Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : the application of interpersonal skills in community practice -- Entering the community and using interviewing skills to find out about people -- Recruiting potential participants -- Developing relationships and partnerships with formal organizations -- Using dialogue, story-telling, and structured group work techniques to identify community problems -- Engaging participants in the discovery, assessment, and documentation of community strengths and problems -- Facilitating leadership development and group decision-making : encouraging public participation in planning and engaging constituents in the development of action plans -- Taking action : group processes for implementing action campaigns -- Working with constituent groups to critically reflect and engage in dialogue on the process and outcomes of action plans -- Discovering whether and why the action worked : using participatory research to conduct formal evaluations -- Using interpersonal skills to advocate for legislation -- Interpersonal skills for community building -- Supervision -- Interpersonal skills in a global context : advocating for human rights -- Future directions in community organizing : where do we go from here?