Green & Haines Article
I found this article very interesting to how to map out the process of beginning community development. The article outlines four kinds of public participation; public action, public involvement, electoral participation, and obligatory participation. It suggests there is a ladder of participation and as you step up on each rung participation and power increase. The idea here is to learn what motivates individuals to participate and develop strategies based on this information to get them involved and excited. The article discusses different models of community organizing. Picking the right model is key and should be based on factors such as context, resources, and circumstances specific to the project. The main point of this article is that planning takes constant monitoring, evaluate, and revision until project completion. This is something many people do not want to put the time in to doing, but is the only way to keep the project on track for the desired end result. The article acknowledges the debate between whether the process is the most important versus the outcome.
Personally, I thought this debate was the most interesting part of the article. I think when working with communities there is never really an end in sight. There are always aspects that need help and can be improved at all times in a community. As far as I am concerned this makes the process so much more important.
What information will you use from this article to help plan your community intervention? What aspect of promoting community involvement would have the biggest impact on you in your own community?
I love the concept of process versus outcome. That has been the most interesting part of this class to me when thinking about what interventions to implement in our community. The process of engaging the community and getting individuals involved is just as important, in my opinion as the actual concrete end, or desired end of the intervention. Really, there isn't supposed to be an 'end', but a continued improvement and upkeep of positive change.
ReplyDeleteProcess within social work is thankfully integrated with research, which can help empower individuals who can connect with others who have a testimony. Sounds like it might be helpful to contact those who are already in the process. Seems like this class should have a part II, so the communities we are developing relationships in do not get discouraged due to the constant change of participants as mentioned yesterday by our host. Cheri
ReplyDelete