COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY
Preapared by : Ms. Leena Ghag.
Nursing Tutor
RN, P.B.B.Sc.Nursing

INTRODUCTION
• Community has influence on the health status of the people.
• Nurse need to understand the structure of community, so that appropriate planned
action can be taken by them to achieve the health of the community.
• Community is a group of people living together in a particular geographical area or
having same culture/subculture or are associated to each other on the basis of
education, occupation etc.

• The community is a social system, where interactions among
individual occurs.
• It is composed of subsystems such as socio-cultural, political,
educational, environmental and religious.
• Saunders have viewed the community from three ways:
 Common place – means geographical location.
 Social system – social units and system with the pattern of
interactions.
 Group of people.

• The nurse should aware about the demographic characteristics of population,
their health status and health resources available within the geographic are of the
community.
• Nurses should have understanding of the culture, attitude, beliefs, feelings and
their life style, so these factors will help in developing appropriate plans or
programs, which can be implemented according to the need to promote the
health of the community through their active participation.

DEFINITION
Community is defined as a social group having “we feeling” and living in a given area.
“Community is a human population living within a limited geographic area and carrying on a
common inter-dependent life”. - Lundberg
“The smallest territorial group that can embrace all aspects of social life”.
- Kigsley
“A community is cluster of people, living within a contiguous area, who share common way of
life”.
- Green Arnold

From these definitions, it can be concluded that community include :
 Common living.
 Common people.
 Common culture.
 Common independent life.
 Limited geographical area.
(contiguous area : all areas within a state or a group of two ow more
states sharing common borders.)

CHARACTERISTICS OF
COMMUNITY
Each community has some characteristics, the extent of these characteristics vary and depend
upon the size of the community. The characteristics also depend upon nature the community.
The following are the characteristics of the community :
 Self sufficiency
 We feeling
 Closeness
 Homogeneity
 Defined geographical boundaries

1. Self sufficiency
Community provides space to live,
means for livelihood, education,
protection and security i.e. all
means and facilities which help
in meeting basic needs of its people.

2. We feeling
The people in the community
have “we feeling” i.e. community
feeling and identifies themselves
with the community.

3. Closeness
The people in the community
have face to face interactions
and free communication. It is
more commonly apparent in
small communities- small villages
and neighborhood. The members
are physically closer, have more direct contacts, more interactions and
intimate associations. Participation is for of common activities like
community meals, visiting and exchanging things.

4. Homogeneity
The community has similarity in
psychosocial characteristics of
people living in the defined
boundaries of the community.
They are similar in language,
life styles, customs and traditions etc.
(customs : the usual way of doing things)

5. Defined geographical boundaries
Each community has defined
geographical boundaries having
its beginnings and its end.
For example, boundaries of
neighborhood, village, city etc.

TYPES OF COMMUNITY
1. Village/ Rural community
2. Urban community

VILLAGE COMMUNITY
Village community is a small area
with small population which
follows agriculture not only as
an occupation but also as a
way of life. Village community
is the oldest permanent community.

Emergence of village
• The earliest human communities were migratory community. These later on became
stationary with the knowledge and skill of agriculture as the source of food.
• The villages emerged which signified that man has passed from nomadic mode of
collective life to the settled one. Each human race or nation has its period of village
community.
• It is thought that village exited five thousand years ago.

FEATURES OF VILLAGE
COMMUNITY
1. A sense of unity :
villages have a sense of unity.
All the families in the village
are united and share sorrows
& joys together. They also
unite themselves to protect
themselves from invaders.

2. Intimate relation :
the villagers have intimate
relations with each other and
they know each other personality.

3. Common culture :
the people of villages has
the common culture. Even
customs & convections of
villagers are common.

4. Joint participation :
the villagers jointly organized
religious activities & take part
in these activities.

5. Close neighborhood relation :
in villages, neighborhood is of
great importance. There is not
enough of individuality. The village
people pay attention to his
neighbor & assist each other.

6. Joint family :
in villages, still joint family
system exists. As fore their
occupation of agriculture,
they require the co-operation
of all family members.

7. Deep faith in religion & duties :
the villagers occupation is
agriculture and it depend upon
the nature. So the villagers
have an attitude of fear &
awe towards natural forces
and starts worshipping. This
shows their faith in religion.

8. Away from evil of modern civilization and simple :
The villagers are simple.
Their behavior is natural.
They live peaceful life and far
away from evils of modern civilization.

9. Hardworking :
the villagers are sincere, free
from mental conflicts & hardworking.

10. Hospitality :
the villagers show great
hospitality towards the
guests. Their dealings are
not rough, and always
welcome the other person with smile.

11. High moral values :
the villagers have high morality
and their life is being governed
by norms.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN
VILLAGES
• Indian villages is one of unit of Indian social structure. Approximately, 70-80% of total
population live in villages. The villages have been classified into small, medium sized and
large villages.
• The population of small village is below 500.
• The medium & large sized villages have population 2000-5000 and equal or over 5000
respectively.

1. Socially or economically connected to neighborhood cities :
Earlier the villages were isolated &self sufficient as all the essential needs
were satisfied in villages itself. But with the development of means of
transport and communication, the barrier between cities & village have been
broken.

2. Structure od simplicity, calmness & peace :
• In villages, the atmosphere is simple,
calm & peaceful.
• The villages have simple life, dressed
simply & live in mud walled houses.
• Now houses in villages have given
place to well designed buildings, fashion has taken place in the life of villagers.

3. Strong attachment to customs & traditions :
The villagers outlook is primarily conservative
and they accept changes with extreme reluctance.

4. Poverty & illiteracy :
• The villagers are generally poor and have low income.
• They take coarse food and put on rough clothes.
• In villages there are less educational opportunities
for children's even the facility for higher education
is nil.
• Poverty makes them unable to send their children
for education and lack of education causes no employment which leads to poverty.

5. Local self government :
• The villagers manage their own
affairs through traditional institutions
of Panchayat.
• The villagers enjoyed the autonomy
or self government.
• This Panchayat system began to decline during British rule, but after
independence fresh efforts are made to strengthen the Panchayat system.

URBAN COMMUNITY
• Urban community means an area with a high density of population.
• India census, urban areas are the places which have a local authority like
municipality, containment board, notified area committees.
• In urban community at least 75% of male population engaged in non agricultural
pursuits.
• Urban people are gradually engaged in different occupational pursuits.

FEATURES OF URBAN COMMUNITY
1. Class extremes :
in urban community, class
extremes have been found
between the richest as well
as poorest. We can see people :
 Living on pavements.
 Having luxurious life.
 Living in bungalow, kothi’s or house – kutcha, pucca, semi pucca.
 Enable to meet daily routine needs of life.

2. No primary contact :
• The inhabitants of urban community
do not come into primary contact
with each other.
• They are sometimes unaware
of who is living next door to then and sometimes they do not know each other.

3. Mechanical attitude :
• The attitude of urban communities
is mechanical as they show
superficial manners of politeness
and mutual convenience.
• They deal with strangers as animated
machines rather than as human beings.

4. No sense of belongingness :
The people of urban community are aware about the existence of may institutional
organization's & people around them.But they do not feel a sense of belongingness to
any group or community.

5. Breeding ground of new biological & cultural hybrid :
• In urban community people of various race & culture live together.
• The people from various ends of earth come together.
• The personal traits, the cultural life and the ideas of people vary widely.

6. Social contacts :
• Social contacts are impersonal & segmented.
• Social distance is maintained to heterogeneity & anonymity.

7. Energy and speed :
• People in urban community are ambitious
and work day & night.
• This makes their life hectic & materialistic and produces greater
emotional tension& insecurity.

8. Health and disease :
• In urban community, overcrowding &
population adversely affects the
health of urban people.
• Sickness rate is higher in cities as
compared to rural.
• Causes are work stress, pollution,
unhealthy habits, junk food etc.

GROWTH OF URBAN COMMUNITY
The factors which led to growth of true cities.
• Availability of increased resources
• Industrialization
• Commercialization
• Development of means of transport
• Means of communication
• Increased opportunities for earning
• Increased facilities of higher education
• Recreational facilities

• Availability of increased resources
• This is a primary cause of growth of cities.
• The cities grow where the resources are grater than the mere sustenance of life.
• The man has extended his power over nature and have exploited the natural
resources due to technological improvements.

• Industrialization
• The cities have been grown due to introduction of new techniques of production.
• The invention of machinery and application of huge capital led to establishment of big
plants which led to mobility of workers towards these industries and concentration
around these areas.

• Commercialization
• Trade and commerce played an important part in growth of cities.
• Earlier, in ancient civilization, the cities grew where in goods were distributed and
commercial transaction were carried out.

• Development of means of transport
• By transport, the raw or manufactured
material can be sent from one area to another
area.
• Industrialization led the concentration of
people due to the presence of transport.

• Means of communication
• The development in communication such as
phone, mailing, internet etc. has led to growth of
cities.
• The information regarding the establishment of
factories, need of manpower, educational
institutions led to the migration of people to
cities.

• Increased opportunities if higher education
• Maximum number of universities and
colleges are in cities.
• Even big libraries are situated in cities.
• Not only this, the competitive examination
centers and recruiting agencies are located in
cities.

• Recreational facilities
• Art galleries and museums, amusement
parks and theatres etc. are in cities which
appeal to children and younger
generation.
• Naturally, on account these facilities,
young man & women are attracted
towards cities.

COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY

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