Title: The careless society : community and its counterfeits /
Authors: McKnight, John, 1931-
Publisher: BasicBooks,
Year: 1995
Subjects: Community organization United States.; Human services United States; Caring; Community Networks; Community-Institutional Relations United States.; Social Welfare United States.; Social Work; United States Social conditions; United States
Abstract: 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 from within. John McKnight tells how the experts' best efforts to rebuild and revitalize communities are in fact destroying them. McKnight focuses on four "counterfeiting" aspects of society: professionalism, medicine, human service systems, and the criminal justice system. Because in many areas the ideological roots of service grow from a religious ideal, the book concludes with a reflection on the idea of Christian service and its transformation into carelessness. Reforming our human service institutions won't work, McKnight writes. These systems do too much, intervene where they are ineffective, and try to substitute service for irreplaceable care. Instead of more or better services, the book demonstrates that the community capacity of the local citizens is the basis for resolving many of America's social problems.