Community Development Approach
to Intervening in Social Conditions of Concern
Definition of the approach
Definition = a process of building community by enabling, teaching, and motivating people and local organizations for selfhelp, i.e., facilitated self-help.
History = Peace Corps, VISTA, etc. This strategy seems recently revitalized--weed & seed, CDBG projects, e.g.,
neighborhood watch, operation PUSH, 1000 points of light, public service, 1 million man march, Promise Keepers.
Values = Involvement of many, start where people at, inclusiveness, empowerment, focus on individual citizens and groups—
not organizations, cooperative action is important, win/win.
Key Concepts or terms
Community problem solving, enabling, community control, self-help, self-regeneration, self-reliance, local leadership, civic
consciousness, mutual aid, revitalize institutions, cooperation, neighborhood building, value and attitude change, mass
education, bottoms up, self sustaining, building social support networks, social maintenance, addressing felt need, solving
local issues, consciousness raising, maintain cooperative and harmonious relationships, strengthening community
interconnectedness, building social capital, networking, neighborhood boards, community solidarity, process is product e.g.,
empowerment.
Process, methods and strategies
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Gain entry, gain trust, explore community and residents’ dissatisfaction and problem (sensing stage)
Create a sense of community or geographic identity and pride and responsibility for community
Identifying natural leaders, grow them into community leaders, create an association, and build membership.
Assess neighborhood capacities and needs.
Get people involved in finding solutions to the problem (involvement, assessment and vision stage)
Create small group or develop a cooperative action (intervention or problem solving)
Develop competence in individuals/groups, train, educate, self-help (training or process = product)
Develop leadership, self-help programs, and community cohesion (building organizations and community)
Contingencies that suggest this approach can be used
A community exits, community is disorganized, leaders need not be identified, they will emerge, no strong issues exist, basic
needs go unmet, people generally agree on the problem and its solution.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages: results in long term change which is not easily reversed, most consistent with existing values, avoids anger and
hostility, win/win, liked by the power structure, funding in small amounts can be easy to obtain.
Disadvantages: slow, change in values and attitudes usually do not equate with structural changes, dependent on consistent &
long term leadership, may be putting a Band-Aids on a dying patient.
Tools, skills, rules of thumb, conventional wisdom
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Listening is critical to insure you do what the people want.
Training and teaching skills are important.
Group facilitation, consensus building, and meeting skills are important.
Citizen participation, motivation, and involvement are critical.
Empower by showing individuals they have the power to change themselves
Communication, organization-building, meeting, publicity, alliances forming, and coalitions building skills.
Examples
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UTA Community Services Development Center (a field placement) works with adults in government subsidized
hosing complexes to provide educational classes, after school programs, drug prevention, I&R, etc.
Issues
• Does CD force victims to accept responsibility for their problems and its solution and blame the victim by failing to
recognize the outside forces that cause the problems?
• Is the CD approach naive about real change potential by avoiding discussion and use of power?
• Does locality development tend to empower the individual while de-empowering the group?
• Is locality development more pacification than solution?
• Does the non-professional and egalitarian perspective of CD make it a viable strategy for professional social workers?
U of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work, Dr. Schoech, 23-Aug-03