SOW 2 C 08: COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION AND SOCIAL ACTION

MODULE 1
UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS
Concept of Community:
A community is a social unit comprising individuals who share commonalities, including
norms, religion, values, or identity. These shared elements contribute to a sense of cohesion
and belonging among its members. Communities can manifest in physical spaces like
neighborhoods or virtually through communication platforms. Human communities are
characterized by diverse factors such as intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, and risks,
influencing the identity and cohesiveness of participants. As inherently social beings, humans
naturally form communities that may evolve into structured societies.
Characteristics and Definition:
- Geographical Aspect: Communities can be defined by a shared geographical location,
encompassing various scales from neighborhoods to nations.
- Shared Interests: Members often share common interests, influencing where they live,
work, and play.
- Problem-Solving: Communities serve as platforms where individuals collaboratively
address challenges and solve problems.
- Diversity: Characteristics defining a community may include age group, ethnicity, gender,
religion, location, or profession.

Types of Community:
1. Location-based Communities:
- Range from local neighborhoods to global communities, categorized as communities of
place.
- Encompass various geographic scales, including suburbs, villages, towns, cities, regions,
nations, and the entire planet.
2. Identity-based Communities:
- Include local cliques, sub-cultures, ethnic groups, religious communities, and multicultural
or pluralistic civilizations.
- May be communities of need or identity, such as those based on disability or age (e.g.,
elderly people).
3. Organizationally Based Communities:
- Span from informal networks and family-based guilds to more formal structures like
incorporated associations, political decision-making bodies, economic enterprises, and
professional associations.
- Vary in scale, ranging from small local entities to national or international organizations.

Understanding the concept of community involves recognizing the diverse factors that
contribute to its formation and the various types that emerge based on location, identity, and
organizational structures. Communities play a vital role in shaping social interactions,
problem-solving, and the development of shared identities among their members.
 Community social work is about encouraging people to discover their resources and
possibilities in order to work for positive change in their community. People have the right to
participate in decision making process that affecting them. Social work with communities is a
generalist practice method that enables individuals and groups to achieve a more desirable
level of life satisfaction as well as more effective levels of adaptation.

Community Social Work

Concept of community

❖ Talcott Parsons defined community as collectively the members of which

share a common territorial area as their base of operation for daily activities.
❖ According to Tonnies community is defined as an organic natural kind of social
group whose members are bound together by the sense of belonging, created out of
everyday contacts covering the whole range of human
activities. He has presented ideal-typical pictures of the forms of social associations
contrasting the solidarity nature of the social relations in the community with the
large scale and impersonal relations thought to characterize industrializing societies.
❖ Kingsley Davis defined it as the smallest territorial group that can embrace
all aspects of social life.

❖ Karl Mannheim community is any circle of people who live together and belong
together in such a way that they do not share this or that particular interest only but a
whole set of interests.
 more preventive, participatory, and
Elements of community social coordinated approaches, fostering
work democratic accountability in
Elements of community social work economic and social planning to
encompass various facets that play vital meet community needs.
roles in addressing the needs of a
community: Role of Social Workers in
1. Community: Community
Community as people: The individuals Organization/Community
forming a community. Development:
b. Community as a social system:
Understanding the interconnectedness ❖ Assessment and Analysis:
and dynamics within the community. Conducting thorough
2. Needs of Community: community assessments to
Focused on felt needs, community identify needs, strengths, and
needs assessments are essential to resources, and analyzing
identify issues, particularly for those social issues affecting the
disadvantaged or oppressed due to factors community.
like poverty, discrimination based on
race, class, gender, age, or disability. ❖ Empowerment and
3. Institutions: Capacity Building:
Both formal and informal institutions Empowering community
contribute to fulfilling community needs members by building their
and providing essential services. skills, capacities, and
4. Representatives: leadership qualities to actively
Community workers, functioning as participate in decision-making
community development workers and and problem-solving.
organizers, act as guides, enablers, ❖ Advocacy and Social
teachers, and mediators to represent and Justice: Advocating for social
advocate for the community. justice and equity, addressing
5. Process: systemic issues, and
Social work process or community challenging policies that
work process is integral. While it adversely affect the
can't replace broader economic, community.
social, and political changes, it has ❖ Facilitation of
the potential to contribute to such Communication: Facilitating
changes. This process promotes effective communication and
 collaboration among diverse ❖ Education and Awareness:
community stakeholders, Providing education and
fostering a sense of unity and raising awareness on
collective action. important issues, promoting
❖ Program Development and community members’
Implementation: Developing understanding of their rights
and implementing community and responsibilities.
programs and initiatives that ❖ Policy Analysis and
address identified needs, Development: Analyzing
promoting sustainable policies affecting the
solutions. community and actively
❖ Resource Mobilization: participating in the
Mobilizing resources, development of policies that
including financial, human, address community needs.
and material resources, to ❖ Monitoring and Evaluation:
support community projects Monitoring and evaluating the
and initiatives. effectiveness of community
❖ Networking and programs and interventions,
Collaboration: Building and making adjustments based on
maintaining partnerships with feedback and outcomes.
local organizations, ❖ Community Building and
government agencies, and Social Capital: Promoting
other stakeholders to enhance community cohesion, building
community development social capital, and
efforts. strengthening social networks
❖ Cultural Competence: to enhance overall community
Demonstrating cultural well-being.
competence to understand and ❖ Environmental
respect the unique values, Sustainability: Integrating
beliefs, and practices within environmental sustainability
the community. principles into community
❖ Conflict Resolution: development initiatives,
Mediating conflicts within the fostering a balance between
community and facilitating social, economic, and
dialogue to reach consensus, environmental factors.
fostering a harmonious ❖ Emergency Response and
environment. Resilience: Developing
strategies to enhance
community resilience,
especially in the face of
emergencies or disasters, and
providing support during
crisis situations.