Understanding Community Organisation

What is Community Organisation?

• Social work practice includes three methods of working directly with people who need social work intervention.
• Social casework and social group work are two methods already studied.
• Community organisation is the third basic method.
• Kramer and Specht (1975) define community organisation as intervention methods where a social worker helps a community action system.
• This system includes individuals, groups, or organisations that engage in planned collective action to deal with special problems within a democratic system of values.
• Community organisation involves two concerns: the interaction process of working with an action system and the technical tasks involved.
• The interaction process includes identifying, recruiting, and working with members and developing organizational and interpersonal relationships.
• Technical tasks involve identifying problem areas, analyzing causes, formulating plans, developing strategies, and mobilizing resources for effective action.
• Community organisation aims to strengthen a community's capacity to function as an integrated unit.
• Strengthening is achieved by identifying community needs and instilling confidence to fulfill those needs.
• The professional worker in community organisation helps, initiates, nourishes, and develops the process.
• “Community” refers to either a specific geographic area or groups sharing a common interest or function.
• Geographic areas include villages, towns, cities, neighborhoods, districts, provinces, states, nations, or the world.
• Common interest groups include welfare, agriculture, education, or religion.
• Community organisation is the process of bringing together key personnel of a community to work for a common interest or goal.

Features and Goals

• Distinguishing features of community organisation practice derive from three dimensions: the nature of its setting and focus, the nature of its goals, and the techniques it employs to effect change.
• The setting and focus: the community and its problems.
• Goals include enhanced functional capacity of the community and its ability to influence the social wellbeing of its people, and social welfare policy.
• Techniques aim to effect the interpersonal and inter-group relationships of the members of the community.
• Community organisation means helping the community solve its problems by organising people to work together.
• This includes identifying issues and resources, deciding on priorities, and working to resolve issues.
• Social work literature uses the terms "community work," "community development," "community organisation," and "community empowerment" interchangeably.
• Community organisation has the same objectives as casework and group work.
• In community organisation, the community is the client.
• Many community problems can be solved using community organisation methods.
• Problems include social injustice, poverty, lack of clean water, inadequate housing, poor nutrition, unemployment, pollution, exploitation, bonded labor, and trafficking.

Functions of Community Organisation

• To meet needs and bring and maintain adjustment between needs and resources in a community.
• To give a voice to those excluded from decision-making processes.
• To help people work with their problems and plan to realize their objectives.
• To develop, strengthen, and maintain qualities of participation, self-direction, and cooperation.
• To bring changes in community and group relationships and in the distribution of decision-making power.
• To help community members gain problem-solving and advocacy skills and to identify and tap the resources of the community for solving community problems.
• To help communities develop their own solutions and build their capacity to address future challenges.

Principles of Community Organisation

• Guided by core principles ensuring the process is ethical, empowering, and effective.
• Empowerment aims to empower community members to take control of their lives.
• Social workers facilitate the process, and the community identifies needs, sets goals, and takes action.
• Participation emphasizes the active involvement of all community members.
• The process should foster collaboration and partnership among community members, organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Self-Determination emphasizes the rights of community members to define their own problems, set goals, and choose solutions.
• Social workers respect the autonomy of the community and avoid imposing their own agendas or solutions.
• Social Justice seeks to address social and economic inequalities and promote equality.
• Outcomes are expected to challenge power structures and advocate for policy changes benefiting vulnerable and marginalized groups.
• Collaboration and Cooperation emphasize building strong relationships and partnerships.
• The process should encourage collaborative efforts to achieve common goals and maximize impact.
• Capacity Building aims to strengthen the capacity of communities to address their own needs and solve their own problems.
• The process should involve developing leadership skills among community members.
• Sustainability focuses on developing long-term, sustainable solutions to community problems.
• The process aims to build the resilience of communities so that they can withstand future challenges.

Community Organisation Process

• The community organisation process in social work practice is a systematic approach.
• It empowers communities to address their needs and solve problems, building capacity, promoting social justice, and creating positive change.
• Steps in community organisation include:
• Contact and Initial Engagement (Understanding the Community)
• Developing Leadership
• Identifying Issues and Needs
• Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
• Mobilizing Resources and Taking Action
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Sustaining Change
• Contact and Initial Engagement are critical initial steps that lay the foundation for building trust, understanding the community, and fostering collaboration.
• Reaching to community members, leaders, and stakeholders is essential.
• Listening to community members' concerns, experiences, and aspirations is a must.
• Other essentials include introducing the social worker's role, identifying key individuals, and building strong networks.
• Developing Leadership involves identifying and training community leaders to mobilize others and serve as spokespeople.
• Essentials of developing leadership include recognizing potential leaders, establishing trust, equipping leaders with skills, fostering ownership, and providing guidance.
• Leadership should be inclusive.
• Identifying Issues and Needs involves working collaboratively to understand concerns, challenges, and aspirations.
• Using participatory tools like voting, ranking, and consensus-building exercises.
• It's essential to create networks, create a safe environment, demonstrate respect, facilitate discussions, and collect data.
• Patterns, root causes, and priority issues should be identified with help from community members.
• Strategic Planning and Goal Setting are essential processes for achieving mission, community needs, and sustainability.
• This involves forming action plans, setting clear goals, and identifying tactics.
• It's essential to collaborate with community prioritize issues.
• Systemic issues should be analyzed and relevant community members should be involved.
• Goals should be realistic with a long-term vision.
• Short-term and long-term goals should be differentiated.
• Strategies should be made to achieve goals and timelines should be created.
• Resources should be identified and allocated.
• Partnerships with other organizations should be built.
• Mobilising Resources and Taking Action involves identifying, securing, and utilizing resources to address needs and achieve goals.
• While taking action is the phase where plans are put into motion
• Funding, resources, volunteers, and materials should be secured.
• Awareness should be raised to mobilize support.
• The carrying out actions outlined in the strategic plan should be ensured.
• Larger goals should be broken into smaller tasks with timelines.
• Services, programs, and assistance should be delivered.
• Community members should be organized to lead and take action.
• Decision-makers should be engaged to influence policies.
• Keeping the community informed is also essential.
• Monitoring and Evaluation is the process of assessing and ensuring plans are being adhered to, programs are effective, efficient, and aligned with the community's goals.
• It's essential to track progress, identify challenges, make adjustments, provide feedback, and assess relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability.
• It should be determined whether initiatives are achieving goals or not.
• Assess the changes that have occurred, both intended and unintended
• Identify what worked, what didn't, and what can be improved (include community)
• Sustaining Change is the ongoing process that ensures positive impacts are deeply embedded within the community.
• The improvements made must last and continue to benefit the community over the long term.
• Identify and nurture future leaders.
• Skills and knowledge necessary should be provided.
• The capacity of community members should be strengthened.
• Change must be institutionalized by influencing policies.
• A strong ownership and responsibility should be fostered.
• Changes should be integrated into existing programs and achievements should be recognized.
• Sustainability should be considered from the start.