"People acting as a strong, cohesive community can achieve more than individuals. When people work together in community, strategies for change that are sustainable are possible. When people identify with their community, they want to see it survive, which encourages a long-term perspective. The alternative, when instead of seeking community, people engage in individualistic, self-seeking behavior, forms a vicious circle that leads to greed, violence, and crime. The stubborn persistence of violence in the United States and throughout the world is related to a loss of community. This is the case whether we are talking about the United States, Bosnia, Rwanda, Palestine, or anywhere else where violence is endemic. When violence is an expression of powerlessness, isolation, and exclusion, participatory community development from the bottom up has the potential to counter it. Community development at the grassroots level taps into and builds the integrity and leadership of members of the community and has the potential to break the cycle of violence. Social workers must become involved with communities at this level by learning from them and allowing themselves to be influenced and changed by them. The National Association of Social Workers is committed to bringing a deeper analysis and more lasting solutions to the crisis of violence facing many U.S. communities. We are committed to exploring new paradigms and models in community building and violence prevention. The Global Crisis of Violence: Common Problems, Universal Causes, Shared Solutions is a valuable contribution to this commitment. It expands the context within which the social work profession addresses violence and its attendant problems. It reflects NASW's investment in training social workers to be better informed and more sensitive "global professionals" so that they might develop more effective strategies for reducing violence through promoting development. It highlights homegrown strategies to address violence so that social workers can learn about what works and why. Finally, it makes clear social work's and NASW's appreciation for the increasingly cross-border nature of the systemic problems that give rise to violence by expanding the search for solutions to our social problems beyond U.S. borders. It is anticipated that faculty, students, and practitioners who read this book will be stimulated to stretch their understanding about violence and its relationship to development, renew their commitment to community practice, and expand their global consciousness." - Josephine Nieves, MSW, PhD, Executive Director, National Association of Social Workers Read Less