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Community Organizing and Community Building

Community Organization refers to various methods of intervention whereby individuals, groups, and organizations engage in planned collective action to deal with social concerns. The literature on community organizing and building is not distinct; it is often intertwined with such terms as citizen participation, community empowerment, community participation, grass-roots participation, macro practice and community development. The process of community organization has been used for many years in the area of social work, but its history in the area of health promotion is much more recent. PATCH, is an excellent model for use in community organizing and community building.

Key Terms:

  • Community - a locale or domain that is characterized by the following elements:
  1. membership-a sense of identity and belonging;
  2. common symbol systems-similar language, rituals, and ceremonies;
  3. shared values and norms;
  4. mutual influence-community members have influence and are influenced by each other;
  5. shared needs and commitment to meeting them;
  6. shared emotional connection-members share common history, experiences, and mutual support.
  7. communality may be geographically bonded (e.g., a neighborhood) but is not necessary (e.g., an ethnic group).

In the past health educators focused solely on the individual however, today the focus is being directed toward the community. There are several terms used to indicate community involvement, by health agencies, outside funders, and policy makers (i.e.,):

  1. Citizen participation
  2. Grass-roots participation
  3. Community participation
  4. Macro practice
  5. Community based
  6. Community empowerment
  7. Community partnerships
  • Community organizing - a process through which communities are helped to identify common problems or goals, mobilize resources, and in other ways develop and implement strategies for reaching their goals they have collectively set. (See Figure 9.1)

Those who try to organize communities must make several assumptions:

  1. Communities of people can develop capacity to deal with their own problems.
  2. People want to change and can change.
  3. People should participate in making, adjusting, or controlling the major changes taking place in their communities.
  4. Changes in community living that are self-imposed or self-developed have a meaning and permanence that imposed changes do not have.
  5. A "holistic approach" can deal successfully with which a "fragmented approach" cannot cope.
  6. Democracy requires cooperative participation and action in the affairs of the community, and that the people must learn the skills which make this possible.
  7. Frequently communities of people need help in organizing to deal with their needs, just as many individuals require help in coping with their individual problems.

The Process of Community Organizing and Community Building: (See Figure 9.2)

  • Locality development - is like community development and seeks community change through broad self-help participation from the local community. "It is heavily process oriented, stressing consensus, and cooperation and aimed at building group identity and a sense of community.
  • Social planning - "Is heavily task oriented, stressing rational-empirical problem solving" and includes various levels of participation, ranging from a little to a lot, and involves outside planners.
  • Social action - "Is both task and process oriented" and deals with organizing a disadvantaged segment of the population. It aims at making changes in institutions and communities and often seeks a redistribution of resources and power.

Recognizing the concern:

When there is internal recognition of the issue or concern, it is referred to as grass-roots, citizen-initiated, or bottom-up organizing.

Gaining Entry into the Community:

Organizers should follow a set of steps to deal with the problem. They must know the community, how it functions, and how to accomplish tasks within it. They may include people such as business leaders, education leaders, heads of law enforcement agencies, leaders of community activist groups, parent and teacher groups, clergy, politicians, and others.

  1. Know with whom the power lies.
  2. Know what type of political interactions take place within the community.
  3. Understand the culture or cultures that exist in the community
  4. Know whether the concern has been recognized before, and, if so, how was it addressed.
  • Gatekeepers - Individuals who control, both formally and informally, the "political climate" of the community.

Organizing the People:

Make sure the group includes people who are most affected by the concern. (i.e.,) If you are dealing with a teenage drug problem, include teens in the core group. This core group will be small and will consist of people who are committed to the resolution of the concern, regardless of the time frame.

  • Executive participants - These individuals are the core group.

Change vision attributes: Are closely aligned with the organizer's view of the world political terms. These people see a need for change and are personally dedicated and committed to seeing the change occur-so much so that they are willing to put other priorities aside to see the project through.

Technical skills: includes two areas:

  1. Those related to efficacy on issues and,
  2. Those related to organizational health and effectiveness.

Interactional or experience skills: These skills include the ability to respond with empathy, to assess and intervene with individuals and groups, and to be able to identify, develop, educate, and maintain organizational members and leaders.

  • Active participants - (who may also be executive participants) take part in most group activities and are not afraid to do the work that needs to be done.
  • Occasional participants - become involved on an irregular basis and usually only when major decisions are made.
  • Supporting participants - are seldom involved but help swell the ranks and may contribute in non-active ways or through financial contributions. (See Boxes 9.1 and 9.2)
  • Coalition - can be defined as a temporary union of two or more individuals and/or organizations to achieve a common purpose (often, to compensate for deficits in power, resources and expertise). The underlying concept behind coalitions is collaboration for several individuals, groups, or organizations where their collective resources have a better chance of solving the problem than any single entity. (See Figure 9.3 for guidelines on keeping a coalition dynamic, viable, and effective)

Assessing the Community:

The typology of community organization includes: locality development, social planning, and social action. Each of these community organizing strategies operates "from the assumption that problems in society can be addressed by the community becoming better or differently 'organized,' with each strategy perceiving the problems and how or whom to organize in order to address them somewhat differently".

  • Community building - "is an orientation to community that is strength based rather than need based and stresses the identification, nurturing, and celebration of community assets."
  • Mapping community capacity - the process of assessing the capacities and assets provide a technique for completing the assessment, categorizes assets into three different groups based on their availability to the community and are referred to as building blocks.
  • Primary building blocks - are the most accessible assets. They are located in the neighborhood and are largely under the control of those who live in the neighborhood. Primary building blocks can be organized into the assets of individuals and those of organizations or associations. (See Figure 9.4)
  • Secondary building blocks - these are assets located in the neighborhood but are largely controlled by people outside the neighborhood. (See Figure 9.4)
  • Potential building blocks - are located resources originating outside the neighborhood and controlled by outside people. (See Figure 9.4)

Determining Priorities and Setting Goals:

The goal-setting process includes two phases.

  1. Identifying the priorities of the group-what the group wants to accomplish. The priorities should be determined through consensus rather than through an individual or small group decision.
  2. Using the priority list to write the goals. To help ensure that the ideas of community organization take hold, the stakeholders must be the ones to establish priorities and set the goals. (See Box 9.3)
  • Stakeholders - those in the community who have something to gain or lose from the community's organizing and building efforts.
  • Ownership - the membership of the community who participate in the health promotion program. They have worked to either implement or prohibit the success of the program.

Arriving at a Solution and Selecting Intervention Activities:

Much of the work to identify the appropriate solution(s) can be accomplished through subcommittees. Subcommittees can complete specific tasks that will contribute to the larger plan of action. Their work should yield specific strategies that are culturally sensitive and appropriate for the community.

Final Steps in the Community Organizing and Building Process:

The final four steps in a community organizing and building processes include:

  1. Implementing the plan
  2. Evaluating the outcomes of the plan of action
  3. Maintaining the outcomes in the community
  4. If necessary, "looping" back to the appropriate point in the process to modify the steps and restructure the work plan

Once the work of the group has been completed (that is, either the problem has been solved or community empowerment achieved), the group can either be disband or reorganize to deal with other issues.

Planned Approach to Community Health (PATCH):

The concept of PATCH was designed using the PRECEDE model and was created "to strengthen state and local health departments' capacities to plan, implement, and evaluate community-based health promotion activities targeted toward priority health problems".