Green, G.P. & Haines, A. (2008). The community development process, pp. 41 – 66. In Asset building & community development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
This week’s reading shares with us the ultimate goal of the Community Development Process, which is to enhance community assets, a key piece of a community assessment. The Community Development Process is discussed in this chapter, and it is broken down into four main components: Public Participation, Community Organizing, Community Visioning and Planning, and Evaluation and Monitoring. I will break down the text within these four topics of community development, and then present the class with a few questions.
Public Participation:
Who should determine a community’s future other than its residents? As we have learned in class, residents must claim control so they feel as if they have a voice in their own community. This all begins with Public Participation, which the reading breaks down into four types; public action, public involvement, electoral participation, and obligatory participation. It is important to understand these types in order to understand the factors involved when reaching out to residents. There are barriers to participation we should consider when reaching out to the public: lack of childcare, transportation, accessibility, lack of advanced information, and communication (how do we reach people?). The reading presents us with techniques to battle this, including mediation planning, community surveys, drop-in centers, advisory boards and planning council/committees, public hearings, and task forces.
Community Organizing:
The focus of community organization is all about mobilization. We can do this by tackling community problems head-on. Problem Solving approaches presented in the text include; Mobilizing (involve people in direct action of the problem), service (focus on the individual, such as unemployment and poverty – does not challenge root cause), and advocacy (speak on behalf of the group or individual). It is also important to know the difference between CDC’s (community development corporations) vs. CBO’s (community based organization). These both use development models, but CBO’s use social action campaigns and focus on public participation, which may be more relevant to us as social workers.
Community Visioning and Planning:
A community vision is all about how a community should move into the future, mainly by promoting broad public participation. A formal vision and plan allows for expansion, pro-action, and innovation. Models include: comprehensive-rational planning, advocacy planning, and strategic planning. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. While a strategic planning model may be good for local nonprofits, it is actually do-able when attempting to work with members of the community? Also, with advocacy planning, you may be able to focus on a certain issue, but does it prepare the community in a comprehensive way? Visioning is an alternative to formal planning models. A visioning perspective focuses on assets rather than needs. This approach is similar to the video we watched in class. Plan and vision for the community with a “cup is half full” approach, once again reiterating that vision methods are the way to go. The reading also provides steps for the visioning method, which can be found on page 53, Table 3.2.
Evaluation and Monitoring:
It is essential that communities monitor their progress during and after development. The reading highlights why it is important, and strategies to consider in evaluation. Mainly, it is important to monitor and evaluate your efforts to keep people motivated, focused, and to show other communities and organizations around you that you are having an impact. Evaluations should focus on the progress, actions and successes. This is similar to the scientific method. In order to show results you must quantify what you have. Take the positive work you have done and show how it is bettering the community you are working in. This can also be done through research, including participatory action research (community-based) and survey research. The more personal you get with residents, the better!
Further questions to consider:
Discuss the different models of community development. What are the similarities, differences, strengths, or weaknesses?
What can we do to battle barriers to public participation within the community development process and increase our reach in the community?
Which type of organizing is best for your assigned community (Service, mobilizing, advocacy, or a combination of both)?
I think advocacy is very important when working in our assigned community. To be honest though I feel that it is important to have a combination. Advocacy though is great because you are speaking on behalf of a community whose voices may not be heard. However as an outsider we need to ensure we are getting in depth information from the community so we know exactly what we are advocating. It is also important to get the community involved but to stay involved. As an outsider I think we can have more power with change within the community as long as it is change that the community is looking for.
ReplyDeleteSo much to learn. A reoccurring, essential question, "How do we give all people within the community a voice, a feeling of empowerment, and thus start a chain reaction for change?" I believe the outline for researching this has been given above, through models of successful neighborhood interventions, and the text book. Cheri
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