygroups.From9oi to 93I importantlterationsook lace nthenternaltruc-tures fthe rade enters. fundamentalendencyowardspecializationand division f laborbetween rade enterswas found obe underway.Analysis fthe xistingituationn 93I showed hat, espitemuchover-lapping, hesmallcenterswerespecializingn certain ypes fservices,medium-sizedentersn others,nd thelargest entersn stillothers.Analysis f changes ince 9oi showedthatthisdivision f laborhadbecome muchmoreevidentduringthethirty-yeareriod. n generalsmallcenters earesthefarms receasing he ttemptoprovide llserv-icesand concentratingheir ffortsponcertainypes fenterprisesorwhich heirocationgivesthem comparativedvantage. he types fenterprisesfferedy he mallestentersre:thosewhich remost ndif-ferentiated,hose atisfyinghemostmmediate eeds, hosemost loselyconnectedwithagriculturalroductionnd thosewhichprocess armproducts. s centers ecame arger,hese ypes ecame elativelyess m-portant,ndmorehighly pecialized ypesmadetheir ppearance. his


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TheCommunitynAmerican ural ife 395hasan mmediatenfluencepon he ehaviorf he armamily.mallcentersear hefarm reresortedo for ecuringervices hichmeetmany fthemost ressingeeds; arge entersta greateristance,orservicesatisfyingtheress mmediateeeds;nd ven heargestentersatconsiderableistance,orupplyingome f heeast ressingeeds fthe armamily.The mannern which entersrenowdistributed,ndthe nternalchangeshey avebeenundergoingeadtothebeliefhatmall entersarenotdoomed oextinction.robablyart fthe mall enters,hosewhichrepoorlyituated ith espectomodernrteriesf ommunica-tion nd ransportation,ill ontinueodeclinenddisappear,ut thersmore avorablyocatedwill ontinueo servemany fthepressingndbasicneeds f he opulationmmediatelyurroundinghem.'0

The resultsftheNew Yorkstudies resentedySandersonrein agreement. ccording ohim,thetypical pen-countryamilyin New YorkStatenowresortso the ocalvillageorhamlet t adistance otexceedinghreemiles or ne halfofall services. ro-ceries, utorepairs, ardware, eed,church, range, nd schoolmakeup thebulkofthese. our outoftenfamilies onotover ourmilesto a slightlyargervillagefor imilar ervices. roma stilllarger illagedistant our osixmiles, hree ourthsf all familiesreceive ervicesuchas banking, roceries,rugs, urniture,orkclothes,movies, hysician,igh chool,odge,hardware,hoes, ndweekly ewspaper. ineoutoftenfamiliesatronize city istanti5 milesormorefordress lothes,urniture,hopping oods, ndluxuries. inally, hemail-orderirms usedbyone tenth fthefamilies orclothing, ardware,nd automobile quipment,ndsundries. ohnH. Kolb,writingnWisconsin omefifteenearsafter alpin,hasarrived tessentiallyhe ameconclusion.'The nature nd basisof thecohesionwithin hecommunityschanging n a fundamentalmanner.Definitelyn thedecrease'0T. LynnSmith, armTrade CentersnLouisiana 901 to 931. BatonRouge:LouisianaAgriculturalxperimenttation ulletin34, 1933, pp.54-55.Sanderson, p.cit., . 95.Trends n Town-Countryelations.Madison,Wis.: WisconsinAgriculturalxperimentStation esearch ulletinI7, I933, p. 28.


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396 TheJournalfEducationalociologyis the ohesionhich esultsromikenessesnd imilarities,alledbyGiddingsconsciousnessfkind, yToenniesgemeinschaft,andbyDurkheimmechanisticolidarity.n otherwords, hatSorokin,immerman,ndGalpin ave alledhe umulativeroupisbeing eplacedywhatKolbhas called pecialnterestroups.Associal elationshipsna givenrea ecomemore eterogeneous,thecommunityust ependmore ndmore or tsunityndcohesionpon hat ype f ocial olidarityhich evelopsutofdivision f abor,pecialization,ndtheconsequentack ofself-sufficiencynthe art f hendividual.heresultingnterdepend-ence-buttressedygive-and-take,ive-and-let-livettitudesndacontractualypefcooperation-providesuch fthe nityo befoundn thepresent-dayommunities.n thepast, his ype fsolidarity,hichDurkheim alledorganic,asbeenmuch essimportant;nthe uture,ts ole romisesobemuch reatern thecommunity.Thebasic ointsthat he aturef ommunityolidaritys hift-ingveryapidlyromhe ype ased ponikenessesnd onscious-ness fkind oone basedupon consciousecognitionf basicdifferences,ackof elf-sufficiency,ndmutualnterdependencefparts.Within he ommunitylso soccurringfundamentalhangeinsuch asic rocessess conflictndcooperation.henaturefsocial onflictasrespondedochangesnthe tructurendsoli-darityfthe ommunity.ormerly,he ines fcleavageetweenvariousocialgroupings ere brupt,harplyefined,ndun-bridgedy lass ifferences.n a communityhat ossessedhighdegreefmechanisticocial olidarity,he imitsfthemostm-portantocialgroupingsended ocoincide; olitical,eligious,kinship,nd ccupationalines ollowedne notherlosely.oday,muchf his as hanged.ncreasedocial ifferentiationas ddednew ocial roupings,ndthe ines fdemarcationavefollowednew hannels.heold ines f leavage ave ecomelurred.he


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TheCommunitynAmericanural ife 397limits fa givengroup's nfluence ave becomemorevagueandill-defined. uchoverlappingasoccurred,nd theres much esstendencyor heboundariesfone socialgroupingoparallel hoseofanother; oliticalgroupingswithin hecommunityo longerfollowfamilyinesso closely; eligious leavages ut across ccu-pational ines; nd a new class onsciousnessas cut cross llthesegroupings. method fsamplingwhichmadepossible ccurateforecastsf 928 and 932 elections as no longer alidby 936.Thesechanges re ofsignificancerom hestandpointfsocialconflict. isunderstandingsetween roups fonekind verdiffer-ences n one sphere re much ess ikely obe aggravatedydif-ferencesf nother ariety.olitical truggle ithin he ommunityisnot ostronglyrawnup alongtown-countryines;family eudsarenot trengthenedyoccupational,olitical,ndreligious iffer-ences;andreligioustruggles not at thesame time conflicte-tweendifferentconomic trata, inship roups, olitical ntities,and occupationallliances. xceptforthe ntensificationf classstruggle,ll ofthisconfusion ends oweaken the ntensityndshortenheduration f nter-nd intracommunityonflict.loodfeuds xtending enerationfter enerationreunthinkablen acommunity hose olidaritys oftheorganic ype.At thepresenttime, t is possible or largepartofthepopulation fthecom-munityoplaytheroleofmere pectatornconnection ith ocalconflictituations.Co6perationnd cooperative ctivitieslso are rapidlyunder-goingfundamentalransformationsn the communities f thenation.As socialdifferentiationnddivision f aborhavereplacedmechanisticolidarity ith hat f anorganic ype,ooperativec-tivities ithin he ommunityave beenchanging rom mutual-aid basisto a moredeliberatend contractualype.This kindofcooperationperateshrough formallyonstitutedrganization,possessed f specific ules, nd is set up on a strict ive-and-takebasis.Unlike heformer,t snot pontaneous;tmust epromoted.


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398 TheJournalfEducationalociologyIt neednot epersonal,nd nfactsfrequentlyighlympersonal.Adjustmentothis ontractualarietyf ooperations oneof hebasic roblemsonfrontinghe ommunitiesfthenation.Thus thefactseem o be: (i) both heneighborhoodndthecommunityre osingxclusivelaim otheoyaltyndpatronageof hendividualamily;2) neighborhoodsrenot oomedoex-tinction,utwillfindheirrincipalole sa complementaryartof he nlargedommunity;3) communitiesredevelopingom-plementarynd upplementaryelationshipsmonghemselves,reallowingheneighborhoodoplay definiteole, nd areseeingthendividualamiliesarticipatenthe ctivitiesf he reatocietyinanextracommunityapacity;4) the amilysgraduallyivid-ing ts ttachmentsnd oyaltymong he urroundingeighbor-hood, he ncompassingommunity,ndthe entersf ndustryand tradewhosenfluencesnvelophe ommunity;5) cohesionwithinhe ommunitysrapidlyhiftingromhe pontaneousypebased nsocial imilaritiesoa more onsciouslyive-and-let-livetype ased nspecializationnddivisionf abor; 6) class iffer-ences rebecoming oreharplyefinednd venmoref he asteelementsbeingbserved;7) socialonflictsbecoming ore rev-alent, ut lsomorentermittent,essdeep ndcutting;nd (8)old informal utual-aidracticesregivingwaytocooperativepracticesased nconsciousontractualelationships.Conclusion.he emergingommunityowcomingobe thebasic ocalityroupnruralAmericanvolvest least hree le-ments:

i. Thecommunitys a definiteeographicrea-itis a socialgroupwith specificerritorialasis. alpin'smethodfdetermin-ing heimitsf hisrea eemsmost sefulor he resent.2. It salso he ocialnteractionf he eople-persons,amilies,andotherocial roupsnthe rea-includingeneralssentothepropositionhat hewelfaref llthepeoplenthe rea s nextri-cably ied pwith he ortunesfthe ommunitys a whole.


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TheCommunitynAmerican uralLife 3993. Finally t sa level f socialrelationshipsttained ypyramid-ingfromheperson othefamily,romhefamilyo theneighbor-

hood, nd from heneighborhoodo thecommunity.For ruraleducation hesignificancef thishierarchyfsocialrelationships hichpyramids rom heperson o thefamily,hefamily otheneighorhood,nd from heneighborhoodothe om-munitysvery lear.These various roupingsonstituteatural t-tendancereas;and their ulmination,hecommunity,sa logicalunit or chool dministrativeurposes. hispointdeserves urtherelaboration. o farsociety as thoughtt best to leave thechildwith heparents or hefirstixyears,making hefamilyhefirsteducationalttendancerea.So efficients theruralfamily nper-formingts ducational unctions,omultiplehe deas, asks,killsinvolvedn farmwork and farm iving hat t wouldseemwisetocontinuehis ractice.rom ixtonineor sixtotwelve, owever,the childmight erywell begin n a gradualmanner opartici--pate n the arger ociety nd to secure heelements f a formaleducation. hat thetransitionenottooabrupt ndthat hechildcontinue o profitmostfromfamily nfluences,is first choolyears houldbe spent n a smallschool n closeproximityo thehome.Theneighborhoodffersnexcellent atural nit,with otha geographicnd socialbase,to serve s an attendance reaforaschool ncluding hefirsthree osixyears.As thechildbecomesmorematurendadvanced, s hebecomesmore turdyhysically,and ashissocialcontactsncreasinglyccuroutside amily ircles,hemayverywellbe assembledwithhisfellows rom isownandotherneighborhoodsn a schoolserving he entire ommunity.Here hecancontinue,midsurroundings oreremoved rom ishome nvironmentndmore n contact ith he argerworld,withthecompletion fhis elementary-nd thesecuring f his high-school ducation.Byproceedingnthismanner ducational rogramsould capi-talizeon thenatural ocialunits fruralAmerica.Beyond heele-


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400 TheJournalfEducational ociologymentarychools ootedn the neighborhood,hecommunityanlogically erve s a focalpointfor he educational ctivitiesfad-vanced lementary-ndhigh-schoolevels.Justs thecommunitysupplementsnd complementsheneighborhoodsn economic,political,nd other ocialspheres,making ifemorecomplete yofferingypesf ervice hichwouldbe mpracticalna neighbor-hoodbasis, n theeducational ealmthecommunityan find tsplaneof greatestervices a focalpoint ormore dvanced duca-tional ctivities.

Furthermore,romthe standpoint f social relationshipsngeneral, choolsplanned n sucha manner hattheir oundariesof influence ould coincidewith thoseof locality roupswouldplay heir artn ncreasinghe lementsfneighborlinessndcom-munityifewithin herural ocality roups. n thismanner heywoulddrawstrength romneighborhoodnd communitynits,but heywouldfeedback nto hese ocality roups trengthivingelementsfsocial nteractionndtheexample f successful ork-ingtogetheror he ttainmentfcommon urposes.Dr. T. LynnSmith s a native f Colorado.He is now professorf sociologynd headofthedepartmentsf ociologynd rural ociologyt Louisiana tateUniversity.r.Smith sauthor fnumerous ulletinsnd articlesnd an outstandingecent olume, ociology fRuralLife.

El Rol de La Comunidad en La Vida Rural Thomas Lynn Smith

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