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The Careless Society: Community And Its Counterfeits
 
 

The Careless Society: Community And Its Counterfeits (Paperback)

~ John Mcknight (Author) "In 1973, E. F. Schumacher startled Western societies with a revolutionary economic analysis that found that small is beautiful..." (more)
Key Phrases: human service tool, disabling help, professionalized service, Old Grandma, United States, John Deere (more...)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

List Price: $23.00
Price: $20.70 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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  Kindle Edition, May 5, 1995 $9.99 -- --
  Hardcover, May 4, 1995 -- $8.00 $3.73
  Paperback, March 31, 1996 $20.70 $16.64 $1.72

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Customers buy this book with Navigating Human Service Organizations by Margaret Gibelman

The Careless Society: Community And Its Counterfeits + Navigating Human Service Organizations
  • This item: The Careless Society: Community And Its Counterfeits by John McKnight

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Amid all the hand-wringing about the loss of community in America these days, here is a book that celebrates the ability of neighborhoods to heal themselves from within. John McKnight shows how competent communities have been invaded and colonized by professionalized services—often with devastating results. Overwhelmed by these social services, the spirit of community falters: families collapse, schools fail, violence spreads, and medical systems spiral out of control. Instead of more or better services, the basis for resolving many of America’s social problems is the community capacity of the local citizens.


From the Publisher

An illuminating look at how the experts' best efforts to rebuild and revitalize communities are in fact destroying them. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Basic Books (April 1, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0465091261
  • ISBN-13: 978-0465091263
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,485 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #81 in  Books > Nonfiction > Government > Public Policy
    #90 in  Books > Nonfiction > Government > Federal Government

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John McKnight
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7 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars How social service agencies destroy community supports., September 17, 1998
By A Customer
As someone who works in a nonprofit social service agency, I was handed McKnight's book by the executive director of a local foundation. It made for illuminating reading. McKnight explains how agencies isolate and target populations for their own convenience - determining the needs of their "client" rather than helping individuals express their own dreams and desires and working toward solutions. This is a "must read" for agencies whose goal is to build caring communities, allowing people with disabilities to determine their futures for themselves. Of particular interest is the section on grief counseling, describing how the professional grief vampire isolates their "clients" from the circles of support provided by friends and neighbors that have nurtured the grieving for generations.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars an explanation of our struggle to be empowered, August 24, 1999
By A Customer
this book is a brilliant analysis of the struggle users of services face when trying to find help to live a full life. The sentence which I will always remember is 'The problem we face is not one of weak services, but weak communities'. As a disabled person I found the willingness to confront the dependency of able-bodied providers on our manufactured 'needs' refreshing and enlightening. John McKnights thinking about the nature of communities and how to begin to re-build them very stimulating, particularly as his vision includes me as a community builder. Read it!
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Strong Diagnosis of the Diagnostic Approach, May 25, 2006
McKnight, a scholar of social policy working at Northwestern University, throws harsh words at the medical, advocacy, and professional institutions. His observations are not only insightful, but they are well reasoned as well as articulated in a clear way. Although it may seem as though his writings underestimate the professional ethic of modern medicine, it is clear to an understanding reader that his purpose isn't to simply throw mud, but to inspire communities.

Using examples from his home town in Chicago, McKnight illustrates that when a community is faced with challenge, the best "solution" may not really be a "solution," but a habit. Rather than simply looking at communities as a group that needs to have their problems solved, it is more important to focus on the assets inherent in all of its individuals.

McKnight wishes to save communities from the obfuscating languages of medicine and professionalism. His book, "The Careless Society" is a triumph for the common good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars The Careless Characterization of Helping Professionals
McKnight's concerns about communities' dependency on professional assistance are legitimate, but disturbingly overstated in this book. Read more
Published on June 14, 2006 by El Xalapeno

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Reading.
I worked in the mental health-social service industry for many years. From the beginning it was impressed upon me that clients without economic value to the agency get booted out... Read more
Published on January 18, 2006 by James B. Johnson

4.0 out of 5 stars Good idea, but too wordy
The recognition that the caring professions are destroying communities was eye-opening, but each chapter seemed almost the same as the chapter before. Read more
Published on October 12, 2005 by M. Oja

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for any health professional
This book tests our conventional wisdom about "care." As a Registered Nurse with a Masters in Health Admin. Read more
Published on April 27, 2005 by Pangea

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