This thesis maps a genealogy for the process of erosion that has affected functional communities in North America over the last half-century. It seeks to make links between this erosion of functional communities and the increasing stress that families and, by extension, schools are currently experiencing. This thesis argues that in order to understand the dysfunction and stress we are seeing in our schools today, our examination must extend beyond children and families to include the wider social ecology, philosophical, economic, and political contexts, as well as the physical landscapes that shape family, school, and community life.

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