AbstractCommunity management is proposed as a sound, economical and demonstrably successful alternative in the management of young and disabled children. The author seeks to go beyond the health-education debate in this matter towards a welfare oriented model based upon principles drawn from a diversity of disciplines. One such principle incorporates the natural law of utilising forces to counterbalance forces – a principle fundamental to most areas of science but one which is rarely extrapolated for use within social science generally, or management of the disabled specifically. In the Darling Downs project in Queensland, Australia, resource families are deployed to counterbalance or assist “disabled” families with the support of professionals in the community network. The paper sets out the variously derived principles underlying the Darling Downs project and then provides a detailed description of other aspects of the framework including funding, administration, services, procedures and current developments. The programme is then analysed in terms of its anticipated directions, strengths/weaknesses, limitations and applicability to the other situations.
A Brief Comment on American Exceptionalism
