The public welfare agency is a major influence in rural community life. It is the service delivery mechanism for medical care, cash aid, food stamps, and many other kinds of life-or-death assistance. It is significant in local economies and its employees are influential in communities where well-educated people are scarce. (JHZ)

For effective crisis intervention, the rural social worker must consider various factors specific to the rural community, e.g., knowledge of rural helping networks and core rural values, structure of kinds of crises likely encountered, and successful methods of intervention. (JHZ)

After discussing theories of attitude change, recommends that mental health workers overcome the negative attitudes of rural communities toward mental health programs by forming positive, personal, affective bonds with rural community members. Presents strategies for establishing and maintaining these bonds in private life, clinical work, and…

Summarizes the nature of service delivery systems in non-metropolitan communities and identifies four community/delivery system types: small city, small town, rural community, and reservation community. Identifies areas warranting further study, e.g., the reservation community, the informal functioning of helping systems, and the coordination of…

Research indicates that living in company towns created a population lacking in initiative and self-determination. In one community that was a company town until the mid-1950s, key-informant interviews indicated high levels of dropping out, illiteracy, teen pregnancy, poverty, and dependency. However, a survey of high school students revealed no…

Studies of the amount of money spent by rural counties on General Assistance Programs identified three factors that contributed to the level of county support: the size of the population, local history of response to human needs, and the role of local public welfare and social service administrators. (JHZ)

The Rurality Index measures community access to resources for resolution of local problems; includes physical, population, educational, and financial elements; and assesses community connections to the larger society and the global economy. Analysis found that U.S. metro counties were heavily skewed to the least rural end of the scale but…

Identifies psychotherapeutic and professional skills and personal characteristics important for private practice of marriage/family therapy in rural areas. Discusses implications for professional training. Describes private practice in geographically isolated Wyoming community, citing importance of skills in adjunct professional activities, i.e.,…

Those who are poor and reside in the rural pockets of poverty are at a cumulative disadvantage in United States society. Low educational levels, poor health, lack of competitive job skills, and a mindset restricted by poverty give little hope for mobility--especially in communities devoid of opportunity and supportive services. (JHZ)

Discusses contextual factors (geography, community idiosyncrasies, personal relationships, formal resource scarcity, community resource accessibility, external force influence, visibility, "Jack-of-All-Trades") affecting practices of rural child welfare workers. Points out similarities/differences in child welfare work in urban and rural…

Rural ghettos are created when proportionately large numbers of unemployed, low income, and elderly residents live in communities located 30 miles or more from communities which can provide the range of goods and services necessary for a decent quality of life. This definition may apply to 300 Iowa towns. (JHZ)