Preface<br > This textbook，* along with several other publications， is the product of<br > a comprehensive study of the community organization curriculum in<br > graduate social work education sponsored by the Council on Social<br > Work Education.<br > This volume reviews and examines community organization and social<br > planning and the problems inherent in its practice. In compiling the<br > information necessary for this examination， the staff of the Community<br > Organization Curriculum Development Project conducted interviews witia<br >practitioners and made field visits to a number of programs in different<br >areas of the country， including projects in both voluntary and govern-<br >mental agencies at national， state， and local levels. This textbook reflects<br >these studies as well as the project staff s review of the literature in the<br >field. Included in that review is a thorough consideration of the attempts<br >that have been made to date to develop a conceptual framework for<br >community-organization practice.<br > The key purpose of the textbook is to provide faculty and students<br >with current， relevant， and useful information and insights for use in<br >schools of social work and other disciplines concerned with preparing<br > * This textbook draws on its companion volume， Community Organizers and Social<br >Planners， by Joan Levin Ecklein and Armand Lauffer (Wiley， 1972) for illustrative<br >material. The complete contents of the Ecklein and Lauffer book are included here<br >as an appendix with the kind permission of the authors. An asterisk in the reproduced<br >contents indicates all chapters and cases in the companion volume which have<br >been quoted here.<br > vii<br >