Attribution Theory

Attribution Theory is a Social Psychology theory that "deals with how the social perceiver uses information to arrive at causal explanations for events.  It examines what information is gathered and how it is combined to form a causal judgment” (Fiske, & Taylor, 1991). Heider (1958) described two types of attribution: 1) internal attributions, such as personality traits and 2) external attributions, such as situational or environmental causes
Apply: One key way I see this theory applied to community development is when a community developer looks at a neighborhood and attempts to determine why things as they are. For example, when looking at at a community concern of prostitution, one could internally attribute it and claim that the prostitute is a bad person and did it to herself.  If attributing externally, one might claim that there is prostitution in the neighborhood because there are high rates of poverty and unemployment.  How someone attributes community concerns can drastically change what is looked to for practices and programming within a community development initiative. 
Adapt: This can be seen all of the time when there are discussions and debates about our safety nets.  For example, arguments regarding SNAP always end up revolving around whether or not a person is individually doing enough to get themselves out of poverty--are they working? are they doing drugs? do they have any money in savings? Rather than internally attributing it, it could be attributed externally to be viewed as a systemic, environmental problem that has little to do with individual characteristics or effort. 

Source: Attribution Theory. SimplyPsychology. 2010. http://www.simplypsychology.org/attribution-theory.html.