Perspectives on community as a social system

This paper seeks to analyze processes and roles within the community as a setting for mental health work. The author contends the social workers can utilize linkages and resources more effectively by training community as a social system. Furthermore, the community approach to mental health problems appears to be a logical framework to organize and harmonize different subsystems. A two-dimensional, conceptual model brings into focus two mutually supportive considerations within this framework: community and mental health. Systemic linkages between the mental health group and the welfare community are further conceptualized to signify their importance in the MR programs. A critique is presented of the changing professional roles of the community organizer in a society where welfare services are organized for the less competent individuals within a complex web of values and antivalues. Social workers' dynamism in self-shaping their professional roles toward improving the quality of life is highlighted.