Chapter Five – Understanding Communities
Chapter five of the text book covers
A LOT of ground. It examines several ways of defining communities, then discusses
theories, perspectives, and models for working with communities. In terms of
what we consider communities to be, definitions can be broad and varying. While
the textbook outlines several frameworks for defining communities and community
functions, such as those of Warren p.133, Fellin p.135, and Pantoja and Perry
p.138, the authors point out that it is also important to remember that
individuals will differ in their view of community and community problems. Additionally,
with advances in technology, which have made communication over long distances
commonplace, communities no longer have to be defined by geographic boundaries
and can develop as “nonplace” or “functional” communities which may organize
around similar beliefs or shared tasks across distances.
The
text expands on several theories which are helpful when working with
communities. The first set of theories and perspectives have to do with
understanding communities. Systems theory, human or population ecology theory,
human behavior theories, and power, politics, and change theories can all be
used to help practitioners describe communities.
The
second set of theories and perspectives offer a guide for practice within
communities. Strengths, empowerment, and resiliency perspectives provide frameworks
from which to carry out community interventions. Social workers can use the
strengths perspective to help community members identify community strengths,
then create plans to build on those strengths in order to address community
problems. The empowerment perspective informs interventions which produce
opportunities for community members to advocate for themselves and have a voice
in decisions which affect them. The resiliency perspective highlights
community’s ability to cope and prevail despite difficult circumstances.
With
these perspectives in mind, the text then highlights specific approaches for
intervention:
-
Neighborhood and community organizing
-
Organizing functional communities
-
Social, economic, and sustainable development
-
Inclusive program development
- Social planning
- Coalitions
- Political and social action
- Movements for progressive change
One of my first experiences in the
field of social work was working on a program development project in Chicago.
At the time I was working for the Salvation Army on the West Side and violent
crimes among teens were on the rise, drawing a significant amount of media and
public attention. We had just received a state grant to start an after-school
program targeting at-risk youth and were charged with helping reduce violence
through providing alternate safe activities for youth during the time of day
which most violent crimes were occurring- 2pm-6pm. The Salvation Army was our
organizational base and we worked with several local high schools, local
police, and other community agencies to develop a program that would meet the
needs of youth and provide incentive to engage. On the positive side, I was
surprised at how supportive and helpful most of the professionals and schools
we reached out to were. One area that, in retrospect, I see we could have done
better in was engaging with parents to see what they wanted and needed from the
program. While we were successful in terms of the number of target youth who
attended the program, there was little parent involvement, probably because
they were not included until after the initial development stage of the
project. I wonder how much more effective we could have been if there had been
greater parental input and involvement. It is definitely a mistake I have
learned from.
I would love to hear about
experiences other members of our class may have had in practice with communities
using one or more of these approaches. What were the challenges and what went
well? The text offers a good description of each approach (p.164), however I
find that personal experiences can really offer insight into how theory works in the real world!
Great job Lindsay on concisely breaking down chapter 5!
ReplyDeleteThe most experience I have had with practice in communities in the work I have done with Head Start. One of the main aspects of my work with Head Start is working with the families of the children attending the program.
The work that we do with the families includes many of the practice models outlined in our text. Such examples include: offering economic and Assets mapping to the families through a coalition partnership with the United Way, seeking participation of families to participate in the program's Policy Council which offers the families an opportunity to offer input and guidance into program design and implementation, as well as working with families on goal planning through a strengths perspective, to name a few.
Though I feel as if the program has many polices, procedures, and practices in place that provide a sound framework for family engagement, the key component is always the" buy in" from the individual. If the individual is not interested in actively participating there is no policy, practice model, or framework that will change that.
Nonetheless, I feel as if the best way to earn an individual's "buy-in" is to build trust. Secondly, I feel as if the activity or work that is being offered needs to be relevant to the person and his or her life, at that moment, or else it can be difficult to sustain engagement.
To mirror Stephanie's words, great job giving such a concise overview of such a plethora of information!
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting to hear people's experiences on implementing "text-book" approaches, as there are always hurdles that pop up, and how inter-connected these theories and approaches actually a are becomes so apparent.
Drawing on the "strength-based" model mentioned in the book, as well as outlined very well in the "Mapping Community Capacity" reading, I've witnessed this in both work and volunteer activities. Currently I work at Beyond Housing, a place-based community development organization. The majority of what we do is based in the "24:1" corridor - or the 24 municipalities that make up the Normandy School District - focusing on community development and working hand in hand with the school district, community stakeholders, and other organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Nurses for Newborns, College Summit, among others. While I'd LOVE to give you all a framework on how our hand in these community development initiatives looks, I work in a separate department, which does not focus on a particular geographical area. Long story short, I work with low-income first time homebuyers - we provide education, counseling and assistance for closing costs/down payments. That said, much of what we do focus on finances, spending habits, budgeting, fiscal responsibility, credit building and the like.
It's impossible to work with individuals, in such a sensitive area like financial issues, without helping them pull out their own assets, abilities, and the like. When a client comes to us, we not only help to put together a healthy budget, but also counsel at length regarding home maintenance, drawing out individual strengths, forcing the client to look at their prospective community and learn about the assets which they are, in a sense, "buying" into, and take ownership for their home, their community, and the role in which they'll play in that community.
Camille