SUBJECTS NAME: SCWK90057 WORKING WITH GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES
Assignment 1
Ungraded, 100 Possible Points100Points Possible
Attempt
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Assignment 1 (40% of overall mark)
This assessment task requires the completion of a2,000-word theoreticalessay.
Choose one of the following topics
References: Please use 6 references or more for this assignment and use APA7 referencing style.
Rubric
CRITERIA 1 : The essay demonstrates an understanding and application of the Community Capital Framework (Emery & Flora, 2006.)
CRITERIA 2: The essay demonstrates an understanding of the chosen forms of community capital.
CRITERIA 3: This essay presents an identified problem, critical analysis and application of the chosen forms of capital to the selected example.
CRITERIA 4: The essay critically utilises subject readings along with independent research.
CRITERIA 5: The analysis is very well written with succinct, error-free expression and clarity of meaning.
CRITERIA 6: The essay is appropriately referenced using APA7 style (APA).
1.1 Community work concepts: Working in the social dimension
When we think about social work practice with groups and communities, we are thinking about how social workers engage in the social dimension. Within Harms (2010) multidimensional approach the social dimension refers to patterns of connections between individuals and others, as well as with organisations and other institutions. This moves beyond what relationships a person has in their life to thinking about the patterns of connections that exist between these relationships.
Working to build a strong social dimension is important for several reasons. Firstly, a strong social dimension can have a positive impact on an individuals inner world dimensions. We know that social dimensions that feature strong interpersonal networks and high levels of social integration have a positive impact on an individuals health and wellbeing (Berkman, Glass, Brisette, & Seeman, 2000).
Take as an example the Italian island of Sardinia which is one of the blue zones in the world. These are zones where there is a longer than average life expectancy and an exceptionally high rate of centenarians within their populations. Researchers have found that the common characteristic amongst centenarians in Sardinia was the presence of close personal relationships as well as a high level of social integration. They were in contact with many people, with both strong and weak ties, throughout the day. The communities existing in Sardinia are highly socially integrated with strong connections within families and broader communities (Pinker, 2014). Researchers hypothesize that this nature of the Sardinian community lies at the heart of its community members living long, healthy lives.
Watch this TED talk from Susan Pinker for more information on this example.
Beyond this, the existence of a strong social dimension with high levels of social integration can have an impact on the structural and cultural dimensions. Putman (1993) argues that communities that have a high level of civic engagement, such as the participation in organized religion, parent-teacher associations, civic groups, and volunteer organisations, are more likely to have well-performing systems of governance.
Communities that are well connected are also better able to work together to solve collective problems. In 2020 we were faced with a monumental collective problem – the spread of COVID-19 throughout our communities. The impact of this on individuals and communities was immeasurable but what did emerge was a growing participation in mutual aid where communities came together to address emerging needs within communities, such as material aid, support for isolated individuals and families, and support connecting to health and welfare services. For example, community organisers in Cape Town supported the development of over 170 Community Action Networks (CANs) that helped communities assess members who were in need and matched them to volunteers that could help address these needs. The CANs set up community kitchens and food parcel deliveries, created opportunities for knowledge sharing about health amongst communities, and provided supports for those in self-isolation (van Ryneveld et al., 2020).
Well-connected communities can also work together to agitate for change about issues that directly affect them. An example of this is the movement that led to the Tenants Union, an organisation now based in every state and territory that supports tenants and advocates for reforms to laws and policies affecting tenants. The Commission of Inquiry into Poverty (1975) shone a light on housing-related poverty and provided the impetus for activism to protect the interests of renters. People concerned with unfair housing conditions began to articulate a new agenda for housing justice, which led to campaigns for fairer laws, the formation of the Tenants’ Unions and the development of funded services to advise and assist tenants.
The Tenants’ Unions initially began as a volunteer-run activist organisation working for legal protections against evictions, high rents, the poor state of rental housing, discriminatory practices and unfair treatment by landlords and their agents. The Tenants Unions have been instrumental in changing the landscape for tenants. Tenants Victoria successfully campaigned to have caravan park residents included in legislation in 1987 and rooming house residents covered in 1990. They were also instrumental in the establishment of an independent Residential Tenancies Bond Authority in 1997. For more information visit their website: www.tenantsvic.org.au. The Tenants Unions around Australia continue to be a vital voice for tenants and tenancy reform.
Both community and group work target the social dimension and aim to strengthen social ties and social integration in order to have an impact on individual wellbeing, community connectedness, and community action.
To better understand the social dimension, it is important to conceptualise the following concepts:
|
Type of Capital |
Definition |
Example |
|
Natural Capital |
Natural assets within the geographic location such as weather, natural resources, natural beauty, geographic isolation. |
Broome in Western Australia has significant natural capital due to its tropical weather and fertile soil suitable for agriculture as well as natural beauty which attracts tourism. |
|
Cultural capital |
How community members know the world, traditions and rituals, knowledge of how to act and behave within society. |
The Orthodox Jewish community living in Balaclava have traditions that are known by everyone within the community and have clear expectations about how to behave within society and with each other. |
|
Human capital |
The skills and abilities of people within the community that can be used to enhance community resources. |
The community of Anglesea has community members who are skilled in surf lifesaving and other community members who know the needs of children with disability. These joint skills and knowledge were used to develop the Starfish Nippers program a specialist life-saving skills program for children and young adults with a disability. |
|
Social capital |
The outcome of the nature of social networks. This could be the ability of social networks to connect people to material, instrumental, or emotional resources. |
Various Good Karma networks exist within Facebook. These groups connect people within their local areas and these networks are often utilised by the community to help community members in need. |
|
Political capital |
Access to power through connections to organisations, governments, or other power brokers. |
The Hobsons Bay Community Fund project had connections to business leaders and council members which enabled them to influence council decisions around social inclusion within local sports clubs. |
|
Financial capital |
Financial resources such as savings, investments, income, ability to access credit. |
Microloans are a form of peer to peer financing that is typically used in Third World countries where traditional lines of credit are not available. These loans are used to set up small businesses within the community which generate employment and income for community members. |
|
Built Capital |
The infrastructure that exists within communities to support community activity. |
The City of Melbourne Multicultural Hub is a building where spaces are available for community groups to hire. |
1.12 Social Capital
The concept of social capital provides a means of analysing the resources that exist within social relationships. It is important to note that there are various competing definitions of social capital. For this subject, we will use the definition from Hawkins & Maurer which can be found in this weeks reading pack:
The by-product of social interactions that are embedded in and accessed via formal and informal social relationships with individuals, communities and institutions (2012, pg 356).
Social capital is a by-product of social networks and consequently can only exist when it is shared- it is not the property of one individual but rather is the property of a group or community. It also cannot be diminished in the same way as financial capital can. For example, when you graduate from the University of Melbourne your connections to the University will provide you with such resources as professional references, a degree that carries certain prestige, and a connection to potentially influential alumni. These are resources that are not diminished if you choose to utilise them.
Social capital at the individual level
Access to social capital plays an important role in individuals lives. The resources that can be derived from social capital include the following:
Perhaps most importantly, access to social capital can have an impact on social mobility.
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Case example: Lisa and Ayaan Lisa is a domestic student that attended a private school which had a highly committed group of parents, teachers, and community members that supported school activities. She lives in a suburb mostly populated by people with high socioeconomic status. Her family have lived there for her whole life. Her high school alumni include several leaders within the business industry and within politics. Ayaan is an international student from Somalia who arrived in Australia one year ago on a supported scholarship. She is living in the outer suburbs of Melbourne and does not have a connection to any Somalian families and has limited connections with Australian locals. She works 20 hours a week to supplement her income while studying. Other residents in her suburb are suspicious of new migrant groups. Both young women have the same level of intelligence and drive to achieve. They are studying social work and wish to become policymakers. However, they both have access to different degrees of social capital within their social networks. Lisa is connected with many people working in the professional/managerial/political class who may be able to link her to internships or job opportunities. They will be able to provide her with guidance on how to build her CV and how to make herself appealing to employers. Ayaan is unlikely to have access to these resources. As a new migrant, she does not have connections to the people who could link her with employment opportunities or knowledge to improve her employability. She is also working while studying which limits the time she has to build new connections. The result of this different access to social capital may lead to different employment opportunities for two women. |
High levels of interpersonal trust, strong social networks that are reciprocal, and prosocial norms are features of social capital that benefit the whole of society. Putman (1993) examined the different levels of civic engagement in Italy. He found that in the north of the country there was a high level of participation in clubs, guilds, choirs etc and correlated this with a well-functioning civic and political system. This was compared with the south of Italy where community engagement was weaker and there was more dysfunction within the civic and political systems where there were widespread corruption and organised crime. Here social capital is seen as resulting from trusting relationships between community members and with organisations.
Features of social capital
The nature of social capital that exists in social networks can vary dependent on the kinds of relationships that exist within a social network (Gitell & Vidal, 1998). Here we can see three types of social capital:
Bonding –Bonding capital is the result of relationships between people who are alike. Networks with high levels of bonding relationships can be rich with social support, role validation, and pro-social norms. People are likely to be able to form close connections with others within the network with ease and are likely to feel a sense of belonging. However, there may be less opportunity for social mobility within communities with high levels of bonding capital as there is limited access to resources that dont exist within the community.
Case example:The town of Louise Falls has a population of 2000, most of whom work in the towns coal mine. The population are of the same ethnicity and are mostly working class. Management and other professional staff employed by the mine are largely Fly In Fly Out workers who do not live in the town. They have a thriving netball and football club, several well attended churches, a Rotary club, and a highly active Country Womens Association. The school is well supported by parents; however, the teachers are typically new graduates who do not stay in the town for very long. With the move towards renewable energy, the coal mine is being slowly decommissioned and there is an increasing amount of redundancies being offered to employees. The unemployment rate within Louise Falls is increasing.
This is an example of a community which has a lot of bonding capital. Residents are likely to feel like they belong to a community, and residents would have easy access to support in the face of a crisis such as illness. However, this bonding capital may not result in the resources that the community needs to adapt to the changing employment market. As most residents work within the one industry and have similar levels of education most community members are under threat from these changes and may not be able to help out their fellow community members who are also facing unemployment.
Bridging–Bridging capital is the result of relationships between people who are dissimilar. These relationships may be more difficult to establish than bonding relationships but have the benefit of increasing access to a wider diversity of resources. This can have the impact of increasing social mobility as individuals have access to knowledge and connections that increase their choices in life.
Case example: The town of Louise Falls is a 60-minute drive away from Steeple Hill, another small town that has several factories involved in manufacturing as well as a growing forestry industry. The football clubs in both Louise Falls and Steeple Hill regularly play against each other and have a healthy rivalry. There are good friendships between players on both teams. As the coal mines are being decommissioned some of the players from Steeple Hill can link their friends with employers in local factories. They are also able to give them some guidance on how to retrain to work in the forestry industry.
Here we can see an example of bridging social capital. The connections of community members of Louise Fall to others who have different vocational backgrounds will enable them to better adapt to the changing employment landscape.
LinkingLinking capital is the result of relationships with people or institutions are in a position of power or sit on a higher level of the social hierarchy. For example, linking capital could be an outcome of relationships with elected officials or connections with an esteemed university such as the University of Melbourne. Like bridging capital, it can generate resources that do not exist within a strongly bonded community. Linking capital can be more difficult to establish, but the potential returns are higher.
Case example: A Louise Falls resident, Steven, has a brother, Sam, who is the local Federal Member of Parliament and holds a seat on the backbench of the Federal Government. Steven speaks to Sam regularly about his concerns with the coal mine decommissioning and Sam has begun to meet with other community members about their concerns. Sam has become aware that the community is lacking skills to work in other industries and that the town will face an unemployment crisis in the coming years. The current federal government are making decisions about where to invest in new wind and solar farms. Sam uses his position as an MP to advocate for the government to choose Louise Falls for new renewable energy projects and to provide training incentives for community members.
Here linking capital becomes instrumental in helping the Louise Falls community adapt to the decommissioning of the coal mines. We can see that the linking capital generates resources that have a larger impact than the resources generated by the bridging capital. The connections between friends in the football club may benefit individual community members, but the connection to influential people with the government will have a more substantial impact on the broader community.
The nature of relationships within social networks is also important to consider when thinking about social capital. Putman (1993) and Coleman (1988) argue that social capital is produced within social networks that are characterised by high levels of trust and reciprocity.
Trust and trustworthinessare seen as crucial to the existence of social capital. If individuals within networks have trust for others within the network, they are more likely to share resources, information, and support through the network. Similarly, trust is essential for stable social relations and effect collective actions. Without trust, there is little incentive for individuals to work collectively with others.
Reciprocitywithin social networks is also key to social capital. It is useful to think about how resources flow within networks. If resources only flow in one direction- so one person within a network is consistently providing advice to other members in a network but does not receive any support in return- there is a lack of reciprocity within the network which may result in individuals being less likely to share resources due to a perception that they will receive nothing in return. However, if network members are consistently sharing resources as well as receiving them from others, there is a high level of reciprocity. This would enable network members to continue to share resources as there would be a perception that they would be able to access resources when necessary.
Hawkins and Maurer (2012) argue that it is important to go beyond these relational features of social capital. An individuals structural position within a hierarchical society along with their ethnicity, race, class, and gender can influence the degree of trust and reciprocity an individual experiences within their networks. There may be high levels of trust and reciprocity amongst men who went to an elite high school- their positioning in society is important to understand when considering their access to social capital.
To learn more about these features of social capital take some time to read the Hawkins and Maurer (2012) reading for this week.
The Dark side of social capital
Social capital is not a cure-all for society. Social capital can also play a negative role in society. Consider the following potential negative impacts of social capital:
Social cohesion and autonomy If you have a highly cohesive, strongly bonded network where there is access to large amounts of social capital you may feel very well supported but the reciprocity and obligation that often characterises this cohesion can result in a loss of autonomy. This is less of a problem amongst networks where individuals have greater access to resources – they are not so reliant on the network for resources (Aguilar & Sen, 2009).
Group social capitalSome groups are tightly bonded and highly resourced and can work to protect and replenish resources amongst group members by excluding outsiders (Putman, 2000).
Low tolerance for difference Highly homogenous bonded groups can police social norms which can be disadvantageous to group members. For example, some religious communities can be rich in social capital due to strong networks, high levels of trust and reciprocity, and a shared understanding of the world but they may not tolerate group members who are gay or transgender.
Dominant culture VS the Dominated Social capital is intrinsically linked with cultural and economic capital and is more easily accumulated by those who are part of the dominant culture. Those who are outside of the dominant culture can be excluded (Bourdieu, 1986).
Downward levelling norms Communities high in social capital have the effect of maintaining social norms. This is not always positive and can result in the maintenance of anti-social norms. For example, organised crime may be a central force within communities and high levels of social capital within these communities may reinforce the value of participating in organised crime (Portes,1998).
1.13 Cultural Capital
Cultural capital can be understood as the accumulation of specific knowledge, skills, tastes, educational qualifications that can serve as resources. Cultural capital also refers to the implicit and often unseen knowledge that a person possesses that enables them to understand and negotiate social settings. It is acquired over time and often passively inherited through participation within culture and tradition. For example, if you grew up within Anglo Australian culture you would most likely have inherited an implicit ability to use Australian slang and lingo, to understand Anglo Australian humour, and to perform the kind of humility that lies at the heart of Australian culture. There was probably no time in your life when you remembered receiving this knowledge, it was something that you grew up witnessing and became embodied in your perception of the world and others.
Bourdieu (1986) describes this using the termsFieldandHabitus. Afieldcan be small, such as a workplace or an organisation, or it could be large, such as a whole country. The boundaries of afieldare the set of rules that exist about what is valued. So, a workplace can be seen as a certainfieldwhere codes of dress are established, ways of interacting with colleagues are set, the way timeliness is valued, or what measures of performance are celebrated. A country such as Australia can be considered afieldby a set of rules that could include the forms of recreation that celebrated (AFL, rugby), the ways in gender is expected to be performed, what lingo or slang is used, what forms of education are privileged, or what life aspirations are encouraged. Every day we may negotiate many differentfieldsand may either feel comfortable within these spaces, or we may feel like a fish out of water. This can be seen as determined byhabitus.
Habitusis the encoded knowledge and beliefs that guide how an individual negotiates the world. This is formed through an individuals life experiences and movement through the social world. Thehabituscan also be seen as the underlying structures that guide how people act within society that becomes embodied in how we move and act in the world. When a person is existing within afieldthat has a set of rules that match up with theirhabitus,they will seamlessly navigate the rules of thefieldas they have embodied the social and behavioural expectations of this field. However, a personshabituscan be at odds with thefieldthey enter into. The experience of living in a place where the culture is vastly different from ones own is an example of this. The implicit cultural understanding you may have acquired growing up within Anglo Australian culture will not help you negotiate intricacies of a business deal in Japan. In fact, you may read every book written about Japanese culture, but you still may not pick up on the subtle cultural intricacies that govern behaviour within these settings.
Another aspect of cultural capital is that it cannot be bought using economic capital. Take a person born in a lower socioeconomic suburb of Melbourne who wins twenty million dollars in the lottery. They can buy a house in Toorak, and affluent suburb of Melbourne, and can send their children to private schools in the area but they are likely to still feel like a fish out of water as they have not embodied the subtle rules that govern this economic class. They might find themselves, and their children, excluded within this community as they do not know how to conform to the subtle norms and expectations implicit within this field.
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Case Example:In his memoir,One Hundred Years of Dirt,Rick Morton (2018) provides a clear example of the power of cultural capital. Rick grew up in remote Queensland and his family experienced a range of social disadvantage such as family violence, drug abuse, and most importantly, poverty. Rick managed to stay in school and applied for a scholarship to Bond University. As part of the application process, applicants were invited for a week stay on the campus and invited to multiple social events. He describes how the other applicants engaged in these events with complete ease and yet he felt out of his depth negotiating the sometimes subtle social expectations at these events. For example, he describes going to a Japanese restaurant and being the only one not able to use chopsticks. This is cultural capital at play. Rick did not grow up in asocial fieldwhere these subtle social, linguistic, and symbolic codes were implicitly taught. Upon entering this elitesocial fieldhe did not have the necessaryhabitusto negotiate these social settings with ease. Rick was not successful in his scholarship application, despite his strong academic performance. This may be partly due to his lack of cultural capital in this setting. |
Communities can be afieldwhere there are set rules and norms that govern social behaviour, what is valued in terms of art and fashion, and what traditions or rituals are celebrated. These are forms ofcultural capital. Cultural capital can be a resource that bonds communities together through a shared understanding of the world, but it can also be a source of division, conflict, and domination. Within most communities, some groups are part of the dominant culture, where theirhabitus, is privileged and celebrated. Those that not possess thishabituscan be excluded or marginalised (Flora et al., 2015).
Within communities, there can be competingfields. There may be different cultural groups or different socio-economic classes that exist side by side and compete to define what is valued and celebrated within the community. In some communities, this can lead to a pluralisticfieldwhere many ways of inhabiting the world are allowed and celebrated. We can see this within the multicultural suburbs of Footscray and Springvale. However, there are examples where this competition to define the rules of the field leads to violence and even warfare. This is evident in various religious conflicts we have seen throughout history.
To learn more about Bourdieus conceptualisation of cultural capital read Aguilar & Sen (2009) reading in this weeks reading pack.
1.14 Political Capital
Political capital is the product of connections with institutions or individuals that are responsible for law-making, allocation of resources, or the enforcing of rules and norms within society (Flora et al., 2015). Individuals or communities can gain access to resources through their connections with people or institutions with power.
Within all societies, there are power brokers who can make decisions that have large scale impacts on individuals and communities. Take for example the decision to introduce Job Keeper at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis (Forsyth, 2020). This decision resulted in one the largest single government expenditure in Australias history, saved countless jobs and propped up the Australian economy. This decision by the Australian government was a product of powerful lobbying by trade union and business groups who were able to ensure the perspectives of their constituents were heard by decision-makers.
In general political capital reflects the dominant groups within society and there is a tendency to support the status quo (Flora et al., 2015). This can make it difficult for minority groups to have their voices heard within political decisions. For example, the Marriage Equality campaign fought for years to have same-sex marriage recognised under Australian law. The heteronormative status quo remained within Australian law until there was enough widespread community support for same-sex marriage to influence decision-makers (Anderson et al., 2017).
Here it is important to reflect onlinkingsocial capital that we discussed earlier in this module. Linking social capital can enable individuals or communities to have connections with those in power that can be used to influence decision making. Throughout activist movements linking capital has been used by minority communities to facilitate legislative change. The early feminist movements used linking capital with male lawmakers to introduce sex discrimination legislation, civil rights activists had to work with white politicians to advance civil rights in America, and disabled activists connected with able-bodied UN officials to develop the Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability (CRPD) (Sellick & Daya, 2019).
Political capital is not just about legislation and government. It also involves influence with the enforcers of laws and well as social norms. The ability to influence the way policing occurs within communities is a key example here. The Black Lives Matter movement has been calling out police brutality towards Black Americans for years but until recently did not have much success in changing the nature of policing that was at the root of this mistreatment (Rickford, 2016). This can be understood as the Black American community having a lack of political capital to change practices that were hurting their communities.
Activity:Take some time to reflect on the communities in which you belong. Take some notes on what forms of social capital, cultural capital, and political capital your communities have access to.
1.2 Community work skills – Mapping capital
When working in the social dimension it is useful to be able to map the levels of social, cultural, and political capital within a group or community.
This week we will start by getting you to map your own social capital. You will then discuss this in your tutorial groups and get a sense of what collective social capital you have as a group.
A mind map is a diagram used to visually organise information. A mind map is hierarchical and illustrates relationships and connections. It is created around a single concept or idea which is drawn in the centre of a blank page. Associated ideas, images, words and colours are then branched out of this central concept. A mind map is also a useful tool for client work.
You will develop your own individual social capital mind map. On your mind map, note which relationships are bonding, bridging or linking.
Below is an example of a social capital mind map – you can be as creative as you like and it can be in either electronic or written format. Please bring your social capital mind map to your first tutorial.
In our tutorial discussions, we will explore questions such as:
What did you learn from doing your own social capital map?
What have you learned from seeing others’ mind maps and hearing how and why they constructed them the way they have?
How can you use these learnings in your future work as a social worker?
What relevance does this have when working with groups? or with communities?
1.3 Group work
In this subject, you will be working together as groups to move through a community development process. Each week you will take turns to facilitate your tutorial group. You will work together to discuss key issues relating to the Richmond Neighbourhood Centre case study and make decisions about community engagement strategies, hierarchies of needs, and key features you think are needed in the centre.
Each week, the group facilitation will run for approximately 45 minutes in the second half of the tutorial. In our first tutorial, this facilitation process will be fully explained and you will have an opportunity to ask questions and to decide on the facilitation schedule. In addition, each week you will receive a tutorial brief which will provide guidance around the content and activities to cover for that tutorial session.
Through the online learning, each week we will cover aspects of different group work theories and concepts that will complement all that you do in your tutorials. We will also dedicate time at the end of each tutorial for reflective practice of the group dynamics during facilitation. These reflective sessions will provide excellent insights for you to build on in your second assignment.
1.31 Types of Groups
There is a wide range of groups that you may engage with in your social work practice which differ in their aims and how they are structured. One way of conceptualising these groups is that they exist along a continuum (Cohen & Mullender, 1999).
On one end of this continuum liesremedialgroups which are primarily therapeutic and aimed at treating or rehabilitating group members. These groups are usually hierarchical with group leaders maintaining control over the group.
In the middle is theinteractionalmodel where the aim of the group is mutual between group members. This kind of group is less directive that the remedial model.
On the other side of the continuum is thesocial goalsmodel which involves groups that are focused on social change and empowerment.
Groups come together to tackle an issue that either affects them directly or that they are collectively passionate about. In your tutorial groups, you are forming a group that is most closely aligned with asocial goalsmodel. You are coming together to do some work on improving the community connectedness within the suburb of Richmond through the community centre.
Another way to think about groups is that we are constantly engaged in all kinds of groups in our day to day lives. You may belong to a sporting team or be engaged in other recreational activities with groups of people. You may belong to a union or association. In the workplace you may engage with a number of groups, this will include your team, but it may also involve sitting on committees or taking part in working groups on specific projects. In your time as a social worker, you will almost inevitably need to facilitate some sort of group.
This subject aims to help you understand how to work with groups in this broader sense rather than just focusing on therapeutic groups. What you will learn is that some common processes can exist across all types of groups.
1.32 Tuckman’s stages of group development
Many theorists conceptualise the common processes that occur within groups but the most notable comes from Bruce Tuckman (1965) who theorised that groups go through several developmental stages. Groups have certain stages that present unique challenges. These stages are not necessarily linear, elements of some stages may reappear in later stages. The nature of stages may vary due to group purpose and diversity (McDermott, 2002).
Tuckman suggested that groups go through the following stages:
This tends to occur when a group commences. Here group members are unsure about being in a group. They are trying to figure out what the group is for, how the group will be run, and what to expect from other group members. Group members may be unsure about contributing, they may watch others and try and read the group. Most humans are geared to fit in with others and this is evident in group forming processes. Group members at this stage may be intent on making a good impression on others and dissenting views may not be expressed openly. As group members are anxious to get a feel of the group they can tend to rely heavily on facilitator direction. Transference can occur within groups and group members may bring any past experiences they have in groups into the present setting.
This stage occurs once group members begin to feel more comfortable with each other, and with themselves in the group. Group members will begin to take more ownership of the group and may feel more comfortable disagreeing with each other, or with the facilitator. Tensions can arise over power and authority. Disagreements or conflict can be seen as an important stage in developing group roles and norms.
At this stage tensions around power and authority are resolved. Any hidden agendas within the group are resolved. Group members have clear roles that they play and this is understood by all group members. This can result in greater trust amongst group members resulting in group members more willing to share. At this stage, the group may have had some wins in terms of their goals and objectives.
Here the group has become more focused on achieving its purpose. This can result in individuals deferring to group needs and group members taking pleasure in the successes of the group. The group may become more organised and efficient and there may be high levels of openness, empathy, and trust. There may be an awareness of the group coming to an end which may increase cohesion, interdependence and commitment to the group.
Most groups eventually come to an end at some point or the group may change due to group members or facilitators leaving. At this stage, some group members may become overly involved in the group, or they may become disinterested or detached. There may need to be some decisions made about the future of the group (reforming).
Across the semester we will explore each of these stages in more depth and prompt you each week to reflect on your tutorial group and what stage your group may be at.
1.4 Activities to complete before this week’s tutorial
For this first week, there are three activities for you to complete before the tutorial.
These briefs can be located on the LMS under Modules through this link:Tutorials- Group briefs and Facilitation guides. Have a think about which week you would like to facilitate. In our first tutorial, we will collaboratively work out the facilitation schedule for the semester.
A mind map is a diagram used to visually organise information. A mind map is hierarchical and illustrates relationships and connections. It is created around a single concept or idea which is drawn in the centre of a blank page. Associated ideas, images, words and colours are then branched out of this central concept. A mind map is also a useful tool for client work.
You will develop your own individual social capital mind map. On your mind map, note which relationships are bonding, bridging or linking.
Below is an example of a social capital mind map – you can be as creative as you like and it can be in either electronic or written format. Please bring your social capital mind map to your first tutorial.
In our tutorial discussions, we will explore questions such as:
What did you learn from doing your own social capital map?
What have you learned from seeing others’ mind maps and hearing how and why they constructed them the way they have?
How can you use these learnings in your future work as a social worker?
What relevance does this have when working with groups? or with communities?
At the forming stage of group development members often bring their past experiences of being in a group into the present day. This may shape how they approach their engagement with the group. Take some time to think about your past experiences in group settings. This can be as part of a sporting team or other recreational group, it could be a work or study group, or it could be engagement with a more therapeutic group.
Think about both the positive and negative experiences you have had in groups and write down the answers to the following questions:
(a.) In your experience, in what situations did groups work well? What worked well?
(b.) In your experience, in what situations did groups not work well? What did not work well?
(c.) How have your experiences in group shaped the way you now work in groups?
Don’t forget to bring your notes and your mind map from these activities to the first tutorial for some rich discussion and exploration.
1.5 References
Cohen, M. B., & Mullender, A. (1999). The Personal in the Political: Exploring the Group Work Continuum from Individual to Social Change Goals.Social Work with Groups,22(1), 1331.https://doi.org/10.1300/J009v22n01_02Links to an external site.Links to an external site.
Emery, M., & Flora, C. (2006). Spiraling-Up: Mapping Community Transformation with Community Capitals Framework.Community Development,37(1), 1935.https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330609490152Links to an external site.Links to an external site.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups.Psychological Bulletin,63(6), 384399
2.1 Welcome to Week 2
Welcome to week 2. This week we are looking at some key concepts that guide community work. We will explore what a community is and look at the policy context of community work. We will then look at four different approaches to community work, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and consider under what circumstances to implement a particular approach.
This week we will begin scoping and planning a community development project by exploring the City of Yarra at your own time. This will leads tothe Richmond Neighbourhood Centre redevelopment which will be focusing on for group activity through this semester.
Finally, we will take a look at some key issues to consider when planning a group and we will delve a little deeper into theformingstage of group development.
There aretwoactivities to complete before this week’s tutorial: conducting some informal scoping of theRichmondcommunity, and a reflective summary about what you know so far about your tutorial group.
.11 What is a community and what is community work?
When thinking about doing community work it is important to consider exactly what we mean when we talk about community. Heller (1989, p. 9) offers this definition of community:
Community as a locality refers to the territorial or geographic notion of community the neighbourhood, town or city. The second meaning of community, the relational community, refers to qualities of human interaction and social ties that draw people together. (Heller, 1989, p. 3)
Here we can see two forms of community, one that is bound by locality and another that is relational. Taylor (2015, p. 49) takes a broader approach to community:
Community can exist where there are patterned interactions between people acting together in the common concerns of life.
Taylor (2015) specifies three types of community that community work has an interest in.
Community of place:Here people are joined by their common existence in a geographical place where the boundaries of this space are clearly defined. For a geographical location to become a community of place there need to be structures, organisations, and networks that exist to meet peoples needs (eg: shops, health centres, banks etc).
Community of interest:Here a community is a group of people who are connected through a shared interest, identity or value system. These communities may have a short life span or may be ongoing across generations. Some examples include:
Online communities:Online communities are an important feature of our social world. Social networks such as Facebook, Reddit, Twitter provide mechanisms for the development of spontaneous communities. Online communities can develop around shared interests and can join people on a global level with ease. Online communities can also connect people up within their geographical space. Take for example the Good Karma Networks that have sprung up on Facebook that connect residents who would not normally be able to easily make connections. This news story highlights the role of these networks in connecting people during the COVID-19 crisis:
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-3-lockdowns-0-how-resilience-and-compliance-saw-us-through-20210218-p573nf.html?btisLinks to an external site.
Reflection:What do you think of Taylor’s three types of community? Do you consider online communities to be mutually exclusive to community of place or even community of interest? Do you think there are other types of community that should be added? How culturally relevant do you think that this typology of community is? How inclusive is this typology?
What is community work?Community work involves working with communities collaboratively to achieve social, environmental, or economic wellbeing through a structured process. There are many terms used within the literature to describe this work including community development, community organising, community practice, social development, and community engagement. We will use the terms community work or community development throughout this subject.
2.12 Policy context of community work
It is important to consider the policy context of community work as this provides the backdrop for the growing interest in community development. This context relates to the demise of the welfare state and the decline of community connectedness within Western societies.
The demise of the welfare state
Contemporary community work sits within a changing policy context with the modern welfare state that emerged in many Western democracies after the second world war sitting at odds with neoliberalism and economic rationalist policy agendas. Since the 1970s there has been a critique of the welfare state from both the left and right of the political spectrum. The welfare state has been continuously attacked from conservative political parties as it created a high level of government expenditure that necessitates high levels of personal and business tax. This sits at odds with the conservative focus on individual responsibility and small government.
The welfare state has also been critiqued by Marxist commentators as being a system that holds up the status quo (Pemberton & Locke, 1971). The welfare state was seen as a way to contain collective change. The provision of a safety net for the lower classes was seen to stifle discord about class inequality.
The welfare state has also been critiqued from a more generalist perspective. Modern welfare systems have become overburdened and often cannot respond effectively to need. In addition to this, the generalised nature of government led service provision has been critiqued for not responding well to diverse needs within the community (Tesoriero, 2010).
The policy response to these critiques of the welfare system has largely hinged on neo-liberalism. This has involved the scaling down of government services, and the outsourcing of service provision, either to non-government organisations or increasingly to the private sector. This dismantling of the welfare state has led to growing social inequity and social exclusion (Tesoriero, 2010).
Who should meet citizen need?
Contemporary community development has emerged within the context of the demise of the modern welfare state and the neo-liberal aftermath. The responsibility for the welfare of citizens has shifted from the state back on to individuals, families, and communities (Taylor, 2015). Increasingly there has been a policy focus, and some level of investment in, strategies to help communities to work together to identify and address need (Tesoriero, 2010). One of the key dilemmas in this approach is whether the nature of our communities is such that they are able to mobilise and work collectively to meet individuals needs or solve collective problems.
A lack of community?
When thinking about whether communities are well equipped to meet need and respond to collective problems it is useful to consider the two types of society defined by German sociologist Ferdinand Tnnies (1955).
Gemeinschaft– a society where people interact with a relatively small number of people that they know well in a variety of different roles. Here the public and private spheres of life are blurred.
An example of this kind of society would be a small rural town where most people who live there know each other. Here you may have a local doctor who also plays on the local football team and frequents the local pub for trivia night. The public relationships he has as a doctor are likely to blur with the private relationships with his footy friends and the trivia teams he competes with at the pub.
The social relationships within aGemeinschaftsociety are largely strong and individuals are likely to be embedded within a tight social network. Within such settings, social capital is likely to flow easily and consequently it is likely that the society can respond well to needs that exist within the network. It is also easier to meet individual needs within such a society as individuals are likely to exist within a close social network of known people who can respond quickly if something was to go wrong.
Gesellschaft –a society where citizens dont personally know the majority of people they come in contact with on a daily basis. Most of these relationships are transactional and the public and private spheres are very separate.
This is typical of large urban cities. Residents in these cities are likely to spend their days interacting with a vast range of people that they do not know. A GP in the city is far less likely to encounter his patients in social settings, the public sphere of his life is kept largely separate from his private life.
Social networks in aGesellschaftsociety are more likely to be weak and the social capital spread within broader social networks may be minimal. Meeting need withinGesellschaftsociety can be more difficult as there are far more strangers within this society. People are less likely to go out of their way to help a stranger in need as compared to someone that they know.
Many communities in the West have moved from aGemeinschaftsociety to aGesellschaftsociety and this has resulted in a decline in community connectedness.
The need for community development
What is evident here is a dual problem. As policies of neoliberalism have resulted in a shifting of responsibility for citizen welfare away from government, there is an increasing need for communities to support individuals and families. However, we are also faced with a corresponding decline in community connectedness.
This is a problem that community development aims to address. Tesoriero (2010) argues that community development can address this problem in the following ways:
Drawing on a range of different cultural perspectives brings a rich and diverse conceptualisation of community and thus community work. The Richmond community is culturally diverse and thus understanding how some of these concepts translate across different countries and cultures is an important aspect of better understanding this particular community.
In Tonga,o’ofakiis a community-centered approach that brings people together encouraging community work and development and the process is based on “reciprocal sharing of social capital to promote cultural solidarity and social justice” (Ofanoa et al., 2021, p. 3). This has been used to bring people together to commit to and fully involve themselves in health promotion, community development, and public health activities for example.
In Rwanda, community work is known asumugandain Kinyarwanda, the local language. Traditionally,umumgandais a “form of collective action, participation and belonging” similar toharambeein Kenya,ujamaain Tanzania, andhumanismin Zambia (Uwimbabazi, 2012, p. 3).
In their thesis, Uwimbabazi (2012) discusses the policy and practice of community work in Rwanda through the lens ofumugandawith an emphasis on how the concept can be used to foster development and peace in the country. Interestingly, in mapping the evolution ofumugandaacross time, Uwimbabazi notes that as a result of the government effectively taking over the concept and making it mandatory, local people have distanced themselves fromumugandapractice. This has involved the government using the concept as a platform to implement programs such as decentralisation and economic development plans
These are just some examples of community around the world. In this week’s tutorial, we will discuss this further and will share our own lived experience of community to ensure we practice inclusively.
Over the course of this semester, we will detail a range of strategies that aim to meet these objectives. In our work focusing on the Richmond Neighbourhood Centre, it is important to consider these objectives alongside the pragmatic aims of the project.
2.13 Conceptual approaches to community work
There are a variety of approaches to community work that have developed over the years. Taylor (2015) has developed four categories that define different ways of working with communities.
A contribution approach involves organisations engaging with communities in a way that makes use of their resources. Community members are brought in to contribute time, expertise, labour, skills, money, or access to local networks to support community projects. Within this approach community members have minimal influence in decision making about how resources are used or project directions. The organisation leading the work retain power in decision making. Community members instead play a role as contributors rather than active participants (Taylor, 2015).
Case example:An organisation called Northern Action on Mental Illness Corporation (NAMIC) delivers a range of services to people living in the northern suburbs of Melbourne who have been diagnosed with a mental illness. NAMIC receives some government money but also raise funds through community fundraising events such as sausage sizzles, raffles, and quiz nights. These events are staffed by volunteers who are either users of the service or their relatives. The organisation is highly respected by the community who are keen to contribute to the organisation as community members can see that they offer valuable support to community members struggling with mental illness. The funds raised through these mechanisms allow NAMIC to deliver services such as art programs and outings that are not funded by the government. Service users, family members, and community members can provide feedback to NAMIC through their feedback channels but do not have a role in decision making within the organisation.
An instrumental approach involves the engagement of individuals or groups within a community according to a strategy defined by professionals to meet government objectives. Here there is a pre-determined goal (eg: reduction of smoking in the community) and this goal is more important than the act of participation. This tends to be a top-down approach where the design of the intervention, objective setting, implementation, and evaluation is done by professionals. Communities members are brought in to participate in these stages but they are not involved in defining need or designing the implementation (Taylor, 2015).
Case example: NAMIC has been successful in a tender from the state government to implement a suicide reduction strategy in their area. The government tender has specified that the strategy must result in a reduction in mental health presentations to ED. NAMIC begin a campaign within the Northern Suburbs which involves information sessions about mental health treatment options, the support of RUOK Day events throughout the suburb, and a series of training sessions with GPs in the local area to help them better respond to mental health crises. The evaluation of the strategy involves collecting data from local hospitals and Area Mental Health Services.
A community empowerment approach seeks to empower communities by creating sustainable structures, processes, and mechanisms that enable communities to have an increased degree of control over policies and services that impact them. This approach involves strengthening community collective identity and helping to build a sense of agency within the community. There is a focus on the partnership between community workers and community members with the aim of sharing power. Community workers can act as advocates by helping community members to understand their rights and how to exercise them. In addition to this, they can use their networks to enable and support action. This involves the utilisation of bridging and linking capital to bring resources into the community that might not already exist. There has been some critique of an empowerment approach as the discourse around empowerment is largely produced by the people who claim to do the empowering- rather than those who have been empowered (Wilson & Beresford, 2000). Within this approach, there is also a risk of empowering one community group at the expense of others (Taylor, 2015).
Case example: NAMIC decides to set up a community consultative committee made up of community members, consumers, and family members of consumers. This committee is tasked with identifying what needs exist within the community concerning mental health and to work to develop community strategies to address these needs. The committee receives training in how to conduct needs analyses, how to design and implement community strategies, and skills in research and evaluation. Community workers use their connections with local universities and philanthropy groups to apply for project funds to support projects. The committee is made up of 60?mily members of consumers, 20% consumers, and 20% general community members. Most of the committee members are white tertiary-educated women who live in wealthier parts of the district.
The developmental approach has a focus on process rather than outcome and is aimed at developing purposive developmental relationships that enable the enhancement of a whole community. This approach views community as holistic and ecological and consequently has a focus on including everyone in the community, with a focus on placing excluded groups in the centre. Within this approach community members define need and are supported to develop and implement solutions. This approach can be time-intensive and may be at odds with outcome focussed funding and government-led initiatives. Ideally, a developmental approach can meet instrumental aims whilst maintaining developmental processes (Taylor, 2015).
Case example:NAMICs community workers set up a community committee to guide their work. The workers and the committees spend substantial time building relationships with community members across the Northern Suburbs with a focus on connecting with marginalised community members such as those who have recently arrived in Australia, community members at risk of homelessness, LGBTIQ community members, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members. Community workers work with these groups to help them gain a better understanding of the systemic issues that may be exacerbating any mental health concerns and encourage them to join NAMICs community committee. The community committee has strong decision making powers and regularly influence board decisions and approaches to service delivery. This has recently involved NAMIC putting forward a policy submission that is highly critical of government approaches to mental health service delivery. This government is responsible for 80% of NAMICs funding including their community development programs.
2.14 Getting a sense of community
At the beginning of any community development process is a need to gain a sense of a community and the key issues this community is grappling with, as well as the strengths and resources that exist within a community. From here it is important to map out an appropriate plan for a community development process.
Defining a community is important in order to understand the community and the community development process A community can be defined as place-based, interest-based or other new and emerging communities such as online communities.
From a social work perspective, there are two theories that are useful in assisting us to understand the community.
Human ecology theorylooks at a community in terms of the structures of relationships within the community and how a local population is structured to meet its needs. Human ecology theory posits that the key role of the community is providing support to its member for its survival (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009).
Human ecology theory: engagement in reciprocal relationships across four levels of environment: human group, human built, social-cultural, and natural.
Systems theoryis also a useful lens and looks at the community as social units and sub-systems that undertake social functions aiming to achieve social goals. Systems can be thought of as groups, organisations, roles and status (Matarrita-Cascante & Brennan, 2012).
The social relationships or interactions across a community are a critical feature of a community and it is important to understand how social relationships or interactions occur across different groups and stakeholders within a community.
In scoping an planning a community development process, it is important that the community development worker build purposeful relationships within a community, these are relationships forged between community members and workers which have a purpose, clear dialogue and become purposeful developmental relationships (Taylor p109).
A starting point in getting a sense of community in the Richmond context often begins with a key stakeholder. The redevelopment of the Richmond Neighbourhood Centre is being funded and managed by the City of Yarra. Each Local Government Area (LGA) in Victoria has a staff that includes a community services department. In the City of Yarra this is called the Community and City Services Department. One of the two activities to complete before this week’s tutorial involves conducting some informal scoping of the Richmond community.
In the next section, we will consider the three key stages of planning a community development process.
2.15 Planning a community development process
As previously outlined in this module, there are four key categories of community development work:
The planning stages of the community development process will differ for each of these approaches. It is important to be aware of the type of community development process as this will significantly impact the role of the social worker.
Remember that a community development process is just that a process and as such will take time, moving back and forward through stages and may see key people come and go throughout the process.
Planning a community development process generally involves three key stages:
Depending on the community development approach, different weighting might be attached to each of these different stages.
During this semester we will explore elements of stages 1 and 2 in our tutorials when we examine the redevelopment of the North Melbourne Community Centre.
2.21 Planning a Group
When starting a new group it is important to put some careful consideration into planning the group. The following are key features of Kurland and Kinneys (1982) group planning model.
Any group should begin with a clear purpose. While this purpose may change over time, to get a group running and to encourage engagement of group members there must be a clearly stated purpose at the beginning. The stated purpose of the group should relate directly to an identified need. The purpose should also direct you towards the type of group it will be. Last week we introduced you to the group work continuum (Cohen & Mullender, 1999) with remedial groups on one side of the continuum and social action groups on the other side. It is important to match the group’s purpose with the appropriate type of group on this continuum. This will help you determine the structure of the group and the role of the facilitator/s. The following are examples of groups with a specific purpose to meet a defined need.
|
Group |
Need |
Purpose |
Type |
|
Social work student critical reading group |
A group of MSW students felt that there was not enough critical content within the University of Melbourne social work course. They discussed this with teaching staff who couldnt change the curriculum. |
The students decided that they would take the matter into their own hands and set up a Social work critical reading group to create space for social work students to discuss critical approaches to social work. |
Interactional |
|
Hearing voices group |
A group of people in the UK who shared the experience of hearing voices (otherwise known as auditory hallucinations) were frustrated that the mental health services they were receiving did not provide opportunities to talk about their voice hearing experiences. |
They decided to set up a peer support group that aimed to create a space for people to openly discuss their experiences of voice hearing and share ways of coping and learning from these experiences. |
Interactional |
|
Relapse prevention group |
A group of social workers working in a community mental health service found that a lot of their clients were regularly being readmitted into hospital with an increase in their distress. |
The social workers set up a Relapse Prevention Group aimed at equipping consumers with tools needed to prevent hospital readmission. |
Remedial |
|
Friends of Merri Creek |
Residents who frequent Merri Creek found that there was a large amount of litter in the creek and were concerned about the changing birdlife around the creek. |
Residents set up a group aimed at improving the eco-system around Merri Creek through working bees and lobbying of the council. |
Social goals model |
It is also important to plan for the composition of a group. The composition of the group should match well with the group purpose. There are several features to consider when deciding on composition:
How many people need to be in the group for it to function well? If a group is too small there may not be enough people to build momentum, however, too large a group can be difficult to facilitate and may impact how inclusive a group can be.
Depending on the purpose of the group it is important to consider the composition of a group and how this might impact the goals of your group. If your group is highly homogeneous, how do you ensure that a diverse range of perspectives is considered? If the group is heterogeneous, how do you ensure that everyone feels included within the group?
Depending on the purpose of the group it may be important to consider what kinds of bonding, bridging, and linking relationships exist. There may be a need for a high amount of bonding relationships within a peer support group, or there may be a need for bridging and linking relationships in a social action group focused on changing legislation.
Decisions need to be made about the number of facilitators in a group and how facilitation will be managed. Co-facilitation has several benefits. Multiple facilitators can enrich a group experience by bringing in different perspectives and ways of working. Co-facilitators can support each other in monitoring group processes and providing feedback to each other. There can also be challenges associated with co-facilitation. These can include facilitators having different and conflicting approaches, potentially having competitive attitudes and behaviours, having a lack of clarity around roles, and being caught up with allegiances with different group members. If deciding to co-facilitate a group, it is important to work out processes of working together so that roles are clear, information is shared, and opportunities for debriefing are created.
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