Cullen, B. (2002) Responding to community problems in an urban neighbourhood: shifting the focus from drugs onto other issues!, paper prepared on behalf of the Mounttown Community Task Force. (paper had limited circulation – version here has some blocked-out notes)
This paper assesses challenges that arise in addressing drug and related problems in an urban neighbourhood, in the wake of improved public policies for dealing with these issues. The paper draws from interviews held with a cross section of persons living or working in the neighbourhood concerned, alongside group discussions held with a community task force, which had reached a hiatus in its progress and development. The context for preparing the paper was to provide the task force with an analysis and resource to help move it on to its next phase. The paper sets out a broader context of developments with respect to community drug problems and locates these within Mounttown’s particular experience. It then identifies new challenges in moving forward and suggests the need for a clearer, intense focus on more deeply-rooted issues, particularly in relation to education and support services for children and families. Although the issues arise within the narrow context of one particular community it is argued that these have wider relevance, especially within communities with similar experiences of drugs and other problems.