Two tales of community work (original) (raw)
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2008
This article looks at the transformation of Finnish community work in the Nordic context. The two-phase analysis of an intensive case study first presents a summary of the interpretation of interview descriptions by Finnish practical community workers, and the observations are then reflected on by myself and Swedish academic experts against the current situation and development trends in community work in Sweden. The paradigm change in community work has an impact on the organisation, expertise, goals and discourse on the work. In Finland, community work has all but vanished from the structure of municipal social work; in Sweden its position is stronger, but the trends of change are also visible there. The article concludes with an examination of the changes in community work in the contexts of both professional practices in social work and societal policy. Irene Roivainen
This article looks at the transformation of Finnish community work in the Nordic context. The two-phase analysis of an intensive case study first presents a summary of the interpretation of interview descriptions by Finn-ish practical community workers, and the observations are then reflected on by myself and Swedish academic experts against the current situation and development trends in community work in Sweden. The paradigm change in community work has an impact on the organisation, expertise, goals and discourse on the work. In Finland, community work has all but vanished from the structure of municipal social work; in Sweden its position is stronger, but the trends of change are also visible there. The article concludes with an examination of the changes in community work in the contexts of both professional practices in social work and societal policy.
The Influence of Local Support Systems on Enfranchisement of The Community Method in Social Work
International Journal of Contemporary Management, 2018
Background. In local communities in Poland, introduction of innovative social work solutions which are directed towards solving particular problem cases and move beyond the current standard of social work in welfare centres, is a complex process fraught with many obstacles. It is only rarely a part of social issues management in local communities. This paper is concerned with qualitative research focused on the factors contributing to the effectiveness of initiatives utilizing the OLC (Organizing Local Community, Organizowanie Społeczności Lokalnej) method, which commenced in 2010-2014, under point 5.4 of the systemic project Human Capital Operational Program (Program Operacyjny Kapitał Ludzki) named "Creating and developing the standards of social help and integration-Standards in help" (Tworzenie i rozwijanie standardów pomocy i integracji społecznej-Standardy w pomocy). Research aims. The aim of this paper is to identify and determine factors that influence, whether positively or negatively, the spread and establishment of innovative methods of working with communities experiencing social problems in social welfare centres. It focuses on factors associated both with internal social welfare centre management, with social issues management, and with the bodies created to solve them within a given local community. Methodology. The research was conducted using the case study method in three localities and was supposed to appraise the subsequent fates of three social welfare centres in which new activities have been initiated under the systemic project, as well as the fates of social workers employed in them for organising local communities. Key findings. Thanks to the research conducted and data gathered, we managed to highlight a number of contexts and circumstances which exert heavy influence over the functioning of social welfare centres as well as over the effectiveness of methods of working with communities experiencing social issues. Such contexts have both internal (e.g. the attitude of a centre's employees towards a given issue and
The Place of Community in Social Work Practice Research: Conceptual and Methodological Developments
Social Work Research, 2005
Community is widely acknowledged as a fundamental aspect of social work practice and this formulation distinguishes social work from other professions. Because of this longstanding tradition, the field needs to make a greater investment in producing scientific knowledge to enable community change and to incorporate community context into practice. This type of research faces numerous challenges related to the complexity of community interventions, the lack of well-developed community measures, the difficulty of implementing experimental designs and the spatial dynamics of communities. However, there are recent substantive and methodological developments that should make it possible to advance research on community as agent, target and context for social work practice.
Rediscovering Community Social Work
Social Work, 2014
I want to make the case for rediscovering community social work based on the ontological primacy of the "we". In doing so, I follow closely the writings of Jean Luc Nancy and focus particularly on his 'The Inoperative Community' (1991). It's consideration for social work demands the adaptation of an entirely new lens of analysis. Nancy's difficult exposition of community provides us with a tremendous opportunity to consider community in radically new ways for social work. Although generally Nancy does not make direct links between his philosophical observations and concrete applications within 'The Inoperative Community', it will, nonetheless, become clear that there is, indeed, such a connection that can be worked through to the benefit of fields of research such as social work.
Journal of Comparative Social Work
A number of tensions pertaining to social problems and human suffering become apparent when analysing community work in a Danish welfare setting. As a source for critical reflection, we discern some of these challenges, but also potentials, which relate not only to a Danish context, but to challenges in any highly institutionalized welfare system. Three community work social enterprises serve to exemplify the objectives of addressing social problems by fostering participation and empowerment. To enhance and include the voice of service users, the programmes attempt to cultivate human resources as opposed to perceived formalism and a subsequent diminishment of the potentials of community inclusion. The formalistic governmental agendas are perceived to be unable to appreciate the diversity of service users’ individual needs and social challenges, which produces conflicting prospects. Such a dichotomy between formalistic welfare practices and the ideals represented in the three enterpr...
-a category of disadvantaged people -unorganized groupment of people, they need a help -a community of interests -organised interest association, that express its interests and work on them -a service community -organised connection inhabitants of community, that are able afford a help with a network of professional organizations -a municipality -that is mean as social space, in which are built relations between providers of services and disadvantaged, who are able establis their interests and support their realisations by an activity/action Social work (Popple, 1995; Barker, 1987; Hartl, 1993 Hartl, , 1997 consider as community rather groupment of people, who have common characteristics, no expect with existing sens of community, fellings of solidarity etc. Objectives of community work are to mobilise this facts.
Community social work: A theoretical perspective
International journal of research in social sciences, 2017
The concept ‘community social work’ grew up in the 1970s and 1980s in Britain and gained common currency following the publication of the Barclay Report in 1982. Even though there is uncertainty in using terms to denote the community work approaches to social work practice, the term ‘community social work’ is used by several authors. This article attempted to explore the meaning of the concept ‘community social work’ in order to observe the aptness of the term to narrate the practice of professional social work with communities. It depicts a community social work perspective in terms of professional social work practice with communities.