The Logic Behind Community Organizing...

What is the logic behind community organizing, in relation to other human service initiatives?

I think this photograph sums the logic up best:

Image Credit: The Other 98% (on Facebook)

The first response, "If you give me a fish," signifies the charitable impulse. The social worker responds to the immediate needs of the client, to resolve the immediate crisis, but does not have the time, resources, or -- perhaps -- the inclination to do more for the client. Perhaps resolving the immediate crisis will be enough, it may provide the client with the breathing room needed to recover, so that the client can then take things into his or her own hands. But the problem may actually be deeper, in which case....

The second response, "If you teach me to fish," signifies intervention that teaches the client how to avoid future crises, or to respond to crises on his or her own, once they arise. This mode of social work practice is based on the assumption that if the client's behavior (or culture) can be changed their circumstances will improve. But what if the problem is bigger than the behavior, knowledge-base, or culture of a group or individual?

The third response, "If you teach me to organize," signifies intervention based on the assessment that the problem is structural and systemic at its core. Often problems, while having cultural or behavioral components to them, become intractable because of the disparity of social, political, and economic power -- and the way the "rules of the game" have been drawn up to protect the powerful. This requires development of skills that will shift the distribution of power (or access to information in order to make the system work for the vulnerable). Frequently this entails establishing cultural capital by linking with the interests and activities of others.

It is always helpful to be able to identify the underlying assumptions behind any particular mode of intervention. Michael Jacoby Brown contrasts and compares different methods of social intervention in the following video:

In this video Brown discusses the underlying assumptions behind the basic methods of social intervention. These methods are service, advocacy, mobilization, and activism; then he distinguishes between those modes of intervention and community organizing. This helps to draw out the fundamental methods and principles of community organizing and what its objectives entail.

How does organizing, as a form of intervention, distinguish itself from the other modes of intervention?

What are the attributes and parts of this thing we call "organizing"?

What are the assumptions that underlie the selection of community organizing as one's mode of intervention?

What assumptions underlie the selection of each of the other modes of intervention?

What is essential, in order for community organizing, or an organization, to be effective?

Person-in-Social Environment: A Core Social Work Concept

One of the things a successful student discovers when they study any academic discipline is that it is important to master the basics and the core concepts of that discipline before moving on to more complex matters. There is a reciprocal relationship between the two; mastering the basics makes more complex concepts even more comprehensible, and complex and specialized concepts provide one's understanding of basic and core concepts with greater depth, nuance and meaning.

There are a number of core concepts that beginning social workers should grasp: social workers are agents of change, not only in regard to client populations, but also in regard to agencies that serve those clients and overall public policy; social workers must learn to respect the self-determination of the client; and social workers must develop cultural competency, which enables them to see themselves, and their clients, as enculturated beings.

Perhaps one of the most essential concepts that social work students must grasp is the notion of client as a "person-in-a-social-environment."

The client is simultaneously a member of multiple social networks that help to form and shape that client's identity. The client is also a participant in, and impacted by, political systems, economic systems, and cultural systems that constitute the social ecology in which the client "swims". The client does not exist in an air-tight bubble; rather, the client lives within a societal context.

If a social worker is to be effective in his or her practice the social worker must be able to analyze the client's relationship to that larger societal context.

Most social workers don't have difficulty recognizing that if they have a client who has difficulty holding down a job the social worker should be particularly attentive when the client provides hints of potentially underlying reasons for their spotty work history, especially if this entails substance abuse or uncontrollable bursts of anger.

In a situation such as this one, most social workers can readily understand that in order to improve the likelihood that their client will be able to hold down a job it will be necessary to work on breaking the client's physiological or psychological addiction, or to work with the client on anger management.

But it is also important for the social worker to look at the situation from another angle: in a social environment where many jobs have been phased out and unemployment, or underemployment is stubbornly high, or even rising, it should not be surprising that these conditions tend to exacerbate any preexisting tendency toward substance abuse or uncontrollable outbursts of anger. Sheer frustration over being caught in the trap of unemployment, or underemployment, can bring behavioral problems to the fore, or even make those problems worse.

The client's behavior may make it more difficult for the client to find a steady job, but the lack of available steady jobs may make it more likely that the client will develop behavioral problems. The social worker must be knowledgeable enough about the social context of the client's situation in order to be an effective helping professional.

The same is true when one is problem-solving and searching for solutions. The presenting problem, which brings the client to the social worker in the first place, may be triggered by an outburst of anger, or a bout of substance abuse that the client was unable to conceal -- or it may be the client's persistent concern about long-term unemployment or underemployment.

In order to effect a solution, the social worker must be able to identify both formal and informal social networks that have weight in the client's life -- or that could potentially play a positive role toward mitigating the problem.

Sometimes being engaged in productive labor, or volunteer work, can give a client a sense of self-esteem, and help the client to form an identity that will enable them to exert more control over their behavior. Likewise, having friends who serve as sounding boards, a listening ear, or who can offer advice, may provide  outlets to reduce or control problematic behavior.

The same can be said for group recreational activities or faith-based communities. The challenge for the social worker will be to identify social networks that are significant and have meaning in the client's life; social networks that provide a useful counter-balance against negative influences, and that may be enlisted as resources to address problematic behavior directly, or conditions -- such as unemployment -- that might exacerbate those problems.

Social work is a profession that draws its knowledge base from both sociological and psychological literature. At the core of social work values, knowledge and skills, therefore, is the ability to understand one's client as a social being, and to be able to see one's client as one who impacts, and is impacted by social conditions. The social worker should be able to see the client as a person who exists within a social context.

C. Matthew Hawkins