CONCEPTUALIZATION OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE FROM A GENERALIST PERSPECTIVE

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE FROM A GENERALIST PERSPECTIVE Dr. Amy Murphy-Nugen Department of Social Work Western Carolina University

LEARNING ACTIVITIES Generalist practice refresher Defining community Defining and understanding the concepts of community practice The strengths-based perspective in relationship with community practice Social workers in community practice Case study: Competency-building application

GENERALIST PRACTICE “REFRESHER”” Work with individuals, families, groups, communities, organizations in a variety of social work and host settings Strengths perspective Evaluate service outcomes to continually improve service delivery & client outcomes Recognize, support, and build upon the innate capabilities of all human beings. Engage, assess, broker services, advocate, counsel, educate & organize with & on behalf of client & client systems Engage in community & organizational development

DEFINING COMMUNITY As a matter of geography of r e att ive m a lect hips s A col ns k) o ati twor l e r ne ( A ide s a nti ma ty/ tte int r o ere f sts (Netting, Kettner, Mc. Murtry, & Thomas, 2017)

POSITIVE OUTCOMES OF COMMUNITY Gemeinschaft Collective efficacy Social capital • Loyalty, kinship, strong ties • A community’s ability to organize its resources to attract positive forces or mitigate negative ones • Definitions differ, but resources that one can draw on via the social networks that one is a part of (Tönnies, 2001; Lin, Cook, & Burt, 2008)

ENHANCING COMMUNITY COMPETENCE Commitment to each other Self-awareness of shared values/interests Openness in communication Wide participation in community decision making (Fellin, 2001)

CONCEPTUAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Horizontal Structures Vertical Structures Reciprocit y Social Exclusion (Hardcastle, Powers, & Wenocur, 2011)

CONCEPTUAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Horizontal Structures Vertical Structures (Hardcastle, Powers, & Wenocur, 2011)

CONCEPTUAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Reciprocity Social Exclusion (Hardcastle, Powers, & Wenocur, 2011)

WARREN’S CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY Space People Shared values & institutions Interaction Distribution of power Social system (Netting, Kettner, & Mc. Murtry, 2017))

WARREN’S FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNITY Production, distribution, & consumption • Designed to meet people’s needs, including the most basic of food, clothing, shelter Socialization • Guides prevailing norms, traditions, and values of community members Social control • Process by which community members ensure compliance with norms & values Social participation • Interaction with others in community groups, associations, and organizations Mutual support • Function that families, friends, partners, neighbors, volunteers, professionals carry out when they care for sick, unemployed, distressed (Hardcastle, Powers, & Wenocur, 2011; Mc. Knight, 1995; Warren, 1975)

UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNITY TO CREATE CHANGE The World as it Ought to be Need s Values Resources Actors Interest s Power The World as it is (Kansas University, Work Group for Community Health and

TWO TYPES OF POWER Power With (Relational) Power Over (Linear) (Loomer, 1976)

CPR, STRENGTHS PERSPECTIVE P: promise & possibilities C: capacities, competencies, character (Saleeby, 2000) R: resiliency, resources, reserves

SOCIAL WORK ROLES IN COMMUNITY PRACTICE (HISTORICAL) Settlement House movement Charity Organization Society • Located in neighborhoods with high poverty rates, focused on providing support (groups, classes, childcare, etc) to neighborhood residents • Goal to have “rich” and “poor” living in close proximity • Learn more: http: //www. unionsettlement. org/history • Worked in large urban areas in “scientific” ways, forerunner to United Way

SOCIAL WORK ROLES IN COMMUNITY PRACTICE (MODERN) Community planning = http: //www. ashevillenc. gov/Departments/Pla • nningand. Urban. Design. aspx Examine needs that exist in a community and identify means of addressing the deficits • Not conflictual Community development = https: //www. mountainbizworks. org/ • Use entrepreneurial skills to build or a strengthen a financial base in a community; may also work to develop social service programs, educational programs, etc • Not conflictual Community organizing = http: //justeconomicswnc. org//; Moral Monday Movement, http: //www. naacpnc. org/home • Engage community members in mobilizing forces to increase power, fight oppression and injustice • More likely to be conflictual

CASE STUDY: COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT Best job in the neighborhood—and they own it: Worker co-ops expanding despite rust-belt economy Susan Arterian Chang Yes! Magazine Fall 2011

REFERENCES Chang, S. A. (2011). Best job in the neighborhood and they own it: Worker co-ops expanding despite rust-belt economy. Retrieved from http: //www. yesmagazine. org/issues/new-livelihoods/best-job-in-theneighborhood-and-they-own-it Fellin, P. 2001. The community and the social worker. Itasca, IL: Peacock. Kansas University, Work Group for Community Health and Development. (2016). Community tool box. Retrieved from http: //ctb. ku. edu/en/learn-skill Lin, N. , Cook, K. , Burt, R. S. (2008). Social capital: Theory and research. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Loomer, B. M. (1976). Two kinds of power. Criterion, 15(1), 11 -29. Mc. Knight, J. (1995). The careless society: Community and its counterfeits. New York, NY: Basic Books. Netting, F. E. , Kettner, P. M. , Mc. Murtry, S. L. , & Thomas, M. L. (2017). Social work macro practice (6 th ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson. Saleebey, D. (2002). Power in the people. In D. Saleebey , The strengths perspective in social work practice (3 rd ed. ) (pp. 1 -22). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Tönnies, F. (2001). Community and civil society. J. Harris (Ed. ). New York, NY: Cambridge University. Warren, R. (1975). A community model. In K. Kramer and H. Specht (Eds. ), Readings in Community Organization Practice (2 nd ed. ). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.