The mouse that roared: a case history of community organization for health practice

This article presents a case study of a health education process, community organization, that deals with an issue of health protection. The issue concerns herbicide spraying along rights-of-way in Leverett, Massachusetts. The intervention team consisted of the author and a graduate class in community organization. The case study provides a description of the community and history of the problem, the nature of the intervention team, the theoretical and conceptual model held by the intervention team, a description of the intervention, assessment of outcomes, and implications for theory and practice. The intervention extended over a period of 6 months. The intervention represented, for the intervention team, an opportunity to learn community organization and community education skills through active participation in the community. Both the nature and the effects of the intervention are described and discussed.