ABSTRACT Throughout history, theater and the arts have been mediums to bond individuals and advance social change. Community theater has the added benefit of allowing nonprofessional thespians the opportunity to collaborate with each other, in pursuit of common goals, while advancing local capacity and individual wellbeing. To the extent that community theaters provide voluntary participants with a civic space to harness intrinsic passions, participation may function as a form of primary prevention against negative health and mental health outcomes at the individual level. To this end, the present study utilizes a Sense of Community framework and in-depth interviews with 14 participants to discern the ways in which community theater might be able to facilitate social inclusion and community development. Findings support and extend our understanding of extant Sense of Community dimensions. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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社区剧院中的个体演员：对社区意识的影响

摘要纵观历史，戏剧和艺术一直是联系个人和促进社会变革的媒介。社区剧院还有一个额外的好处，就是让非专业的演员有机会相互合作，以追求共同的目标，同时提高当地的能力和个人福祉。就社区剧院为自愿参与者提供利用内在激情的公民空间而言，参与可以作为一种初级预防形式，以防止个人层面的负面健康和心理健康结果。为此，本研究利用社区意识框架和对 14 名参与者的深入访谈来了解社区剧院可能能够促进社会包容和社区发展的方式。调查结果支持并扩展了我们对现存社区意识维度的理解。还讨论了对政策、实践和未来研究的影响。