What do you understand by the term `community cohesion`? Using a British based community organisation setting as an example, comment on the measures used to promote new paradigms of community cohesiveness within the organisation.

What do you understand by the term `community cohesion ? Using a British based community organization setting as an example , comment on the measures used to promote new paradigms of community cohesiveness within the organization

Community cohesion has been high on the public policy agenda in recent years in an attempt to strengthen the increasingly fractured community relations that have emerged across the country and to indirectly support the work being undertaken to address the inequalities that exist across the UK . Community cohesion is about bringing communities together and building bridges between

those communities experiencing conflicts (CDF 2005

This discusses the emergence of community cohesion as a high pro policy and examines the changes that have occurred across the UK , discussing both the positive nature of these changes and the tensions and divisions that can lead to fracturing within local communities . At the heart of achieving the vision set out by the government for cohesive communities is the role of community based organizations in delivering activities on the ground . This discusses the development of community work in relation to community cohesion and comments on the changes that have occurred in their operation in to meet the new demands of promoting community cohesiveness using the example of Oldham Council for Voluntary Services (CVS

The term `community cohesion ' emerged in Britain in the aftermath of the race riots in the Northern towns of Bradford , Burnley and Oldham in 2001 (Cantle 2001 ) and following these disturbances the Government established an inter-departmental ministerial group to consider its response to the apparent divisions between communities in some areas Ted Cantle chaired a review team into the disturbances and this report became known as the `Cantle Report . The Cantle Report (2001 ) reported on the `depth of polarisation ' that existed (Cantle 2001 : 9 ) and the communities whose lives `often do not seem to touch at any point , let alone overlap and promote meaningful interchange (Cantle 2001 : 9 Essentially the report highlighted communities of people who lived parallel lives and made 67 recommendations to government to tackle these issues of segregation and promote community cohesion as a national strategy

In the same year as the Cantle report a separate , independent inquiry into the riots in Bradford was produced which reported on Bradford communities as fragmented along ethnic , religious and cultural lines The inquiry , chaired by Sir Herman Ouseley , very clearly laid the blame of the deteriorating race relations with the policies of segregated housing and education schools and poor political and community relations (CDF 2005 : 2

Both these reports identified the importance of achieving community cohesion for these towns and cities and for the UK overall . The report findings identified the lack of community cohesion as the primary causal factor that had led to the disturbances . There was blame upon the lack of local leadership , poor systems for conflict resolutions and deficient interaction between people of different cultural , religious and social backgrounds (Cantle 2001

The findings and recommendations of these reports were published at the end...