Community Development Theory
Salman Wahid
SWK301Seminar6-2019.pptCommunity development
SWK301
SEMINAR 6.
Locating Community Development
‘Community work’ is used as a generic term for much of the work people do in communities, however-
‘community development aims to transform unequal, coercive and oppressive structures …..’ (Kenny, 2015)
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| Rothmans typology… | Community Development | Social Planning | Social Action |
| Goals | Capacity building, network building, self help, process orientated. | To solve a particular problem. Task orientated | Social change Institutional change Power shifts |
| Assumptions | People need community. The community holds the answers to it’s issues. | There are substantive problems that experts can fix | Society is unjust and unequal. Power must be challenged |
| Strategies for change | Involvement of broad range of people to determine and address their own issues | Gather data about issue and make decisions about most logical course of action | Consciousness raising and mobilizing of people to take action against the causes of oppression |
| Characteristics, tactics used | Consensus, communication, discussion among diverse groups | Consensus or conflict | Conflict, direct action, confrontation, negotiation. |
| Practitioner roles | Facilitator, networker, event management, group worker, | Expert, researcher, analyst, social policy worker, project manager | Advocate, organiser, media liaison, event management |
Rothmans typology
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Popple’s Models of Community Work Practice
| Model | Strategy | Main role/title of worker | Examples of work/agencies | Key texts |
| Community Care | Cultivating social networks and voluntary services. Developing self-help concepts. | Organizer / Volunteer | Work with older people, persons with disabilities, children under 5 years old | Beresford & Croft (1986); Heginbotham (1990); Mayo (1994) |
| Community organisation | Improving co-ordination between different welfare agencies | Organizer / Catalyst / Manager | Councils for Voluntary Service, Racial Equality Councils, Settlements | Adamson et al. (1988); Dearlove (1974); Dominelli (1990) |
| Community development | Assisting groups to acquire the skills and confidence to improve quality of life. Active participation. | Enabler / Neighbourhood Worker / Facilitator | Community groups, Tenants groups, citizens organisations….. | Association of Metropolitan Authorities (1993); Barr (1991) |
| Social/community planning | Analysis of social conditions, setting of goals and priorities, implementing and evaluating services and programmes | Enabler / Facilitator | Localities undergoing redevelopment | Marris (1987); Twelvetrees (1991) |
| Community education | Attempts to bring education and community into a closer and more equal relationship | Educator / Facilitator | Community schools/colleges, 'compensatory education', Working class/feminist adult education | Allen et al. (1987); Allen & Martin (1992); Freire (1970, 1972, 1976, 1985); Lovett (1975); Lovett et al. (1983); Rogers (1994) |
| Community action | Usually class-based, conflict-focused direct action at local level | Activist | Squatting movement, welfare rights movement, resistance against planning and redevelopment, tenant's action | Craig et al. (1982); Jacobs & Popple (1994); Lees & Mayo (1984) |
| Feminist community work | Improvement of women's welfare, working collectively to challenge and eradicate inequalities suffered by women | Activist / Enabler / Facilitator | Women's refuges, Women's health groups, Women's therapy centres | Barker (1986); Dixon et al. (1982); Dominelli (1990, 1994); Flynn et al. (1986) |
| Black and anti-racist community work | Setting up and running groups that support the needs of Black people. Challenging racism. | Activist / Volunteer | Racial Equality Councils and Commission for Racial Equality funded projects | Ohri et al. (1982); Sivanandan (1976,1990); Sondhi (1982,1994) |
From: Popple (1995) Analysing Community Work - Its theory and practice, Buckingham: Open University Press
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‘Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them,
Start with what they know
Build on what they have,
but of the best leaders when their task is done
the people will remark,
“We have it done it ourselves”
Lao Tzu
“Community development can be regarded as a way of thinking, a philosophy of practice, rather than merely as a process for building stronger communities.” (Ife 2010)
Ife, J. (2010). Human Rights from below. Sydney: Cambridge University Press
Many people who are not called “community development workers” or employed to do community development work can work from a community development perspective.
Doctors, teachers, nurses, managers for example. What might be the noticeable approaches in the way they work that would indicate this?
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Frank, F. and Smith, A. 1999. The Community Development Handbook A Tool to Build Community Capacity. Human Resources Development Canada Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Canada.
- “Community development is the planned evolution of all aspects of community well-being (economic, social, environmental and cultural). It is a process whereby community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems.”
other definitions of community development
Community development
is concerned with the notion of ‘empowerment’……
IT IS THE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE OF WORKING WITH AND ENABLING COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AND RELEASING POTENTIAL
Empowerment - “It is more than just adding some communal services or facilities like roads, sanitation, water, access to education and health care. It means increased ability and strength. It means more skills, more confidence, and more effective organization. It can not come about by charity or donation of resources from outside. It can be facilitated through action such as community projects, but only when there is ownership by community members become involved from early on, to decide upon a community action, to identify hidden resources from within the community, and by developing a sense of ownership and responsibility of communal facilities from the start to the finish.
”(Zimmerman, M. A., Israel, B. A., Schulz, A., & Checkoway, B. 1992. Further explorations in empowerment theory: An empirical analysis of psychological empowerment. American Journal of Community Psychology. 20(6), 707-727)
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Community Development is a ‘bottom-up’ process based on a premise that
local knowledge, wisdom, skills and understandings are necessary for the
experience of the human community, and need to be valued above top-down
wisdom and security.
This is in the context of modern society a radical position.
Organisations are structured on the bureaucratic model which assumes that
‘superior wisdom’ resides at the top of the hierarchy and reinforced by
managerialism.
(Ife 2010)
Ife, J. (2010). Human Rights from below. Sydney: Cambridge University Press
This notion of valuing local knowledge goes counter to the modern reliance of ‘experts’ to define and solve issues. It is easy for workers, including social workers and humanitarian workers to support systems that are bureaucratic. What will assist workers to be aware of power structures and focus on working from the ‘ground-up’?
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Community Development…
- is an approach of work professionals might adopt; it may also be professional occupation.
- Community development is about being actively involved in improving and strengthening communities to support people attain their specific needs and aspirations
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The process is as important as the outcome
Think about a holiday trip. Some of us just want to get to the destination as soon as possible, the quickest way. Others want to take in the sights and enjoy the journey. In community development, the journey ( Process) of how we get there ( outcome) is important. The focus on outcome is balanced by the process. The participation of people in decision making, designing solutions and organising how to achieve these is paramount.
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Process of community development
- Process and outcome –the journey is important
- Integrity of process –process owned by community itself
- Consiousness raising-shared experiences bring about change
- Participatory democracy-as opposed to representative democracy
- Cooperation-as opposed to competition
Ife, J. (2016) Community Development in an uncertain world, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
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Process of community development continued
- Pace of development -process cannot be rushed
- Peace and non- violence –this involves questioning language, structures that oppress
- Consenus-working to a solution the whole community owns
- Community building-can be an objective in itself, involving people and increasing mutual dependence
One small community response…..
A small town’s response to talking about different ways of creating connections and demonstrating local pride. A barren area that had been beside a railway line, became the site of a community garden, this was designed with a local landscaper, funding was gained and numerous events, community plantings took place.
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Community engagement
- Community engagement is about productive relationships between government, communities, clients, and particularly stakeholders (Taylor 2015)
- Seeks to involve people in decision making processes
- Can be led by government, eg Victorian government employed community engagement officers
Taylor, J (2015). Working with communities. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
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Asset-based community development (abcd)
- Focusses on the strengths (assets)
- Assumes that people (and communities) want the best
- Works with talents, resources, structures, business, skills ..
- Maps the assets (rather than the needs) and mobilises these
Remember the glass half full? ABCD, like strengths approach to community work is concerned with focussing on the half full ( not half empty) glass. Be aware that community development can be based on a deficit approach (focussing on the needs or what’s wrong with the community or place).
ABCD shifts the focus to the assets and what’s right, good and strong about the community. This becomes the beginning point.
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Telling a story that re-defines
- Watch the video of young people singing and performing
‘B’ town warriors – young kids from Bourke, NSW, created this song that went viral the day it was released. It tells a powerful, but hopeful story in a setting that has often been known because of the problems/issues.
Can you think of other ways that dance, art, or music has been used to tell a story of hope about a community?
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Local solutions to urgent issues
Photo: Clinton Vas
Clinton (a trained civil engineer) returns to his village at Goa, India
He addresses the problem of rubbish, by starting a recycling business locally
Focussing on recycling, he employs people, uses overseas volunteers and promotes the idea of a local solution
Think of an example of someone using principles of community development in their work, their business or with a team?
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Exercise – in pairs
the power of how we ask questions
- Do you like living here?
- What do you hope for your community?
- Is it safe here?
- Have you been living here for long?
- What would it take to create the changes you want to see here?
- What does it mean to be ethical in this work?
- What do you think needs to happen next?
What’s the purpose of the questions being asked?
Notice how using closed questions ( yes/no answers) and open questions elicit different answers.
How do assumptions shape the way we ask questions?
Vogt, Brown, J., and Isaacs, D. (2003). The art of powerful questions; Catalyzing insight, innovation, and action. Whole systems Associates: Mill Valley, CA.
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Elements involved in a Community Development model
- Information -worker ensures that people have access to formal and informal information
- Authenticity – ensure that perspectives are being expressed, heard and responded to
- Vision – worker moves people and dialogue from ‘what is’ to ‘what could be’, giving voice to peoples values, principles and hopes within cultural perspectives
Susan Kenny (1999) identified 6 elements
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Elements involved in working from a Community Development model
- Pragmatism – collaborate with others to bring about change within existing power structures
- Strategy – the worker helps others to define their objectives (immediate or longer term)
- Transformation – identify what has changed
Good communication is central in Community development practice
- a public meeting has been organised to discuss recent break-ins at the local store
- the school has invited the CD worker to meet with them about the issue of bullying
- The community development worker is working with local residents to organise a community festival
Each example involves some element of conflict or disagreement. Consider and discuss =
What are the principles of good communication that will guide the worker here?
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This seminar we have considered:
- some of the core elements in community development
- a range of ways that community development can apply
- That different workers can use community development principles
- Next week: we will look at development & international community work
