Professional Documents
Culture Documents
3
Community Organisation as a
Method of Social Work
* C.M.J. Bosco
Introduction
Community Organisation is one of the primary methods
of social work. It deals with intervention in the
communities to solve the community problems. As
a method of social work community organisation
can solve the problems of many people in the
community through their collective involvement.
Community organisation and community development
are inter-related as two sides of same coin. The
community organisation includes other methods of
social work, that is, group work, and casework. The
power structure plays a role in community
organisation. The social workers need to know the
community power structure to practice community
organisation method, which is used for empowering
people for their development. The details are provided
for social work students to understand and practice
community organisation effectively.
41
Community Organisation as a
Problem Solving Method
In community organisation method the community
is the client. Community organisation solves the
community problems and fulfills the needs of the
community. Many of the community problems like
social injustice, poverty, inadequate housing, poor
nutrition, lack of health, lack of medical services,
unemployment, pollution, exploitation, bonded labour
system, illicit arrack, dowry, female infanticide, women
and children trafficking, drug trafficking etc. can
be solved by using community organisation method.
In problem solving generally there are three basic
aspects. These are study, diagnosis, and treatment.
First the problem has to be studied. For this, we
have to collect information regarding the problem.
From the information collected we have to identify
the main causes. This is called diagnosis. Based
42
43
44
45
46
j)
47
48
49
50
51
52
Barriers to Empowerment
Generally poor people have the feeling of powerlessness.
These people can be helped to feel powerful to decide
their own affairs using community organisation. When
they learn to solve their problems they feel powerful.
They can develop confidence and capacity building
takes place so that they feel that they can solve
53
Conclusion
In this chapter we have discussed about community
organisation as a macro method of social work and
the relevance of community organisation for
community development. The differences between
community organisation and community development
are listed. The importance of working with individuals
families and groups has been discussed. Toward
the end of the chapter, the power structure, and
its relevance to community organisation are discussed.
All these information will be useful for successful
community organisation.
54
References
Chekki A. Dan (1979), Community Development, Vikas
Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Cox. M. Fred and Erlich L. John (1987), Strategies
of Community Organisation, F.E. Peacock Publishers,
Inc. Illinois.
Fink E. Arthur (1978), The Fields of Social Work, Holt
Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Murray G. Ross (1955), Community Organisation, Harper
and Row Publishers, New York.
Ralph Jersey M. Kramer (1975), Readings in Community
Organisation, Practice Prentice Hall Inc. New Jersey.
Rex A. Skidmore (1976), Introduction to Social Work,
Prentice Hall Inc. New Jersey.
Project Implementation
12
Introduction
Community engagement has numerous benefits and is critical in every stage of post-disaster recovery
and reconstruction. This chapter encourages agencies involved in reconstruction to offer affected
communities a range of options for involvement in reconstruction.3 It addresses the organization
of affected communities and participation by individuals, communities, and community-based
organizations (CBOs). (See Chapter 14, International, National, and Local Partnerships in
Reconstruction, for a typology of civil society institutions that participate in reconstruction.)
Key Decisions
1. The lead disaster agency should work with affected communities, local government, and
agencies involved in reconstruction to define the role of communities in planning and managing
reconstruction. The agreements that emerge from this dialogue should be an integral part of the
reconstruction policy.
2. Affected communities should decide how they will organize themselves to participate in the
reconstruction effort.
3. Agencies involved in reconstruction should decide how they will support and empower
communities to play the roles they have agreed to take on, and how two-way communication
with communities will be established and maintained throughout reconstruction.
This Chapter Is
Especially Useful For:
n
n
n
n
n
Policy makers
Lead disaster agency
Local officials
Project managers
Affected communities
1. W
orld Bank, 1996, The
World Bank Participation
Sourcebook (Washington, DC:
The International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development/
World Bank), http://www.
worldbank.org/wbi/sourcebook/
sbhome.htm.
2. Active Learning Network for
Accountability and Performance
in Humanitarian (ALNAP), 2003,
Participation by Crisis-Affected
Populations in Humanitarian
Action: A Handbook for
Practitioners (London: Overseas
Development Institute), http://
www.alnap.org/resources/
guides/participation.aspx.
3. Opportunities for participation are
also discussed in other chapters of
this handbook.
183
4. Local government should define its role(s) in supporting reconstruction at the community level,
in consultation with affected communities, the lead disaster agency, and agencies involved in
reconstruction.
5. Agencies involved in reconstruction should decide with communities how to monitor and
evaluate the involvement of the community in reconstruction to ensure that agreements
regarding role(s) and responsibilities are fulfilled on all sides. This monitoring should take place
at both the community level and at the national level for the overall reconstruction program.
DANIEL PITTET
184
S A F E R H O M E S , S T R O N G E R C O M M U N I T I E S : A H A N D B O O K F O R R E C O N S T R U C T I N G A F T E R N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S
Technical Issues
Types of Participation
As shown in the table below, forms of community involvement differ in terms of the extent of citizen
involvement in decision making and with respect to the desired outcomes.
Level of control
Interactive
Through material
incentives
By consultation
Passive
High
Low
Source: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian (ALNAP), 2003, Participation by Crisis-Affected
Populations in Humanitarian Action: A Handbook for Practitioners (London: Overseas Development Institute), http://www.alnap.org/resources/
guides/participation.aspx.
As the World Bank sees it, participation allows stakeholders to collaboratively carry out a number of
activities in the program cycle, including the following4:
n Analyzing: Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of existing policies and service and
support systems
n Setting objectives: Deciding and articulating what is needed
n Creating strategy: Deciding, in pragmatic terms, directions, priorities, and institutional responsibilities
n Formulating tactics: Developing or overseeing the development of project policies, specifications,
blueprints, budgets, and technologies needed to move from the present to the future
n Monitoring: Conducting social assessments or other forms of monitoring of project
expenditures and outputs
Other agencies have more expansive views of participation. Participation is known to have
outcomes that are social in nature: empowering individuals, increasing local capacity, strengthening
democratic processes, and giving voice to marginalized groups. Another set of benefits has to do
with program effectiveness and leverage: creating a sense of ownership, improving program quality,
mobilizing resources, and stimulating community involvement in execution.
A very strong
commitment and
leadership from the
top will be needed
to implement
a bottom-up
approach, because
pressure
strong
This Chapter isis
from
"Safer Homes,
Communities: A Handbook
inStronger
an emergency
to
for Reconstructing after Natural
provide
rapid,bytopDisasters," published
the World Bank
in Januaryautocratic
2010. Additional chapters,
town,
other resources, and ordering
solutions.
information for the handbook can
be found at the handbook Web site:
www.housingreconstruction.org.
Since communities know the most about their own local environment, culture, vulnerabilities, requirements,
and building techniques, reconstruction should be planned by them or, at a minimum, under their direction.
However, a true community-based approach requires a different programming flow, one that begins not with
assessment, but with mobilization of social groups and communities, which is then followed by a communitybased assessment. This mobilization may be done by the community on its own initiative or as a response to
signals from government about how reconstruction will be undertaken. Alternatively, agencies involved in
reconstruction, including national and local NGOs, or local governments may initiate the mobilization process.
This mobilization may be more or less difficult, depending on the impact of the disaster and the nature of
the pre-existing organization of the community. Communication with the community is a critical element
of a successful participatory process. See Chapter 3, Communication in Post-Disaster Reconstruction,
for extensive guidance on post-disaster communication.
The case study on the 2006 Java earthquake reconstruction, below, demonstrates how the
reconstruction of thousands of housing units was managed by communities.
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185
Conventionally trained planners may need to adjust their thinking in order to successfully participate
in this type of reconstruction project. Also, because the success of this type of approach depends
on community decision making, assistance may be needed to restart institutional mechanisms for
consensual decision making and to establish or reestablish other governance structures
Assessment
Conduct:
n housing assessment and census
n community-led needs assessments
n local environmental assessments
n mapping of affected area and changes
n stakeholder analysis
Supervise construction
Participate in monitoring and social audit committees
Conduct participatory evaluations
See the annex to Chapter 18, Monitoring and Evaluation, for guidance on conducting a social audit of a
reconstruction project
The reconstruction approach. The housing reconstruction approach will affect the level and type
of community participation. Chapter 6, Reconstruction Approaches, discusses five approaches
to reconstruction. Of those five, the Cash Approach (CA), Owner-Driven Reconstruction (ODR), and
Community-Driven Reconstruction (CDR) offer the greatest opportunity for direct involvement
in housing reconstruction. Owners have some limited opportunities for involvement in a AgencyDriven Reconstruction In-Situ (ADRIS) project; however, Agency-Driven Reconstruction in
Relocated Site (ADRRS) largely excludes an owner from any role in the rebuilding effort. Housing
reconstruction and infrastructure reconstruction offer different opportunities for community
involvement that should be coordinated, but identified, planned, and managed separately5
4. W
orld Bank, 1996. The World
Bank Participation Sourcebook
(Washington, DC: The International
Bank for Reconstruction and
Development/World Bank),
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/
sourcebook/sbhome.htm.
186
Training and facilitation. Training and facilitation are key ingredients of a participatory approach
to reconstruction. Communities need training that supports their particular role(s). Training in
housing reconstruction methods is important if community members are acting as builders or
overseeing housing reconstruction (see Chapter 16, Training Requirements in Reconstruction).
If supervision of infrastructure projects is a community responsibility, some members will
need training to understand plans and specifications. Facilitation is different from training, but
is also critically important. Facilitation involves activities that help the community reestablish
their decision-making processes, develop and implement plans, get access to resources, resolve
conflicts, etc. Finding, training, and keeping good community facilitators are absolutely critical
roles for government and agencies involved in participatory community-based reconstruction.
Expect turnover in the ranks of facilitators, since it is a demanding job and requires establishing a
rapport with the specific community. The experience with the use of facilitators in the Yogyakarta
S A F E R H O M E S , S T R O N G E R C O M M U N I T I E S : A H A N D B O O K F O R R E C O N S T R U C T I N G A F T E R N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S
C H A P T E R 1 2 : C O M M U N I T Y O R G A N I Z I N G A N D PA R T I C I PAT I O N
5. U
nited Nations Human Settlements
Programme (UN-HABITAT),
Regional Office for Asia and
the Pacific, n.d., Community
Contracts, http://www.fukuoka.
unhabitat.org/event/docs/
EVN_081216172311.pdf.
187
While the participation strategy may be best refined during the participatory process itself, agencies
involved in reconstruction may want to define for themselves the basic parameters before the
process is set in motion. A participation strategy defines why participation is called for, proposes
who will be involved, and defines the objectives. It also defines the purpose of the participatory
activities, which participation approach is most suitable, the tools and methods to be used, whether
community members will be engaged directly or through existing organizational structures, and
which, if any, partnering agencies will be involved.
It is not necessary to create participatory processes; over the years, organizations have systematized
myriad instruments and methodologies that can be adapted to the context in which the participation
will take place. The table below contains examples.11
Understanding
stakeholders
n Interviews
n Socio-anthropological
n Capacity
n Surveys
analysis
n Storytelling
n Focus
n Participatory
groups
n Timelines
n Mapping
n Activity
analysis
or climatic calendars
n Community
mapping
stakeholder
n Interaction
n Venn
diagrams
diagrams
n Proximity-distance
n Wealth
analysis
and vulnerability
analysis
n Proportional
n Institutional
n Cultural
piling
analysis
asset inventories
n Hearings
n Participatory
n Design
charts
n Participant
n Preference
observation
n Information
ranking
planning
ranking
centers and fairs
188
Type of stakeholder
Example
S A F E R H O M E S , S T R O N G E R C O M M U N I T I E S : A H A N D B O O K F O R R E C O N S T R U C T I N G A F T E R N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S
National Aid
Organizations
Local
committees
Affected Populations
Individuals
and families
Local NGOs
CBOs
Government Institutions
The level of power, interests, and resources of each stakeholder will affect that stakeholders ability
to collaborate. Therefore, an environment needs to be created in which stakeholders can participate
and interact as equals. Consensus-building is not always easy; specific measures may need to be
taken to promote negotiation and resolve disputes.
Stakeholders of a project may not all have equal status, because they have different stakes in
project outcomes. For instance, the head of a household that may be relocated has more invested
in the outcome of a relocation project than the representative of the local planning department,
although both are considered stakeholders.
The organization and facilitation of community participation should not be done on a purely ad
hoc basis. Trained facilitators and other experts in community participation should be part of
the management team for any project that entails participation. See the text box entitled The
Role of Facilitators in Empowering Community Reconstruction, in Chapter 6, Reconstruction
Approaches, for guidance on this topic.
n Government forgoing genuine participation, due to political and social pressures to show that the
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10. U
nited Nations Human
Settlements Programme
(UN-HABITAT), Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific,
n.d., Community Contracts,
http://www.fukuoka.
unhabitat.org/event/docs/
EVN_081216172311.pdf.
11. ALNAP, 2003, Participation
by Crisis-Affected Populations
in Humanitarian Action: A
Handbook for Practitioners
(London: Overseas Development
Institute), http://www.
alnap.org/resources/guides/
participation.aspx.
189
n Failing
to find or develop facilitators and trainers who understand and believe in the
community-based approach.
n Rejecting established models of community organizationor alternatively blindly adopting
models from other countries or contextswithout evaluating how they should or could be
adapted to the specific conditions of the locality in question.
n Thinking that all community organizations are democratic and representative, or forgetting that
they have their own agendas.
n Confusing the role of national NGOs with that of genuine CBOs.
n Agencies believing that they are being participatory by establishing a relationship with one
specific local organization or spokesperson.
Recommendations
1. Analyze the communitys capacity and preferences for participation by working with the
community to carry out a Community Participation Profile early in the reconstruction process.
2. Work with the community to reach agreement not only on how it will organize itself, but also on
activities and outcomes, i.e., the reconstruction priorities, projects, and goals.
3. Find the right scale for community involvement, which may be smaller than expected.
4. Provide the facilitation and support to make the community an effective actor in reconstruction,
and involve the community in monitoring the quality of this support. There will be turnover in the
ranks of facilitators, so providing the community with proper support is a continuous process.
5. Consider creating a monitoring mechanism with representation from both the agencies
involved in reconstruction and the community, specifically to monitor the quality of community
involvement.
6. Do not hesitate to demand good governance and accountability from the community, especially
if funding is involved.
7. Do not disempower existing community initiatives by introducing new and unfamiliar
organizational structures that compete; find ways to combine forces.
8. Consider using existing tools that foster participation, but make sure that they are adapted to
the project and context.
9. Understand that stakeholder identification is one of the most important steps in a participatory
process; use participatory methods to identify and engage stakeholders.
10. Understand that community participation can have unintended consequences. Maintain a
constructive relationship with participants, and look for opportunities to support additional
activities that spin off from the original participatory process.
Case Studies
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effective communication and adaptability of the program to local situations as well as compliance
with program principles. In all 6,480 core houses were funded by a World Bank loan under UPP,
and another 15,153 units were funded by the multi-donor Java Reconstruction Fund. This approach
to reconstruction became the model for the much larger government-financed rehabilitation and
reconstruction program, under which about 200,000 houses were rebuilt in Java.
Sources: Sri Probo Sudarmo, World Bank, 2009, personal communication; and World Bank, 2007, Community-Based Settlement Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction Project for Central and West Java and Yogyakarta Special Region, project documents, http://web.worldbank.org/external/
projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=226309&menuPK=287103&Projectid=P103457.
In April 2004, the Housing Foundation of the Islamic Revolution-United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) joint housing project organized a technical consultation in which UNDP; the United
Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO); the World Health Organization (WHO); the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO); and other UN agencies provided technical assistance and capacity building for the
participatory city micro-planning process, to explain such concepts as child-friendly and healthy cities
and to discuss the socioeconomic aspects of city planning. The final Structure Plan specifically addressed
the need to respect the traditional architecture and urban design of the city and villages, to protect buffer
zones, to minimize relocation, and to minimize expropriation through reuse of land. This plan formed
the basis for subsequent detailed planning of 11 priority reconstruction areas in the city of Bam. To
reduce the chance of excessive uniformity, each area had a different planning team. The modified plan
and detailed plans were ratified by the High Council in October 2004, 10 months after the earthquake.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, with support from UNDP, published the
results of the consultative process and the Bam Housing Typology.
Sources: Victoria Kianpour, UNDP Iran, 2009, personal communication and World Bank, 2009, Planning for Urban and Township Settlements
after the Earthquake, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/CHINAEXTN/Resources/318949-1217387111415/Urban_planing_en.pdf.
C H A P T E R 1 2 : C O M M U N I T Y O R G A N I Z I N G A N D PA R T I C I PAT I O N
191
Resources
Abarquez, Imelda, and Zubair Murshed. 2004. Community-Based Disaster Risk Management: Field
Practitioners Handbook. Bangkok: ADPC, UNESCAP, and DIPECHO. http://www.adpc.net/pdr-sea/
publications/12Handbk.pdf.
Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP).
2003. Participation by Crisis-Affected Populations in Humanitarian Action: A Handbook for
Practitioners. London: Overseas Development Institute. http://www.alnap.org/resources/guides/
participation.aspx.
Davidson, C. H. et al. 2006. Truths and Myths about Community Participation in Post-Disaster
Housing Projects. Habitat International. Volume 31, Issue 1, March 2007, pp. 100115. http://www.
cbr.tulane.edu/PDFs/davidsonetal2006.pdf.
Dercon, Bruno, and Marco Kusumawijaya. 2007. Two Years of Settlement Recovery in Aceh and
Nias. What Should the Planners have Learned? (Paper for 43rd International Society of City and
Regional Planners Congress). http://www.isocarp.net/Data/case_studies/952.pdf.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 2006. The UNHCR Tool for
Participatory Assessment in Operations. Geneva: United Nations. http://www.unhcr.org/publ/
PUBL/450e963f2.html.
UN-HABITAT. Government of Indonesia, Provincial Government of Aceh, and the United Nations
Development Programme. 2009. Post-Tsunami Aceh-Nias Settlement and Housing Recovery Review.
UN-HABITAT. 2007. Peoples Process in Aceh and Nias (Indonesia), Manuals and Training Guidelines.
(In English and Bahasa). http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/publication/index.htm#film.
Volume 1
http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/files/book-153.pdf
Volume 4
http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/files/book-1420.zip
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8
Volume 9
http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/files/book-1417.pdf
http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/files/book-1421.pdf
http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/files/book-225.pdf
http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/files/book-226.pdf
http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/files/book-229.pdf
http://www.unhabitat-indonesia.org/files/book-231.pdf
UN-HABITAT. Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. n.d.. Community Contracts. http://www.
fukuoka.unhabitat.org/event/docs/EVN_081216172311.pdf.
World Bank. 1996. Participation Sourcebook. Washington, DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development/World Bank). http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/sourcebook/sbhome.htm.
World Health Organization. 2002. Community Participation in Local Health and Sustainable
Development: Approaches and Techniques. http://www.euro.who.int/document/e78652.pdf.
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Annex 1
How to Do It: Establishing a Community Facilitation System
for Post-Disaster Housing and Community Reconstruction
The reconstruction process following the 2006 Yogyakarta
and Central Java, Indonesia, earthquake demonstrated the
effectiveness of a community-based approach to reconstruction.
More than 150,000 houses were reconstructed in the first year
following the earthquake and, by the second anniversary of the
earthquake, a total of 275,000 houses had been built using a
community-based model.
However, this reconstruction model entails establishing a
community facilitation system. The facilitation system depends
on the recruitment, training, and deployment of community
facilitators. Finding enough quality facilitators and getting them
into affected communities quickly allows reconstruction to be
scaled up and gives people certainty about how reconstruction
will proceed and what their role in reconstruction will be.
Explanation
Recruitment
Facilitators were chosen from people who had qualifications in one of the following areas: engineering or construction,
finance, and community development or organizing. All facilitators needed to have practical skills, as well as the ability to
work with communities to empower them to carry out their role in reconstruction and to manage community expectations.
The selection process for facilitators was managed by an outside consultant, and included:
n written
application
n interview
n psychological
testing
The psychological testing component was carried out by the psychology departments of localThis
universities,
under the
Chapter is from "Safer Homes,
supervision of the recruitment consultant.
Stronger Communities: A Handbook
for Reconstructing
after Natural
Because community-based projects were a major source of post-disaster construction financing,
the compensation
Disasters,"sopublished
the World
offered to facilitators reflected no more than the market rate for their level of training and experience
that thebyhiring
of Bank
in January 2010. Additional chapters,
community facilitators would not contribute to a post-disaster escalation of salaries in the market.
Training
which they had to pass an examination. The trainers explained the facilitation process and the people skills that were
required. Facilitators were taught that the building of houses is the entry point that gives them the opportunity to organize
the community, but that the process they were facilitating is about community mobilization and empowerment, not just
housing construction.
Technical. Each facilitator that passed the basic training was then assigned to one of three rolescommunity
development, technical (construction), or financefor additional training. In this component of training, they received
instruction on training community members in the procedures of the project. For instance, finance facilitators were taught
how to train community members to manage project finances.
Assignment of
Facilitators
Facilitators were organized into teams of nine people, consisting of two community development facilitators, two
engineering facilitators, one finance facilitator, and four construction inspectors (called building controllers). This team
provided support to a community of approximately 275 households over a period of six months.
C H A P T E R 1 2 : C O M M U N I T Y O R G A N I Z I N G A N D PA R T I C I PAT I O N
193
Feature
Explanation
Oversight
Oversight was provided through weekly visits of financial, community development, and technical experts to each project,
where they identified problems specific to a particular community, as well as general problems within the program. When
general problems were identified, facilitators were called together for additional training or problem solving. Facilitators
log books were reviewed by the experts during their visits. Facilitators were evaluated on the quality of the results in the
community, and their salary could be held back if project standards and milestones were not met.
Monitoring was an essential element, and provided detailed information on the progress of every house and follow-up on
any complaints, all of which was managed on a Web site, accessible to the public, which was designed specifically for
this purpose.
Community Leadership
The success of this model depends on the involvement of the community. Every aspect of the project is run by the
community. The facilitators simply make the community more effective in carrying out its roles. The roles of the
community members include (1) prioritizing, building, and overseeing infrastructure projects; (2) managing their own
housing reconstruction; (3) managing project finances; (4) handling complaints; (5) selecting beneficiaries through a
participatory process; and (6) leading collective action when it is required.
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Annex 2
How to Do It: Developing a Community Participation Profile
The Community Participation Profile (CPP) serves as a
reference for program development for government and
agencies involved in reconstruction alike. It assists agencies in
making judgments about the feasibility of and the starting point
for community participation. It can also help the community to
define its own requirements. The key questions that the CPP
answers are:
1. Is there is a viable community structure in place that can
establish priorities and respond to the most needy and
vulnerable?
2. Will the community need help to manage its finances and
provide oversight over community resources?
3. Are systems in place to ensure transparency and
accountability at the community level?
n an
n a
n a
2. Facilitation
3. Review
Organize community review sessions to verify and validate results of the consultations.
Data collection
Divide the community participants into working groups. Collect data and conduct analysis using existing data and new data collected by working groups.
1. Population
Population and demographics of the community, and impact of the disaster on these characteristics
2. Education
3. Cultural aspects
Languages, religions, and customs that enhance or limit participation, such as womens ability to participate in
meetings, segregated sessions, and preferences for community gatherings
4. Resources/skills (human,
technical, financial)
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195
5. Current community responsibilities Community responsibilities, such as school maintenance, service provision, etc.
6. Community political structure
How local governance structures are put in place (election, appointment, etc.)
Whether there is a traditional structure in addition to the political-administrative system
7. Reconstruction program
Tap into the housing condition assessment, among other sources, to identify what will need to be accomplished
in reconstruction
Map the range of attitudes, expectations, and level of interest of various subgroups of the community toward
participation in the reconstruction program.
Validate data
Organize community review sessions to verify and validate results of the data collection and consultations.
1. Organizational proposal
How to structure participation, such as size of groups, internal organization, etc. Roles and responsibilities of
individuals, families, local government, etc.
2. Governance structure
How to organize decision making, measures for transparency and accountability, monitoring, sanctions, etc.
Training activities for individuals, their focus, desired results, institutions that can provide the training, sources
of funding
Outreach activities that will be necessary to include the larger community in the reconstruction program
7. Budget
For access to additional resources and information on this topic, please visit the handbook Web site at www.housingreconstruction.org.
196
S A F E R H O M E S , S T R O N G E R C O M M U N I T I E S : A H A N D B O O K F O R R E C O N S T R U C T I N G A F T E R N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S
1 2 3 4 12 11 10 09
The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this
work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on
any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World
Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or
acceptance of such boundaries.
ISBN: 978-0-8213-8045-1
eISBN: 978-0-8213-8268-4
DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-8045-1
Community capacity
building: fostering economic
and social resilience
PROJECT OUTLINE AND PROPOSED METHODOLOGY
CFE/LEED(2009)21
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................3
Context .........................................................................................................................................................3
Some key lessons for policy makers ............................................................................................................4
Some areas to be explored ...........................................................................................................................7
Methodology: Project outline and review framework .................................................................................8
Objectives .................................................................................................................................................8
Detailed stages of the project ...................................................................................................................8
Timing ........................................................................................................................................................10
Budget ........................................................................................................................................................10
Bibliography ..............................................................................................................................................11
Figures
Figure 1. Community Capacity Building - Local Multiplier Effect
(combining social and economic factors) ....................................................................................................5
Boxes
Box 1. Gellideg Foundation Group Gellideg, Wales (UK) .......................................................................6
Box 2. Palmas Bank Brazil .......................................................................................................................7
Box 3. Brief overview of review activities ................................................................................................10
This note presents the proposed methodology for a project on Community Capacity Building: Fostering
Economic and Social Resilience [CFE/LEED(2009)21], prepared as a follow-up to the discussion held at
the 54th session of the LEED Directing Committee in May 2009 on the draft report on Community Capacity
Building [CFE/LEED(2009)10].
CFE/LEED(2009)21
Introduction
1.
Community capacity building (CCB) focuses on enabling all members of the community,
including the poorest and the most disadvantaged, to develop skills and competencies so as to take greater
control of their own lives and also contributes to inclusive local development. Not only can communities
be more cohesive but they can also be more resilient and better placed to confront economic and social
challenges. Meaningful and effective community capacity building can be stimulated and fostered by
national and local governments, and by the capacity which communities have already developed, so that
power becomes increasingly embedded within them.
2.
CCB has developed as a concept because of the need for strategies to address major social and
economic decline in towns, cities and regions experiencing significant economic change and the
consequences of deep-seated and long term worklessness and benefits dependency.
3.
Following the OECD study on Community Capacity Building (presented and approved at the
52nd LEED Directing Committee and published in 2009 as Community Capacity Building: Creating a
Better Future Together), further ideas are presented here as to how to extend and embed its analysis into a
broader programme of work.
4.
This document presents, in detail, a project of work on Community Capacity Building: Fostering
Economic and Social Resilience, its methodology, objectives and outputs. The specific focus of the
project is to enhance local and national governments capacity to design and implement strategies to build,
rebuild and sustain community capacity especially in deprived communities and in towns, cities and
regions suffering from economic decline, worklessness and benefits dependency. To this end the project
will identify the current approaches to CCB, the obstacles to designing effective CCB strategies, together
with the drivers to more effective empowerment at local level. Emphasis will also be put on the skills and
institutions needed in a community to actively build or rebuild local social and economic life.
Recommendations will be developed and international examples of good practice (learning models) will
be provided.
Context
5.
Today the developed world is faced with a new wave of industrial change remaining industrial
centres in Western Europe and North America are threatened with the same decline experienced by similar
towns and cities twenty to thirty years ago. The financial crisis and global recession will see, and are
already witnessing, restructured companies closing large industrial facilities and other major employment
sites; car plants are likely to close in cities in the US, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany and
the UK; major steel production centres are under threat in the UK, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia.
These developments are often combined with steady economic decline. Many towns, cities and regions are
still looking for new types of economic purpose in the future; new specialisms, greater diversification, new
forms of entrepreneurship. There is a danger that the most fragile locations in the developed and
developing world are bearing a disproportionate brunt of the global slowdown. Unemployment and
business closures are rising fastest in those areas of the advanced world where worklessness and low
business activity were already problematic. Furthermore, localities emerging from political conflict and
division often remain fragile for generations. Poverty, exclusion and worklessness are inherent in affected
communities and exacerbated at times of economic downturn.
6.
Such realities are a central part of the rationale for continuing and expanding the work on
community capacity building. There are many areas (from the neighbourhood to the country level) that
require economic and social strategies that enable them to build, or to continue rebuilding local
CFE/LEED(2009)21
communities and economies. Indeed, for some years to come it will be necessary to preserve community
capacity and assets in order to maintain social and economic conditions. At the same time, there are also
places where capacity building strategies can help to build economic and social assets during longer term
growth phases. By building capacity, communities will be in a better position to meet the challenges of the
current crisis and to be more resilient to the next economic downturn. Better jobs, increased levels of
entrepreneurship, positive social capital indicators, business performance and sustainability are all potential
indicators of the resilience which increased community capacity can bring to local areas.
7.
There are major tensions between national, regional and local governments to develop strategies
that build, rebuild and preserve economic and social infrastructure in communities. Balancing national and
local priorities is always difficult but in the present economic and political circumstances it is an even
greater challenge. However, there is a widespread appetite amongst governments to act decisively at both
local and national levels in the current crisis and there is a need to find an appropriate balance between
these sometimes competing objectives. The priorities at all spatial levels are to build community capacity,
to rebuild capacity in deprived cities and regions, and to sustain such activity in difficult economic times.
Jobs, entrepreneurship and business performance are key tangible areas to which community capacity
building can contribute, and this is accompanied by more intangible factors including increased social
capital and social cohesion.
Some key lessons for policy makers
8.
From the work already undertaken by OECD LEED (Noya et al. 2009; Noya, 2009; Noya and
Clarence, 2007) a number of key lessons for policy makers can be identified.
9.
Firstly, policy makers should specifically construct services and strategies that are aimed at
stimulating enterprise, social capital and community capacity in deprived areas. It is important that in
doing so, policy makers should pursue as broad an approach as possible with concurrent strategies aimed at
stimulating capacity and activity at the personal and household level, in the public and private sectors and
through the third sector.
10.
Secondly, policy makers should resist the conflation of the social economy and capacity building
with just one or two sectors in a community. Capacity building and the stimulation of higher levels of
social capital and networks will be best achieved through an understanding of the broader base of activities
and organisations that create and contribute to the most positive forms of social capital and community
capacity.
11.
Thirdly, policy makers should maximise the inter-relationships between the social economy (and
community capacity) and other sectors, as well as following policies that boost either private sector
entrepreneurship or the third sector in isolation. Vertical approaches in policymaking and service delivery
must be complemented with horizontal interventions and strategies.
12.
Fourthly, policy makers should ensure that support for example, information, mentoring and
finance is focused on a broad range of people, services and agencies. Support for organisations that lock
in economic and social benefits to a particular community is vital. Such organisations might include local
co-operatives, credit unions, time banks and other third sector or social economy organisations as well as
private sector entrepreneurs and small businesses.
13.
Fifthly, policy makers should create civic infrastructure capacity for well-being and spaces for
social interaction and networks. Community and business spaces and social networks without obvious
economic benefits should be part of a comprehensive approach to capacity building. Spaces for people and
CFE/LEED(2009)21
groups to meet, for communities to come together are important aspects of all places and are conscious
elements within the creation of new business locations, such as in Barcelona and Stockholm.
14.
Sixthly, policy makers should understand that most decisions and support should be exercised
within communities as much as is practically possible. Social capital or community capacity is less likely
to be created or sustained from the outside. Ultimately, it is the community and its residents that have the
strongest understanding, ability and motivation to shape it for the better.
15.
Practically, these measures will help to build stronger, more resilient communities with greater
community capacity and improved relationships between all sectors and individuals within a community.
These principles help to create the conditions through which new forms of social and economic activity
might be generated within any given location. It also enables private sector employers to locate in an area
and to build better, more economically and socially sustainable businesses in conjunction with local
knowledge and networks.
Figure 1. Community Capacity Building - Local Multiplier Effect (combining social and economic factors)
Source: Reproduced with permission from Westall, Ramsden and Foley (2000).
16.
Perhaps the most important lesson for policymakers is that all policies which support any type of
sector or activity are also based on building the assets, capital and networks of individual people and
households. As individuals or members of a household we all have a stake in our local communities,
whether through working for or running a business, volunteering for a local charity, engaging in education,
playing in a local sports team or responsible in some way for a public service in the area. We demonstrate
this confluence of interests and activities in every day or week of our lives. The proportions of time
5
CFE/LEED(2009)21
allocated to each type of activity vary from person to person and place to place, but overall we are all
examples of how blurred definitions and interconnections between different economic activities are
utterly commonplace in households or in individual peoples lives.
17.
The economic multiplier effect demonstrates that it takes all sorts of actors and assets to develop
or to build enterprise and capacity in an area. The capacity of an area to develop is dependent on the
private, public and voluntary sectors as well as on households and individuals who are resident there.
Measures to promote private sector and social entrepreneurship are a prerequisite for successful and
sustainable regeneration. There are many strategies that will help to turn a deprived area around, but the
most effective will be the ones that bring the best of the private, public and third sectors together and that
recognise that most people will play some role in all three.
18.
It is clear that social innovation1 is playing, and will play a critical role in the short, medium and
long-term as communities, cities, regions and states, seek to rebuild during and after the current economic
crisis. The importance of social innovation in addressing multiple and complex issues should not be
underestimated and effective community capacity building is a positive example of social innovation in
practice.
19.
Two short cases one from Wales (Box 1) and the other from Brazil (Box 2) highlight the way
in which community capacity building can not only promote job creation and employment opportunities,
but also address wider social issues.
Box 1. Gellideg Foundation Group Gellideg, Wales (UK)
In 1998 the Gellideg Foundation Group was established on the Gellideg estate in Wales by six women. In an
area of high, long-term unemployment, the Foundation has become a central actor in addressing the complex
problems which confronts the community. With its mix of activities the Foundation has not only sought to address the
employment and training needs of the community, but is also focusing on raising low social aspirations.
The Foundation recognises that, beyond the availability of jobs, the social infrastructure of the community is
critical in raising living conditions. The local Time Bank (where volunteers build credits by donating time which in turn
can be used, for example, in local events and activities as well as in the community hairdressers and community caf)
is a central part of the community; in a community of 600 families there are 220 regular volunteers, 150 of whom are
children. Alongside the time bank, which provides valuable employment experience and has helped people into paid
employment, are other community activities that also help to build and sustain community cohesion, such as a
community caf which a catering club now sells its produce to, tea dances and a walking club. The latter is in turn
linked to an agenda for improving the health of the local communities, which has led to the establishment of a local cooperative selling fruit and vegetables.
The Gellideg Foundation Group views the community holistically and looks not only to the creation of
employment opportunities but to the wider needs of the community, recognising that ensuring more and better jobs
requires an approach which works by addressing complex social and economic problems. The Foundation is a positive
example of community capacity building in action.
1.
More information on social innovation, as well as on activities undertaken by the OECD LEED
Programme in this area, can be found at:
http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,3343,en_2649_34459_39263221_1_1_1_1,00.html
CFE/LEED(2009)21
20.
From Wales to Brazil, such examples demonstrate the important and positive role community
capacity building can have in creating and sustaining an environment in which employment opportunities
can be created, whilst simultaneously recognising that community needs must be addressed for
communities to be strong and resilient. Indeed, what is evident from these two examples is the importance
of recognising the strong interconnections between job creation and wider community capacity building
activities. However, community capacity building is not a quick-fix to the problems of local
communities. Rather, it is an essential part of a sustained approach to local development.
Some areas to be explored
21.
Stemming from the key lessons already identified it is possible to identify a range of issues which
could be further explored:
How, specifically, can community capacity building strategies help to address the effects of the
economic crisis by supporting entrepreneurship and the creation of more and better jobs?
How can community capacity building contribute to embedding and sustaining more and better
jobs in local communities?
How do we bring together policies that promote community capacity, build private and third
sector enterprise and improve economic performance?
How can the design and delivery of key public services such as welfare to work, adult education
and training help to build and/or reinforce community capacity?
What local assets are important in a community and how can community capacity building
strengthen their input to social and economic development?
22.
Clearly linked to such issues are the wider ones of creating social capital and fostering social
cohesion. As the two examples above suggest community capacity building has an important role to play in
7
CFE/LEED(2009)21
job and enterprise creation, however its role also extends beyond this to building social assets which in turn
feed into positive economic outcomes. How community capacity building can contribute to these outcomes
is therefore a relevant issue to address.
Methodology: Project outline and review framework
23.
The purpose of the project is to provide guidance to governments and other stakeholders on the
design and implementation of effective strategies for community capacity building.
Objectives
Paint a comprehensive picture of the strategies for community capacity building in a given
territory and their effectiveness by considering its contribution to economic and social resilience
in an area and overall performance and sustainability.
Assess the effectiveness of community capacity building policies in building resilience by
monitoring overall performance in employment (more and better jobs), enterprise (new business
start ups), productivity (GDP per capita) and reduced benefit dependencies.
Assess the effectiveness of community capacity building by monitoring wider social performance
in areas including social capital, crime levels, public health and community participation.
Identify appropriate, relevant good practice (learning models) examples.
Propose specific recommendations taking into account the unmet needs of the area surveyed and
assist policy-makers in developing a sound understanding of the way in which community
capacity building can contribute to a specific area, including employment, participation, etc.
Detailed stages of the project
24.
One of the key methodological approaches used by the OECD is the cross-country study. This
involves bringing together a team of international experts and/or academics to exchange views and
experiences with the main stakeholders in the fields of analysis. The aim is to help identify the strengths
and weaknesses of current approaches, to make recommendations for policy development and to provide
learning model policy and programme examples to help inspire the development of locally-tailored
approaches. It is anticipated that a core team of experts will be identified, who will participate in all of the
reviews. Accompanying this core team will be ad hoc experts, chosen as specialists in the area under
review. This section sets out a broad proposed framework for a review of the capacity to build community
capacity in line with the specific needs of individual countries.
Conducting the review
25.
Before the review is undertaken, discussions will be held between representatives from the
OECD Secretariat and its partner organisations to ensure that the review is appropriately adapted to the
areas and issues which the partner(s) wish to address. The specific areas to be addressed will be ascertained
during initial discussions with partner(s), according to the situation of the selected countries and territories.
Background and diagnostic report
26.
Working with an expert from a participating country, current community capacity building
activities will be assessed. This may be in general terms or with specific groups in mind, depending on the
CFE/LEED(2009)21
objectives of the partners. Existing institutional frameworks, national and sub-national government
programmes and policies for community capacity building, both generally and with regard to specific areas
(such as for the creation of jobs, wider local economic development, etc.) will be examined. It may also be
possible to utilise an on-line survey to feed into the background report in order to speedily identify the
range of community capacity building activities being undertaken.
Review panel
27.
The OECD has a strong and extensive international network of practitioners and experts on
policies relating to community capacity building. It will use these experts to secure an exchange of
information on practices in other countries. In particular, practitioners and experts will participate in
workshops and study visits to discuss issues and policy responses with local counterparts and will prepare
the final report setting out their perspective on policies and programme approaches from other countries
that could help inspire further policy development in the country being reviewed. The panels knowledge,
expertise and access to information will permit the comparison of local community capacity building
policies and programmes with international benchmarks on successful approaches and pitfalls to avoid.
Case studies and study visits
28.
Following discussion with partners, a small number of case studies might be identified as
appropriate to the review. Study missions will be conducted by the review panel during which meetings
will be held with partners, national and local government actors, and other relevant stakeholders, to
establish the strengths and weaknesses of current institutions and policies in light of international good
practices.
Workshop(s)
29.
Workshops may be held in order to facilitate the dissemination of the discussion paper and its
findings to policy makers and other involved actors. Such workshops will assist in refining the discussion
paper and its recommendations, before the final report is prepared.
Final report
30.
Following the workshops and discussions, a final report will be prepared which will contain
policy recommendations and international learning models.
Other activities capacity building seminars
31.
Other activities could be added to the review process, subject to discussion with partner(s).
These may include further case studies; capacity building seminars following the discussion paper and/or
the final report; national seminars to present the results; and international seminars to challenge the results
at international level.
32.
It is also possible hold free-standing capacity building seminars (single to multiple day events) on
community capacity building. These would be tailored to the specific focus as agreed, and could include
themes such as community capacity building for: employment, social cohesion, local economic
development, etc.
CFE/LEED(2009)21
Timing
33.
The implementation of the review process is expected to take between 9 and 12 months. The
project is expected to start in 2010 and could continue during 2011-2012.
Budget
34.
The review (and other activities) will be financed by the participating countries and organisations
involved. A detailed budget will be prepared upon request, based on a clear identification of the scope of
the review and the activities to be conducted during the review process.
10
CFE/LEED(2009)21
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Noya, A. (ed.) (2009), The Changing Boundaries of Social Enterprises, OECD, Paris.
Noya, A., E. Clarence and G. Craig (eds.) (2009), Community Capacity Building: Creating a Better Future
Together, OECD, Paris.
Noya, A. and E. Clarence (eds.) (2007), The Social Economy: Building Inclusive Economies, OECD, Paris.
Westall, A., P. Ramsden, and J. Foley (2000), Micro-entrepreneurs: Creating Enterprising Communities,
IPPR and NEF, London.
11
Engaging Queenslanders:
A guide to community engagement
methods and techniques
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge the following for
contributing photos included in this guide.
Community Renewal (Department of Housing)
Wendy Sarkissian
Second Cohort of the Graduate Certificate in
Interprofessional Leadership (UQ)
1.1 Introduction
consultation
active
participation
Active participation
Active participation recognises and acknowledges
a role for citizens and clients in proposing and/or
shaping policy dialogue, program and service
options. Participation is achieved through a
range of deliberative techniques such as citizens
juries, citizens panels, search conferences,
negotiation tables, steering committees, and
reference groups. Such processes engage people
in active partnership and/or co-production with
government. Deliberative processes often take
time and resources as participants need to build
their awareness and knowledge about the issues in
order to contribute effectively.
Active participation processes enable people to
raise their own issues with government and can
also encourage or enable participants to take
responsibility for their contribution to solutions.
Responsibility for the final decision usually rests
with government but may, in some instances, be
shared with citizens, communities or stakeholders.
It is critical that the final decision maker is
predetermined and agreed in the planning process.
Involvement of citizens/stakeholders and
communities in government planning or decisionmaking requires specific techniques to facilitate
learning, debate and the development of options
and proposals. Public sector employees seeking
to facilitate such processes also require significant
skills, often different from those required for
information or consultation, in order to achieve
effective outcomes.
2
Choosing engagement techniques
Agency issue
Considerations include
Community to be targeted
Political environment
Capacity to influence
Legislative environment
where does your engagement fit within the policy or planning cycle?
Resources
**The availability of staff and/or consultants with the skills to implement engagement techniques is a key consideration. Competencies for
community engagement have been included within the Public Sector Training Package www.pseta.gov.au. Tools for recruiting, selecting,
inducting and performance managing staff with engagement skills can be found at www.getinvolved.gov.au
8
Agency issue
Considerations include
Corporate culture
2.2
Community issues
Communities are increasingly more diverse and are
not generally a homogenous group. They can be
categorised into either communities of interest, and/
or geographical communities. The primary aim of
any community engagement process is to connect
with the community. In order to do this effectively,
it is important to develop a sound understanding
of that community. This understanding can be
achieved via a number of processes.
Community feature
Considerations include
Demographic features
Preferences for
engagement
Previous experience(s)
with government
engagement
Capacity for
engagement
Existing engagement
structures and
processes
Nature of impact
10
Guiding principle
Considerations include
Inclusiveness
what consideration needs to be given to venues, language, print type, timing etc. to
ensure that engagement is accessible to all?
is capacity building required to enable all people to be effectively engaged?
what techniques are required to enable all voices to be heard?
what promotion is required to encourage wide participation?
Reaching out
are there groups of disengaged or unengaged people within the community who could
be engaged?
what will it take to engage these groups?
can engagement processes be implemented in times and places that are comfortable
to the community?
can engagement processes link with community radio stations, newsletters,
websites etc.?
Mutual respect
Integrity
how can the honesty, openness and accountability of the engagement process be
demonstrated?
is there a commitment to carefully planning, implementing and evaluating the
engagement technique?
are there sufficient resources to implement the technique effectively including:
advertising and publishing, printing and circulating information?
hire of venue, facilitators, translators, child care staff?
catering, transport arrangements for a range of participants who would not
otherwise be able to attend, disability access for people in wheel chairs or using
prams, meeting costs?
time?
purchase or hire of equipment, stalls, marquees, workshop materials?
professional, technical, casual and support staff (some of which may have existing
networks with some of the participants?)
Engaging Queenslanders A guide to community engagement methods and techniques
11
Guiding principle
Considerations include
Affirming diversity
does information need to be provided in languages other than English and/or large
font format?
can the information be articulated to those who are illiterate or those with disabilities?
will diverse groups interact well in group situations or are parallel processes required?
are there cultural protocols which need to be honoured?
will targeted processes and/or culturally, age and gender appropriate facilitators
enhance the effectiveness of engagement?
have there been measures to cater for child care and/or people with a disability?
Adding value
will the technique build government and/or community capacity for future
engagement?
will the technique build trust between the agency and the community?
will the technique support sustainable community and/or government outcomes?
12
Page
Participation
Consultation
Information
Participation
Consultation
Information
Action research
30
23
Advertising
14
Learning circles
35
Advisory committees
31
Media stories
18
Briefings
15
Negotiation tables
42
Charrettes
32
Newsletters
17
Citizens juries
32
News conferences
19
Citizens panels
48
Newspaper inserts
20
51
43
One-on-one interviews
24
52
Community fairs/events
21
47
Community meetings
22
15
33
Open days
25
Community visioning
52
Participatory editing
38
Deliberative polling
49
39
Deliberative retreats
34
Design workshops
36
Photovoice
44
24
46
45
Displays
20
Polls
26
Drama workshops
34
Precinct committees
38
16
Road shows
27
Shop fronts
22
Fact sheets
16
Summits
50
Fishbowls
45
Survey research
27
Focus groups
37
Telephone hotlines
19
40
42
Web-based consultation
processes
28
Imagine
13
3
Information-sharing techniques
14
3.1 Advertising
Advertising involves agencies developing specific
information in particular formats and languages
for distribution through print, radio, television and
online media. It can be an effective way to bring
issues and activities to the attention of people
in a certain geographic area or demographic
group very quickly. Advertising can be targeted
to relatively small and specific groups, or can
address much wider and more diverse populations.
Advertising can be obligatory in certain legislative
processes. When advertising, it is important to use
the range of media that the target group
may access.
Strengths:
the content of the information disseminated
can be tightly controlled
can be relatively cost effective if using
community newsletters, and/or
community radio
is an effective way to reach a large and
diverse population(s)
can be targeted to print and electronic media
that the community of interest accesses and
advertisements can be produced in a number
of languages and can include diagrams, maps
etc, to convey visual information.
Weaknesses:
can be seen as propaganda
can be expensive if using large circulation
and television media
does not build two-way relationships with the
community and
can be constrained by agency processes and
protocols.
References and websites:
Community Engagement in the NSW Planning System Prepared for
Planning NSW by Elton Consulting (2003)
www.iplan.nsw.gov.au
Project Safe NeighborhoodsCommunity Engagement and Media
Outreach Technical Assistance Program: New York (2004)
www.ojp.usdoj.gov
3.3 Briefings
Briefings are a technique to provide key
information to agency decision-makers, Members
of Parliament, other agencies and key stakeholders
at regular intervals to assist them to stay informed
about the progress of an engagement activity.
Whilst often one-way in nature, by raising
awareness amongst key stakeholders, briefings
can lead to more effective two-way communication
and the identification of issues or options not
previously considered. It is particularly important
to provide briefings if an engagement activity could
have political implications, or if the stakeholders
being briefed are likely to be impacted by decisions
made as a result of the engagement activity.
15
Strengths:
can be a useful way to build relationships with
important stakeholders and
often an effective way of ensuring stakeholder
issues are regularly identified and dealt with.
Weaknesses:
care needs to be taken to ensure that
Ministers and others are aware of briefings
being undertaken with local Members of
Parliament and elected representatives from
other tiers of government and
can raise expectations about the level of
influence those being briefed may have over
the process.
References and websites:
Community Engagement in the NSW Planning System Prepared for
Planning NSW by Elton Consulting (2003) www.iplan.nsw.gov.au
16
Strengths:
often an efficient way of summarising
significant information for dissemination to a
wide range of people and
can be developed in languages other than
English and large text formats.
Weaknesses:
may not be accessible to people with low
literacy levels or visual impairments
distribution strategies need to be planned
carefully to ensure that all of those with an
interest receive copies and
facts may be contested or mistrusted.
References and websites:
Walsh K & Sarkissian W (2000) Improving Community Participation
in the City of Port Phillip. A toolbook of Participatory Techniques.
Melbourne: Walsh Planning Research & Design
VicRoads (1997) Community participation: Strategies and guidelines.
Melbourne: VicRoads www.vicroads.vic.gov.au
3.6 Newsletters
Like fact sheets, newsletters provide information
about a program or issue in a paper or online
format. Along with containing facts however,
newsletters also often contain a variety of
additional information including photographs,
diagrams, maps and editorial comment.
Typically, newsletters are targeted at citizens
and stakeholders who are most interested in the
issue. They enable agencies to provide regular
information and feedback about communal issues,
and the contribution made by participants and
future proposed steps. Newsletters usually include
contact details for people who require more
information, or wish to become more involved.
17
19
3.10 Displays
Displays involve the provision of a range of often
highly visual materials relating to the engagement
topic. Displays can inform the public and stimulate
citizens and stakeholders to participate in an
engagement activity. Displays are generally located
in community locations such as shopping centres,
libraries, community centres and community
events and festivals. Although producing a display
can be costly, it can often be designed so that it
can be used again at other events or locations.
Strengths:
can be established in places that the community
of interest is known to use and therefore support
effective information dissemination
is a cost effective way of sharing highly visual
materials, for example, maps, photographs,
and colour designs, which are often expensive
to print
written materials can be produced in languages
other than English and large text format
can support relationship building and improve
understanding if staffed by an appropriate
person who has knowledge about the issue and
a commitment to engagement and
can be used as an engagement tool within the
community if poster/display competitions are
coordinated.
Weaknesses:
can be resource intensive if staff are required
to be present to discuss issues with people
viewing the displays
not all information can be effectively displayed
in a visual format and
are only accessible to people who use the
venues at which the displays are installed.
References and websites:
Citizen Science Toolbox, Cooperative Research Centre for Coastal
Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management. www.griffith.edu.au
International Association for Public Participation (2000) IAP2 Public
Participation Toolbox. www.iap2.org
Dept of Transportation (1997) Public Involvement and Techniques for
Transportation Decision-Making: Transportation Fair. Washington,
www.fhwa.dot.gov
Wates N (1999) The Community Planning Handbook. London,
Earthscan. www.communityplanning.net
20
Weaknesses:
relatively expensive
the target group may not read newspapers
and
may not be accessible to people with low
literacy levels or visual impairments.
References and websites:
Queensland Government Youth Website
www.generate.qld.gov.au
PR Web. The free wire service (2004) www.prweb.com
3.12
21
3.13
Community meetings
22
3.14
Shop fronts
Strengths:
increases the visibility and accessibility of the
agency/issue
community members can access at a time
and on a day which suits them and
can support local infrastructure by providing
an additional space for people to meet to
discuss community issues
Weaknesses:
if shopfronts only operate during business
hours they may not be accessible to people in
full-time employment
can be expensive to establish and operate
and
workplace health and safety of staff needs to
be carefully considered.
References and websites:
Citizen Science Toolbox, Cooperative Research Centre for Coastal
Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management. www.griffith.edu.au
Industry and community participation. EPA Information Sheet IS No.
23 July (2001) www.environment.sa.gov.au
The University of Queensland Service and Research Centre (2002)
Regional Engagement & Consultation Projects. The Shopfronts and
Community Hubs Project in Esk Shire www.uq.edu.au/boilerhouse
Walsh K & Sarkissian W (2000) Improving Community Participation in
the City of Port Phillip. A toolbook of Participatory Techniques. Walsh
Planning Research & Design: Melbourne
3.15
23
4
Consultation techniques
24
25
4.4 Polls
Polls generally involve posing a small number of
closed questions to a range of people in order to
identify community opinion. The answers sought
are often yes or no, or scaled responses, for
example, strongly supported, supported, not
supported, unsure. It has become increasingly
affordable to conduct polls, and in particular
telephone polls, in recent years. Polls are often a
suitable adjunct to public participation activities.
Polls do not always predict an outcome, rather,
they provide a snapshot of public opinion at one
moment in time. If people are still learning about
an issue, a poll may tell you how they feel given
their current level of knowledge but may not reflect
how theyll react once they learn more unless a
deliberative component is built in to the process
(refer Deliberative Polling section 5.14).
Strengths:
permits a quantitative assessment of
community opinion
responses are relatively easy to collate and
is a relatively quick and cost effective way to
sample a large number of people on a variety
of topics.
Weaknesses:
requires significant effort to ensure that
the sample of the population polled is
representative of the broader community
assumes a level of knowledge/opinion that
may not exist
26
27
interest.
4.7.2 Internet surveys
Internet surveys can be used to gain information
from the public on a single issue or to gauge public
opinion on a number of topics. Used in conjunction
with an existing website, they can be an effective
way for users of the internet to submit their ideas
and opinions directly to government. A suitable
questionnaire will need to be developed and
posted on the internet, with ongoing monitoring
and analysis of the results. Internet surveys can
be an effective means of obtaining information
from the sector of the public that is online. If
access and capability issues are not addressed
in this technique the results may not be
representative of the public as a whole.
4.7.3 Discussion boards and listserves
Discussion boards are places on the internet that
people can access to engage in conversations
and discussions around issues. A listserve
is an automated mailing list which allows the
subscribers to the list to send email messages
to all other members of the list. They can allow
similar discussion and debate as discussion
boards except that the messages are transmitted
via email. Discussion boards and listserves are
generally founded on a single issue of concern.
Monitoring the discussion boards and listserves
can be a useful way of gaining insight into the
often uncensored thoughts and ideas of people
who are communicating on the internet. It may
be appropriate to appoint a moderator to facilitate
discussion or to monitor contributions in order
to ensure compliance with legal and policy
frameworks.
29
5
Active participation techniques
30
Strengths:
values a wide range of technical and local
expertise and knowledge
provides committee members and
government with an understanding of a
range of perspectives, data sets and other
knowledge bases in order to develop
informed, agreed and integrated solutions
can support a range of other engagement
processes, for example action research
provides opportunities to explore alternative
strategies and build on commonalities and
alliances and
enables information and decisions to be
distributed to members of the organisations
or community sectors represented on the
committee.
Weaknesses:
participants may not be representative of the
various groups with relevant knowledge or skills
it can be difficult to manage the diversity
of opinion, data, frameworks and other
information provided via committee members
and
standing committees may lose impetus or
relevance.
31
5.3 Charrettes
Strengths:
promotes joint problem-solving and creative
thinking and
creates partnerships and positive working
relationships with the community.
Weaknesses:
participants may not be representative of the
community and
it can be difficult to engage groups usually
marginalised from consultative processes.
References and websites:
Community Consultation Resource Website Victorian Local
Governan Association www.vlgaconsultation.org.au
Community engagement in the New South Wales planning system.
www.iplan.nsw.gov.au
32
33
Weaknesses:
may be too formal and structured for some
community representatives
if not well-resourced and supported,
community members may not be able to
sustain involvement
can be difficult to sustain in remote
communities
may attract vocal community members
and fail to engage representatives of more
marginalised groups and
difficult to ensure genuine representation.
Strengths:
intensive and focused
a good way to build and strengthen
relationships between key stakeholders and
decision makers
can take place at a neutral venue and
enables sufficient time and space to share,
discuss and deliberate.
34
Weaknesses:
can be costly to convene
requires very careful planning, clearly
articulated goals and objectives and
facilitation
may be negatively portrayed as a junket and
may exclude key people who are unable to
participate in overnight events for example,
single parents and carers.
References and websites:
Marcus L PhD & Dorn B MD (2003) Create a tipping point when
planning a retreat. Renegotiating Health Care. By AMNews
contributors. www.ama-assn.org
35
Strengths:
builds respectful relationships
provides more focus than discussion groups
and seeks to have action-oriented outcomes
uncovers opinions and feelings about a topic
provides a non-threatening forum which
can draw out a variety of views and ideas,
including from reserved participants and
provides a democratic forum by providing
equal time and attention for each participant.
Weaknesses:
some participants may feel intimidated by the
views and opinions of other participants and
participants may not be totally representative.
References and websites:
Learning Circles Australia www.learningcircles.org.au
Educators for Community Engagement
www.e4ce.org/pages/learning.htm
Strengths:
can be used in initial planning and problem
solving phases
requires a commitment from all participants to
share information
can be highly productive over a short period
of time
techniques are easily learnt and applied
provides an opportunity for a range of
knowledge and skills to be used
enables technical and non-technical people
to participate at the same forum and
allows development and/or enhancement of
relationships.
Weaknesses:
needs to be used in the early phases of
project development
does not allow for wide participation (targeted
participant involvement) and
usually requires expert knowledge or lived
experience regarding a particular issue.
References and websites:
Gaffney G (1999) www.infodesign.com.au
Information and Design (2003) www.infodesign.com.au
Community Engagement in the NSW Planning System (2003)
www.iplan.nsw.gov.au
Sarkissian W & Walsh K (1998) Community Participation in Practice.
Casebook. Murdoch: Institute for Science and Technology Policy.
Wates N (1998) The Community Planning Handbook. London:
Earthscan
36
Weaknesses:
some people may feel inhibited in expressing
non-consensus views
Strengths:
can be used to gain the views of those
who may not respond to other forms of
consultation, for example, surveys, written
exercises
37
38
39
40
Weaknesses:
there may be difficulties in reaching
consensus
the process may be dominated by large
interest groups if not carefully planned and
facilitated and
can be logistically challenging.
41
5.15 Imagine
Imagine is a new approach to community
participation based on appreciative inquiry.
Appreciative inquiry can be used to discover,
understand and foster innovations in communities
by gathering positive stories and images and
constructing positive interactions.
Imagine focuses on exploring ways to consider what
could be and what is possible by reflecting on past
positive experiences. It helps participants identify a
collectively desired future and vision and consider
ways of translating possibilities into reality and belief
into practice.
Imagine asks people to tell stories of what works
and involves a six-stage process of:
1. defining the issues and a set of exploratory
questions
2. using the questions to draw out stories
3. dreaming how the future could be and
expressing peoples ideas as provocative
propositions ideally done in a one-day
workshop
4. co-creating the dream by forming
partnerships that in turn use the Imagine
method for continuing workshops
5. celebrating the project and its achievements
and
6. evaluating the project.
A core group of participants should be trained to
facilitate the Imagine process prior to commencing
the event. The core group can then guide and
train other participants. Skilled and independent
facilitation for a workshop/s is desirable.
Strengths:
is inclusive all sections of the community
can take part
is based on storytelling, which is familiar
and fun
42
43
Strengths:
can identify problems, explore solutions and
establish priorities
allows individual judgements to be pooled in
situations where uncertainty or disagreement
exists about the nature of a problem
all participants have an equal opportunity to
have their say and
delivers timely results.
Weaknesses:
the group may not be representative
may result in ill-informed or impractical
outcomes and
is not especially in-depth and therefore does
not allow comprehensive exploration of
peoples feelings.
References and website:
Borrini-Feyerabend G (ed) (1997) Beyond Fences: Seeking social
sustainability in conservation. www.iucn.org
Citizen Science Toolbox, Cooperative Research Centre for Coastal
Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management www.griffith.edu.au
Commonwealth Department of Health & Aged Care. Canberra.
Available as pdf as www.participateinhealth.org.au
COSLA (1998) Focusing on Citizens: A Guide to Approaches and
Methods. Available at:
www.improvementservice.org.uk/community-planning
Strengths:
provides pictorial evidence of community
issues
provides an alternative means of expression
which may help to include those who prefer
visual rather than textual or verbal information
allows detailed information to be collected
from participants and
can easily be used in the media, including
print, television and online.
Weaknesses:
can be costly, including cameras, developing
and printing photographs
may generate ambiguous information and
may be difficult to manage and coordinate.
5.18 Photovoice
Weaknesses:
time consuming and
managing expectations can be challenging
members may be unsure whether their role
is to act as an expert on a particular issue or
to represent the interests of their organisation
or government agency.
References and website:
Social Exclusion Units Policy Action Team Approach to Policy
Development.www.policyhub.gov.uk
5.20 Fishbowls
A fishbowl is a discussion strategy that seeks
to maximise participation in identifying and
understanding issues in response to set questions.
Questions for discussion are prepared and
considered one at a time. Fishbowl participants are
assigned to either a listening or a discussion group.
The two discreet groups are positioned so that the
listening group is seated around the discussion
group (usually in concentric circles).
The first discussion group has an agreed
amount of time to discuss the question (only one
question per discussion round). During the active
discussion, the listening group takes notes and
prepares commentary. The groups then swap
places and the listening group provides rebuttal or
further examination of the issues discussed and
45
47
49
5.25 Summits
A summit is a large scale, time limited event
which brings together large numbers of diverse
participants to consider information, engage in
dialogue and to make recommendations for action.
Summits are often used in the early phases of
developing strategies to address particularly
complex issues. They can be both a visioning and
exploratory exercise. Intensive planning is required
to organise a summit. Summits are interactive and
can be tailored to suit a diverse group of interested
community participants, key stakeholders and
policy makers.
The summit process is structured and transparent
and requires significant forms of consultation
prior to the event. It also requires a high level of
commitment and resourcing from political leaders
and key stakeholders. A summit is normally held
over two to three days. Consultation can be
expanded to include a web based chat link during
the summit, and information sharing processes for
those who are unable to attend the summit.
The methods for delivering a summit may vary,
but generally the first day features introductory
speakers from a diverse group including
politicians, experts, and community members. The
second day features exploration of existing policies
with international, national and local perspectives
being discussed. Expert panel members inform
participants, and working groups are established
and operate throughout the summit. A special
resolution group is established and informed by
the other working groups, this can also include
an online forum. The final day features the
establishment of draft policies which are discussed
within a plenary session.
Strengths:
can defuse a contentious issue by providing
all stakeholders with the opportunity to put
forward options for consideration
50
51
5.27
Community visioning
5.28
53
6
Feedback and follow-up
54
55
7
Celebration, transition and handover
56
Weaknesses:
requires intensive planning
budget considerations are a priority
requires skilled coordination
requires significant collaboration from a
number of agencies and stakeholders and
media and publicity can be a significant issue.
References and websites:
Citizen Science Toolbox, Cooperative Research Centre for Coastal
Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management www.griffith.edu.au
Queensland Health (2002) Methods Manual. Engaging Communities
in Participatory Action Research. Southport: Public Health Services.
Vichealth and RMIT (2004) Community Celebrations Project (project
in partnership with Vichealth) www.rmit.edu.au
Engaging
Acting
Members come
together and
recognise their
potential
Members engage
in developing the
group, working
together and
engaging others
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Finding each
other, discovering
commonalities
Finding each
other, discovering
commonalities
Engaging in
joint activities,
planning and
doing, creating
artifacts, adapting
to changing
circumstances,
renewing interest,
committment and
relationships
Plans made
regarding
staying in touch,
communicating,
holding reunions,
calling for advice
Telling stories,
preserving
artifacts,
collecting
memorabilia
A cluster of
people face
similar situations
without the
benefit of a
shared practice
Transitioning &
disengaging
Members no
longer engage
as intensely but
the group is still
alive as a force
and centre of
knowledge
Remembering
A cluster of
people face
similar situations
with the benefit of
a shared practice
57
8
Evaluating engagement acivities
58
59
9
Managing contractors and consultants
61
10
References and further resources
62
10.2
10.3
63
64
10.3.2 Children
The Christchurch City Council - The Kids Tool Box
www.ccc.govt.nz/ChildrensStrategy/ToolBox
65
10.3.6 Seniors
Community Engagement in the NSW Planning
System Prepared for Planning NSW by Elton
Consulting (2003) www.iplan.nsw.gov.au
66
Analytical Services exists to improve policy making, decision taking and practice
by the Ministry of Justice. It does this by providing robust, timely and relevant data
and advice drawn from research and analysis undertaken by the departments
analysts and by the wider research community.
Disclaimer
The views expressed are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the Ministry
of Justice (nor do they represent Government policy).
Contents
Executive summary
Introduction
Methodology
Sample
Design
Methodological limitations
2
2
3
5
Main findings
What is a gang?
What factors motivate individuals to join a street gang?
What factors maintain gang membership in prison and the community?
What factors are associated with desistance from gang involvement/
membership?
How does gang membership influence an individuals use of violence?
14
18
Practical implications
Assessment
Intervention
Resettlement/throughcare
22
22
23
24
References
8
8
9
11
25
Executive summary
This report outlines the findings of an exploratory project seeking greater understanding of
the psychological processes contributing to violence carried out by prisoners identified as
street-gang members. Specifically the research aims to provide information relating to the
following questions:
1.
What is a gang?
2.
3.
4.
What is a gang?
Participants held different views about the nature of gangs and there was a lack of
consensus about what constituted a gang.
criminal activity was positively reinforced by others in the gang, through praise,
enhanced status, greater inclusion, and financial reward;
territorial disputes maintained gang cohesion and justified the need to group together to
protect the gangs territory.
a willingness to join in with violence to gain approval for inclusion in the group;
using violence as a means of having fun or excitement;
having a propensity for violence that existed before joining a gang;
using violence to achieve and maintain status and respect;
viewing violence as a necessary and acceptable means of making money and protecting
business interests.
Practical implications
The research highlighted a number of issues relevant to assessment and intervention with
gang-affiliated offenders.
ii
There may be some differences in the criteria (and information) used across agencies
to prioritise offenders, which reinforces the importance of information sharing and
collaboration in assessment and management of risk.
There can be significant rivalry and conflict both between and within gangs. This has
obvious implications for allocation of offenders to intervention groups.
There can be considerable variation between different participants experience and
sense of gang affiliation. Exploring and understanding these differences may help to
inform and refine decisions about appropriate allocation.
Motivation for the use of violence by gang-affiliated offenders overlaps considerably
with patterns of thinking linked with the use of violence in other violent offenders. This
suggests that many gang members could benefit from the same interventions as those
designed for generally violent offenders, which focus on underlying values, beliefs, and
expectations about violence.
Interventions focusing solely on facilitating exit from gangs are unlikely to reduce
violence risk in all gang-affiliated offenders. They should also explore (and address) the
full range of other factors linked with the offenders use of violence.
Offenders treatment needs and patterns of engagement might vary at different
developmental points, which should be considered in treatment planning.
Exploring personal motivations for joining and staying with street gangs might help to
identify ways of engaging offenders in intervention, and motivating them towards prosocial change.
Becoming a father and disillusionment with gang life may be significant events that
support the process of exiting gangs and desisting from offending.
Some offenders expressed a strong need for control over change, a mistrustful or
anti-authority stance, and sensitivity to being labelled, stereotyped and/or judged. It
is important that facilitators and managers of interventions find ways of constructively
working with these issues.
Potential barriers to successful resettlement include the absence of concrete and
realistic future plans, and an over-reliance on leaving the home area as a strategy for
overcoming barriers to resettlement.
iii
1 Introduction
This report presents the main findings from a research study that was commissioned by
the Metropolitan Police Service, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)
Rehabilitation Services Group and the Home Office. It aims to develop an understanding
of the psychological factors that contribute to violence carried out by prisoners identified
as street-gang members. This is essentially an exploratory study. It aims to explore the link
between street gangs and violence and the implications of this for current violence reduction
practice in prison and the community.
2 Methodology
This project is an exploratory study that seeks to add to the understanding of violence carried
out by prisoners identified as street-gang members. The over-arching aim is to identify
potential implications for improving existing violence reduction interventions for this group of
offenders. The primary end-users of the research are staff within the criminal justice system,
particularly practitioners advising on and/or working directly with offenders convicted of gangrelated violence. Current methods of practice within offender interventions are at the level
of individual or group work, and mainly rely on psychological techniques. In consequence,
this research must be able to identify implications for practice at the level of individual
psychology. This research is viewed as an exploratory first step towards developing a
psychological understanding of gangs at an individual level.
Sample
The selection of participants for the field research involved two steps.
The first step was to identify potential gang members. As noted above, this step focused on
individuals who were detained in custody at the time of research. Evidence of gang affiliation
was assessed against the Hallsworth and Young (2006) definition of gang membership.
Hallsworth and Young define a gang as a relatively durable, predominantly street-based
group of young people who see themselves (and are recognised by others) as a discernible
group for whom crime and violence is intrinsic to identity and practice. Candidates without
substantiated evidence of gang membership or association were removed from the sample.
This step involved reviewing information held on a number of specified databases related to
violent gang-related offences in the Greater London area. The researchers noted that one of
these databases prioritised gun crime, while another focused on so-called Black-on-Black
crime. They also acknowledged that the sample extracted reflects the bias in the original
records, most notably on three variables:
geography (London-based);
index offence (gun-crime);
ethnicity (Black).
Although the Hallsworth and Young criteria were used to define the sample, one of the
issues the study aimed to explore was participants own sense of their gang affiliation. This
included considering their own definitions and orientation to what a gang is, and the extent
that they saw themselves as a gang member. The Hallsworth and Young official definition
is seen as an important anchor point. This anchor provides an appropriate starting point for
an explorative study because it clearly identifies the population being explored. At the time
of the research, the Hallsworth and Young definition was the operational definition in use by
the Metropolitan Police. Prison staff often consult police records in assessment of prisoners
and in planning interventions with convicted offenders. Hence the sample obtained closely
corresponds to the intended end use of the research.
The second step screened candidates for violence history. This involved screening out
candidates without either a violent index offence or evidence of prior violent offending.
Violent offences included possession of a weapon. The study did not differentiate between
gang-related violence and general violence. This reflected two considerations. First, this
distinction can be tenuous and difficult to make. Second, a principal focus of the study was
on improving violence interventions for gang-affiliated offenders. These interventions do not
routinely distinguish between violence occurring in different contexts. Instead they aim to
improve understanding and management of risk factors contributing to the range of violent
acts committed by an individual.
The result of these two steps of sample selection produced a list of 150 convicted offenders
who were considered for recruitment as participants in the study.
Design
Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was chosen as the underpinning
methodology. This is a qualitative approach developed within psychology by Smith (1996).
It allows in-depth exploration at the individual level of the sense people make of their
experiences, and is thus particularly suited to exploratory studies.
IPA advocates purposive sampling, which means that the sample is chosen on its relevance
to the research aim (Smith and Osborn, 2008). In this case this is people in prison convicted
of violent, gang-related offences, as it is these individuals for whom any implications for
violence reduction interventions will be relevant.
There were two discrete phases to the field research.
Both phases incorporated the collection of qualitative data through one-to-one interviews.
The first phase of the field research involved conducting a series of open-ended interviews
with male gang-affiliated violent offenders currently serving prison sentences. It is important
to note that what was being sought was the participants own view of their experience.
Interviews ranged between one and two hours and were digitally recorded and then
transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed following IPA principles (Smith and Osborn,
2008) and a set of four themes was produced.
This left 77 potential participants. Of these, 39 declined to take part (including 1 who
initially agreed but withdrew on the day), this being 29% of the original 136 but 51% of
those approached. There were thus 38 participants, giving an acceptance rate of 49%. The
majority, 32 participants (84%) were in adult prisons, of which 4 (11%) were in high security
prisons. The remaining six participants (16%) were in juvenile prisons.
As discussed earlier, the researchers expected that the composition of this sample would
reflect the bias in the records from which it was drawn, particularly that it will predominantly
comprise Black offenders convicted of gun crime. In the second phase sample:
31 participants (82%) self-classified as Black or Black British, comprising 17 (45%) of
Methodological limitations
The limitations of the methodology can be discussed under three main headings:
sampling;
acceptance rates (self-selection);
barriers to disclosure and engagement.
The sample was drawn from existing records about violent gang-related offences. Bias in the
records has been noted in terms of geography, index offence, and ethnicity. What is not known,
however, is the extent that the original 150 prisoners on the list, and thus those who were
interviewed, are representative of the wider population of convicted violent gang members in
prison. For example, a sample drawn from another city is firstly likely to have a differing ethnic
composition. The desk research discussed how the ethnic composition of gangs tends to
reflect the ethnic composition of the areas where they are based. Secondly, it may be the case
that gangs have different experiences in different cities and regions. The themes would need to
be tested on a sample of convicted violent gang members from other cities.
The researchers also noted that the original sample excluded high-level organised criminals
(as defined by Hallsworth and Young, 2006). As a result application of the findings of this
study to organised crime should be approached with much caution.
Finally, the researchers acknowledged that all members of the sample were held in custody
at the time of interviewing. This might impact on the generalisability of findings to gangaffiliated offenders on the street. However, they noted that there was a high degree of
overlap in the findings of this study and other studies of gang members not in custody.
Acceptance rates (the proportion of those asked who agreed to be interviewed) at the first
and second stage were 42% and 49% respectively. This gives a self-selecting sample. This is
common in qualitative research. Indeed, it can be argued that it is necessary that somebody
chooses, without incitement or reward, to participate in a research interview, otherwise
their engagement in the interview is seriously compromised. However, this means that the
research does not have information about those prisoners who chose not to participate, apart
from that they did not differ in age. It is possible that their experiences of being in a gang
could differ from those who chose to be interviewed.
The extent to which a participant engages in the interview is important to the quality of
the interview. This is something that the researcher conducting the interview is able to
adequately judge based on professional experience. However, several barriers to participant
engagement in the interviews should be noted.
The interviews were held within the prison environment and the research was being carried
out on behalf of the NOMS. Although participants were informed that the research team
were independent researchers and were provided with information concerning anonymity
and confidentiality, it seems unlikely that all participants would speak as freely as they
might to a friend in a home environment. As mentioned above participants self-selected to
be interviewed, without coercion or reward, and the interview only covered events already
known to the criminal justice authorities. This was seen to minimise one potential barrier to
disclosure, that of incriminating self or others, including being seen as a grass. It was also
made clear in interview that participants could skip questions without explanation, as well as
choose not to be recorded. Furthermore, the IPA style of interviewing is open, curious, and
supportive in facilitating participants to explore their own sense of experiences and events.
These approaches combined were viewed to minimise barriers to engagement.
The research team comprised two White males and four White females. Given that the
sample was predominantly Black, it may be possible that the ethnic difference was a barrier
to engagement in the interviews.
From the debrief discussions after the interviews, the research team felt that disclosure
and engagement had not presented a problem in the interviews, and that engagement
was generally very good. It was felt that participants differed in terms of their willingness to
discuss potentially uncomfortable aspects of their experiences, but this was felt to reflect
an ordinary spread one would expect, rather than a systematic issue with this sample.
The wide-ranging experiences of the research team with different offender populations,
in both research and practice, was essential to being confident about adequate levels of
engagement in interviews.
The research aims concern implications for violence reduction interventions with similar
groups, primarily in a prison environment. It can be argued that interventions staff are likely to
get a similar level of engagement in interviews or treatment sessions to that achieved by the
research team. This suggests that any gains in engagement attained by, for example, peerinterviewing and/or interviewing in home locations, would be negligible for the intended end
use of this research.
3 Main findings
The findings from this report are discussed under five main research questions:
1. What is a gang?
2. What factors motivate individuals to join a street gang?
3. What factors maintain gang membership in prison and the community?
4. What factors are associated with desistance from gang involvement/membership?
5. How does gang membership influence an individuals use of violence?
What is a gang?
Participants had differing views on what they believed a gang to be. For some individuals
collective offending was experienced as occurring in a context of closed groups of stable,
supportive and cohesive friendships. These groups might or might not have a process
of recruiting new members, and might or might not identify themselves as a gang. Other
participants described a sense of gangs as highly competitive, hierarchical structures
that provide some level of exclusivity. For some participants affiliations were strongly
tied to geographic territory, yet for others they were highly fluid and based on shifting
geographical boundaries.
These themes overlap to a large extent with information from previous research, which
suggests that gangs can be fluid, flat in structure, stem from ordinary friendships, and have
a relatively strong identity (Aldridge and Medina, 2007; Youth Justice Board, 2007; Marshall,
Webb and Tilley, 2005; Mares, 2001). However, the above also suggests that practitioners
need to be careful about making assumptions about an offenders own sense of their
gang affiliations. This includes being cautious about labelling offenders as gang members.
One reason for this caution is that some of the participants in the field research actively
resisted the label gang member. Several of these participants refused to proceed until the
interviewer acknowledged their rejection of this label.
One other issue complicating the understanding of gangs is the difficulty of translating
community definitions of a gang to custodial contexts. In these settings gangs have been
defined as a cohesive group of prisoners (with a leader), whose criminal activities have a
negative impact on the prisons that hold them (Fong and Buentello, 1991; Huff, 1991), or as
a group of three or more prisoners whose behaviour has an adverse impact on the prison
that holds them (Wood, 2006).
Most participants in the field research reported a sense that gangs or groups inside prison
were different to those in the community. Participants generally talked about prison collectives
representing groups of ordinary friends who would protect and support each other. However,
some participants also reported experiencing more predatory prison groups/gangs.
Some interviewees suggested that gang-related disputes and rivalries might be carried over
into custody. Other participants suggested these disputes might be put aside. This in part
reflected the need to band together with people from the same or similar home area. This
was seen as providing mutual protection, support, and the company of someone with a
similar background and cultural reference points. This need was reported to be particularly
strong when prisoners are held some distance from their home. For instance, members
of two rival London gangs who may have been in conflict in the community might form an
alliance if they were serving prison time in the north of England.
adolescence or young adulthood (Marshall, Webb and Tilley, 2005; Bennett and
Holloway, 2004);
being male (Marshall, Webb and Tilley, 2005; Bennett and Holloway, 2004);
pro-criminal or absent role models (Aldridge and Medina, 2007; Sharp, Aldridge and
Medina, 2006);
having family members who belong to a gang (Youth Justice Board, 2007);
having a perceived need for protection (Marshall, Webb and Tilley, 2005);
being prone to sensation seeking and risk taking (Dawson, 2008);
being part of a peer group that is characterised by strong territorial affiliations (Kintrea
et al., 2008), criminality (Dawson, 2008), and a heightened need for respect and status
(Toy and Stanko, 2008; Youth Justice Board, 2007);
alienation and stress within family, education, and community contexts (Marshall, Webb
and Tilley, 2005; Smith and Bradshaw, 2005);
living in a culture that strongly identifies success with material wealth (Toy and Stanko,
2008; Youth Justice Board, 2007) and that holds negative attitudes to youth and
migrants (Building Bridges Project, 2008).
The researchers noted that many of the factors associated with gang affiliation overlap
with factors that are predictive of general offending and violence. These include young age
(Flood-Page et al., 2000), being male (Blanchette and Brown, 2006), having family members
(Richardson and Budd, 2003) and peers (Youth Justice Board, 2007) who are involved in
offending, childhood experiences of neglect, inconsistent parenting or abuse (Farrington,
2002), and poor educational performance (Rodger, Palmer and Mahon, 2007).
Many of the studies reported above were sociological or criminological in focus. These
studies typically explore societal and community variables (Dutton, 2006). Decker and Van
Winkel (1996) note that these variables are often interpreted as pushing young people
towards gang affiliation. However, they note that it is also important to recognise that gang
membership can exert a strong pull.
9
The use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in this study enabled detailed
exploration of psychological motivations pulls contributing to gang affiliation and the findings
both support and extend previous research findings. Important psychological motivations
contributing to gang affiliation included:
money;
protection against victimisation;
connectedness;
status and respect.
Money
The need and/or desire to make money were central to the experience of most participants.
Interviews indicate that this need is linked with gang affiliation in several ways. First, some
participants experienced gangs as assisting their survival. This was associated with
descriptions of a general sense of hopelessness about the future and a sense of desperation.
This in turn was linked with reports of the experience of living on the fringes of society.
Second, gang affiliation was seen by some participants as a way of helping them to make
quick and easy money. For some of these participants this was not in response to social
exclusion. Instead it reflected impatience, greed, and/or a reluctance to engage in legitimate
work.
Third, some participants described a sense of seeing their illegal money-making activities as
part of big business. These individuals typically presented a positive view of themselves and
gangs as entrepreneurial. For some participants this was linked with a sense of vocational
competence and status.
Connectedness
The field work also highlights the need for a sense of connectedness as a significant
psychological factor associated with gang affiliation. For some participants the need to belong
was associated with a sense of living outside of mainstream society. Participants comments
suggest that this need can be realised in several ways. These included the experience of an
affiliation to an ordinary peer group, and/or a sense of joining a special family.
10
11
12
Scott (2004) explored the resettlement challenges for American prisoners who want to
leave gang life. This study included ethnographic interviews with 19 former and current
gang affiliates. These were backed up by field observations and another 85 interviews. The
challenges identified included difficulty in getting legitimate employment, spoiled family ties,
the need to move away from their home neighbourhood and the resulting isolation.
13
The findings from the present study suggested that many participants underestimated
potential barriers to their return to mainstream society. Although many of them identified their
home area as a potential problem, they said they would resolve this by keeping away. Few
participants appeared to have considered in any detail the potential obstacles they might
experience in doing this. For instance, they seemed to have given little consideration to the
consequences of distancing themselves from family, friends, and previous sources of money,
connectedness, respect and status.
In some cases participants expressed a sense that they would be unable to change without
the positive support of others, or without avoiding the unhelpful influence of others. For
example, some participants highlighted the risk posed by seeing friends making easy
money, and/or having symbols of success. Participants also talked about the problem of
their previous connectedness to a gang or territory. They indicated that this might result in
them still being targeted by other gangs. Finally, participants discussed how members of the
criminal justice system might not acknowledge positive changes.
14
15
Being in prison places an expectation on the person to change. This was experienced either
as a subject of change programmes, or as a perception of a general sense of the system
requiring change/evidence of change, for example, for parole purposes. Most participants
expressed some ambivalence towards being a subject of prison change. This concerned the
extent that they were the agents of change and how they could control, or not be affected by,
surrounding influences.
Some participants expressed a tension between being the subject of change interventions
and being the agent or actively in control of this change. There was a sense of wanting to
be in control of change. However, for some participants this was linked with doubt about
being able to change without positive support or avoiding the unhelpful influence of others.
For example, in some cases this was linked to people in the criminal justice system not
acknowledging positive changes. However, for some participants there was a sense that
despite wanting to change, to attend offending behaviour programmes and so on, they felt
that that this would be hard due to negative influences from other prisoners on the wing. This
suggests that for some participants there was a conflict between their need for control, and
the continued influence of other people.
Most participants gave an impression of needing to move through the system when talking
about their experience of prison interventions. Generally, accounts of these experiences
were very thin, compared with the richness of accounts of life before prison. Thin accounts of
prison change programmes corresponded to the research teams experiences from clinical
practice and other prison research projects, and thus may not be specific to this sample. For
these participants there was a sense that this was not their life and they were not engaged
in living it to the same degree as their life in the community. For example, participants would
talk about moving through the system purely as a means to an end; their focus was on
release when life could then begin again.
Within this sense of passing the time, some participants said they were keen to do courses. A
few participants expressed the desire to attend accredited offending behaviour programmes but
were turned down on the basis of not meeting the minimum criteria. Others had who completed
accredited offending behaviour programmes reported personally benefiting from them. Some
participants provided examples of applying learning points on prison wings to avoid disputes
escalating to violence. This suggests genuine engagement with the course material.
Most participants viewed their return to society as a fairly unproblematic. Possible barriers
seemed to be presented in a simplified way. This suggests an overestimation of the ease of
return. This can be understood under two themes:
16
Participants often had positive plans for the future. However, these tended to sound like
general, simplified hopes (for example, start a family, get a job, stay out of crime). This was
felt to be something common to most prisoners, and not specific to this sample. The prison
environment and the interview situation are likely to promote pro-social responses to future
plans. Indeed, these answers have probably been rehearsed a number of times in sentence
planning meetings, parole board reviews, and so on. Nevertheless, it suggests that these
participants at best view their return as fairly unproblematic. This was shown in sharp relief
by those participants who did have clear plans. It is worth noting that few participants referred
to gang involvement as having disrupted hopes or dreams held as a teenager.
Many participants identified their home area as a potential problem. These individuals
typically said that they just needed to keep away from that area. Again, ideas of how
to achieve this were in the main quite simple or non-existent (for example, just go
and live in another town). The need to see one as being in control seemed to obscure
acknowledgement of psychological needs. Many participants emphasised the ease of leaving
the gang. This was seen as a matter of personal choice. This was linked with the belief that
no one in the gang would force them to stay. Moreover, some participants reported that other
gang members would be happy for them if they were moving on to better things.
Few participants verbalised that simply moving to another town would involve leaving behind
familiarity of context and relationships, and the sense of self connected to these things. It
may be the case that some participants felt they had matured and moved on. This might
have made starting up a new life in a new place seem realistic. However, the account of just
moving to another area raises questions about how participants would manage without the
personally-valued sense of self they left behind.
Some participants referred, however, to being drawn back into things again if they returned
to the area. This was put in terms of being influenced by seeing friends making money,
and/or having symbols of success. There was a sense that being back in this environment,
having been successful at making money, having status and so on, it would be difficult to
resist. Friends were perceived as not trying to influence you, but that the personal choice to
join them would be the problem.
Another important divergence to the theme of escaping the influence of others relates to the
idea of connection by others. Some participants talked about the problem of rival gangs
still connecting them to the group or gang with which they were affiliated. For example,
one participant felt that he had to go and live in a completely different area, less because
of being drawn back into old friendship connections, but because he would be a target
for other gangs. The underlying belief was that younger members in rival gangs looking
to prove themselves would target a higher member of a rival gang being released from
prison. This was because they are less likely to be carrying a gun. This belief meant that this
17
participant felt he could not return to his home area. If other participants shared this belief, it
raises questions about other ways (ex-)gang members might protect themselves on release
from custody.
The significance of changes in thinking have also been highlighted in the broader literature
on the process of exiting personally meaningful roles. Ebaugh (1988) argues that role exits
(and entrances) are closely linked with self identity. She suggests that this is because the
roles an individual plays become important parts of the way a person defines themself,
and how they are defined by others. Each time a person enters or exits a role self-identity is
threatened. Elements of the new or previous role have to be negotiated and reintegrated into
ones self concept before stability and security can be re-established.
The process of disentangling oneself from a previous role requires an individual to establish a
new set of values and attitudes. It also needs them to find a way of squaring new values with
their former belief system. With respect to general offending this process is explored in detail
by research undertaken by Maruna (2000). This research explored differences in the way that
recidivists and ex-offenders thought and talked about their past offending. It found that exoffenders were far more likely to have found face saving ways of reconciling their past. These
included turning their past into something positive. This might be by seeing their life as a
series of lessons that have led them to a new way of being. This new way of being may even
lead to a sense of having much to offer other people. In particular, those who are at risk of
following, or who have already followed, the same path. Marunas research strongly suggests
that ex-gang members will also need to find a way of explaining their previous behaviour.
Ebaugh (1988) highlights that another challenge an individual faces in creating the ex-role is
to manage other peoples expectation that they will still behave in accordance with their old
role. It has already been noted that gang members report that failure of peers, adversaries,
family, and criminal justice staff to recognise their ex status is a barrier to change.
18
The literature suggests that gang members are much more likely than non-gang members
to carry weapons (Communities that Care, 2005; Bennett and Holloway, 2004; Bullock
and Tilley, 2002). With respect to knives, research indicates that gang members were
significantly more likely to claim to have carried a knife in the past year than young people
claiming not to be involved with a gang (Youth Justice Board, 2007; Communities that
Care, 2005). There is also evidence of a link between gang membership and possession of
firearms (Communities that Care, 2005; Bennett and Holloway, 2004; Stelfox, 1998).
The present study attempted to draw out an understanding of participants experiences of
being violent. Findings from the interviews suggest the meaning of violence for participants
can be understood under six sub-themes, which overlap to some degree with the factors
motivating individuals to join street gangs:
pre-emptive protective violence;
19
Some participants actively displayed to the gang their willingness to join in with violence in
order gain approval for inclusion in the group. Other participants talked about needing to be
violent in order to be not excluded from the group. For example, running away from a fight was
viewed to be an invitation to the entire group, younger and older members, to physically attack
them. Violence was also seen as a way of confirming a sense of self as located or connected
and belonging to a particular group. Additionally, knowing that someone in their area had been
attacked by a rival gang consolidates the sense of belonging to a side or group.
Some participants described violence as exciting. This was linked to being bored and
needing stimulation. It also sat in a wider context of having fun with the group. It is hard not
to interpret these comments in the light of other themes about violence earning inclusion and
status, and that the excitement is in fact a product of joint venture as a group and the social
weight of the act. However, it may be the case that some of these participants genuinely
enjoyed the perpetration of violence purely for the act itself.
For some individuals there was a sense of enjoying being feared by others, which was
coupled with extreme violence being perceived as inevitable in many situations. This was
irrespective of whether or not these situations were connected to gangs and groups. Being
suddenly and extremely violent had a personal tone, and the identity of being feared appeared
personally valued. This was linked to early experiences of violence, either witnessed or
received as a victim. This approach to violence suggests a propensity for violence that existed
before joining a gang. It was discussed that the social value of violence within some gangs
meant such a pre-gang propensity is likely to help someone with this disposition thrive, in
that they can earn status. Other participants talked about their experience of violence during
childhood as something that toughened them up. The violence they now used or witnessed
was felt to be not as bad in comparison. This suggests that the impact of violent acts on
victims has been devalued by early experiences. This may also suggest an instrumental use
of, rather than a propensity to, violence, which underestimates the impact of the severity used.
Violence was deemed a normal and necessary part of having or achieving status for some
participants. It was also interwoven with the triangle of money, business, and guns. This
meant that the lure of the perceived end goal of a comfortable, luxury life with people looking
up to you, casts violence as a prerequisite. Any discomfort about the use of violence seems
of negligible significance in the participants grand schemes and fantasies.
The public rating of status and respect (what other members are believed to think about
ones status) was presented as crucial for some participants. Perceived slights or attempts
to undermine someones sense of status could only be dealt with by violence. Not reacting
with often extreme violence was experienced as tantamount to abject failure. There was a
sense of being worse than nothing if a once-held status is lost. This was not only due to loss
of respect, but also a sense of inevitable attacks and victimisation from others. This highlights
the forced-choice of violence for status and respect.
20
For some participants the relaying to the gang of individual acts of violence was seen as just
as powerful as being violent in front of, or with, the gang. For example, the telling of the act
would serve to cement the person as part of the group while raising their status.
Many participants held the view that violence is a necessary and acceptable means of
making money and/or protecting business interests. This primarily concerned drug
dealing at various levels. However, it also included the use of violence to commit robberies.
Some participants gave a sense of legitimate violence. This was about being armed to
protect yourself against being robbed, using intimidation with weapons and, if necessary,
violence to prevent competitors taking away business. This kind of violence was contrasted
with stupid violence, which was linked to younger members looking to achieve status.
Some participants distanced themselves from such illegitimate violence. These individuals
promoted themselves as essentially good people interested in working to provide for their
family. Some participants would refer to petty crimes as being those of small financial gain,
such as stealing a handbag or wallet, but still using serious levels of violence including
weapons. This suggests a normalised use of serious violence, whether for small financial
gains or for protecting big business.
Use of violence for some participants was set in the context of honest survivalism/steady
employment in that it was a normal part of everyday business. They conveyed a view that
it was expected that they would protect business interests they had been working hard for,
particularly where it concerned being able to provide for their family. Bound up with this was
the belief that if other drug dealers are carrying guns, then the safest and proper option is
to carry a gun. For some participants this was coupled with a sense of being prepared to use
guns if the opposition use theirs.
A number of authors propose that an individuals interpretations of the world are underpinned
by interconnected networks of beliefs that are organised around underlying dominant themes,
or theories (Polaschek, Calvert and Gannon, 2009; Ward, 2000). These networks are
referred to as implicit theories (Ward, 2000). The above findings suggest some similarities
between the way participants made sense of gang violence and the implicit theories that
have been identified in studies of other violent offenders. For example, participants in the
field research indicated a sense that violence was a necessary and normal part of achieving
and protecting status, and of making money and protecting business interests. This can be
seen as providing some support to the violence as normal and acceptable implicit theory.
Violence is seen as an acceptable way of exacting revenge, having fun, increasing social
status, and obtaining material needs or wants (Polaschek and Donovan, 2006).
21
4 Practical implications
Implications and recommendations are grouped under key tasks undertaken with offenders
and/or by the staff groups likely to perform these tasks. Recommendations are presented
as suggestions for improving current practice. They are not intended as evidence-based
statements of proven best practice.
The sample used in the field research was a geographically-based sub-set of violent
offenders. This potentially has consequences for the generalisability of findings to other gangaffiliated offenders, violent offenders, and offenders from other geographical areas. However,
the research team noted that a high level of consistency was typically observed between the
field and desk research. This suggests that with appropriate caution the implications of the
research could be applicable to other populations of gang-affiliated offenders.
Assessment
The research highlighted a number of issues relevant to the assessment of gang-affiliated
offenders. These include the following.
There was considerable heterogeneity among offenders meeting the recognised criteria
for gang affiliation. For instance, they differed in the extent to which they agree with
the label of gang member, and the way they experienced their affiliations with others.
Several participants in the field research actively resisted any implication from the
researcher about them being gang members. This highlights the importance of exploring
an offenders own sense of involvement in collective offending. This includes avoiding
labelling and simplistic assumptions about gangs.
The desk research identified a broad range of factors linked with gang affiliation. This
suggests the importance of assessing (and intervening in) the full range of domains
linked with gang affiliation.
The field research suggested that the personal motivations for affiliation may be
closely linked to a gang members use of violence. Exploring these links may help to
inform intervention. For instance, it might help to identify values, rules (beliefs), and
expectations linked with violence.
All participants in the field research were high-priority gang offenders according to police
intelligence. However, a number of participants had few or no previous convictions. This
variable is an important anchor point in actuarial assessments of risk. In addition, a number
of participants obtained low scores on formal assessments of treatment need. This suggests
that there may be some differences in the criteria (and information) used across agencies to
prioritise offenders. This may have implications for inter-agency working (for example, multiagency public protection arrangements). This in turn reinforces the importance of information
sharing and collaboration in assessment and management of risk.
22
Intervention
This section adopts a broad definition of intervention. This includes enforcement, prevention
and rehabilitation. Some of the following recommendations are particularly applicable to the
offending behaviour programmes delivered in criminal justice settings. However, many are
equally relevant to other contexts and forms of intervention. The implications for intervention
are divided into three sub-sections:
allocation;
treatment need;
factors influencing the likelihood of a positive response.
Interventions: allocation
The desk and field research suggested that there can be significant rivalry and conflict
both between and within gangs. This has obvious implications for allocation of offenders
to intervention groups.
The field research found considerable variation between different participants
experience and sense of gang affiliation. For instance, some participants expressed a
sense that their associates were supportive and would not get in the way of them leaving
the gang. Others suggested that their associates were highly competitive and would
prevent them from leaving the gang. Exploring and understanding these differences may
help to inform and refine decisions about appropriate allocation.
The field research indicated that the motivations for the use of violence by gangaffiliated offenders include protection, turf wars, achieving and protecting status and
respect, making and protecting money, and obtaining excitement. These motives overlap
considerably with patterns of thinking linked with the use of violence in other violent
offenders (for example, seeing violence as a normal and acceptable way of exacting
revenge, having fun, increasing social status, and obtaining material needs or wants).
This suggests that many gang members could benefit from the same interventions as
those designed for generally violent offenders.
The desk and field research highlighted the role of underlying values, beliefs, and
expectations in the violence carried out by gang-affiliated offenders. This suggests that these
offenders might benefit from interventions focusing on these deeper levels of thinking.
The desk and field research found evidence for the selection (and self-selection) of
violent individuals into gangs. For instance, the desk research observed a considerable
overlap between the factors that linked gang affiliation, and the risk factors for offending
and violence. This process of selection partly explains the link between gangs and
violence. This strongly suggests that interventions focusing solely on facilitating exit
23
from gangs are unlikely to reduce violence risk in all gang-affiliated offenders. Instead
facilitators should carefully explore the impact of gang affiliation on an offenders
violence. They should also explore (and address) the full range of other factors linked
with the offenders use of violence.
The desk research indicated that gang affiliation is strongest during adolescence and
early adulthood. These are times of considerable development and maturation. The field
research suggested that treatment needs and patterns of engagement might vary at
different developmental points. For instance, a number of participants made comments
critically reflecting on their younger, less mature, selves. This point should be considered
in treatment planning.
with street gangs (protection/connection, status and respect, money). Exploring these
motivations might help to identify ways of engaging an offender in intervention, and
motivating them towards pro-social change.
The desk and field research highlighted some significant events that acted as
motivational hooks supporting the process of exiting gangs and desisting from
offending. These included becoming a father and disillusionment with gang life. It is
important that facilitators look out for, and work constructively with, these and other
potential motivators for moving through the steps of leaving a gang.
The desk and field research identified several factors contributing to resistance to
engagement in interventions. These included a strong need for control over change, a
mistrustful or anti-authority stance, and sensitivity to being labelled, stereotyped and/
or judged. It is important that facilitators and managers of interventions find ways of
constructively working with these issues. It has already been noted that this should
include caution with labelling participants as gang members.
Resettlement/throughcare
The desk and field research highlight several important considerations linked with the
resettlement needs of (ex-)gang members. These include the following points:
The desk research suggested that potential barriers to successful resettlement include
a difficulty in renegotiating relationships with gang-affiliated friends and relatives, and
convincing professionals and other gang members that they have made meaningful
changes in their lives.
The field research suggested that other barriers to resettlement include the absence of
concrete and realistic future plans, and an over-reliance on leaving the home area as a
strategy for overcoming barriers to resettlement.
24
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Scott, G. (2004) Its a sucker outfit: How urban gangs enable and impede the integration of
ex-convicts, Ethnography, 5(1), pp 10740.
Sharp, C., Aldridge, J. and Medina, J. (2006) Delinquent Youth Groups and Offending
Behaviour: Findings from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey. Home Office Online
Report 14/06. http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/rdsolr1406.pdf
Smith, D. J. and Bradshaw, P. (2005) Gang Membership and Teenage Offending. The
Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, Number 8. Edinburgh School of Law,
University of Edinburgh.
Smith, J. A. (1996) Beyond the divide between cognition and discourse: using interpretative
phenomenological analysis in health psychology, Psychology & Health, 11, pp 26171.
Smith, J. A. and Osborn, M. (2008) Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In
Qualitative Psychology (2nd edition), Smith, J. A. (ed). London: Sage.
Stelfox, P. (1998) Policing Lower Levels of Organised Crime in England and Wales, The
Howard Journal, 37(4), pp 393406.
Tajfel, H. and Turner, J. C. (1986) The social identity theory of inter-group behavior. In
Psychology of Intergroup Relations, Worchel, S. and Austin, L. W. (eds). Chigago: Nelson-Hall.
Toy, J. and Stanko, B. (2008) Die Another Day: A Practitioners review with recommendations
for preventing gang and weapon violence in London in 2008. www.csas.org.uk.
Ward, T. (2000) Sexual offenders cognitive distortions as implicit theories, Aggression and
Violent Behaviour, 5, pp 491507.
Wood, J. (2006) Gang Activity in English prisons: The prisoners perspective, Psychology,
Crime & Law, 12, pp 60517.
Wood, J. and Adler, J. (2001) Gang Activity in English prisons: The staff perspective.
Psychology, Crime & Law, 7, pp 16792.
Youth Justice Board (2007) Groups, gangs and weapons. Youth Justice Board.
27
June 2000
June 2000
Prepared by
Marjory Ruderman, MHS
Womens and Childrens Health Policy Center
Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health
The Womens and Childrens Health Policy Center (WCHPC) at the Johns Hopkins
University was established in 1991 to address current policy issues found in national legislative
initiatives and evolving health systems reforms impacting on the health of women, children, and
adolescents. The mission of the center which operated during its first five years as the Child
and Adolescent Health Policy Center is to draw upon the science base of the university setting
to conduct and disseminate research to inform maternal and child health policies and programs,
and the practice of maternal and child health nationally. Projects are conducted to provide
information and analytical tools useful to public and private sector MCH professionals and to
elected officials and other policymakers.
Funding for the development of this Resource Guide was provided through a cooperative
agreement (5 T78 00005) with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and
Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.
Contents
I.
II.
B.
11
B. Annotated Bibliography
III.
17
Community Capacity
18
Social Capital
19
Community Competence
19
Community Empowerment
21
Community Readiness
22
22
Community Coalitions
24
Community Diagnosis/Assessment/Mapping
28
29
37
B. Community Competence
Goeppinger J, Baglioni AJ. Community competence: A positive approach to needs assessment.
American Journal of Community Psychology 1985; 13:507-523.
Knight EA, Johnson HH, Holbert D. Analysis of the competent community: Support for the
community organization role of the health educator. International Quarterly of Community Health
Education 1990-91; 11:145-154.
38
40
C. Community Readiness
Peyrot M, Smith HL. Community readiness for substance abuse prevention: Toward a model of
collective action. Research in Community Sociology 1998; 8:65-91.
43
D. Community Capacity
Easterling D, Gallagher K, Drisko J, Johnson T. Promoting health by building community capacity:
An effective medicine? Denver, CO: The Colorado Trust, 1998.
46
E. Coalitions
Goodman RM, Wandersman A, Chinman M, Imm P, Morrissey E. An ecological assessment of
community based interventions for prevention and health promotion: Approaches to measuring
community coalitions. American Journal of Community Psychology 1996; 24:33-61.
47
Wandersman A, Goodman RM, Butterfoss FD. Understanding coalitions and how they operate: An
open systems organizational framework. In Minkler M (ed.). Community Organizing and
Community Building for Health. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997, pp. 261-277.
49
IV.
The Aspen Institute. Measuring community capacity building: A workbook-in-progress for rural
communities (version 3-96). Author, 1996.
51
Fetterman DM, Kaftarian SJ, Wandersman A, eds. Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tools
for Self-Assessment and Accountability. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996.
52
McKnight JL, Kretzmann JP. Mapping Community Capacity. Evanston, IL: Institute for Policy
Research, Northwestern University, 1990.
53
Part Four: Internet Resources for Community Building Concepts and Methods
55
Introduction
The last two decades have seen a sort of convergent evolution of concepts related to community-based problem
solving and the conditions necessary for community health and well-being. Researchers of different disciplines and
orientations delineate constructs like community capacity, community competence, community empowerment, and
community readiness. All attempt to capture at least some of the characteristics and resources that enable
communities to participate successfully in problem solving. Coupled with these ideas are others related to
community coalitions and other collaborative strategies to promote community-driven change.
Underneath the proliferation of terms surrounding community-based initiatives and community collaboratives are
three basic principles: 1) a population, rather than individual, approach to health promotion, 2) acknowledgement of
the effect of social environment on individual and population health status, and 3) a recognition of the importance of
changing health and related service systems in order to impact health status.1 Also central to most of these concepts
is an assets-based approach to understanding communities, one cognizant both of the resources and skills a
community brings to bear in addressing common needs and of the importance of enhancing the communitys ability
to mobilize those assets.2
This resource guide brings together documents that contribute to the knowledge base about community resources
promoting effective problem solving and health systems change, with a special emphasis on issues pertaining to the
measurement of key constructs. The literature consolidated here provides guidance on assessing the community
context to gauge: 1) how community context will affect the development and success of initiatives, and, conversely,
2) how community-based systems initiatives may influence community capacity. To understand the potential effect
of community context on a program, for example, a pre-implementation assessment of community readiness for
intervention might provide important information for use in targeting resources and activities. Gauging the effects
of collaborative/interagency initiatives on the community is a more complex endeavor; the literature as of yet offers
little guidance for linking specific collaborative initiatives to population-based outcomes. This document
summarizes recent progress in developing process and outcome measures for use in examining community
collaboratives and documenting their impact.
This guide is organized into several sections. Part One introduces key concepts related to community-based
program planning and evaluation, outlining the various ways different authors have elaborated these concepts. In
Part Two, the sources included in this guide are matched to the concepts they explore for easy identification of
resources of interest to the reader. An annotated bibliography of resources related to community-based and
collaborative problem solving follows. This bibliography includes both references readily found in the research
literature and fugitive documents that might not otherwise come to the readers attention. Part Three consists of
expanded summaries of selected resources from the annotated bibliography. The resources chosen for expanded
summary stand out as seminal works on practice-oriented concepts and/or methodological tools. Finally, Part Four
lists internet resources that can serve as jumping off points for explorations of a broad range of concepts and
activities related to community-based problem solving.
Publications were selected for inclusion in this Resource Guide according to three criteria:
Broadly applicable: Concepts and methods are not limited to use with specific kinds of initiatives (e.g.,
substance abuse prevention programs, community development initiatives).
Practical: Includes explicit descriptions of constructs or of measurement methods that can be adapted for other,
similar uses.
Adding to the knowledge base: Contributes to a broader understanding of key concepts and/or how to measure
them.
1
2
Publications that are not included in this resource book are those that serve primarily as how to guides, such as
those that detail steps to building community coalitions or mobilizing/empowering community members without
also contributing to or reviewing salient conceptual or methodological approaches. However, all of the websites
listed in Part Four provide access to publications and other resources for technical assistance in community-building
activities.
The Johns Hopkins University Womens and Childrens Health Policy Center (WCHPC) compiled this literature
while designing several studies currently underway. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau asked the WCHPC to
develop this Resource Guide to make what has been learned by the faculty and staff of the Center more readily
accessible to local and state maternal and child health professionals, whose work daily involves aspects of the
principles, concepts, and activities reviewed in this document. As performance measurement issues continue to
move to the forefront of public health practice, access to this material may become increasingly valuable to public
health administrators and managers.
Definition
Defining and Involving the Community
Communities are systems composed of individual members and sectors that have a variety of distinct
characteristics and interrelationships." They can be defined by the characteristics of its people; geographic
boundaries; shared values, interests, or history; or power dynamics.
The definition of a community should take into account "opportunity for interpersonal and networking
interactions within the unit."
Elements of community include: a sense of membership; common symbol systems; common values;
reciprocal influence; common needs and a commitment to meeting them; and a shared history.
Communities can be conceived of as geographic communities (e.g. residents of a geographically-defined
neighborhood) or affinity communities (e.g. a community of providers, a religious group).
Community refers to a multidimensional system which encompasses interactions across both horizontal
and vertical levels and is characterized by people and organizations, actions, context, and consciousness
(perceptions and cultural constructs). Community is variable and permeable, shaped and re-shaped
continuously by changing actions and relationships.
Community
Involvement/
Participation
Community
Competence
Author(s)
CDC, 1998
Hancock et al., 1997
Israel et al., 1994
Walter, 1997
The dimensions of community competence include: commitment, self-other awareness and clarity of
situational definitions (accurate perceptions of divergent viewpoints), articulateness, communication, conflict
containment and accommodation, participation, management of relations with the larger society, and
machinery for facilitating participant interaction and decision making. Social support and leadership
development have also been added in some conceptualizations.
Cottrell, 1976
Cottrell, 1976; Denham,
Quinn, & Gamble, 1998;
Eng & Parker, 1994;
Goeppinger & Baglioni,
1985
Concept
Definition
Community competence is the capacity of a community to assess and generate the conditions required to
demand or execute change, the ability to "pull it together. Community competence can be described as
an individual-systems interaction, with systems being human service organizations. Effective interaction
is characterized by: 1) the match between the problem-solving preferences of an individual and the resources
provided by a system, 2) informational-feedback between the two parties that allows for adjustment on either
side, and 3) the availability of advocacy or participatory processes.
Different definitions of community competence have in common "the notion that the parts of a community
develop congruent perceptions of one another through social interaction and that congruent perceptions are
necessary for the identification and resolution of community issues."
A competent community harnesses and enhances resources, particularly those indigenous to the community,
and transfers power to the disenfranchised.
A competent community is skilled in problem solving and provides resources that aid the well-being of
community members. Characteristics of a competent community include "collaboration for integration of
services and decision-making, which is facilitated by knowledge of other agencies and services, and
participation by citizens in the functioning of organizations."
Community
Empowerment
Organizational
Empowerment
Empowerment suggests "the ability of people to gain understanding and control over personal, social,
economic, and political forces in order to take action to improve their life situations." Empowered
communities are characterized by resource sharing, collective problem solving, influence on the larger social
system, and the ability to obtain equitable resources.
Empowered and empowering organizations are characterized by:
democratic management;
individuals' control within the organization;
influence in the larger community; and
recognition of the "cross-cutting linkages among members.
An empowering organization enhances the collective empowerment of its members, while an empowered
organization is able to effectively influence institutions in its environment.
Author(s)
Iscoe, 1974
Knight, Johnson, &
Holbert, 1991
CDC, 1998
Eisen, 1994
Fawcett et al., 1995
Concept
Community Readiness
Social Capital
Community Capacity
Definition
Community readiness can be described along a spectrum related to Roger's (1983) stages of diffusion of
innovations and Prochaskas (1992) stages of psychological readiness: 1) community tolerance, 2) denial, 3)
vague awareness, 4) preplanning, 5) preparation, 6) initiation, 7) institutionalization, 8)
confirmation/expansion, and 9) professionalization.
Author(s)
The dimensions of community capacity include: participation; leadership; skills; resources; social and
interorganizational networks; sense of community; understanding of community history; community power;
community values; and critical reflection.
Community readiness is an aggregate measure of residents willingness to engage in collective problemsolving activities.
Social capital is defined as the specific processes among people and organizations, working collaboratively
in an atmosphere of trust, that lead to accomplishing a goal of mutual social benefit. The theory of social
capital appears to be manifested by four constructs: trust, cooperation, civic engagement, and reciprocity.
Community capacity is reflected in the commitment, resources, and skills brought to bear on community
problem solving and assets building.
"Community capacity is the currency that residents bring to the table when they are inspired (or threatened)
by an issue that speaks directly to their collective well-being." Its elements include skills and knowledge,
leadership, sense of efficacy, trusting relationships, and a culture of learning.
Community capacity can be conceived of as the characteristics affecting the communitys ability to identify
and solve problems and its cultivation and use of resources toward that end. Community capacity is a
"potential state" corresponding to the "active state" of community competence that is, competence is the
effective use of capacity.
Institutionalization of
Programs
Community Action
Community engagement is "the process of working collaboratively with groups of people who are affiliated
by geographic proximity, special interests, or similar situations with respect to issues affecting their wellbeing," often through partnerships or coalitions.
CDC, 1998
CDC, 1998
Community organizing is another term for "community development," which involves a high level of
community involvement in all aspects of intervention activities.
Community action entails a lower level of community involvement than does community organizing, but
includes some measure of community control over the implementation of interventions.
Community action is characterized by "a collective rather than an individual approach to health, a social
rather than a medical model of health and illness, a preventive rather than curative orientation to health
problems, and the participation of community members in health care decisions."
Community Coalitions
Health promotion coalitions specifically are usually long-term and multi-faceted; aimed at
complex and difficult problems; community-based or agency-dominated; and focused on
planning and implementing prevention activities.
A community coalition is a formal alliance of diverse groups or agencies working toward a common goal
and is often characterized by a focus on multiple factors, multiple levels of influence, and participation of
community members. In a coalition, groups share resources to bring about changes that would not be
possible working separately.
Community health coalitions use two community development strategies: 1) social planning, a top-down
approach with problem solving by professionals, or 2) locality development, involving citizen participation
and building indigenous leadership capacity.
Unlike consortia (see below), coalitions consist of "groups of varied organizations whose interests converge
or overlap to varying degrees, but whose member organizations have separate agendas and interests of their
own." The goals and missions of coalitions are more broad than those of consortia.
Coalition Development
Collaboratives/
Consortia
Collaborative problem solving involves four beliefs: 1) solutions must be acceptable to the community
experiencing the problem, 2) enduring change is only possible with the involvement of the community
experiencing the problem, 3) collaborative problem solving enhances community capacity and leadership,
and 4) "sectorial approaches to complex development problems cannot mobilize the full range of resources
required to effect sustainable change."
Collaboratives/
Consortia (contd)
Consortia and collaboratives are the banding together of "similar organizations ... to benefit more from their
collective actions than they could as individual players."
McCoy-Thompson, 1994
Community Diagnosis
Community Story
Community Mapping
Participatory
Evaluation
Participatory Action
Research
Participatory Research
Empowerment
Evaluation
Triangulation
Institute of Health
Promotion Research, 1999
Fetterman, Kaftarian, and
Wandersman, 1996
Bruner, 1998
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Measurement
and Evaluation
Issues*
Community
Mapping/
Diagnosis
Collaborative
Problem
Solving
Community
Action/
Organizing
Social
Capital
Community
Capacity
Community
Readiness
Community
Empowerment
Community
Competence
Community
Involvement
Defining
Community
Citations in italics indicate that an expanded summary of the resource is included in Part III, and the page number follows.
11
Cottrell, 1976
Measurement
and Evaluation
Issues*
Community
Mapping/
Diagnosis
Collaborative
Problem
Solving
Community
Action/
Organizing
Social
Capital
Community
Capacity
Community
Readiness
Community
Empowerment
Community
Competence
Defining
Community
Community
Involvement
Coombe, 1997
Dixon, 1995
X
X
X
X
12
X
X
X
X
Measurement
and Evaluation
Issues*
Community
Mapping/
Diagnosis
Collaborative
Problem
Solving
Community
Action/
Organizing
Social
Capital
Community
Capacity
Community
Readiness
Community
Empowerment
Community
Competence
Community
Involvement
Defining
Community
Francisco, Paine, & Fawcett,
1993
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
13
Measurement
and Evaluation
Issues*
Community
Mapping/
Diagnosis
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
14
Collaborative
Problem
Solving
Community
Action/
Organizing
Social
Capital
Community
Capacity
Community
Readiness
Community
Empowerment
Community
Competence
Community
Involvement
Defining
Community
Iscoe, 1974
McArthur, 1995
McCoy-Thompson, 1994
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Scheirer, 1993
X
Wilson, 1997
Measurement
and Evaluation
Issues*
Walter, 1997
Community
Mapping/
Diagnosis
Collaborative
Problem
Solving
Community
Action/
Organizing
Social
Capital
Community
Capacity
Community
Readiness
Community
Empowerment
Community
Competence
Community
Involvement
Defining
Community
15
Annotated Bibliography
DEFINING AND INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY
Bruner C, Chavez M. Getting To The Grassroots: Neighborhood Organizing and Mobilization. Volume 6:
Community Collaboration Guidebook Series. National Center for Service Integration Clearinghouse, 1998.
This document, part of a series devoted to community collaboratives, provides guidance on neighborhood
development and community ownership of initiatives. The authors briefly describe the meaning of neighborhood,
which they distinguish from community, before describing the role of collaboratives in neighborhood organizing.
Specific guidelines are offered for creating true partnerships and building neighborhood capacity. Appendices
address more fully the concepts of community, neighborhood, and social capital; Arnsteins (1969) Ladder of
Citizen Participation, a hierarchy of community involvement in initiatives; methods of obtaining residents input in
community assessments; McKnight and Kretzmanns (1990) guide to mapping community capacity; community
organizing; employing neighborhood residents; and the role of government in community capacity building.
Available from Child and Family Policy Center, 218 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1021, Des Moines, IA 50309-4006, (515)
280-9027, fax (515) 244-8997.
v Howell EM, Devaney B, McCormick M, Raykovich KT. Community involvement in the Healthy Start
Program. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 1998; 23:291-317.
Howell et al. briefly describe the historical context for community participation in health promotion programs and
other community organizing activities and the equivocal empirical support for a positive effect on program
development. Using a case study approach, national evaluators examined the approaches to community
involvement taken by local Healthy Start programs. Interviews with project staff covered topics including
community context (e.g., demographics, characteristics of the health care delivery system) and the characteristics
and development of Healthy Start Consortia. The study revealed two approaches to community involvement, the
service consortium model and the community empowerment model. For each model, the paper presents a pictorial
description of the relationships among strategies for involving community members, the intermediate outcome
measures associated with these strategies, and the final outcome measure of reduction in the infant mortality rate.
The evaluators draw a series of conclusions about the stumbling blocks to involvement of community members and
the often negative effects of consumer participation on program development. They address issues related to
involvement of community providers, nonprofessional community members, community institutions and businesses,
and economic development strategies, including employment of local residents by the program.
Jewkes R, Murcott A. Meanings of community. Social Science and Medicine 1996; 43:555-563.
In this paper, the authors address the conflicting definitions of community employed in health promotion
programs and the consequences of the choice of meanings. They review the history of the concept in the social
sciences literature dating from the late nineteenth century and note that the health literature shares with the social
sciences a decided lack of consensus about what constitutes a community, even while asserting its importance.
Through interviews, non-participant observation, and document review, the authors examined the implicit meanings
of community for health promotion workers engaged in community mobilization efforts. Common to the varied
meanings identified (28 in all) was the use of a central point of reference the organization or individual engaging
in the health promotion initiative to define the community and its members. Definition by these non-members of
17
the community also tended to be premised on an assumption of a shared sense of community among members an
assumption that often proves false.
Jewkes R, Murcott A. Community representatives: Representing the community? Social Science and
Medicine 1998; 46:843-858.
Jewkes and Murcott explore the uses and interpretations of "community" and "community participation" in
community health promotion projects in the United Kingdom. They note that, despite debate about the meaning of
community in the academic literature, in practice, programs and policies treat the meaning of community as selfevident, while defining it implicitly in the manner most expedient to the problem at hand. The authors describe a
process whereby community representatives were chosen without assurances that they actually represented the
voice of the community, bolstering a monopoly on group leadership. They conclude that definitions of
community participation may have to be context-specific, differing, for example, by the level of change targeted.
McArthur A. The active involvement of local residents in strategic community partnerships. Policy and
Politics 1995; 23:61-71.
Though this article addresses community participation in the context of British urban development policy, its
observations about the reasons for community involvement, the methods of inclusion, the influence of community
members in partnerships, and the outcomes of community participation are relevant to U.S. community
collaboratives as well. The authors note some of the stumbling blocks to community involvement and highlight
potential impacts, including increased accessibility and local orientation of programs, shaping policy and agendas,
and sparking new initiatives.
Walter CL. Community building practice: A conceptual framework. In Minkler M (ed.). Community
Organizing and Community Building for Health. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997, pp. 6883.
Walter broadens the notion of community from a contained unit to a multidimensional system encompassing the
interactions of people and organizations across horizontal and vertical levels including those traditionally viewed
as external to the community. In this conception, community is characterized not just by people and organizations,
but by actions, context, and even consciousness (perceptions and cultural constructs) as well. Community is thus
variable and permeable, being shaped and re-shaped continuously by changing actions and relationships; what
community is can look very different depending on where one is sitting (p. 72). The author describes the
consequences of this re-conceptualization of community for community building practice: an emphasis on
community, rather than the community; a more complex model on which to base practice; a greater concern for
community-building activities; and a focus on mutual exchange rather than intervention. She then focuses more
specifically on the implications of this theoretical orientation for community building practice and links different
approaches (e.g. community development, community action) to the different dimensions of community.
COMMUNITY CAPACITY
Baker EA, Teaser-Polk C. Measuring community capacity: Where do we go from here? Health Education
and Behavior 1998;25(3):279-283.
Commenting on Goodman et al.'s (1998) work, Baker and Teaser-Polk set forth some of the issues that should be
considered as professionals and community members further attempt to develop measures of community capacity.
The authors address the implications of several key issues for measuring community capacity: the definition of the
community's boundaries, levels, and stages of development; the use of formal versus informal leaders; the barriers
and costs of participation; and community input in operationalizing the dimensions of community capacity.
18
SOCIAL CAPITAL
Wilson PA. Building social capital: A learning agenda for the twenty-first century. Urban Studies 1997;
34:745-760.
While technically not the equivalent of community capacity, the concept of social capital consists of several related
components: inter-personal trust and commitment, civic engagement, and organizational capacity. Wilson uses
social capital as a unifying concept, providing the basis for a broad philosophy related to the importance of
community building for community development. Drawing from disciplines as diverse as business and history, she
addresses the creation of social capital and identifies tools and methods that can assist professionals in growing from
technical experts to facilitators. In the process, Wilson touches on social learning theory and its outgrowths,
participatory action research, organizational development, dynamic systems theory, and social mobilization all
built to some extent on the principles of non-horizontal power relationships, knowledge residing in the community,
and the transformative effect of social networks.
COMMUNITY COMPETENCE
Cottrell LS. The competent community. In Kaplan BJ, Wilson RN, Leighton AH (eds.), Further Explorations
in Social Psychiatry. New York: Basic Books, 1976, pp. 195-209.
Cottrell was one of the first to translate the idea of individual competence to the level of the community. In this
chapter, Cottrell describes how the concept of community competence emerged from early efforts at comprehensive,
community-based initiatives targeting juvenile delinquency and crime and sets forth the skills necessary for effective
collective problem solving. He then describes in detail eight conditions of community competence.
19
Denham A, Quinn SC, Gamble D. Community organizing for health promotion in the rural South: An
exploration of community competence. Family and Community Health 1998; 21:1-21.
This article describes the results of a qualitative study on the effects of community organizing on community
competence. The researchers interviewed 11 grass-roots community organizers using questions derived from Eng
and Parker (1994) and based on Cottrells (1976) eight dimensions of community competence, with the addition of
social support and leadership development. The interviews covered the participants perceptions of their
communities current levels of competence and the degree to which community competence had changed since they
began their community organizing efforts. The article reports in detail the results of the interviews for each
dimension assessed and suggests possible mechanisms whereby community organizing acts to increase capacity for
each dimension.
Eng E, Parker E. Measuring community competence in the Mississippi Delta: The interface between program
evaluation and empowerment. Health Education Quarterly 1994;21(2):199-220.
Eng and Parker report on the evaluation of a health promotion program that had at its roots a "community
empowerment agenda," or the strong belief in the necessity of community ownership and the obligation of the
program and its evaluation to promote community capacity building. This article focuses on one of three
components of the initiative, the use of lay community health advisors to mobilize residents' responses to
community problems and build community competence. The authors describe the different conceptualizations of
community competence found in Cottrell (1976), Iscoe (1974), and Hurley, Barbarin, and Mitchell (1981), noting
how these and other researchers have operationalized and measured community competence. The authors discuss
the major problems encountered in previous measurements of community competence. The action research
approach to developing the measures used in this study is described and the final survey items are included. The
methods and results of the instrument's field testing are detailed.
Gatz M, Barbarin O, Tyler F, Mitchell RE, Moran JA, Wirzbicki PJ, Crawford J, Engelman A.
Enhancement of individual and community competence: the older adult as community worker. American
Journal of Community Psychology 1982; 10:291-303.
This article details the results of a primary prevention program aimed at increasing the individual competence and
competence within the community of both residents and community health workers. The definition of community
competence was based on the work of Iscoe (1974) and Hurley, Barbarin, and Mitchell (1981), focusing on access to
and utilization of resources. The authors describe in detail the items used to measure community competence,
including ratings of community strengths and needs, knowledge about five community agencies, hypothetical
responses to community problems, and sources of information about community services. Pre- and postintervention scores are reported and the relationship between individual and community competence is described.
v Goeppinger J, Baglioni AJ. Community competence: A positive approach to needs assessment. American
Journal of Community Psychology 1985; 13:507-523.
Goeppinger and Baglioni report on a field test of survey items assessing community competence, based on
Cottrell's (1976) model, which were administered as part of a Community Residents Survey in five towns. Survey
items representing six of Cottrells eight dimensions of community competence were found to discriminate among
the communities. Factor analysis revealed four factors explaining 35 percent of the variance: democratic
participation style, crime, resource adequacy and use, and decision-making interactions. Although these factors do
not correspond exactly to Cottrell's model, the authors describe the overlap between the two conceptualizations. The
authors conclude by describing the problems entailed in the measurement of competence at the community level.
The survey items pertaining to community competence are attached as an appendix to the article.
20
Iscoe I. Community psychology and the competent community. American Psychologist 1974; 29:607-613.
Like Cottrell (1976), Iscoes work was central to the original development of the concept of community
competence. Iscoe describes community competence as relating to the development and use of resources. In this
article, he does not so much detail the conditions of community competence as make a case for the importance of
attention to it in developing and evaluating human services interventions.
v Knight EA, Johnson HH, Holbert D. Analysis of the competent community: Support for the community
organization role of the health educator. International Quarterly of Community Health Education 1990-91;
11:145-154.
The authors attempt to establish a link between community competence and population health status, defined by
county-level years of productive life lost (YPLL). To assess community competence, representatives of social
service agencies in 33 eastern North Carolina counties were surveyed about resource availability, citizen
participation, coordination of services, and frequency of networking activities in their counties. Comparisons of
rankings for community competence with rates of YPLL produced moderate support for an association between
community competence and health status. Further analysis supported this trend, but without statistically significant
results. The authors conclude that the competence of the provider/organizational community does impact population
health status, with its level of influence varying by the dimension of competence.
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT
Eisen A. Survey of neighborhood-based, comprehensive community empowerment initiatives. Health
Education Quarterly 1994; 21:235-252.
Reporting on a study of 17 initiatives, Eisen explores how program planners put community empowerment into
practice. She first elaborates on the meanings of community empowerment and two other concepts intrinsic to these
initiatives, comprehensiveness and neighborhood-as-base. The history of the initiatives is then outlined and their
target neighborhoods described in detail. Eisen addresses the participation of community members, the strategies
used by the initiatives to promote empowerment, the relationships between initiatives and their funders, and the
initiatives' outcomes. She closes by discussing potential criteria for evaluating the process and outcomes of
community empowerment initiatives and by posing several questions about the factors which influence the success
of initiatives.
Fawcett SB, Paine-Andrews A, Francisco VT, Schultz JA, Richter KP, Lewis RK, Williams EL, Harris KJ,
Berkley JY, Fisher JL, Lopez CM. Using empowerment theory in collaborative partnerships for community
health and development. American Journal of Community Psychology 1995; 23:677-697.
The authors present a model of community empowerment in which relationships among persons, groups, and
environmental context influence the outcomes and capacity for empowerment of community partnerships. Their
framework for collaborative empowerment consists of five components: 1) collaborative planning; 2) community
action; 3) community change; 4) community capacity and outcomes; and 5) adaptation, renewal, and
institutionalization. Much of the article is devoted to citing enabling activities for boosting community
empowerment and describing applications of the model in community coalitions.
Israel BA, Checkoway B, Schulz A, Zimmerman M. Health education and community empowerment:
Conceptualizing and measuring perceptions of individual, organizational, and community control. Health
Education Quarterly 1994; 21:149-170.
This article aims to clarify the definition of empowerment across levels and provide a basis for measurement of
empowerment at the community level. The authors first outline the definition of community on which their work is
21
based. The meanings of empowerment at the individual, organizational, and community levels are explored, and
relationships among the three levels are noted. The conceptual link between community empowerment and health
status is examined in detail. The authors then report on their development of an instrument for the measurement of
multi-level community empowerment. Twelve questions incorporated into a larger survey of residents of the Detroit
area assessed individuals' perceptions of both their own power within the community and the power of the
community and its composite institutions within the larger society. Three subscales, corresponding to individual,
organization, and community-level control, were formed based on factor analysis, and reliability statistics are
reported. Important limitations are noted, including the scale's measurement of perceived, rather than actual, control
and its reliance on individual-level, rather than collective, data. Finally, the authors provide guidance for integrating
a community empowerment perspective into health education practice and research.
COMMUNITY READINESS
Oetting ER, Donnermeyer JF, Plested BA, Edwards RW, Kelly K, Beauvais F. Assessing community readiness for
prevention. The International Journal of the Addictions 1995; 30:659-683.
The authors describe a nine-stage model of community readiness and the development of five scales for use in
measuring key aspects of readiness. Building on Prochaska et al.s (1992) stages of individual psychological
readiness for change, Rogers (1983) stages of adoption of innovations, and the social action process of community
development, this model delineates progressive collective orientations toward specific community problems: 1)
community tolerance; 2) denial; 3) vague awareness; 4) preplanning; 5) preparation; 6) initiation; 7)
institutionalization; 8) confirmation/expansion; and 9) professionalization. The five rating scales, developed for use
with key informant interviews, measure level of readiness along five dimensions: prevention programming,
knowledge about prevention programs, leadership and community involvement, knowledge about the problem, and
funding for prevention. The full scales are included in the article and may be reproduced for use in research without
permission of the authors.
v Peyrot M, Smith HL. Community readiness for substance abuse prevention: Toward a model of collective action.
Research in Community Sociology 1998; 8:65-91.
Peyrot and Smith set forth a model of community-level readiness to engage in collective action that links community
composition (aggregate residential characteristics), community context (drug and economic problems, neighborhood
resources), and community organization (informal and formal neighborhood activities) to an independent measure of
community readiness. Using structured key informant interviews and census data, the authors assessed the
predictors of residents willingness to undertake prevention activities and the number of activities they might
initiate. Community composition explained eight percent of the variance in community readiness, community
context explained seven percent of the variance not explained by community composition, and community
organization explained six percent of the variance unaccounted for by the other two indices. The authors present
the variables from each index that showed significant effects on community readiness.
22
with external entities, mission, strategy, tasks, structure, and systems. Based on the literature and on experience
with a local, community-based consortium, the authors outline four phases of consortium development: assembling,
ordering, performing, and ending. The tasks and issues related to each phase are described, and transitional
themes related to moving from one phase to the next are noted. The framework described in this article is
particularly relevant for categorical programs, given that it draws on the experience of a single-issue consortium
mandated by a funder, and resolving that issue leads to the final phase, ending.
Bazzoli GJ, Stein R, Alexander JA, Conrad DA, Sofaer S, Shortell SM. Public-private collaboration in health
and human service delivery: Evidence from community partnerships. The Milbank Quarterly 1997; 75:533561.
Bazzoli and colleagues explore the types and degrees of collaborative activity among public-private coalitions
working with service delivery networks and examine the factors influencing that activity. The authors summarize
the multi-disciplinary literature pertaining to community collaboration and propose a conceptual framework linking
environmental context, the structure of the partnership, and the purposes of collaborative action. Based on this
framework, the researchers used a survey of geographically diverse partnerships and other sources of data to
produce a characterization of collaborative activities focused on three service factors: preventive health and
educational services, usually provided collaboratively; traditional acute and chronic care services, usually provided
individually; and behavioral health services, provided with partial collaboration. Specific activities of the
partnerships fell into four categories: reports to the community; cost-containment; community health needs
assessment; and coordination of services. Factors associated with the probability and extent of collaboration are
presented for each category of collaborative service and collaborative action. Lastly, observations about the
successes and stumbling blocks of these partnerships are noted.
CDC/ATSDR Committee on Community Engagement. Principles of Community Engagement. Public Health
Practice Program Office, CDC, 1997.
This comprehensive look at community engagement, a community-based process of collaborative problem solving
and health promotion, is geared toward professionals and community leaders interested in forming partnerships with
community members and other organizations. Part one of the document explores the concept of community and
other related theories and concepts: social ecology, cultural influences on health behaviors, community
participation, community empowerment, capacity building, coalitions, benefits and costs of community
participation, community organization, and stages of innovation. It concludes with a discussion of factors
influencing the success of community engagement activities. Part two of the document describes nine principles
meant to guide the development and implementation of community engagement activities. Finally, eight successful
community collaborations are described as examples of the principles in action.
Available over the internet at www.cdc.gov/phppo/pce/index.htm.
Clark MN, Baker EA, Chawla A, Maru M. Sustaining collaborative problem solving: Strategies from a study
in six Asian countries. Health Education Research 1993; 8:385-402.
Results are reported from seven case studies designed to identify strategies used to sustain collaborative activities
and produce the desired outcomes. Beliefs intrinsic to the collaborative process and internal and external barriers
which formed the backdrop for collaborative activities are described. Three types of strategies cooperative,
maintenance, and pressure were planned for or emerged from the activities of collaborative projects. The purposes
of each type of strategy and the specific tasks performed for each are outlined and demonstrated with examples from
the case studies.
Jones B, Silva J. Problem solving, community building, and systems interaction: An integrated practice
model for community development. Journal of the Community Development Society 1991; 22:1-21.
23
Jones and Silva propose a model of community development encompassing three distinct but interrelated processes:
problem solving, community building, and systems interaction. The task-oriented problem solving process follows a
course characterized by several stages from problem identification through implementation and evaluation.
Community building also proceeds through a series of steps, but is aimed generally at creating ownership and
networks for a community development organization. Finally, systems interaction refers to the relationships among
an agent of change, the segment of the community affected, and the target of change, collectively making up an
action system which provides direction for the intervention. A case study illustrates the model in practice.
Kreuter M, Lezin N. Are consortia/collaboratives effective in changing health status and health systems? A
critical review of the literature. Health Resources and Services Administration, January 9, 1998.
Kreuter and Lezin first outline the differences between consortia, collaboratives, and coalitions and describe some of
the reasons behind their formation. They then detail some of the few examples of collaboratives/coalitions showing
demonstrable, positive effects on health status and health systems change. The authors outline the literature on
stages of coalition development and corresponding factors related to effectiveness. They note the problems inherent
in many evaluation strategies that may preclude demonstration of coalitions impact and describe three tools that
may be useful for evaluating the process and outcomes of coalitions/collaboratives: Formative Evaluation,
Consultation, and Systems Technique (FORECAST); Framework for Evaluating and Improving Community
Partnerships to Prevent CVD; and Prevention Plus III. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving
technical assistance to coalitions and shifting the thinking about the purposes of collaborative work to encompass
more intermediate outcomes.
McCoy-Thompson M. The Healthy Start Initiative: A Community-Driven Approach to Infant Mortality
Reduction -- Volume I. Consortia Development. Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal
and Child Health, 1994.
This document addresses the consortia required by the Healthy Start program to promote community ownership and
guide the development of context-appropriate activities and services. The introduction includes a brief look at types
of collective activities and five general factors influencing their development: climate, people, resources, processes,
and policies. The document then addresses each factor specifically in relationship to the Healthy Start consortia.
The following chapter details challenges that emerged in the development of the consortia: defining the consortia
structure and process, involving community members, addressing race and class issues, and promoting economic
development. Finally, the document offers recommendations for the future of the consortia.
Available from the National Maternal and Child Health Clearinghouse, 8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 600,
McLean, Virginia 22102, (703) 821-8955 ext. 254 or 265, fax (703) 821-2098.
COMMUNITY COALITIONS
Butterfoss FD, Goodman R, Wandersman A. Community coalitions for prevention and health promotion.
Health Education Research 1993; 8:315-330.
Butterfoss, Goodman, and Wandersman synthesize the literature on the use and characteristics of coalitions in order
to draw attention to the areas of research still lacking. They devote considerable space to exploring the different
definitions and configurations of coalitions. They then describe the stages of coalition development along with the
factors influencing effectiveness at each stage. The authors point to the paucity of research on factors affecting the
success of coalitions in meeting their original goals and objectives and highlight the need for development of
methods to measure the long-term, systems-level impacts of coalitions. Finally, they identify several areas of
research regarding coalition characteristics and functioning that would elucidate the principles guiding effective
coalition use.
24
Florin P, Mitchell R, Stevenson J. Identifying training and technical assistance needs in community
coalitions: A developmental approach. Health Education Research 1993; 8:417-432.
Responding to communities' need for technical assistance in implementing coalitions and the general absence of
empirical data guiding approaches to providing this assistance, the authors set forth a model of the stages of
coalition development accompanied by the tasks required by each stage. This model formed the basis for a process
and implementation evaluation of 35 local substance abuse prevention coalitions in the early stages of development.
Data sources and data collection methods related specifically to training and technical assistance needs are
described. Characterizations of the coalitions at each early stage of development are detailed along with their
implications for technical assistance and training. The authors conclude by recommending the use of regional
intermediary organizations and "enabling systems" for supporting community coalitions.
Francisco VT, Fawcett SB, Wolff TJ, Foster DL. Toward a research-based typology of health and human service
coalitions. Amherst, MA: AHEC/Community Partners, 1996.
This document describes the use of a coalition evaluation system (see also Francisco, Paine, & Fawcett, 1993,
below) in developing a typology of community coalitions. Case studies were conducted of five coalitions using both
qualitative and quantitative indicators of coalition context, process, outputs, and outcomes to reflect the development
of coalition functioning over time. Based on these studies, the authors produce a general classification of coalitions
as 1) planning coalitions, 2) support networks for agencies, 3) service providers to the community, 4) catalysts for
change, or 5) hybrid coalitions. The document includes descriptions of the coalition types, a framework relating the
typology to the products of the coalition process, and descriptions of the measurement instruments used. These
instruments included a monitoring system tracking coalition activities and outputs, a constituent survey on coalition
functioning, and key informant interviews about critical events in the coalitions history.
Available from AHEC/Community Partners, 24 South Prospect Street, Amherst, MA 01002, (413) 253-4282, fax
(413) 253-7131, www.ahecpartners.org.
Francisco VT, Paine AL, Fawcett SB. A methodology for monitoring and evaluating community health
coalitions. Health Education Research 1993; 8:403-416.
A method of monitoring and evaluating community coalitions that promotes the participation of coalition members
is described. The method uses event logs and semi-structured interviews to assess eight indicators of coalition
process and outcomes: 1) number of members, 2) planning products, 3) financial resources, 4) dollars obtained, 5)
volunteer recruitment, 6) service provision, 7) community actions, and 8) community changes. Definitions of
variables, descriptions of data collection methods, and methods of analysis are presented, and the evaluations of two
community coalitions are used as examples. Finally, the authors suggest several other methodologies that can
complement the one described here for a comprehensive evaluation.
v Goodman RM, Wandersman A, Chinman M, Imm P, Morrissey E. An ecological assessment of community
based interventions for prevention and health promotion: Approaches to measuring community coalitions.
American Journal of Community Psychology 1996; 24:33-61.
An ecological approach to evaluating community coalitions is conceived as one that encompasses multiple social
levels, multiple stages of community or coalition readiness, and multiple sources of data. The article first
synthesizes the literature on these conditions and then describes the evaluation of a local substance abuse prevention
coalition. Specific methods and instruments appropriate to each stage of coalition development are described. The
authors note the opportunities for capacity building and ongoing improvement of coalitions that are made possible
by the interaction of coalition members with the evaluation.
25
Kegler MC, Steckler A, McLeroy K, Malek SH. Factors that contribute to effective community health
promotion coalitions: A study of 10 Project ASSIST coalitions in North Carolina. Health Education and
Behavior 1998; 25:338-353.
This article examines the effect of coalition factors (operational processes and structural characteristics) and
community capacity on coalition effectiveness in local tobacco control coalitions. A detailed conceptual framework
is provided, as are full descriptions of each factor and its scoring. A survey instrument measuring coalition and
community factors and two outcomes, member satisfaction and member participation, is notable for using a truly
community-level, albeit limited, measure of community capacity, defined by the history of the community in
tobacco control activities. Methods of assessing other outcomes are also described, including instruments developed
to facilitate systematic review of coalitions' action plans and implementation of planned activities. The remainder of
the paper is devoted to reporting the relationships between coalition and community factors and coalition
effectiveness.
Kumpfer KL, Turner C, Hopkins R, Librett J. Leadership and team effectiveness in community coalitions for
the prevention of alcohol and other drug abuse. Health Education Research 1993; 8:359-374.
This article aims to fill partially the gap in empirical, as opposed to case study, evidence about the factors
influencing coalition effectiveness. Specifically, it reports the results of an exploratory test of a theoretical model
linking leadership style, member satisfaction, and "team" (i.e., subcommittee) self-efficacy to team effectiveness,
using data from a substance abuse prevention coalition that merged a top-down, professionally-driven approach with
a bottom-up, community-driven approach. Brief reviews of the literature on sense of community, coalition
leadership, empowerment, and team self-efficacy are provided.
McLeroy KR, Kegler M, Steckler A, Burdine JM, Wisotzky M. Community coalitions for health promotion:
Summary and further reflections. Health Education Research 1994; 9:1-11.
This paper summarizes the journals special issue on the state of knowledge about community coalitions, which
presented empirically-based articles on coalition development, operation, and evaluation. The authors present a
simple diagram of coalition development based on key assumptions found in the coalition literature, and they
synthesize the theme issue's contributions to the understanding of a variety of factors impacting coalition success.
Finally, they provide lengthy discussions of four issues for which questions remain in the literature: the nature and
lifespan of coalitions, the success and outcomes of coalitions, the ways in which contextual factors influence the
development and effectiveness of coalitions, and the ways in which factors internal to the coalition impact their
development and success.
McMillan B, Florin P, Stevenson J, Kerman B, Mitchell RE. Empowerment praxis in community coalitions.
American Journal of Community Psychology 1995; 23:699-727.
In a study of 35 community coalitions for substance abuse prevention, McMillan et al. assess the effects of coalition
characteristics on the psychological empowerment of coalition members, the collective empowerment of members,
and the coalitions organizational empowerment. Following an exploration of the conceptual basis for these
empowerment constructs, the authors describe in depth a survey and interview instruments assessing psychological
and organizational empowerment (the dependent variables) and perceptions of community problems, sense of
community, coalition participation, and organizational climate (independent variables). The results lend support to a
strong link between organizational context and psychological empowerment, an effect of both participation and
organizational climate on the collective empowerment of coalition members, and a relationship between an
organizations ability to empower its members and its success in influencing its environment.
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Parker EA, Eng E, Laraia B, Ammerman A, Dodds J, Margolis L, Cross A. Coalition building for
prevention: Lessons learned from the North Carolina Community-Based Public Health Initiative. Journal of
Public Health Management Practice 1998; 4:25-36.
The North Carolina Community-Based Public Health Initiative (NC CBPHI) was a consortium of four county-level
coalitions which took a broad-based approach to improving health, health systems, and community input in minority
communities, rather than the categorical approach of many of the coalitions described in the literature. The authors
report evaluation results related to coalition functioning and outcomes and compare their findings to those of other
coalition evaluations. The multiple case study participatory evaluation design employed both quantitative and
qualitative methods.
The framework guiding the evaluation, Alter and Hage's stages and levels of
interorganizational networks (1992), is described and compared with the stages of coalition development advanced
by Butterfoss et al. (1993) and Florin et al. (1993). Six factors emerged from the evaluation as having had an
impact on the functioning and success of the coalitions, and these factors are discussed in detail. The authors
discuss the advantages of a noncategorical approach and the benefits of working with community-based
organizations as equal partners.
v Wandersman A, Goodman RM, Butterfoss FD. Understanding coalitions and how they operate: An open
systems organizational framework. In Minkler M (ed.). Community Organizing and Community Building for
Health. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997, pp. 261-277.
Katz and Kahns (1978) open systems model of organizational operation and interaction with the environment is
used to frame a theory of coalitions as mechanisms for processing resources obtained from the environment into
products that affect that environment (p. 264). The framework treats coalitions as organizations and centers on four
elements: 1) resource acquisition (internal and external resources), 2) maintenance subsystem (organizational
structure and functioning), 3) production subsystem (goal-oriented and maintenance activities), and 4) external goal
attainment.
Wandersman A, Valois R, Ochs L, de la Cruz D, Adkins E, Goodman RM. Toward a social ecology of
community coalitions. American Journal of Health Promotion 1996; 10:299-307.
Community coalitions and other collaborative networks have emerged as promising vehicles for social ecological
interventions, which aim "multiple interventions at multiple levels." The definitions and advantages of coalitions
are presented, and three stages of coalition development are briefly described. Contextual factors (economic,
demographic, political, and structural) influencing coalition functioning are noted and illustrated with examples
from the field. The development of a survey instrument using key community leaders to measure awareness,
concern, and change across multiple levels of the community is described. Lastly, the authors call for the
development of a comprehensive framework for the interaction of contextual factors and coalition functioning.
27
COMMUNITY DIAGNOSIS/ASSESSMENT/MAPPING
Aronson RE, O'Campo PJ, Peak GL. The use of neighborhood mapping in community evaluation: The
experience of the Baltimore City Healthy Start Evaluation. Working Paper, Johns Hopkins Population
Center, Manuscript No. WP96-07, 1996.
This report from the Baltimore Healthy Start program evaluation provides an example of the use of mapping in
assessing the community characteristics that may influence the outcomes or implementation of programs. The
evaluation used mapping as part of a participatory (community involvement) community diagnosis to determine
areas of greatest need, the "diversity of risk" within small high-risk areas, and changes in neighborhood
characteristics over the course of the intervention. Examples of the maps produced in this project are included.
Available from the Hopkins Population Center, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, (410) 614-5222, fax
(410) 614-7288. The full text is also available over the internet, at http://popctr.jhsph.edu/Papers/wp96-07.htm.
Eng E, Blanchard L. Action-oriented community diagnosis: A health education tool. International Quarterly
of Community Health Education 1990-91; 11:93-110.
Community diagnosis is offered as one answer to the limitations of traditional needs assessments in program
planning. Community diagnosis goes beyond an assessment of needs to take into account community characteristics
and social dynamics that affect the communitys capacity for collective action, an essential condition for
interventions that must survive independently of an external agency. In action-oriented community diagnosis,
data collection and analysis serve also as a means of community organizing and building community problemsolving capacity. Detailed directions for carrying out this type of assessment are provided. A lengthy case example
illustrates the process.
Haglund B, Weisbrod RR, Bracht N. Assessing the community: Its service needs, leadership, and readiness.
In Bracht N (ed.). Heath Promotion at the Community Level. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1990, pp.
91-108.
This chapter provides a broad overview of the meaning, uses, and components of community analysis, also called
community diagnosis, mapping, or needs assessment. It distinguishes community diagnosis from the community
development or community organizing approach to assessment, although they are clearly interrelated. The chapter
touches on objectives, research questions, quantitative and qualitative methods, and data sources for use in
community analysis. The authors suggest that a crucial component of community analysis is an assessment of the
community's readiness for change, explaining readiness with reference to Cottrell's (1976) conceptualization of
community competence. An appendix lists key contacts and agencies to include in a community assessment and
suggests data to be gathered from each.
vMcKnight JL, Kretzmann JP. Mapping Community Capacity. Evanston, IL: Institute for Policy Research,
Northwestern University, 1990.
McKnight and Kretzmann propose a capacity-oriented approach to community building beginning with the creation
of a Neighborhood Assets Map. Offered as an alternative to the negative focus of traditional needs assessment
surveys, the assets map lays the groundwork for community development efforts led by community residents. The
map is composed of primary building blocks, for neighborhood assets and capacities that are controlled by
residents, secondary building blocks, for assets and capacities that are located in the neighborhood but controlled
by outsiders, and potential building blocks, for assets and capacities that are located outside of the neighborhood
and controlled by outsiders.
Available over the internet at www.nwu.edu/IPR/publications/mcc.html.
28
Many of the resources in preceding sections also contain measurement-related issues and instruments. Those
included in this section focus principally on measurement/evaluation tools and perspectives.
29
in evaluating community-wide initiatives and steps to be taken in improving evaluation methodology. The
following chapter addresses the use of indicators of child well-being, touching on the differences between outcome
indicators and contextual indicators as well as some methodological concerns related to community-level indicators.
Finally, the role of the evaluator, the purpose of the evaluation, and current strategies of evaluation are explored.
Available from The Aspen Institute, 345 East 46th Street, Suite 700, New York, NY 10017-3562, (212) 697-1261, fax
(212) 697-2258.
Coombe CM. Using empowerment evaluation in community organizing and community-based health
initiatives. In Minkler M (ed.). Community Organizing and Community Building for Health. New Brunswick,
NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997, pp. 291-307.
Coombe describes an evaluation process designed as much to build capacity as to assess an initiative. He argues that
traditional evaluation methods often undermine the objectives of community-building initiatives, while
empowerment evaluation supports community ownership, organizational development, and institutionalization of
programs through democratic and participatory means. Empowerment evaluation is explicitly designed to increase
resources and skills across multiple levels while linking assessment to action. Coombe outlines a six-step
empowerment evaluation process: 1) assessing community concerns and resources, 2) setting a mission and
objectives, 3) developing strategies and action plans, 4) monitoring process and outcomes, 5) communicating
information to relevant audiences, and 6) promoting adaptation and institutionalization all undertaken with
community members as key players and outside evaluators playing a supportive role.
Dixon J. Community stories and indicators for evaluating community development. Community Development
Journal 1995; 30:327-336.
Dixon advocates for the use of community self-assessment to enhance the validity of evaluations of community
development programs. She proposes the use of the Community Story as a formative evaluation tool, describing
the developmental process in community-driven change activities for use in continuous monitoring and
improvement. For the evaluation of externally-led activities which traditionally focus on accountability and tangible
outcomes, Dixon describes assets-based indicators which correspond to the underlying values of specific community
development outcomes.
30
Dixon J, Sindall C. Applying logics of change to the evaluation of community development in health
promotion. Health Promotion International 1994; 9:297-309.
Dixon and Sindall take on the differences between externally and internally generated change processes and
traditional perspectives on community ownership, maintaining that the trend toward using community-controlled
process evaluations alongside professionally-driven outcome evaluations bypasses some important epistemological
issues in the evaluation of community development programs. The authors describe three types of community
change processes: community-led change, community programs (partnerships between external agencies and
community agencies), and community interventions (implemented in a community by an external agency).
Underlying these logics of change are logics of rationality, which shape the values and assumptions of the
community change approaches. The authors argue that the epistemological basis for each community change
process should frame the evaluation approach, and they outline the evaluation approaches appropriate for each type
of community change process. They note some of the problems inherent in current approaches to health standards
and indicators, including the use of indicators that are individual-level rather than community-level and problemoriented rather than strengths-oriented. Finally, they propose the use of community-controlled ethnography to
develop a community story as part of a bottom-up evaluation approach.
v Fetterman DM, Kaftarian SJ, Wandersman A, eds. Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tools for
Self-Assessment and Accountability. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996.
Empowerment evaluation fuses quantitative and qualitative methods in a process of program self-evaluation and
improvement.
The general steps involved include: 1) taking stock, or assessment of program
activities/components, strengths, and weaknesses; 2) setting goals that are linked directly to both program activities
and outcomes; 3) developing strategies to reach objectives; and 4) documenting progress toward goals. Several
chapters contribute easily adaptable frameworks based on the general empowerment evaluation model. What
differentiates this method from other assessment processes is its basis in empowerment theory and its focus on selfdetermination; the role of the professional evaluator in empowerment evaluation is to train, facilitate, even to
advocate, all with the goal of fostering self-sufficiency of the program in evaluation and monitoring. Many
examples are presented of empowerment evaluation in practice, but with a focus on conceptual and methodological
issues that are relevant to program types other than those presented as well. Part five of the book includes several
chapters that provide evaluation instruments and techniques useful for both professional and nonprofessional
evaluators.
Goodman RM, McLeroy KR, Steckler AB, Hoyle RH. Development of level of institutionalization scales for
health promotion programs. Health Education Quarterly 1993; 20:161-178.
The authors present preliminary work on an instrument to measure the extent to which a program has become
embedded within its host organization, or level of institutionalization. Borrowing from Yin's (1979) framework of
passages and cycles and Katz and Kahn's (1978) conceptualization of organizational subsystems, Goodman et al.
developed a matrix for classifying the level of institutionalization of a program based on both its extensiveness and
intensiveness of institutionalization across the subsystems of an organization. Results supporting the construct
validity of the scales are presented.
Goodman RM, Steckler A. A model for the institutionalization of health promotion programs. Family and
Community Health 1989; 11:63-78.
Goodman and Steckler describe a model of program institutionalization, the final stage in a process of organizational
diffusion of innovations. Case studies of the passages and cycles achieved by ten health promotion programs
revealed six factors related to program institutionalization: standard operating routines; six sequential critical
precursor conditions moving from problem awareness to perceived benefit of a program; convergence of support
leading to coalition-building; activities of a program advocate; mutual adaptation of program and organizational
norms; and organizational fit.
31
Hancock L, Sanson-Fisher RW, Redman S, Burton R, Burton L, Butler J, Girgis A, Gibberd R, Hensley M,
McClintock A, Reid A, Schofield M, Tripodi T, Walsh R. Community action for health promotion: A review
of methods and outcomes 1990-1995. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1997; 13:229-239.
The authors assess the utility of the community action approach to health promotion through a review of the
evaluation literature. They define community action and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this approach
to health promotion. They present several criteria for scientific evaluation of community action interventions and
note some common barriers to carrying out rigorous evaluation. A review of the literature on cancer and
cardiovascular disease prevention programs revealed 13 evaluation studies. However, none of the studies met all of
the criteria for scientifically rigorous evaluation, and those that met most of the criteria failed to show a great impact
on health risk factors.
Institute of Health Promotion Research. Guidelines And Categories For Classifying Participatory Research
Projects In Health Promotion. University of British Columbia, Canada, 1999.
The Institute of Health Promotion Research (IHPR), working in conjunction with experts in the field in Canada,
developed a set of criteria characterizing participatory research projects projects undertaken in collaboration with
the study population and directed toward community change. Presented as a checklist with scaled answers, these
guidelines are meant to be used both by researchers planning participatory projects and by funders assessing the
degree to which projects adhere to participatory principles. Six general domains are assessed by specific questions
or indicators, with responses scaled along a continuum: Participants and the nature of their involvement, Origin of
the research question, Purpose of the research, Process and contextomethodological implications, Opportunities to
address the issue of interest, and Nature of the research outcomes. The full set of guidelines is available for
downloading on the IHPRs website.
Available over the internet at www.ihpr.ubc.ca/guidelines.html.
Institute of Medicine. Improving Health in the Community: A Role for Performance Monitoring. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press, 1997.
This book addresses a community-oriented, collaborative process of health assessment and improvement that
includes attention to the accountability of specific community entities. It advocates the use of a community health
improvement process (CHIP) with complementary cycles of problem identification/prioritization and
analysis/implementation. The books chapters cover the field model of the determinants of health and its
implications for communities; community-level accountability for performance and concepts related to the
community change process; the CHIP framework, including the community and coalition capacities necessary for
success of the process; selecting indicators for community health profiles and other measurement issues; and
guidelines for developing and implementing the CHIP framework. Appendices include prototype performance
indicator sets and discussions of methodological issues involved in using performance indicators, issues involved in
the use of performance monitoring in community health improvement activities, and a conceptual framework for
community health improvement with examples of communities experiences.
Available from National Academy Press, Box 285, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20055, (800)
624-6242 or (202) 334-3313, www.nap.edu.
32
Scheirer MA. Are the level of institutionalization scales ready for "prime time?" A commentary on
"Development of level of institutionalization (LoIn) scales for health promotion programs. Health Education
Quarterly 1993; 20:179-183.
Scheirer comments on Goodman et al.'s (1993) Level of Institutionalization Scales, questioning how well the scale
items represent the concepts they are supposed to measure, whether the eight scales included truly measure separate
dimensions, and whether choice of respondent may influence the results. She concludes that the scales are not
sufficiently well developed for use in general research or program assessments, but that research furthering the
developing of the instrument is needed. The response of Goodman et al. to the critique is included.
33
Expanded Summaries
Of
Selected Resources
Howell EM, Devaney B, McCormick M, Raykovich KT. Community involvement in the Healthy Start
Program. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 1998; 23:291-317.
Overview:
Two strategies for involving the community in Healthy Start infant mortality prevention programs
are described and the implications of each are assessed.
Concepts:
The authors briefly describe the history of community involvement in health programs, noting that
the evidence for the effectiveness of community involvement activities is weak, due in part to inadequate evaluation
methods and inconsistent conceptualization of community involvement. Nevertheless, community participation in
the Healthy Start program was seen as essential to addressing community needs and was incorporated into the
program through consortia of community members and providers. As with the guidelines for the program as a
whole, the specifications for developing the consortia were left broad.
The evaluation revealed two main strategies, usually used in concert, to involve the community in Healthy Start
consortia. The service consortium model primarily involves providers and other professionals and is oriented
toward forming networks to improve the coordination of and access to services. The community empowerment
model solicits participation through neighborhood-based groups, contracts with community-based organizations,
employs residents as project staff, and generates economic development initiatives. By targeting poverty-related
issues, the empowerment model attempts to move beyond traditional health services interventions to address the
more underlying causes of infant mortality. However, evaluation of the community empowerment model is made
difficult by the indirect links between strategies and these more distal health outcomes.
Measurement: As part of the national evaluation of Healthy Start, site visits were conducted at each of the
original 15 projects, including observations of consortium meetings and review of prior meeting minutes and
attendance lists. Interviews with project staff and consortia participants covered project structure, community
context, the consortium, public information, outreach and case management, and service delivery.
The authors highlight several findings:
Sustained efforts at community participation require a clear understanding of the purposes of involving the
community.
Projects were able to achieve only token representation of community residents in their central consortia,
although community participation in local, neighborhood-based consortia was greater.
Program goals must converge with the goals of providers and residents for involvement strategies to be
effective. Relatedly, community participants may steer program goals toward issues unrelated or tangential to
the programs mission.
Community involvement is labor-intensive and may slow program development.
Involving community residents may be more difficult than involving providers.
Use:
Howell et al. provide useful information about the advantages and disadvantages of two very different
approaches to maintaining a community orientation.
37
Goeppinger J, Baglioni AJ. Community competence: A positive approach to needs assessment. American
Journal of Community Psychology 1985; 13:507-523.
Overview:
Using a model of communities based on strengths rather than deficits, Goeppinger and Baglioni
propose that interventions target the communitys ability to utilize resources to address problems. This article
demonstrates the use of a survey of community residents to assess the communitys general capacity for problem
solving.
Concepts:
The authors base their assessment on Cottrells (1976) model of community competence, refining
it to allow for operationalizing and measuring the construct. They present other authors definitions of community
competence, suggesting that a common thread is the importance of congruent perceptions among community
sectors for problem-solving. Goeppinger and Baglioni stress that individual competence is necessary but not
sufficient for community competence, noting that the two constructs are frequently confused.
Cottrells specification of eight dimensions of community competence provided a framework for the development of
survey items:
Self-other awareness and clarity of situational definitions, or accurate perceptions of divergent viewpoints;
Effective communication based on common meanings and taking the view of the other;
Management of relations with the larger society, involving the mobilization of external resources; and
Machinery for facilitating participant interaction and decision-making, including formalized, but flexible,
rules and procedures.
Measurement: A survey containing 22 items assessing community competence was administered to residents
from rural households chosen from clusters based on size and socioeconomic conditions. The items included in the
final analysis are matched to the dimensions of community competence they are thought to represent in Table 1,
below. The actual survey questions are included as an appendix to the article.
Field Testing:
The authors analyzed the data for both the discriminatory power of items and the extent
to which items represented Cottrell's 8-dimension model. Fourteen items were found to discriminate among the
communities, using multiple one-way analysis of variance (see table 1 for the items with F-values). Those items
which did not discriminate among communities (not listed here) were dropped from the analysis.
Only six of the eight dimensions of community competence were represented in the Community Residents Survey.
Neither articulateness nor effective communication were represented; The authors suggest that these dimensions
may actually convey one concept, and attempts to distinguish between the two hindered their adequate
representation in the survey instrument.
Factor analysis revealed four factors accounting for 35 percent of the variance in the data: democratic participation
style, crime, resource adequacy and use, and decision-making interactions. The authors draw parallels between
these four factors and the dimensions in Cottrells model, with democratic participation style representing machinery
for facilitating participant interaction, management of relations with the larger society, and self-other awareness;
resource adequacy and use representing commitment and participation, machinery for facilitating participant
interaction, and self-other awareness; and crime and decision-making interactions representing conflict containment
and accommodation. Goeppinger and Baglioni suggest that the decision-making interactions variable reflects the
essence of community competence," in that the two items loading on this factor measure the openness of debate
about community problems and the reconciliation of differences.
38
Table 1. Dimensions Represented, Discriminatory Power, and Factor Loadings of Survey Items
Dimension Represented
Item
participation
participation
commitment
organization membership
pride in community appearance
6.60
3.49
5.64
7.36
7.92
9.74
commitment
6.18
none
18.07
5.82
3.68
3.94
7.02
5.00
crime (.793)
7.31
crime (.711)
39
Knight EA, Johnson HH, Holbert D. Analysis of the competent community: support for the community
organization role of the health educator. International Quarterly of Community Health Education 1991;
11:145-154.
Overview:
In this study, the authors attempt to establish a link between community competence and
population health status, using an agency, as opposed to resident, survey.
Concepts:
The authors describe a competent community as one that engages in active problem solving and
supports resources that contribute to residents well-being. Characteristics of a competent community include
"collaboration for integration of services and decision-making, which is facilitated by knowledge of other agencies
and services, and participation by citizens in the functioning of organizations" (p. 146).
Measurement: A survey developed for use with representatives of social service agencies assessed the types of
services they offer, their knowledge about other services available in the county, the extent of collaboration with
other county agencies, and mechanisms for citizen input in planning.
Five variables measured community competence:
Resource availability: Respondents were asked about the availability in the county of 104 services from five
categories (preventive health, medical, housing, nutrition, and support services). The score consisted of the
number of services either provided by respondents or identified as available from another organization by at
least 50% of respondents. Each service counted only once, so the highest possible score was 104.
Participation: The average number of citizen input mechanisms used by responding agencies, with the options
including citizen advisory groups or boards, citizen surveys, information from community leaders or agencies,
and others.
Integration: The average number of organizations in the county with which the agency met regularly for
planning and coordination of services.
Network intensity: The frequency of the meetings identified in the integration variable. Six response categories
were provided, from once per year to once per week, and the mean intensity scores for each agency were
averaged to obtain a county score.
Knowledge of services: The proportion of services available in the county, as identified in the resource
availability variable, which the respondent knew to be available; the county score was obtained by averaging
the scores for responding agencies.
Population health status was assessed by the rate of years of productive life lost (YPLL), defined as the number of
years of life lost between age 1 and 65 from all causes, per 100,000 population.
Field Testing:
The directors of county social service agencies in one state completed the survey. Each
county was ranked for each of the five community competence variables and assigned a score of 0, 1, and 2 (for the
bottom, middle, and top rankings). Counties were then ranked; those with composite scores greater than or equal to
six and which did not fall into the bottom group on any variable comprised the top group; counties with composite
scores less than or equal to four and which did not fall into the top group on any variable comprised the bottom
group; and the remaining counties made up the middle group.
A comparison of rates of race-stratified YPLL by rankings on community competence revealed some trends.
Counties with the highest community competence scores had lower white rates of YPLL than did the middle and
bottom groups, although this trend was not evident for non-white rates of YPLL. Summing over all community
40
competence variables, small but statistically significant correlations were observed between composite scores and
YPLL, with white and non-white rates of YPLL dropping with a rise in composite score. Further analysis supported
the relationships between integration of services and white and non-white rates of YPLL and between knowledge of
services and white YPLL, but these associations were not statistically significant.
The authors conclude that the competence of the provider/agency community does impact population health status,
with its level of influence varying by dimension of competence. They suggest that knowledge of services and
integration of services are particularly important, noting that these factors seem to benefit primarily whites; with the
use of strategies utilizing existing power structures, groups which have traditionally been excluded from these
structures may not benefit (p. 153).
Use:
Knight, Johnson, and Holbert take a relatively original approach to measuring community competency.
Their use of an agency-level survey and indicators based on the presence of actual community resources illustrates
measurement at the community level.
41
Peyrot M, Smith HL. Community readiness for substance abuse prevention: Toward a
model of collective action. Research in Community Sociology 1998; 8:65-91.
Overview:
Peyrot and Smith propose and test a multi-factorial model of community readiness to address a
common problem, using indices of community composition, community context, and community organization.
Concepts:
Three types of factors are proposed to affect community readiness for prevention activities:
community composition, community context, and community organization. In determining the factors likely to
influence community readiness, the authors relied heavily on the research on community cohesion, or attachment,
the most extensive related literature. Factors related to community attachment are presumed to be likely predictors
of community readiness as well. (See Table 1.)
Measurement: Much of the prior research on community attachment and mobilization has relied on individuallevel data, which do not take into account factors related to social organization. This study employed surveys of
neighborhood leaders and census data aggregated to the level of the neighborhood.
Community composition was assessed through census data:
households with married families
age
vacant housing units
number of residents
owner-occupied housing
family income
education
employment rate
disability rate
public assistance enrollment
race/ethnicity
poverty rate
From interviews with neighborhood leaders, mean scores were calculated for each scale representing community
context and organization variables (see Table 2).
Table 2. Survey Scale Items
Sets of Factors
Community
Context
Community
Organization
Scales
Severity of neighborhood
problems
Availability of services
Cohesion
Neighborhood Organization
Measures (# items)
alcohol and tobacco use (6)
economic and drug problems/social decay (9)
youth programs (3)
police services (2)
other programs (5)
commitment and social relationships (5)
neighborhood formal organization (1)
neighborhood informal organization (1)
Alpha
.89
.94
.84
.66
.79
.81
Actual items and response scales are included in an appendix to the article.
43
Field Testing:
Table 1 includes items shown to be related to community readiness. A path model,
generated to represent the causal pathways among variables, confirmed that community composition, context, and
organization affected community readiness. Community composition explained eight percent of the variance in
community readiness, community context explained seven percent of the variance not explained by community
composition, and community organization explained six percent of the variance unaccounted for by the other two
indices.
Use:
This research provides a model for the assessment of community characteristics likely to affect success in
establishing an intervention.
The full path model identifies directions and degrees of influence among specific variables.
44
.
Community Context
Community
Organization
Definition
characteristics of residents
neighborhood associations
residential social networks
Social decay
youth loitering
abandoned housing
adult unemployment
youth unemployment
drug-related violent crime
youth drug use
adult drug use
presence of open air drug markets
presence of houses with drug sales and use
Police services
patrolling
response to resident calls
Cohesion
neighbors like living in neighborhood
neighbors want to stay in neighborhood
neighbors have friends in neighborhood
neighbors exchange favors
neighbors would help in an emergency
Formal neighborhood organization
number of annual neighborhood association meetings
Informal neighborhood organization
number of neighborhood events in last year
45
Easterling D, Gallagher K, Drisko J, Johnson T. Promoting health by building community capacity: Evidence
and Implications for Grantmakers. Denver, CO: The Colorado Trust, 1998.
Overview:
As part of its larger mission of health promotion, The Colorado Trust funds initiatives that
promote community capacity building. This report makes a case for the effect of community capacity on a
populations health status and for the importance of supporting capacity-building initiatives as an adjunct to
traditional health services programs.
Concepts:
This report first demonstrates the use of geographical analysis of differences in health status,
providing support from the research literature for links between regional disparities in a variety of health indicators
and environmental conditions, cultural norms, and economic resources. The authors note that there are many paths
health promotion can take, including improving environmental conditions, changing cultural norms, and
strengthening the economy. Taking a wider view of the determinants of population well-being and methods of
health promotion, the Trust advocates for the inclusion of community capacity-building initiatives in the repertoire
of health promotion and disease prevention activities.
The Trust offers a definition of community capacity based on three principles:
Individual and collective assets benefit the community as a whole, rather than specific individuals or
organizations.
Assets come from within the community itself, not from an external source.
Collective use of individuals assets creates synergistic effects.
Based on their experience with capacity-building initiatives, the authors delineate five dimensions of community
capacity:
Skills and knowledge, supported when necessary by the transfer of knowledge from outside experts to the
community.
Leadership in both the forefront, catalyzing the community, and the background, mentoring and nurturing
collaborative partners.
A sense of efficacy on both the individual and collective levels.
Trusting relationships, or social capital, indicative of a sense of community, reciprocal relationships, and civic
engagement.
A culture of openness and learning supporting divergent points of view.
The report provides recent empirical support linking elements of community capacity to health outcomes, including
effects of social capital on mortality, neighborhood resources on low birthweight, and collective efficacy on
violence.
Use:
The report identifies some general strategies for using this conceptualization of community capacity to
build the communitys potential to promote its own health and well-being. Community empowerment initiatives,
aimed at enhancing community assets rather than focusing on deficits, and provision of technical assistance in
support of community-driven problem solving are offered as ways to bolster the indigenous strengths of the
community from a grassroots perspective. In addition, promoting networking among community initiatives is
suggested as an important means of fostering continuous capacity building among organizations.
46
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Stages of Readiness
Public Policy
X
X
X
Community
X
X
X
Organizational
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Ecological Levels
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Refining and
institutionalizing
47
Forecast System: Analysis of meeting minutes, phone logs, staff activity calendars, and resumes of coalition
members; includes the Meeting Effectiveness Inventory (included in the article) and Project Insight Form for
assessing the leadership, participation, decision-making, conflict resolution, and productivity of specific
meetings
Committee Survey: Analysis of group climate, member satisfaction, task orientation, leadership characteristics,
staff support, membership costs and benefits, communication channels, linkages with community organizations,
and conflict resolution
Needs Assessment Checklist: Development of necessary steps for designing, implementing, and analyzing a
needs assessment
Plan Quality Index: Rates the action plan resulting from the needs assessment based on the specificity of goals
and activities, time line, division of responsibilities, target groups, means of building community support,
operational details, and potential barriers and solutions
Tracking of Coalition Actions: Monthly logs monitoring community planning, community actions, community
changes, collaboration, member recruitment, and resource generation
Prevention Plus III: Four-step model identifying program goals, processes, outcomes, and impacts
Policy Analysis Case Study: Assessment of the coalitions policy development strategies
Key Leader Survey: Assessment of awareness, concern, and actions of community officials and administrators
Community Survey: Assessment of impact on the individual level
Trend Data: Analysis of archival data to indicate community-level trends before and after the intervention
Level of Institutionalization Scale: Assessment of the sustainability of the program based on its imbeddedness
in the host organization
Use:
Important to this type of evaluation is the close interaction of evaluators with coalition members and staff.
Its purpose is not only to assess the functioning and impact of the coalition, but to provide feedback to the coalition
as a basis for improvement.
48
Wandersman A, Goodman RM, Butterfoss FD. Understanding coalitions and how they operate: An open
systems organizational framework. In Minkler M (ed.). Community Organizing and Community Building for
Health. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997, pp. 261-277.
Overview:
In the proposed model, coalitions are viewed as organizations that are influenced by, and in turn
influence, the environment. Four components of organizational functioning essential to coalition maintenance and
effectiveness are presented.
Concepts:
In an open systems model of organizational functioning, the coalition is a vehicle for translating
resources from the environment into outputs affecting the environment. Sustaining the system requires four
elements (see figure 1):
Resource Acquisition:
member resources
external resources
- size of membership
- commitment to mission
- personal and political efficacy
- pooling of assets
- formalization of relationships
- standardization of procedures
- frequency of interactions and flow of resources
- reciprocity
- access to local communities
- links to other organizations
Maintenance Subsystem:
organization control - leadership structure
- formalized rules, roles, procedures
- decision-making and conflict resolution processes
membership commitment
- volunteer-staff relationships
and resource mobilization
- communication patterns
- membership commitment and mobilization
Production Subsystem:
goal-oriented activities
maintenance activities
External Goal Attainment:
short-term changes
long-term changes
Use:
The authors suggest that viewing coalitions as organizations dependent on these four
elements will provide valuable insight into their functioning and viability.
49
INPUT
RESOURCE
ACQUISITION
A. Member
resources
B. External
resources
THROUGHPUT
MAINTENANCE
SUBSYSTEM
A. Organization
control
structure
B. Membership
commitment
and resource
mobilization
OUTPUT
PRODUCTION
SUBSYSTEM
A. Action
strategies
A. Successful
track record
B. Internal
maintenance
activities
B. Accomplishment
of initial goals
Organization
becomes
inactive
ENVIRONMENT
Source:
Wandersman, Goodman, & Butterfoss, 1997.
50
EXTERNAL GOAL
ATTAINMENT
Organization
remains active
The Aspen Institute, Rural Economic Policy Program. Measuring community capacity building: A
workbook-in-progress for rural communities (version 3-96). The Aspen Institute, 1996.
Overview:
This publication is premised on the importance of gauging the progress of citizens and community
organizations in improving community life. Specific measures that can be used to document the outcomes of
community capacity-building efforts are outlined in a concise workbook format.
Concepts:
Community capacity, the collective ability to address community problems and strengthen
community assets, is built on:
commitment to act,
resources (economic, human, etc.), and
skills of individual community members and organizations.
Building community capacity is seen as a valuable end in its own right. Rather than viewing capacity building as an
objective linked to the goals of a specific type of program, this guidebook frames community capacity building in an
overall strategy for maintaining a healthy community. In the context of rural development, community capacity
building is the springboard for sustainable economic development and stewardship of cultural and natural resources.
Measurement: The workbook is organized around outcomes, indicators, and measures.
effective community capacity building are proposed:
expanding, diverse, inclusive citizen participation;
expanding leadership base;
strengthened individual skills;
widely shared understanding and vision;
strategic community agenda;
consistent, tangible progress toward goals;
more effective community organizations and institutions; and
better resource utilization by the community.
Eight outcomes of
A section for each outcome includes indicators measurable capacities for gauging achievement of outcomes (e.g.,
leadership infrastructure) and sub-indicators (e.g., leadership development programs). Finally, for each indicator
and sub-indicator, a number of actual measures are suggested, each identified by type (e.g., yes/no, percent, rating).
Uses: Although targeted to rural communities, this publication is applicable to other kinds of communities
interested in documenting the effects of capacity-building efforts. Basic steps are provided to guide users in
undertaking an assessment. Future versions of this workbook will include work pages for tracking the outcomes,
indicators, and measures chosen for evaluation.
51
Fetterman DM, Kaftarian SJ, Wandersman A, eds. Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tools for SelfAssessment and Accountability. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996.
Overview:
Empowerment evaluation fuses quantitative and qualitative methods in a process of program selfevaluation and improvement.
Concepts:
In the introduction to this book, Fetterman describes the genesis of this approach and, in general
terms, the steps it entails: 1) taking stock, or assessment of program activities/components, strengths, and
weaknesses; 2) setting goals that are linked directly to both program activities and outcomes; 3) developing
strategies to reach objectives; and 4) documenting progress toward goals.
Some chapters in particular are notable for their emphasis on easily adaptable frameworks. Fawcett et al. describe
an empowerment evaluation framework composed of four elements agenda setting, strategic planning,
implementation, and outcome and provide examples of activities useful for each. The authors then develop these
components and Fettermans general evaluation process into six steps: 1) assessing community concerns and
resources; 2) setting a mission and objectives; 3) developing strategies and action plans; 4) monitoring process and
outcome; 5) communicating information to relevant audiences; and 6) promoting adaptation, renewal, and
institutionalization. Yin, Kaftarian, and Jacobs translate the general empowerment evaluation model into an
evaluation framework for community partnerships that includes collaboration across multiple levels, from the
federal to the local, and emphasizes quality of the evaluation framework, implementation, and outcomes. Their
framework encompasses eight sequential components: 1) partnership characteristics; 2) partnership capacity; 3)
community actions and prevention activities; 4) immediate process and activity outcomes; 5) prevention programrelated outcomes; 6) other community outcomes; 7) program impacts; and 8) contextual conditions.
Measurement: Part five of the book is of particular interest for readers interested in obtaining actual tools of the
trade:
Linney and Wandersman present Prevention Plus III, a tool developed for use by nonprofessional evaluators of
community prevention programs. Sample worksheets from each of the four steps of the model (goal and
outcomes identification, process assessment, outcome assessment, and impact assessment) are included.
Dugan describes the development of a participatory and empowerment evaluation framework encompassing
five stages: organizing for action, building capacity for action, taking action, refining the action, and
institutionalizing the action. For each stage, participant tasks, evaluator tasks, and a percentile breakdown of
the evaluators roles (e.g., facilitator, mentor) are presented. Sample worksheets adapted from Prevention Plus
III are provided.
Butterfoss et al. introduce the Plan Quality Index, a tool for assessing coalition plans and channeling
information back to coalition members for use in program improvement. The instrument, included in an
appendix in its entirety, assesses the adequacy of the plans components and scope, the necessary community
resources, and overall impression of the plan.
Mayer proposes an evaluation approach that is consistent with the principles of community capacity building,
providing examples of evaluation techniques that promote a constructive environment, inclusivity, and
advocacy.
Use:
What differentiates this method from other assessment processes is its basis in empowerment theory and its
focus on self-determination; the role of the professional evaluator in empowerment evaluation is to train, facilitate,
even to advocate, all with the goal of fostering self-sufficiency of the program in evaluation and monitoring. The
methodological concerns that might be raised about the use of empowerment evaluation, including scientific rigor,
intersection with traditional evaluation methods, objectivity, participant bias, and validity are addressed in the
introduction and other chapters. Many of the chapters present examples of empowerment evaluation in practice, but
with a focus on conceptual and methodological issues that are relevant to program types other than those presented
as well.
52
McKnight JL, Kretzmann JP. Mapping Community Capacity. Evanston, IL: Institute for Policy Research,
Northwestern University, 1990.
Overview:
McKnight and Kretzmann propose a capacity-oriented approach to community building that is
radically different from the traditional needs assessment approach to community-based initiatives.
Concepts:
McKnight and Kretzmann write from a community development perspective that views the
capabilities and resources indigenous to a community as the foundation for sustainable urban renewal efforts led by
community residents. Conversely, they argue, the traditional human services approach unnecessarily conditions
whole communities to become dependent on outside resources.
Measurement: The Neighborhood Assets Map is built on three categories of assets and capacities:
Primary building blocks indicate assets and capacities that are located within neighborhoods and controlled by
residents. They are made up of individual skills and assets as well as organizational assets.
Secondary building blocks indicate assets and capacities that are located in the neighborhood but controlled by
outsiders. These include private and non-profit organizations, public institutions, and physical resources such
as vacant structures that can be redeveloped.
Potential building blocks indicate assets and capacities that are both located outside of the neighborhood and
controlled by outsiders. They include public assets such as welfare expenditures, capital improvement funding,
and public data.
Use:
The assets map lays the groundwork for the creation of an Asset Development Organization, using existing
community organizations, community development corporations, or citizens associations. This group undertakes a
community planning process, mobilizing representatives of the neighborhood assets identified in the map. This
process includes some form of inventory of neighborhood capacity. A tool for collecting data on capacities of
individual residents is included in the document. As a final step, the Asset Development Organization begins to
form connections with outside entities and activities.
53
www.ahecpartners.org
AHEC/Community Partners is a non-profit coalition building and community capacity development institute serving
Massachusetts. Part of the Massachusetts Area Health Education Center system, the institute is based in the
University of Massachusetts Medical School. The website offers downloadable publications on topics such as
coalition development, planning and evaluation, community assessment, and community involvement.
www.nwu.edu/IPR/abcd.html
The Asset-Based Community Development Institute, part of Northwestern Universitys Institute for Policy
Research, is the focal point for dissemination of information related to McKnight and Kretzmanns work on building
community capacity. This site includes access to a variety of tools for use in capacity-building initiatives (e.g.
capacity inventory, training manual) and publications on related topics, many of them downloadable. The site also
includes access to an e-mail discussion group for people working in community-building activities.
www.wilder.org
Although this foundation provides local health and human services programs in St. Paul, Minnesota, its website
offers publications of national interest on community development, strengthening urban communities, and nonprofit management.
www.cpn.org
This multi-disciplinary network is a locus for information related to the new citizenship movement, which is
premised on the need for communities to reassert responsibility for public, collaborative problem solving. Essays
and guides addressing community responsibility and community building (e.g., social capital, community
organizing, asset-based community development) are posted.
COMM-ORG
comm-org.utoledo.edu
COMM-ORG, the On-Line Conference on Community Organizing and Development, provides several interactive
forums, including a series of working papers posted for reader review and an e-mail discussion list. The site also
directs users to a large number of websites related to community organizing and development. These links are
categorized as: community organizing groups and networks; community organizing training and technical
assistance; community organizing funding; community organizing and development readings; course syllabi; policy
links; research databases; action research resources; resources for public health community organizing and
development; community-based planning resources; community-based development resources; information on
effective use of the internet in activism; and multimedia related to social change.
www.xu.edu/cbi
Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, this cooperative venture of Xavier University and United Way & Community Chest
focuses on asset-based community development. The website provides access to training and technical assistance as
well as links to other community building organizations and publications.
55
www.cbr-aimhigh.com
This Canadian company provides technical assistance in asset-based community capacity building and community
assets mapping. The CBR internet site summarizes its Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping model
and related projects. A list of references on community development is also posted.
www.comm-dev.org
The Community Development Society is an international, multi-disciplinary professional association that focuses on
community capacity building with an emphasis on citizen participation. The website includes links to other
community development internet resources.
Community Toolbox
ctb.lsi.ukans.edu
The Community Toolbox is a vital resource for people engaged in community-based initiatives. Developed by the
University of Kansas Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development and AHEC/Community
Partners, this site offers extensive guides to a wide variety of activities essential to effective community capacity
building: grant writing; advocacy and public education; recruitment of members; strategic planning; organizational
development; leadership development; community assessment; implementation; collaboration; monitoring and
evaluation; and institutionalization. These training materials can be navigated through several routes. A Guide for
Community Problem Solving links community problems faced by the user to relevant sections. The training
materials can also be accessed through links built into two models of community change, Building Community
Capacity for Change and the Community Health Improvement Process (CHIP). The sites General Store
provides access to publications and fee-based technical assistance.
Institute of Health Promotion Research
www.ihpr.ubc.ca/guidelines.html.
This institute, part of the University of British Columbia, is dedicated to linking multi-disciplinary research and
community health promotion practice. Of particular interest on the IHPRs website are the Guidelines And
Categories For Classifying Participatory Research Projects In Health Promotion (see Annotated Bibliography) and
its reports on surveys of Community Participation in Health System Decision Making in Canada.
www.ncl.org
The National Civic League works to enhance collaborative, community-driven problem solving through three
programs accessible from its website. Its Community Assistance Team offers technical assistance in designing and
implementing community-based initiatives. The Healthy Communities Program involves identification of key
community stakeholders, development of a community vision for the future, assessment and evaluation tools (e.g.,
The Civic Index for measuring community resources, benchmarking, asset mapping), and skills for effective
leadership and organizational interaction. The Program for Community Problem Solving conducts research and
offers technical assistance in developing communities capacity for collaborative activities. The site lists
publications from all NCL programs, including guides and instruments for use in collaborative and communitybased activities.
www.ncbn.org
This membership organization brings together urban poverty reduction/community building projects for networking
and mutual learning. Its website offers information about community building principles, events and conferences
related to community building, news about policies impacting urban rebuilding efforts, a directory of resources
(organizations, reference lists, and website links), and a downloadable version of the Networks newsletter.
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Assessing The
Contribution
Of Volunteering
To Development
inspiration in action
United Nations Volunteers
UN Campus, PO Box 260 111, 53153 Bonn, Germany
inspiration in action
English UNV Emblem / A4 Vertical / tagline / CMYK
3 mm bleed included
www.unvolunteers.org
August 2011
Assessing The
Contribution
Of Volunteering
To Development
A Participatory Methodology
Handbook for UN Volunteers, Programme Officers and Managers
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Foreword
Dear colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that I am sharing with you the handbook on the
Methodology for Assessing the Contribution of Volunteering to Development. It is
the result of a joint effort with the International FORUM on Development Service,
a network of organizations engaged in international volunteering and personnel
exchange. The handbook provides development and volunteering practitioners
with practical approaches and tools to generate evidence on the contribution of
volunteering, thereby supporting accountability and learning. It consists of this
handbook plus a CD-ROM with practical tools that facilitate the application of the
methodology.
Flavia Pansieri
Executive Coordinator
United Nations Volunteers
UNV wants to thank the many people and organizations that have contributed to developing this handbook:
All volunteers in the field, community members, partners, stakeholders, UNV Field Units and headquarters staff
who contributed their time and participated in the processes leading to this handbook;
The Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) and the consultants Patricia Daniel, Sarah French
and Ella King who designed and coordinated the pilot study and wrote the first version of the handbook;
UNDP Country Offices that were very helpful in supporting the logistics of the workshops;
FORUM members who participated in the pilot study: the Australian Volunteer Initiative, Carrefour Canadien
International, the Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, Skillshare International and the Voluntary Service
Overseas;
The UNDP Evaluation Office that provided advice during critical stages of the development of the Methodology;
Antonella Mancini and Rosalind David who developed complementary methods and tools for the UNV
Volunteerism for Development Results workshops, and who facilitated those workshops together with Natalia
Ortiz. Special thanks goes to Antonella Mancini who put together the current version of the handbook by editing
and revising the original draft and by writing Section Three of this handbook, and to Anum Murtaza of UNV Online
Volunteering services for the graphic design of the handbook.
The UNV Evaluation Unit: Edmund Bengtsson and Robert To, former Evaluation Unit staff, who started this work;
and Katrin von der Mosel, Caspar Merkle and Ana Cristina Guimaraes Matos who have ensured its finalization.
We hope that many UN Volunteers and Volunteer Involving Organizations around the world will use this handbook, be
inspired by it, and adapt the methods and tools to the needs of their own organizations and environment. We wish you all
success with this and look forward to receiving your comments on the experiences you have at: evaluation@unvolunteers.
org. Ultimately, we hope that the handbook will help to showcase the contribution volunteering makes to development.
Best Regards,
Flavia Pansieri
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CONTENTS
PREFACE ...................................................................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................................7
SECTION ONE: KEY CONCEPTS.........................................................................................................................................7
SECTION TWO: THE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY...............................................................................................18
PLACEMENT LEVEL ASSESSMENT PARTICIPATORY WORKSHOP..........................................................................................21
Exercise A: Sharing Stories.............................................................................................................................................24
Exercise B: Reviewing and ranking the volunteers key activities and outputs.................................................25
Exercise C: The outcomes of the contribution of volunteering..............................................................................27
Exercise D: The volunteers overall contribution to higher level development goals.......................................29
Exercise E: SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................................................ 30
Exercise F: Key Lessons and Recommendations......................................................................................................31
INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL WORKSHOP................................................................................................................................................................ 43
Exercise A: Sharing experiences, key findings and lessons................................................................................. 44
Exercise B: Group discussion....................................................................................................................................... 45
Exercise C: Stakeholder perceptions and interests in volunteering....................................................................46
Exercise D: Key Lessons and Recommendations.....................................................................................................47
INTRODUCTION
The handbook aims to support International Volunteering Organizations to ask six basic questions and use the answers to
inform the work that they do and the decisions they take:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What contribution does volunteering make to development? What are the key results?
How does volunteering achieve these results?
What factors help or hinder the volunteering contribution?
What is the added value of volunteering?
How is volunteering perceived by other stakeholders and partner organizations, both national and international?
What lessons can be learned from volunteering and how can they be used to enhance development planning?
By answering these questions, the assessment also provides an opportunity for volunteers to share experiences amongst
themselves and to systematically reflect on the contributions they have made. In this sense the handbook benefits both the
Volunteering Organization and the individual volunteer.
The fundamental principle underlying the assessment approach in this h handbook is that it should be a bottom-up
process, which draws on the experiences and perceptions of volunteers themselves, their partners and the intended
beneficiaries of volunteering placements and programmes. The methodology does not intend to produce an impact
assessment, but rather to promote an analysis of results and contributions of volunteering to short and long-term
development goals. It provides opportunities for volunteers and their stakeholders to engage in a variety of ways. This
includes:
Primary beneficiaries to be included in the process: their voice can illuminate the contributions and changes
observed as well as help to inform policy
Individual volunteers to gain wider recognition of their work and to see their contribution to the bigger picture
Stakeholders and volunteers to reflect on the wider changes brought about through working in partnership with
others
UNV Programme Officers to see the cumulative contribution of volunteer work at national level and where
programme changes might be made
Lesson learning to be shared within and between volunteering organizations and with a range of partners
Promoting awareness about volunteering and its role in development
The methodology draws on a body of existing participatory methods and approaches. References and sources of methods
that provided inspiration are acknowledged with thanks in the appendices at the back of this h handbook. The list of key
people and organizations involved in the pilot workshops can also be found in the appendices.
For placement assessment by the country programme officer in cases where a volunteer has left early or has
particular difficulties
For ex-post assessment by the host organization and beneficiaries to reflect on longer term changes and their
contribution to development
As a basis for, or as part of, an external evaluation
For ongoing monitoring and learning purposes
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The workshops and exercises in this h handbook will require good facilitation. Facilitation can be placed in the hands
of one person or a team, depending on the size of the group. A skilled facilitator may be a colleague or a volunteer from
within your host organization, or a colleague from a national/international volunteer organization. Alternatively, you may
decide to involve an external facilitator.
Placement Level
Programme Level
National Inter-Organizational Level
And finally...
We hope the ideas and processes in this handbook will stimulate your own thinking and ideas on how to assess the
contribution of volunteering to development, and that you will feel encouraged experimenting with and adapting the
frameworks, methods and tools to suit your own organizational systems and work context. Dont worry about getting it
right. Its a learning process for all of us. We only get better by giving it a go. We do however encourage you to send us
feedback on your experience using the ideas and methods in this guide and to share your own ideas as well.
Please send your feedback to the UNV Evaluation Unit: evaluation@unvolunteers.org.
SECTION ONE:
KEY CONCEPTS
Introduction
It is helpful to start by examining some of the key concepts that underpin the Methodology for Assessing the Contribution
of Volunteering to Development. These are:
The facilitator(s) as part of their orientation process and to help them prepare for the workshops
The country programme officers/managers as part of the induction/orientation on the methodology with
volunteers and partners
Volunteers as part of the preparation for the workshops to ensure they are familiar with the basic concepts
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At the heart of volunteerism are the ideals of service and solidarity and the belief that together we can
make the world better.
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General
Volunteerism is both an opportunity and an asset for development. It represents a tremendous resource for addressing
many of the development challenges of our times and it has the potential to significantly promote broad-based national
ownership, gender equality, inclusive participation and sustainability. Volunteerism is increasingly seen as an essential
ingredient in supporting peace and development and in achieving the MDGs.
Committed
Volunteering
Fostering
participation
Agents of
change
Adapting to local
circumstances
Technical
knowledge
Passion
Intrinsic
motivation
Professional
Multinational
Highly skilled
Valuing indigenous
knowledge
Le volontariat est bnficiaire par une attitude positive et cest cela qui amne le changement positif. Il faut se
rappeler que la plupart des bnficiaires nont pas t lcole et ils ont de la difficult accepter linnovation.
Le seul moyen damener quelquun au changement, cest de vivre avec lui dans le milieu.
Association Malienne pour la Promotion des Jeunes (CCI Partner organisation), Mali.
Volunteering is a positive attitude that brings about positive change. One must remember that most beneficiaries did not attend school and have difficulties accepting change and innovation. The only way to make
them understand the benefits of change is by living with them and sharing their life in the community.
Malian Association for Youth Promotion (CCI partner organization), Mali
El voluntario tiene un gran valor agregado siendo un ser humano dotado de las siguientes caractersticas e
inculcado en siguientes valores: una vocacin, una vida de servicio, actitud y espritu de voluntariado, y buscar
ser til. Bolivia National Workshop, UNV.
A volunteer adds great value and, as human being, has the following characteristics: a vocation, a life of
service, volunteering attitude and spirit, and quest for being useful. Bolivia National Workshop, UNV.
72% of people feel that volunteering offers something that could never be provided by paid professionals.
Volunteering Ireland, 2006.
key concepts
Traditional volunteering
It is also important to remember that all communities are likely to have a tradition of self-help. This will not be known as
volunteering but have a local term. For example, in Mali, it is called solidarity and includes activities such as:
Often conflict or emergency situations have led to a breakdown of traditional social capital, but volunteering has been
shown to help revitalize this:
El voluntariado puede rescatar valores que se crean muertos, Guatemala Pilot study report.
Volunteering can rescue values that were believed dead, Guatemala Pilot study report.
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The participatory assessment methodology we are presenting in this handbook builds on the Logical Framework
Analysis approach (LFA). LFA or logframes are used worldwide by national and international agencies for planning and
evaluation of development activities. This can be at the organization, programme or project level. International volunteering
organizations are more and more commonly using the LFA, in line with the methodologies and requirements of their donor
agencies.
LFA looks like a table (or framework) and aims to present information about the key components of a project in a clear,
concise, logical and systematic way.
The framework includes:
What the project should achieve, from the level of overall goal down to specific objectives
The performance questions/indicators that will be used to monitor progress
How the indicators will be monitored or how the data will be collected
The assumptions behind the logic of how activities will eventually contribute to the goal
The associated risks
LFA provides a handy summary to inform project staff, donors, beneficiaries and other stakeholders, which can be
referred to throughout the lifecycle of the project/programme
The LFA aims to link individual activities with longer-term impact and to show direct and indirect cause and effect
Using the same kind of approach and the same terms makes it easier to:
o
locate volunteering within the wider development framework
o
discuss the longer-term contribution of volunteering with partners and donors
However, if done well, LFA can be successfully used at the grassroots level by parents, volunteers, community leaders and
civil society organizations in participatory workshops to develop a shared vision for implementing agreed plans. Many of
the tools and methods included in this handbook can be adapted to facilitate a more participatory process for LFA.
Although the logical framework includes several levels up to impact, this methodology is NOT intended to measure the
impact of volunteering. This would be inappropriate, as in general the work of volunteers is not enough to generate impact
on its own. Rather, we look at how volunteering contributes to short and long-term development goals.
key concepts
LEVEL
OBJECTIVES
GOAL
PURPOSE
OUTCOMES
OUTPUTS
ACTIVITIES
Capacity building
Technical advice
Mobilization
Networking
Advocacy
Research
The following table describes what changes the various stakeholders of a volunteer assignment hope to see.
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STAKEHOLDERS
Volunteer
Host organization
CHANGES
Personal and Social change
E.g. Cross-cultural understanding
E.g. Valuing traditional knowledge
E.g. Development of skills
E.g. Commitment to global education
Attitudes and approach
E.g. Remarkable change of attitude among technicians (less top-down instructions and more
participatory approach)
Organizational development
E.g. Change in working practices and culture
Community
members/Civil
Society
Self help
E.g. New ideas for partnership for local development plans are emerging among community
associations
E.g. New attitude of self-reliance and change of mentality whereby village groups are no longer
waiting for UNV to resolve problems encountered
Inclusion
E.g. Participation and public role of women in inter-village land management committees has
increased
Local NGOs
Skills
E.g. Project planning especially among womens groups is now much better due to capacity
reinforcement
Local government
Relationships
E.g. Greater trust and recognition between civil society and elected officials
Public-private sector partnerships
E.g. Commitment to provide training in computing skills for a village school
Private sector
Responsibilities and Priorities
E.g. Drug company keeps pricing low for antiretroviral drugs
Media
Communications
E.g. Local radio programmes are promoting health education
National
government
International
partner
organizations
Donors
Commitment
E.g. Recognition and additional support for volunteering
The public
in-country
key concepts
Triangulation
Pulling together an overall analysis from the assessment process will require you to cross-check the information and
findings with your stakeholders. You need to constantly take into account the different contexts and sources of information.
This will help to ensure the findings and results are robust and reliable. Monitoring and evaluation practitioners sometimes
refer to this process as triangulation.
Of key importance are the rich insights and lessons that can be drawn from these processes at the different levels.
The key findings and lessons should be feeding into strategic planning decisions and help improve projects and future
programmes. Remember also to give feedback on decisions and findings to your stakeholders. Use whatever means are
locally available, including notice boards, meetings etc. to provide feedback on project decisions in local languages.
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Gender
Many scholars and practitioners have recognized that the status of women and girls in any society is one of the best
indicators of economic, social and political development. Nevertheless, there is no country in the world that can claim
to have achieved equality between men and women. While there are strong connections between poverty and gender
inequalityapproximately 70% of the worlds poor are womenwomens discrimination and subordination is experienced
across all social classes and cultures to different degrees.
There is a strongly gendered element to volunteerism, since traditionally a high proportion of the unpaid work that
supports a community has been carried out by women. In addition, the positive effects of volunteerism can be very
empowering for women in particular, providing access to social networks, new skills, and an influential role in the
community for individuals who may otherwise have few formal routes to education or influence. One of UNVs central
missions is the attempt to achieve recognition for the voluntary work that women are already doing, and which is often
disregarded or undervalued. UNVs projects can often have a positive effect in this regard by channelling and externally
validating the voluntary activity, which is already going on2.
However, during programming volunteers do need to consider the risks of adding to the existing loads of unpaid work,
which are already carried by many women. If volunteerism is to justify adding to this load of unpaid work, and taking away
from the time available to women to undertake paid work, it will need to bring very clear benefits to the volunteer. Every
project should, at the analysis stage, carry out an analysis of how volunteering will impact on gendered roles, and make it
explicit how the project will ensure that the benefits are great enough to compensate for the time spent on volunteering.
Gender needs to be integrated into all volunteering placements, projects and programmes and considered at each stage
of the assessment process undertaken with this methodology. When taking into consideration issues of gender, we need
to remember we are talking about men and women.
key concepts
UNVs unique approach to combating Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) capitalizes on volunteerism and local
community action. By involving males and youth in peer education, engaging midwives and mothers in sexual
education, working with schools to raise the awareness of children, reaching families of pupils through public
events, and by generating innovative information materials, UNV and community volunteers were able to challenge
this issue from a community perspective.
Volunteerism enabled communities to generate their own solutions to development challenges, thus
complementing the work of governments and development partners, including civil society organizations. This has
led to enhanced openness to consider the collective abandonment of the practice.
In 2007, UNV contributed to the development of the National Strategy for the Abandonment of All Types of Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM) and launched an abandonment
campaign. Working closely with UNFPA, the Ahfad
University for Women and other stakeholders, UNV
engaged local volunteers to tackle FGM related issues
from within their own communities. It was the holistic
approach of interventions that contributed to the
success of the joint initiatives.
To ensure sustainability, UNV and partners supported
the creation of a new non-governmental organization
comprising the community volunteers it mobilized. The
scheme is being replicated elsewhere in Sudan and
expanded to include new partners.
How and in what way did women, men, girls and boys participate in our assessment processes whose voices
and perspectives got heard?
Did we create the best possible conditions for the participation and active involvement of women?
Did we provide women only spaces that were organized and facilitated by women?
Is our work helping to raise awareness amongst women and men about gender inequality?
Who is benefiting from our different activities and how (men, women, girls & boys)?
What have been some of the unexpected (both positive and negative) results of our different activities on
men, women, girls and boys? (Here you might want to consider issues of work load etc.)
How many womens groups/associations have been formed?
How and in what way has our work contributed to changes in gender attitudes, roles, relationships and
behaviours?
Is our work helping to increase the capacity and confidence of women to have control over their own lives and
decision-making?
Is gender taken into account in the way we plan, analyze, review and report about our work?
Is our work helping to promote equal participation?
What lessons are we drawing from our work that will help to promote and contribute towards gender
equality?
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The Broader Context of our Work: National Development Goals and MDGs
Increasingly development organizations including Volunteer Involving Organizations (VIOs) are aligning their strategies
and actions in support of much higher-level development goals and strategies, both at national and international level. The
rationale being that projects alone will not affect longer-term change and sustainable development, but that working in
synergy with others is more likely to produce significant changes for people living in poverty.
The Millennium Development Goals and targets have been developed as follow-up to the Millennium Declaration,
which was signed by 189 countries, including 147 heads of state and government, in September 2000. The MDGs
are interrelated and should be seen together. They represent a partnership between the developed countries and
the developing countries to create an environment at the national and global levels alike which is conducive to
development and the elimination of poverty.
Democracy, governance and peace-building as well as humanitarian relief and recovery underpin the achievement of the
MDGs.
key concepts
UNV and its partners in Brazil are harnessing school volunteers to raise
awareness of nutrition and MDG1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
The I learn, I teach programme, which is undertaken in cooperation with the
NGO Conexo - Servio de Integrao Social aims at disseminating and
implementing the MDGs. It involves groups of around five volunteer pupils and
their teachers from 10 schools in Carapicuba city. These groups are trained
on awareness-raising techniques and go out into their communities to spread
knowledge.
Women are the main target group of the information campaigns as they are often
responsible for the purchase and preparation of food, whether for their families
or as school cooks etc. Furthermore, the majority of volunteers both students
and teachers are female.
The strategy has developed local self-esteem and trained people to improve their
own situation, says UN Volunteer Alessandra Preto who has been running the
project since 2007.
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SECTION TWO:
THE ASSESSMENT
METHODOLOGY
The Methodology for Assessing the Contribution of Volunteering to Development comprises a series of participatory
workshops at different levels to collect data about the contribution of volunteering to development. This section introduces
you to main methods and exercises used in the Methodology.
1.
2.
3.
The following four tables provide an overview of the workshops at placement, programme, national and global levels. Each
of these types of workshops is discussed more in detail afterwards.
Individual volunteer, or groups of volunteers working on the same project in the same locality
Purpose
Timing
How
Self-reflection
1.5 day workshop/meeting
Interviews by the volunteers with stakeholders (optional)
Convener
Stakeholders
Volunteer
Other volunteers involved in the project/activity
Supervisor
Representative(s) of host organization(s)
Local groups/actors
Beneficiaries
Other relevant key informants
Output
Level 2
Programme Level Assessment Workshop
Level definition
Purpose
Analyzing overall findings from placements and projects and overall contribution of volunteering
towards national/international goals
Timing
Approximately every 2 years with volunteers who are nearing the end of their placements
How
Convener
Stakeholders
Volunteers
Representative(s) of host organization(s)
Local groups/actors
Beneficiaries
Other relevant key informants
Output
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Level definition
Volunteering Organizations
Purpose
Joint analysis and sharing of lessons and findings, promoting networking and collaborative
planning amongst VIOs
Timing
How
Convener
Stakeholders
Output
Level 4
Global/Headquarters 3
Purpose
Timing
How
As part of managements ongoing review and evaluation of VIO projects and programmes
Stakeholders
Outcome
3
The handbook does not set out specific exercises for HQ level. However, we do give an example schedule for a workshop at HQ
level on the CD. Many of the exercises and tools used in the placement/programme level workshops can be adapted for a workshop at HQ
level.
Reflect on the contribution of volunteering at the level of the individual placement and/or project
Share perspectives between different stakeholders on the added value of volunteering and what difference it
makes
Generate data and findings on volunteering activities (outputs) and outcomes from individual placement or
projects
Identify how volunteering at individual placement or project level contributes to wider development goals
Discuss challenges, good practices and lessons learned
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Decide on a convenient date, location and venue. Planning will require gathering any necessary background information
and materials, arranging logistics, inviting participants, developing the overall schedule and sequence of exercises and/
or interviews, and deciding on what additional preparation work will need to be undertaken. Volunteers will need to make
sure they can back up their analysis with both quantitative as well as qualitative data. Remember to allow time for any
translation work. Key concepts will also need translation into the local language. Make sure the facilitator is well briefed
and able to conduct their assigned tasks. Key exercises and preparation work will need to be adapted to each situation.
Please use the Workshop Participation Form (template on CD) to record who has taken part in the
assessment workshop.
Day 1
Time
Morning
Session
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introductions
Participant expectations & fears
Workshop objectives
Exercise A: Sharing Stories
Break
5.
Introducing basic terms and key concepts
6. Exercise B: Reviewing and ranking the volunteers key activities and outputs
Lunch
Afternoon
Day
Day 2
7.
Exercise C: The outcomes of the contribution of volunteering
8. Exercise D: The volunteers overall contribution to higher level development
goals
Time
Morning
Session
9.
10.
11.
12.
List of Exercises
EXERCISE A: SHARING STORIES..............................................................................................................................................................24
EXERCISE B: REVIEWING AND RANKING THE VOLUNTEERS KEY ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS....................................25
EXERCISE C: THE OUTCOMES OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF VOLUNTEERING.....................................................................27
EXERCISE D: THE VOLUNTEERS OVERALL CONTRIBUTION TO HIGHER LEVEL DEVELOPMENT GOALS..............29
EXERCISE E: SWOT ANALYSIS...................................................................................................................................................................30
EXERCISE F: KEY LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................................31
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What?
Invite each stakeholder in advance of the workshop to think of a story or choose a recent example of how
volunteering has brought about a significant change. Ask the participants to consider why the change has
occurred, who was involved, what were the activities and the role of the volunteer(s), who benefited from the
changes and the difference it has made.
Why?
This exercise can be used as an icebreaker. It is a good introduction to the theme of the workshop and helps to
build rapport amongst the participants.
How?
The facilitator should nominate someone to capture the key points from each of the stories and from the group
discussions. Stories can be tape-recorded if relevant for case study purposes. A summary of the most significant
story of change should be written up by the volunteer on the Feedback Sheet Exercise A (Copies of the Feedback
Sheet can be printed from the CD).
Tips: This exercise can also be done by individual volunteers as part of a self-reflection exercise and/or for ongoing
monitoring purposes.
What seem to be the main activities that volunteers have been involved in?
What common themes seem to be arising from the stories about change and the role of the volunteer(s)?
What role did the volunteer(s) play? Who else was involved?
Who were the main beneficiaries (women, girls, boys, men, specific groups)?
What types of changes have occurred as a direct result of the volunteer(s)?
How significant was the change? What difference has it made (overall contribution)?
If the volunteer(s) had not been involved, would this activity have happened?
Step 3: For the final part of this exercise ask participants to get into small buzz groups (three-five people) to discuss
which story they feel best illustrates the contribution of the volunteer(s) and why. It is important that they note down the
reasons why. These provide useful criteria for later discussions on outcomes and overall contribution to development
goals. After 10 minutes, invite each group to share the highlights of their discussion. The facilitator should attempt to
synthesize the discussion, pulling out the most significant story or stories and any common themes and criteria identified.
For workshops with more than 8 people, we suggest the following:
Step 1: Ask participants to get into either pairs or groups of three. In their pairs/groups they each spend five minutes
sharing their story.
Step 2: Invite each group to share highlights of their discussion in plenary. This does not mean feeding back a detailed
account of what each participant has shared but general themes and significant elements of the story that they would like
to share with the other participants. The facilitator can use the same prompt questions as outlined in Step 2 above.
Suggested further reading: Most significant change guide: Rick Davies & Jessica Dart http://www.mande.co.uk/docs/
MSCGuide.pdf
Why?
To build on the stories shared in Exercise A and gather more information about the types of activities and outputs
of the volunteer placement and the volunteers contribution. This exercise requires both quantitative data as well as
qualitative analysis.
How?
The facilitator will need to explain what an output is (see box below). The facilitator can refer to the activities
already identified during Exercise A to illustrate the types of activities and outputs of the volunteer placement. The
facilitator should record the key outputs on a flipchart. The volunteer is responsible for completing Feedback Sheet
B. (Copies of the feedback sheet can be printed from the CD)
OUTPUTS: Outputs are the immediate and specific results of a series of activities that are directly attributable to
the volunteer or the project/programme. For example, the number of people trained, counselled, sheltered etc. The
number of pamphlets published, information leaflets produced etc. It is assumed that these activities will lead to the
achievement of what the project is hoping to achieve overall (the project objectives). Some of these will be planned
outputs (i.e. as per project plan) but there may well be results that were unplanned. See the Logframe example on
page 12 of this handbook.
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Step 5: Write the list of final outputs and scores onto a clean version of the Placement Level Feedback Sheet Exercise B.
Tips: Remember there will be very different perspectives on what constitutes an effective output. Participants may find it
confusing to rank and/or score the order of importance of the volunteer outputs without a more in depth discussion on the
outcomes and results of the activities. Participants are likely to want to discuss other factors that might have contributed to
these changes, including their role, and other internal/external factors. The facilitator can choose to carry out the ranking
exercise as part of Exercise C, which focuses on outcomes.
Human Capacity: Many people trained in various areas (business, leadership, health issues, community
mobilization, CBNRM), skills-based training, also employment of local counterparts and local project staff
Systems: Financial controls, human relations enrichment, management, governance
Knowledge/Information: Cultural exchanges, networking, humanities, various skills
Infrastructure: in the past buildings of preschool etc. would be built by volunteers
Materials/Documents/Websites: KFO website, financial systems, curriculum materials (Bokamoso),
CDF training manuals (sourcing existing materials and updating them), adult education and non-formal
educational materials, health training manuals, BOOK VOICES OF THE SAN
Awareness/Engagement: advocacy for minority groups rights based approaches, cultural exchanges
Participants found it difficult to rank the order of importance of outputs because they felt all the outputs were of
equal importance and very crucial to a holistic development process. Yet in the end, they decided that those
outputs they characterized under human capacity were probably the most important outputs, followed by systems
and then materials. The factors and criteria they used included the mandate of KFO, participation and community
impact.
What?
A group exercise to identify the changes brought about by volunteering during the placement.
Why?
This exercise builds on Exercise B and begins to connect the volunteer activities and outputs to the changes that
have resulted (expected and unexpected).
How?
Ensure all participants understand what an outcome is (see the box below) The facilitator can refer to the
outputs identified during Exercise B as the starting point to discuss what changes have happened as a result of
these activities. The facilitator can use Placement Level Handout Sheet Exercise C (on the CD) to record the key
volunteer outcomes with respect to the changes with different stakeholder groups. Once this has been done, the
facilitator will support participants to explore and discuss in more depth how the volunteer contributed to these
changes, any key challenges and key disappointments, whether the changes were intended or not (based on the
original placement/project objectives), and to explore how different types of volunteers contribute in different ways.
OUTCOMES:
These are actual changes/benefits brought about by volunteers through working with different stakeholders. They
reflect the development of self-reliance.
Essentially we are looking at qualitative change, for example:
Changes in attitudes, ideas, awareness or behaviour
Social, cultural, political or personal change
Individual, group, community, organizational or institutional change
Changes in practice, priorities, resources or systems
Changes in roles, relationships, responsibilities, communications
Changes at micro or macro level, in a specific sector or cross-sectoral
See the examples of types of changes that we expect to see for different stakeholders previously on page 13 of this
handbook.
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inspiration in action
Step 3: Once you have listed all the outcomes, divide the participants into small groups of three to five. Ask each group to
spend 45 minutes discussing the following questions:
Identify HOW volunteering has contributed to the key changes (i.e. identifying the exact role of volunteering within
the changes brought about)
Have there been any negative or unplanned outcomes as a result of these changes?
What key factors do you feel have supported or hindered the volunteers contribution?
Is there a difference in the contributions the following types of volunteers can make? Is so, please explain why.
o
Volunteers of different ages
o
Male and female volunteers
o
National and international volunteers
o
Mixed teams of international/national volunteers
Any other observations you would like to add?
If there are more than five key outcomes to discuss you may want to divide these up amongst the groups.
Step 4: Each group should write up their key findings onto a flipchart paper. They can be as creative as they like, e.g. they
can do this as a picture or write up brief bullet points. The facilitator might want to hand out the Placement Level Feedback
Sheets Exercise C 2 and 3 on the CD for groups to record their discussions.
Step 5: Give each group 10 minutes to feed back the highlights of their discussion. After each group has given their
feedback, open up the discussion to plenary.
Step 6: The facilitator will need to consolidate the key outcomes of Exercise C onto the Feedback Sheets provided on the
CD.
Optional: You could carry out the scoring/ranking exercise detailed in Exercise B as part of this exercise.
TIPS: The facilitator should make it clear to participants that any discussion of negative changes that might have
occurred during the volunteer placement/project is not intended to be a blame making exercise. The idea is to get a better
understanding of some of the unintended consequences of our activities so that we can learn to improve future projects
and programmes. Likewise, any discussion on the contributions that different types of volunteers can make is intended to
inform future placement strategies and is not an assessment or critique of individual volunteers.
Why?
Having looked at what the volunteer does and what is achieved by volunteerism, this task links volunteerism to
higher level goals and connects volunteer activities with the wider development landscape.
How?
Volunteer outputs and outcomes may either contribute to one specific goal or to a number of goals (see examples
on the Placement Level Feedback Sheet D on the CD). The idea is not to establish a direct causal link to these
goals, but to support volunteers and their stakeholders to reflect on how and in what ways volunteering and
volunteerism contributes to long term sustainable development.
In what way do you think the placement or project has contributed to the longer-term goals highlighted in the
presentation (or the longer term goals set out in Feedback Sheet D)?
How might the volunteer placement and/or project contribute to these goals in the future?
Step 3: In the feedback session elicit one point per buzz group for each question. Go round each group until all points
have been shared. Then open up the discussion to plenary.
Step 4: At the end of the plenary discussion the facilitator should attempt to draw together overall conclusions from
the discussion. You could also invite the presenter of the goals or an external stakeholder to feedback their overall
conclusions.
Step 5: The facilitator or volunteer should write up the key points from the discussion onto the Placement Level Feedback
Sheet Exercise D (on the CD).
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What?
This is a participatory tool that can be used to analyze the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of
the project or placement.
Why?
To look at the factors which facilitate and constrain the volunteer in achieving the placement/project objectives.
How?
Draw up a SWOT chart on two flipcharts (see Placement Level Feedback Sheet Exercise E on the CD). Use
coloured post-its/coloured cards. You may find it easier to address all 4 factors simultaneously. SW factors are
often used to refer to internal aspects of the placement, while OT factors address issues external to the employing
organization. (See box below)
The aim of any SWOT analysis is to identify the key internal and external factors that are important to achieving the
objective. SWOT analysis groups key pieces of information into two main categories:
List the key strengths of the placement/project (internal). Write each strength on a card and stick them to the
chart labelled strengths.
List the key weaknesses of the placement/project (internal). Write each weakness on a card and stick them to the
chart labelled weaknesses.
List the key threats to the placement/project (external). Write each threat on a card and stick them to the chart
labelled threats.
List the key opportunities for the placement/project (external). Write each opportunity on a card and tape them to
the chart labelled opportunities.
Step 2: Review each category separately and try to reduce the list in each category and/or rank in order of importance.
Step 3: Invite the participants to discuss the findings of the SWOT, and discuss in more detail the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats and the reasons why. Ask participants to give concrete examples.
Step 4: Ask participants which of the most critical issues need to be resolved and how the issues might be addressed.
Step 5: Make sure to write the SWOT cards and key points from the discussion onto the Placement Level Feedback
Sheet Exercise E (on the CD) at the end of the exercise.
What?
Pulling together overall key lessons and recommendations.
Why?
The exercise builds on the SWOT analysis to prioritize key recommendations for the individual placement.
How?
Participants work in small groups. Participants should identify at least one recommendation that can be usefully
shared at the Programme Level Assessment Workshop.
Ask participants to write up the key lessons and recommendations on the flipchart.
Ask participants to identify one overall key recommendation that can be usefully shared at the Programme Level
Assessment workshop.
Step 2: Ask each group to spend five minutes giving a brief highlight of their key lessons and recommendations.
Step 3: The facilitator feeds back overall conclusions from the workshop and from this last session, and explains how the
findings will feed into the Programme Level Assessment Workshop.
Step 4: The facilitator nominates or invites someone to write up the flipchart lessons and recommendations on to the
Placement Level Feedback Sheet Exercise F (on the CD).
TIPS: At the end of the workshop, it is good practice to carry out an evaluation of the workshop for learning purposes.
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inspiration in action
Discuss the overall findings from a wide range of individual placements/projects (aggregation)
Examine and assess the cumulative contribution of volunteering on national and/or international development
goals
Discuss key questions about the difference volunteering makes
Exchange good practices and lessons learned
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inspiration in action
Day 1
Time
Morning
Session
1.
Introductions
2.
Participant expectations & fears
3.
Workshop Objectives & Introductory Presentation
4. Exercise A: Sharing key findings and lessons from the Placement Level
Workshops
Break
5. Exercise B Volunteering for development and the contribution towards
National/MDG Goals
Lunch
Afternoon
Day
Day 2
6.
7.
Time
Morning
Session
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
List of Exercises
EXERCISE A: SHARING OF KEY FINDINGS AND LESSONS FROM THE PLACEMENT LEVEL WORKSHOPS............35
EXERCISE B: THE CONTRIBUTION OF VOLUNTEERING TO DEVELOPMENT GOALS........................................................36
EXERCISE C: THE CONTRIBUTION OF VOLUNTEERING TO DEVELOPMENT GOALS GROUP FEEDBACK...........37
EXERCISE D: THE VOLUNTEER AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE...................................................................................................38
EXERCISE E: FACTORS SUPPORTING AND HINDERING CHANGE............................................................................................39
EXERCISE F: KEY LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................................40
Why?
This exercise can be used as an icebreaker. It is a good introduction to the theme of the workshop and helps to
build rapport amongst the participants as well as link this workshop to the Placement Level Workshop.
How?
Lessons and change stories are shared in small group work. Facilitator(s) pull together a synthesis of key
outcomes/stories and lessons. They can use the Programme Level Feedback Sheet Exercise A (on the CD) to help
collate and put together the synthesis.
Logistics: How did you organize the workshops and who was involved?
Process: What did you like best about the workshop and what was most challenging/surprising about the
process?
Change story: Share your selected story and identify what type of change it illustrates
Key lessons: Share one overall key lesson and explain why
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inspiration in action
What?
Group work exploring how volunteering contributes to higher level development goals.
Why?
To demonstrate the added value of volunteering and its overall contribution to higher level development goals. (See
examples from Mali, Cambodia and Kenya on the CD.)
How?
Two group exercises will run concurrently. One group will focus on assessing the contribution of volunteering
to PRSP/NDGs (or equivalent framework) and the second group will focus on assessing the contribution of
volunteering to the MDGs.
2.
3.
Key OUTPUTS on the chart. Discuss: In which sectors is your organizations (VIO) country programme
contributing and to what extent? Who else was involved? (partners, government, private sector) What was the
cost, etc.?
Key OUTCOMES on the chart. Discuss: Which are the most common key outcomes or changes (Who/what
has benefited from the changes, how significant? Why did it change, is the work sustainable?)
Identifying contributions to DEVELOPMENT GOALS. Discuss: How and in what way do the outputs
and outcomes contribute to higher-level goals (e.g. national development goals, PRSPs etc.) How might they
contribute in the future?
Why?
To share findings, information and views.
How?
Presentation and discussion of charts, small buzz groups, plenary discussion.
What are the similarities and differences in the way national versus international goals have been
addressed?
What do you consider to be the cumulative effect of volunteers over time?
Any other observations or reflections (about doing the exercise and/or the findings from the
exercise)?
Step 3: Get each buzz group to feed back the key points from their discussion. Start with one point per group per
question.
Step 4: The facilitator concludes the session with a quick summary of the key themes and points emerging from the
session. The key points from the discussion should be noted on the Programme Level Feedback Sheet C: Volunteering for
development and the contribution to National and International Goals (on the CD).
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inspiration in action
What?
Group work exploring the role of the volunteer.
Why?
Exercises B & C have looked at what volunteering does and what it achieves. This task looks at how it has been
achieved and the specific role and qualities of the volunteer as a catalyst for change.
How?
Participants split into three groups. A recorder in each group captures the key points on a flipchart for feedback.
As each group presents their key findings in plenary, other participants can add points, which should also be
recorded. Tasks can be written on a card for each group.
Step 2: Each group will give feedback in plenary session. After each group presents their findings, other participants can
add points etc.
Step 3: The facilitator nominates or invites a volunteer to write up the key points on to the Programme Level Feedback
Sheet D (on the CD).
What?
Two exercises running concurrently that will explore and analyze supporting and hindering factors to change.
Why?
Having examined the what and how of volunteering, the workshop now moves on to look at the factors that facilitate
and constrain volunteering and how to overcome them. Factors can be internal or external to the VIO or employing
organization.
How?
Group 1 will brainstorm factors supporting and hindering change. They will draw on the findings from the SWOT
exercise E from the placement level assessment. Group 2 will do a stakeholder analysis to identify people, groups,
and institutions that influence volunteer initiatives (either positively or negatively). Each group will feed back their
highlights and key lessons in plenary session.
Step 3: First list all the key factors that have positively affected the outcomes and achievements. These might be internal
and external forces. Identify the most important factors and discuss how the programme/VIO organization might build on
these supporting forces. Remember to refer to the Placement Level SWOT Analysis Feedback Sheet Exercise E.
Step 4: Next, list all the key factors that have hindered or negatively affected the outcomes and achievements. These
might be internal and external forces. Identify the most important hindering factors and discuss solutions for addressing
these. Record the suggestions on the chart.
Step 5: Identify five key points/lessons to feed back in the plenary session.
Group 2
Step 2: Draw a large matrix on a flipchart paper. (See the Programme Level Feedback Sheet E2 on the CD for the
template) Column one is a list of the people, groups and institutions that influence your project/initiative (either positively
or negatively). Group members can add to this list.
Step 3: Review each stakeholder listed in column one. Assess how important are the stakeholders interests in the
success of the volunteer placement and project. Consider how they might have a positive role (specific interests) and how
they might have a negative role. Record these under the column Stakeholder Interests in Volunteering.
Step 4: The final step is to consider the kinds of things that you might do in the future to get stakeholder support and
reduce opposition or obstacles. Consider how you might approach each of the stakeholders. Think about other groups
or individuals who might also influence the stakeholder(s) to support your project. Record your suggestions in the last
column of the matrix.
Step 5: Identify five key points/lessons to feed back in plenary session.
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What?
Drawing together key lessons and recommendations for the organization.
Why?
Provides results from the workshop that the organization can use in future strategic planning.
How?
In buzz groups and plenary feedback, drawing out recommendations from the data generated throughout the day.
3.
What are the key lessons? How can we capitalize on our experience more strategically to influence
development interventions and approaches?
What is the profile of volunteers we have/want to have in the future? Think what we have learnt about the
different types of volunteers we have and how we might build these lessons into future recruitment policies and
procedures.
What is the profile of the placements that we have/want to have in the future? Think about the project
design; selection; response to requests; partners etc.
Step 2: Each buzz group agrees and records action points and ways forward for the organization
Step 3: Each group calls out a key lesson and the corresponding action point. The facilitator notes down the key lessons
and actions on a flipchart.
Step 4: Collate the feedback on to the Programme Level Feedback Sheet F (on the CD).
Inter-Organizational Workshop
The purpose of this assessment is to:
The first national volunteers in Niger have been selected and will soon be fielded as part of the Volunteers for
National Development project launched by the Government of Niger with support from UNV.
The process started in early 2008 with the establishment of a
candidate database. Among the host institutions are 25 rural
municipalities, five national organizations and associations (a
farmers group, a womens group, a disabled peoples group,
an NGO and one association), one rural radio station and
one literacy centre.
Aiming to demonstrate how volunteerism is an empowering
force for development, the Liberian National Youth
Volunteering Service is open to citizens under 35. It places
them in the Liberian countryside to work with communities on
peace-building and development issues, bridging the divide
between the urban youth volunteers and rural people.
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inspiration in action
Consider conducting such an inter-organizational workshop approximately every two years. It might be a small or large
scale workshop, e.g. Programme Managers with a small number of volunteers, or a high profile event including national
and international stakeholders.
Inter-Organizational Workshop
Example workshop schedule
The following is an example of a workshop schedule for a half-day or one day workshop programme.
Day
Day 1
Time
Morning
Session
1.
Introductions
2.
Workshop Objectives
3.
Exercise A: Sharing experiences, key findings and lessons
4. Exercise B: Group work identifying key themes and the distinctive
contribution of volunteering to development
Break
5.
6.
Afternoon
7.
8.
List of Exercises
EXERCISE A: SHARING EXPERIENCES, KEY FINDINGS AND LESSONS..................................................................................44
EXERCISE B: GROUP DISCUSSION.........................................................................................................................................................45
EXERCISE C: STAKEHOLDER PERCEPTIONS AND INTERESTS IN VOLUNTEERING...........................................................46
EXERCISE D: KEY LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................47
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inspiration in action
What?
Exchange of information by participating VIOs.
Why?
To share findings of assessment exercises between organizations.
How?
Each VIO gives a short PowerPoint presentation or another method of presentation.
Tips
Back to back power point presentations can be tedious. Think about how you might make the sharing session more
interactive and engaging. E.g. by introducing energizers between presentations, breaking into Q&A sessions after
each presentation or buzz group discussions after every two presentations etc. Or perhaps a poster presentation.
Encourage VIOs to be creative in the way they present their findings.
Suggested steps in the process (see also tips in the box above)
Step 1: Ask each VIO to give their 10-15 minute presentation, which will highlight the key findings from their own review
processes. Each presentation will be followed by a five-minute question and answer session.
The presentations should include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A general introduction to the organization: how and where they work, in which sectors, how many volunteers
etc.
What contribution has the volunteering programme made to national development? What are the key
results?
How has volunteering achieved these results?
What have been some of the key challenges?
What are the key lessons?
Step 2: After each VIO has presented, ask participants if they have any further questions or reflections before moving on
to the next exercise.
Step 3: The facilitator collects each of the summaries from each participating VIO to attach to Inter-organizational
Feedback Sheet Exercise A.
What?
Analysis of presentations.
Why?
To compare findings of assessment exercises between organizations (Group 1); and to identify the specific
contribution of volunteering to development (Group 2).
How?
Participants work in two groups to address different sets of discussion questions (1 and 2).
What are possible key attributes of volunteers that make a difference, as opposed to other
development or peace-keeping workers?
How can we define the different contribution of volunteers, as opposed to other development or
peace-keeping workers?
Step 3: Group feedback: Ask each group to feedback the key highlights and points from their group discussion (five
minutes). This will be followed by a short plenary discussion.
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inspiration in action
What?
Analyze the interests and perceptions of different stakeholders about volunteering.
Why?
Having completed this activity at programme level, this is an opportunity to discuss with peer organizations the
strategic implications vis--vis key stakeholders.
How?
This exercise should build on the programme level stakeholder analysis exercise (see Exercise E on page 41). The
facilitator may want to split participants into smaller groups depending on the number of workshop participants.
Coloured cards or post-it notes should be used to record different perceptions.
What?
Drawing together overall strategic lessons and recommendations for VIOs on how volunteering can be
mainstreamed into development planning.
Why?
Taking lessons learnt throughout the workshop forward into action points for future collaboration and advocacy for
volunteerism.
How?
Each group feeds back their highlights, lessons and recommendations from Exercise C. The facilitator maps out
key lessons and action on a flipchart. Followed by a final plenary session.
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inspiration in action
See Part 7 on the CD for more information on the Volunteerism for Development Results workshops.
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Time
Morning
Session
1.
2.
3.
Introductions
Workshop Introduction & Objectives
Tool 3: Exploring our understanding of volunteerism for development
Break
4.
Afternoon
Day
Day 2
5.
Tool 5: Pulling together an analysis of overall key achievements, challenges
and lessons
Time
Morning
Session
6.
7.
Recap of Day 1
Tool 6: Distillation of progress against organizational/corporate goals
Break
8.
9.
10.
List of Tools
TOOL 1: VOLUNTEER SELF REFLECTION...............................................................................................................................................57
TOOL 2: REFLECTION FOR PARTNERS ATTENDING A WORKSHOP.........................................................................................58
TOOL 3: EXPLORING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF VOLUNTEERISM FOR DEVELOPMENT................................................59
TOOL 4: THE RESULTS TREE.......................................................................................................................................................................60
TOOL 5: GROUP ANALYSIS OF KEY ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES AND LESSONS......................................................62
TOOL 6: ASSESSING THE VOLUNTEERS CONTRIBUTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL/CORPORATE GOALS................59
TOOL 7: RESULTS MATRIX............................................................................................................................................................................64
TOOL 8: EXTERNAL FEEDBACK.................................................................................................................................................................65
TOOL 9: DEVELOPING A VISION FOR OUR FUTURE WORK GENERATING RECOMMENDATIONS...........................67
TOOL 10: TIPS FOR WORKSHOP NOTE TAKERS...............................................................................................................................68
What is required?
All volunteers will prepare a three-four page reflection note prior to attending the workshop. In the preparation to the
reflection note, volunteers should to the extent possible consult with colleagues, peers and other partners to enrich the
information base and analysis. Once finalized, they should send it to the workshop facilitator and VIO project officer/
coordinator in their country three weeks in advance of the workshop.
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This tool can be used by VIOs as preparation for partners attending a review/assessment workshop. It is a useful tool for
monitoring and assessing the partnership relationship and how the VIO might best support the partner in the future.
What is required?
To make best use of the workshop time, the VIO invites the partners attending the workshop to prepare a case study and/
or spend some time to reflect on the contribution of the volunteer and VIO in support of the partners work. The case study
should be sent to the workshop facilitator and the VIO project officer/coordinator three weeks in advance of the workshop.
3.
Purpose:
To enable workshop participants to discuss and develop a common understanding of volunteerism and its key
characteristics.
To surface any tensions or questions that participants may have about volunteerism and its contribution to a
specific thematic area of work and/or development goals.
You may need to explain that the question might be something they are expecting the workshop will address, or it might be
an expectation, fear etc.
Step 2: Ask participants to form into small buzz groups for 10-15 minutes to share their reflections and key questions. Ask
each buzz group to distil their reflections on volunteerism and the key questions, and write these on cards to share back in
plenary.
Step 3: First ask each buzz group to provide one definition of volunteerism and one key question. Write these up on
a flipchart. Check to see if there are any additional definitions and questions and then open up the discussion. Ask
participants to share their thoughts and reflections on what has been shared. Look for common themes and questions
emerging.
Note: You may want to follow this exercise with a more formal presentation on the theme of the workshop. This might
include a brief summary of the VIOs understanding of volunteerism, their programme goals etc.
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inspiration in action
Images can be a very powerful tool for supporting critical reflection and learning. For example a tree is a universally
recognized symbol, which people can use to explore issues or processes from a new angle5. The Results Tree exercise
was developed to support volunteers in exploring their individual experience of volunteering. It was also adapted for
workshops with a wide participation of partners.
Purpose:
To provide space for volunteers to reflect on their experiences (achievements and challenges) in their placement/
project.
For the group to peer review the experience of the volunteer and further deepen an analysis of the findings and
results.
Roots: These are the experiences and skills you bring to your work as a volunteer. They include your values
and the reasons why you have chosen to become a volunteer. You dont have to put all of this down, but it does
connect to the theme of volunteerism as a development asset and the contribution that individuals make to
development through voluntary action.
Trunk: The institutions and organizations you are working with.
Branches: The key activities that you are directly involved in (and that contribute towards the theme of the
workshop).
Buds: These represent your key successes.
Fruits: These represent the results of your successes e.g. changes in peoples lives, changes in the
effectiveness of the institutions you are working with and/or other significant changes. You can indicate the
significance of the results by the size of the fruit. This is about the difference volunteers are making and how
that is contributing to positive changes in peoples lives - economically, socially, culturally, politically and
psychologically.
But we also want to hear about your key disappointments, missed opportunities and the challenges you face
in your work
Broken branches lying on the ground: These represent disappointments and/or missed opportunities.
Tree environment: This represents the factors that support and/or hinder your work and the results you are
striving to achieve. These may be internal factors or external factors.
Step 2: Ask the volunteers and participants to form into small groups.
Step 3: Each volunteer has 10 minutes to share his or her tree. After the 10 minutes there will be 15 minutes of
questions and further discussion of the experience with the other volunteers and participants. The purpose is to get a
better understanding of the key results and achievements that the volunteer has contributed to.
Step 4: Once all the volunteers have shared their trees you may open up the discussion and see if the group has any
further thoughts and questions regarding the volunteer experiences.
5
Step 5: At the end of the sharing sessions each volunteer has to choose two specific fruit examples (i.e. specific results
that they are working on and most proud of). Ask the volunteers to please write these examples on cards and keep them.
They will need the cards for another exercise exploring the overall contribution of volunteerism. (See Tool 7)
Notes
Group facilitator: Your role will be to ensure that the group keeps to the time frames allocated for the sharing
and feedback.
Participant observers: Your role is to both listen and make notes of any salient points that you would like to hear
more about or probe further, but you will not ask questions or make comments until the story telling process has
finished.
Note takers: Your role is to both listen and take notes of any salient points that arise from both the sharing
session and discussions that follow, e.g. key achievements and examples of good practices and approaches,
significant changes and results (people, institutions, practices etc.), how these results have been achieved, and
what UNVs role and contribution has been. Note also challenges and issues, and how these have been overcome
or not.
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inspiration in action
This tool can be used to support groups to collectively discuss and deepen their analysis and understanding of key
achievements, challenges and lessons. This exercise should build on previous group work where individual activities and
experiences have been shared and discussed. It could also follow on from a more formal presentation or feedback session
where findings have been presented.
Purpose
To pull together findings and to deepen the analysis from the previous sessions (See Tool 4)
To draw out overall key achievements, challenges and lessons
What key activities have worked well and contributed most to the theme/goal and why?
What are the three main key achievements/examples of work that have made the most significant difference to
peoples lives (be specific) and why?
What are the three main key challenges?
What are the three main key lessons?
It is useful to write the above questions on a flipchart so that participants can view them easily.
Step 4: Group work: The Group facilitator will go through each question in turn. Their role will be to prompt and ask
useful questions to support the group members in their analysis, and they will ask the group members to call out one or
two points from their cards. They will stick the cards onto the flipchart.
Step 5: Once each participant has shared one-two points, the facilitator will cluster the cards and pull out the overall key
themes. They should check back with the group that everyone agrees with this interpretation. They should then move onto
the next question. Once all questions have been covered the group will review the cards and pull out overall headlines and
key points for each question. This will then be shared in plenary session.
Step 6: Plenary: Please choose a rapporteur to report back to plenary (preferably a volunteer). They will have just 15
minutes to give a concise report back on the key points and highlights from the group discussion and analysis. This will be
followed by a 10-minute question and answer session.
Step 7: At the end of the feedback session the main facilitator may want to ask participants to share overall impressions
of themes emerging from the feedback session. The facilitator should also offer their own analysis of themes emerging
or invite another participant to do this, preferably an external stakeholder or someone from the VIO national office or
headquarters.
Purpose
To triangulate and consolidate the analysis of the volunteers achievements and results
To assess how the work of the volunteers and volunteerism contributes to achieving the VIOs strategic goals
and/or broader development goals
Materials: Volunteers will need the two fruits they picked from their Results Tree (Tool 4), coloured cards, pens and
masking tape
Time: Up to 3 hours
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inspiration in action
This tool can be used to support volunteers to think about their work and how it contributes to longer-term development
goals. The matrix can be used by the VIO to also explore how the work of the volunteer is contributing to the organizations
overall strategic framework. In the results workshops, Tool 7 was used together with Tool 6.
Foundations in place,
concrete outputs
evident 7
Significant results
& cumulative
contribution are
evident 9
- Goal 1
- Goal 2
- Goal 3
Etc.
6
These are new activities that volunteers/VIO programmes are directly involved in starting up.
7
These are the effects that are directly attributable to the volunteer or the project/programme, i.e. outputs that are directly
attributable to the volunteer or the project/programme.
8
These are the outcomes to which volunteers contribute through working with different stakeholders.
9
This is the cumulative contribution of the volunteer involvement to higher level goals, together with other stakeholders
(volunteering partnership).
Purpose:
Step 1: You should decide at least 6-8 weeks before the workshop who to invite. Send an invitation letter explaining the
objectives of the workshop and the role the external resource person will play during the workshop. For example, the
external resource people for the results workshop were asked to take part in the two-day workshop and to give feedback
on the last day. UNV specifically asked for feedback on the following:
Feedback/validation/critique of UNVs analysis of their achievements, challenges and lessons, including gender
dimensions and issues related to UNVs work (to be drawn from day one of the workshop).
Their thoughts on how UNV could improve its contribution to development effectiveness in the subject area XXX.
Their own perspective on current debates and future trends in volunteerism for development and the subject area
XXXX, which helps to inform UNVs future work.
Step 2: Once the external resource person has accepted your invitation, be sure that you liaise with them regarding
transport, what youll be covering in terms of costs etc. It is a good idea to phone them at least a week before the
workshop starts to brief them again on their expected role.
Step 3: The external resource people will take part in all the group and plenary discussions. They will listen to the
experiences of the partners and volunteers and help to deepen their analysis by asking challenging and insightful
questions, and sharing their own insights and perspectives regarding the themes/areas of work under discussion.
Step 4: Towards the end of the workshop, the external resource people give their feedback and perspectives. For the
UNV results workshops, we did this through Panel Discussions. Each key resource person had 15 minutes to present
their critical reflections on the theme, followed by a 15 minutes question and answer session. At the end of the feedback
session there was a plenary discussion.
Step 5: Ask the external resource people for copies of their presentations or notes (if possible).
Step 6: And finally, dont forget to send a thank you letter or email to the resource people for their valuable support and
contribution soon after the end of the workshop, as well as, once finalized, the workshop summary report. We recommend
you also ask them for feedback on the draft workshop report prior to its finalization.
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inspiration in action
At the end of an assessment workshop the group is usually at the point where they begin to formulate recommendations
and actions. A good way to give people a sense of something to move toward and to generate creative thinking and
encouragement is to conduct a short visioning exercise. You can follow this with a recommendations and actions session.
Purpose:
To generate a common goal, and a sense of working together to achieve that goal
To generate creative thinking and encouragement
To offer the possibility of fundamental change
Step 2: Explain to the participants that this is a personal reflection. They do not necessarily have to share it. Ask the
participants to individually reflect on the following question:
What does the VIO need to do to ensure they make the biggest contribution to development in the future?
Step 3: Ask each participant to spend five minutes writing three recommendations per question on a post-it note or card.
The questions are:
1.
2.
3.
Step 4: Write up each question on a separate flipchart paper. Get participants to put up their recommendations on the
flipchart paper. The facilitators should attempt to cluster the cards and consolidate the recommendations. Spend five
minutes reviewing each question.
Step 5: Invite someone from the VIO country office or VIO HQ (if present at the workshop) to respond to the
recommendations and explain what will happen next.
Step 6: Make sure someone writes up the consolidated key recommendations. These will be included in the workshop
report.
Be clear why you are taking the notes: It is important to be clear why you are taking the notes in the first
place. It might be for the workshop report, to write up a case study or for record keeping purposes only. It helps
to have this in mind to guide you to take the right notes.
Capture specific examples: It is important to listen out for specific examples. The more information you can
pick up regarding the examples, the richer the report will be. E.g. in the Results Tree exercise you would want to
note down:
o
key outputs and good practices
o key achievements and how they have been achieved (most significant changes and outcomes in institutions, people, practices etc.)
o
key enabling factors (what supports/hinders the work of the volunteer)
o
key challenges and how they have been addressed (whether problems have or have not been solved)
o key ideas around the perspective of partners and volunteers on the roles and contributions of UNV to their
work and to the theme of the workshop
Capture quotes: A workshop report is always more interesting to read when there are quotes from participants
to illustrate a key point. It brings the workshop experience alive to the reader. Remember that when writing up your
note you do not need to attribute the quote to a name (issues of confidentiality are important).
Capture themes: It is important to listen carefully during feedback sessions to capture themes and ideas that
emerge. You may want to underline these points as you write.
Review and summarize: Take a few minutes to review your notes - adding any words or phrases that will
make them clearer. The review process will help you remember and make the notes more useful. Once you have
reviewed them, take a couple of minutes to note the most important points again.
Have a format for writing up your notes: It helps to organize your notes if you have a format to work with.
Notes need to be objective and clear, and they need to capture the essential points discussed, so they can be a
valuable input to the workshop report. When more than one note-taker is participating in the workshop, it is very
important to have the same format for the notes. An example is provided below.
61
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inspiration in action
APPENDICES
appendices
Appendix 1:
Guide to CD Materials
Guide to CD Materials
Part 1: The Handbook
Looking at outputs
Looking at outcomes
Contribution to gender equality and critique regarding the consideration of women in the
MDGs
Part 6: The
Assessment
Workshops
63
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inspiration in action
Guide to CD Materials
Part 6.3: Inter-Organizational Workshop
Placement Level Workshop Participation Form
Volunteer Information Form
Exercise A: Sharing Stories
Exercise B: Reviewing and ranking volunteers key activities and outputs
Exercise C: The outcomes of the contribution of volunteering
Exercise D: The volunteers overall contribution to development goals
Exercise E: SWOT analysis
Exercise F: Key lessons and recommendations
Example of Story: No More Sleeping! Assessment Level One Workshop, Indonesia
Example of Story: Communications and relationships, UN Volunteer, Vietnam
Part 6.4: International Headquarter workshop
Example Workshop Schedule
Agenda UNV Workshop, Bonn, Germany
Part 7: Volunteerism
for development
results workshop
Part 8: Additional
Reading
appendices
Appendix 2: Glossary
Activities
Buzz groups
Buzz groups are spontaneously formed teams with a task to be accomplished in a short time
Disaggregate
Analyze data according to different groupings to show differences between certain groups
(e.g. gender, age, ethnic group etc.)
Feedback
Presenting findings
Goal
The overall development objective to which a set of interventions will contribute. Goals are
statements of intended future changes in relation to the key problem or issue to be addressed.
The timeframe for achieving the goal will often be much longer than the intervention period.
Impact
The wider, significant changes that have accrued (positive and negative intended
and unintended) as a result of a given set of interventions.
Impact Assessment
Inputs
Intervention
Logical Frameworks
Management tool used to improve the design of interventions, most often at the project level.
It involves identifying strategic elements (inputs, outputs, outcomes and impact) and their
causal relationships, indicators, and the assumptions and risks that may influence success
and failure. It thus facilitates planning, execution and evaluation of a development intervention.
Outcome
Objective
What we want to achieve; the desired outcome of an activity. They are a level down from a
goal. Objectives are statements that describe in clear terms the intended changes or steps
that the intervention will take towards achieving the overall goal.
Output
The immediate and specific results of the input this is typically (but not necessarily)
quantifiable.
Stakeholders
Literally the individuals, organizations or categories of people who have a stake or an interest
in the work. These include both internal and external stakeholders.
65
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inspiration in action
Appendix 3: Acronyms
CBO
CSO
ECOSOC
HQ
INGO
LFA
MDG
NDG
NGO/INGO
OECD
PPT
PRSP
UNCT
UNDAF
UNDP
UNV
VIO
VSO
appendices
Appendix 4:
Selected Bibliography
Australian Volunteers International (2005): Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Australian Volunteers International
CCI (2005) : Les visages du changement. Des partenariats qui transforment le monde, Rapport Annuel, Carrefour
Canadien International. Available at: www.cciorg.ca
CCI (2005) : Documents provisoires sur lvaluation de limpact
Coulibaly, Anna et Sidib Moussa (2003) : Analyse Sociologique du Volontariat pour la Promotion du Dveloppement
Durable au Mali. Cas du PNUD Mmoire de Matrise, Facult des Lettres, Langues, Arts et Sciences Humaines,
Universit de Bamako, Mali
DFID (2001): Partnership Programme Agreement between UK Department for International Development and Voluntary
Service Overseas
DED (2004): Appraisal (Planning), Monitoring and Evaluation (P, M&E) of Development Worker Placements, DEDHandbuch Band 1, Deutscher EntwicklungsDienst, Bonn
Erdenechimeg, Tserendorjiin et al (2005): Study of the Effects of the National United Nations Volunteers Program in
Mongolia. Research Report Centre for Social Development, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Fofanah, James (2004): The Impact of UN volunteers in Promoting Reintegration and Reconciliation in Communities in
Sierra Leone, Dissertation for MSc in International Development and Training, CIDT, University of Wolverhampton
Davies, Rick & Dart, Jessica, (2005): Most Significant Change Guide, http://www.mande.co.uk/docs/MSCGuide.pdf
Gosling, Louise (1995): Toolkits: A practical Guide to Assessment, Monitoring, Review and Evaluation, Save the Children
Haynes, R. (2006): Impact Assessment in Skillshare International: A Conceptual Framework. Final Report for MSc
(Development Management) Programme, Open University
JICA / JOCV (2005): JICA Volunteer Program Evaluation
JICA / JOCV (2006): Evaluation on Volunteer Program (Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers): Cases of Malawi,
Vanuatu and Honduras
Pretty J, Guijt I, Thompson J and Scones I (1995): Participatory Learning and Action: A trainers guide, IIED
Kane,Thierno et al (2004): UNV Programme in Burkina Faso. Country Review
Mondesire, Alicia (2001): Support to Gender Mainstreaming. Report on Pilot Project. Project Document GLO/97/V03 for
UNV/UNDP/UNIFEM
Neighbourhood Initiatives Enterprises (1999): Planning For Real. A Users Guide
Randel, Judith et al (2004): International volunteering: trends, added value and social capital Development Initiatives for
Forum
67
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inspiration in action
appendices
Appendix 5:
Acknowledgements
UNV Country Programme Coordinators:
Koen Acoleyn, Vietnam
Ruby Banez, Cambodia
Stefano Cordello, Syria
Fatou Ndiaye Diop, Kenya
Aidan Leavy, Guatemala
Hugh Salmon, Kyrzyg Republic
Participants from pilot workshops (2006) in: Bolivia, Botswana, Cambodia, Guatemala, Indonesia,
Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Mongolia, Syria, Vietnam:
UN Volunteers Representatives from Volunteer Involving Organizations
Representatives from Civil Society Organizations
Representatives from UNV, UNDP, other UN Agencies
Government Representatives
FORUM Representatives:
Anne Gardner, Canadian Crossroads International CCI
Rachel Haynes, Skillshare International SKI
Russell Hocking, Australian Volunteers International AVI
Jessica Lowe, FORUM Coordinator
Ryuichi Nasu, Japan Overseas Co-operation Volunteers JOCV
Doris Popp, German Development Agency DED
Peter Swain, Volunteer Service Abroad VSA
69
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inspiration in action
These questions are asked in a series of participatory workshops that are designed to
systematically reflect on results achieved and to share learning and experiences.
The handbook and CD provide practical guidance, exercises and templates to allow
tailoring of the methodology to your own requirements.
www.unvolunteers.org
United Nations Volunteers, UN Campus, PO Box 260 111, 53153 Bonn, Germany
Assessing The
Contribution
Of Volunteering
To Development
inspiration in action
United Nations Volunteers
UN Campus, PO Box 260 111, 53153 Bonn, Germany
inspiration in action
English UNV Emblem / A4 Vertical / tagline / CMYK
3 mm bleed included
www.unvolunteers.org
August 2011
WE ARE ONE
Students Guide to
I AM A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Methods of
Community
Organization
Compiled by
S.Rengasamy
Go to the People
Lao Tsu
Contents
Fact Finding -What are the facts to be collected Model I .................................................................................. 12
Types of Community Need & its Identification ............................................................................................... 12
Analyzing Community Problems - Model I ......................................................................................................... 13
What is analyzing community problems all about? ......................................................................................... 13
Why should analyze a community problem? .................................................................................................. 13
When should analyze a community problem? ................................................................................................ 13
How should analyze a community problem?.................................................................................................. 13
Dia: Steps to analyze a community problem ................................................................................................. 14
Analysis helps to find out an effective solution. ............................................................................................. 14
Analyzing the facts / Problem identification Model II .................................................................................... 14
What is the problem? ................................................................................................................................. 14
Where does the problem exist? ................................................................................................................... 14
Who is affected by the problem? ................................................................................................................. 14
Why the problem occurred? ........................................................................................................................ 14
To what extent the problem is felt? ............................................................................................................. 14
What are the facts to be collected Model II ..................................................................................................... 15
Information requirement to understand a community ........................................................................................ 15
1.Basic community characteristics ................................................................................................................ 15
2.How the community functions to meet its needs ........................................................................................ 15
3. Unmet needs ......................................................................................................................................... 15
4. Community resources ............................................................................................................................. 15
5. Capacity for disposition towards purposeful change ................................................................................... 15
1. Basic community characteristics ................................................................................................................... 16
Population ................................................................................................................................................. 16
How the community functions? ........................................................................................................................ 16
2.1. Physical needs ......................................................................................................................................... 16
2.2. Social and emotional needs ....................................................................................................................... 16
2.3. Political needs ......................................................................................................................................... 16
2.4. Economic needs ....................................................................................................................................... 16
2.5. Educational and communication needs ....................................................................................................... 16
3. Assessing the communitys unmet needs ...................................................................................................... 16
4. Community resources.................................................................................................................................. 17
5. Capacity for change and disposition to change .............................................................................................. 17
How to find out what we need to know? ........................................................................................................... 17
Look for organizations that do at least one of the following things ...................................................................... 17
Guided personal discussions ............................................................................................................................ 18
Focus groups ................................................................................................................................................. 18
Surveys and questionnaires ............................................................................................................................. 18
Collecting list ................................................................................................................................................. 18
A check list that can be used to facilitate discussion to study/ understand a community ........................................ 18
Phases/ Methods /Outcome of Community Organization..................................................................................... 19
Understanding the Community by Understanding the Local Business ................................................................... 20
Community Business Survey ............................................................................................................................ 20
Understanding the Community by Understanding the Local Business ................................................................... 20
Collection of self explanatory diagrams on Steps /Stages in Community Organization ........................................... 21
Stages & Steps in Community Organization .................................................................................................. 22
Stages in Guiding / Organizing Communities ................................................................................................. 23
Some self explanatory diagrams on Problem Solving Process.......................................................................... 24
Phases in community organization learning................................................................................................... 25
Diagrams of Phases / Steps / Stages in Community Organization .................................................................... 26
Tools that can be used at different stages and for different purposes .............................................................. 27
PRA tools for many purposes to understand and organize the communities .................................................. 28
Diagram: Problem Analysis Model ................................................................................................................ 30
Diagrams: Models - Steps / Stages in Community Organization ...................................................................... 31
Comprehensive list of Community Organization / Engagement Tools ................................................................... 32
Levels of Community Engagement Its Objectives, Outcomes & Techniques used.............................................. 33
Well Run
Well Connected
Governance
Transport &
Connectivity
Active
Inclusive &
Safe
Well
Served
Social &
Cultural
Service
Geographical
Community
Well
designed &
built
Housing &
Built
Environment
Entertainment
Environmentally
Sensitive
Economy
Equity
Thriving
Fair for
everyone
Participatory
Action Research
Understanding the
Community
Study:
Application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge, as by reading, investigation, or
reflection: Any personal effort to gain knowledge: to understand community; something
studied or to be studied: research or a detailed examination and analysis of a subject,
phenomenon, etc.
Analysis
Analysis (from Greek "a breaking up") is the process of breaking a complex topic or
substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it.
Assessment
Classification of someone or something with respect to its worth; appraisal; the act of
judging or assessing a person or situation or event; judgment
Decision Making
The act of making up our mind about something, or a position or opinion or judgment
reached after consideration. Decision making means selecting the best course of action
from two or more alternatives
And when people ordinarily consider their own definition of decision making, it is typical that
they consider that somehow it is a thinking process, with lots of mental activity involved in
choosing between alternatives. Making a decision implies that there are alternative choices
to be considered, and in such a case we want not only to identify as many of these
alternatives as possible but to choose the one that (1) has the highest probability of success
or effectiveness and (2) best fits with our goals, desires, lifestyle, values, and so on.
Decision making is the process of sufficiently reducing uncertainty and doubt about
alternatives to allow a reasonable choice to be made from among them. This def inition
stresses the information-gathering function of decision making. It should be noted here that
uncertainty is reduced rather than eliminated. Very few decisions are made with absolute
certainty because complete knowledge about all the alternatives is seldom possible.
Every decision involves a certain amount of risk. But this doesn't include the way some
people make decisions for example You may have heard people saying I have a gut feeling;
I know in my heart: I feel it in my bones
Organization
Orderly arrangement of group effort; An organization is a social arrangement which pursues
collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating
it from its environment. The word itself is derived from the Greek word (organon) meaning
tool. The term is used in both daily and scientific English in multiple ways.
Action
A process or condition of acting or moving, as opposed to rest; the doing of something;
exertion of power or force, as when one body acts on another; the effect of power exerted
on one body by another; agency; activity; operation; a man of action.
10
The first step in organizing the community is to understand it. Understanding the community
involves certain tasks. These tasks are variously outlined as Fact finding, Need assessment,
Problem identification depending upon the objectives of intervention
Fact- finding
Fact-finding includes activities designed to aid the discovery, ascertainment, assembling,
compilation and recording of facts.
Most community problems are sustained by a wide variety of factors, and some are more
influential than others. The challenge is to locate the major factors that have an effect on the
problem requiring correction. To meet this challenge effectively, it is essential to gather relevant
facts regarding the background of the problem.
In gathering information on the problem, the Community Organizer may be faced with two
difficulties: obtaining too much information that may prove to be irrelevant; identifying too little
information from normal sources. Good judgment must be used to distinguish noise
(meaningless data) from information that helps in analyzing a problem. Similarly when
information is not easily available, concerned individuals may be required to use ingenuity,
functioning like good investigative reporter by checking out leads. With the advice of the
knowledgeable researchers, special studies may need to be conducted as part of the fact-finding
process.
Why we need Community Organization
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook/
We need more active citizens and CO is the way to do it
A way of tackling large public issues
Community Organization - A way of solving local problems
Community Organization - A way of improving liveability
Community Organization - A bridge to strong democracy
Community Organization is a recognized route to better health
Community Organization is a way of rekindling community
11
12
Analysis:
Analysis is the application of the
six basic analytical questions i.e.
what, whom, where, when, why
and how?
What is the problem?
Where does it exist?
Who is affected by it?
When does it occur?
What degree it is felt?
Analysis lies midway between fact
finding and planning. It involves
collection of data, exploring the content
of the data, breaking up the content or
problem, examining the inter
relationships between the
constituencies. The purpose of analysis
is to gain insight, and understanding.
Planning can scarcely exist without
analysis. A sound plan normally implies
that the planner has the facts and that
the facts and the problem have been
analyzed as a basis for the formulation
of the plan.
13
Think of reasons.
(a) I might have blown a fuse.
(b) The switch could be defective.
(c) The light bulb might have blown.
Identify solutions.
(a) Replace the fuse.
(b) Replace the switch.
(c) Replace the bulb. .
Implement it.
I can change a bulb with
the best of them
Community problems, it is true, are generally more complicated than changing light bulbs. But the same
type of analysis can apply to them as well, frequently with similarly -successful results.
Community Survey:
The term survey derived from two words i.e. SUR (to see a particular thing) and VOR
(From a high place) Community Survey is a method by which quantitative facts are collected
about the social aspect of a communitys position and activities.
14
By survey method the Community Organizer can assess existing services and resources in an
area of need as well as gaps in service. Surveying both service agencies and community
residents, asking them how they perceive their unmet needs can identify potential demand for
service.
Steps in Community Survey:
Planning the survey
Executing the survey
What's a community?
In the physical world, communities are typically groups of people (a village, town) held together by
some common identity or interest. The same holds true for virtual or online communities in that
they, too, are comprised of people with shared identity or interests coming together for a shared
purpose.
This shared interest or intent offers a strong forum for members of the community to build
relationships and affiliations out of which they can learn from one another and make an impact on
the society or culture around them.
Coming from two Latin words meaning "with gifts," the term community suggests a general sense of
altruism, reciprocity, and beneficence that comes from working together. Communities help generate
a shared language, rituals and customers, and collective memory of those that join the group.
Encyclopedia Americana defines a community as, "A relatively small, isolated center with a stable
population, in which all economic and social services necessary to life can be maintained. The
community is one of the oldest forms on human social organizations... The ideal type of community
emerges as an intellectual concept when social change threatens to destroy a locality's isolation,
traditionalism, and solidarity.... [This] leads to a newer form -- including occupational and professional
groups, neighborhood groups, and ethnic and political groups -- becomes the functional equivalents of
the older, ecological, isolated community and they make it possible for their members to avoid the
problems of a multidimensional mass society. Their members can find a focus for their social relations,
loyalties, and interests."
15
16
17
What do you think are the three most important issues for this community?
22
Is there anyone else you think would be interested in doing this survey?
23
24
Is there anyone else you think would be interested in doing this survey?
Would you like to make any comments about your community?
18
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
YES/NO
YES/NO
YES/NO
YES/NO
YES/NO
Methods
Professional management,
Scheduling & Monitoring
Evaluation tools, resource
mobilization, Financial Mgt,
Cooperative action
Co management
capacity, Visible
out puts. User
groups,
Phases /
Steps in
CO
Outcomes
4
Consensus on how to act &
mobilize, developed
indicators, visible outputs,
4
Planning & Decision
Making
6
Evaluation /
Modification / Replication
6
Developed regulations,
cooperation &
integration,
Community Organization
Phases
Methods
Tools &
Outcome
4
Project planning tools, Group
decision making, Negotiation,
conflict resolution, Appraisal
3
Base line
surveys,
Community
Profiling,
Observation,
PRA Tools,
Need
assessment,
Study
Analysis
Assessment
Negotiation,
consultation, PRA
Tools, Workshops,
Group decision
making, SWOT
Analysis,
Prioritization
matrix,
Understood problems & needs, assessed context, created databases, more awareness about
the problems & stakeholders, community assets,
19
20
4. Problem Census
with Individual
stakeholder groups
5. Consolidated
problem ranking
by facilitators
6. Plenary to
agree problems
10. Develop
detailed plan of
action
3.Household
Census
9. Development of
community organizations &
Institutions
2. Stakeholder
Analysis
1. Situation
Analysis
Start
21
Available
Resources
Existing
opportunities
Evaluation
Areas of
improvement
What to do?
Situation
Assessmen
t
Learnings
Impact of
project
Success
stories
Decided to work
When to do it?
Planning
Where to do?
it?
Who will do it?
Suggestions
for the future
Implementatio
n
Identify Stakeholders
Who is involved?
STAGE 2
Consider funding
How much will it cost & Wholl pay?
22
Required
resources
23
24
Phases in
Community
Organization
Learning
25
26
Tools that can be used at different stages and for different purposes
Experience
Brain storming
Cause effect Diagrams
Mind Mapping
Social & Resource mapping
Action /Implementing
Deciding
Analyzing
Venn Diagrams
Action Planning
Historical Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Reflections
Experimentation
Exploring
Seasonal Diagrams
mapping
Semi structured Interviews
Visioning
Card Technique
Interrelationship Diagrams
Matrix Analysis
Stakeholders Workshops
Priority Ranking
Wealth Ranking
Conceptualization
1. Study
2. Assessment
3, Diagnosis
4. Planning &
Decision Making
3. Resource mobilization,
Financial Management,
Monitoring & evaluation
5.Implementation
& Action
4. Evaluation,
6. Evaluation
Modification /
Replication
Appropriate tools
Social Map, resource Map, Seasonal Calendar, Wealth ranking, Venn diagrams,
Consultations, focus-group discussions, Community Profiling, , transect walk,
Demographic profiles, Asset mapping, Referring secondary sources
Focus group discussions, Stakeholders workshops & meetings Data-gathering tools
such as stakeholders' analysis, Problem ranking and prioritization, Project Appraisal &
Scheduling techniques, SWOT & Force Field Analysis, PERT & CPM, Professional
Management techniques relevant to Project administration, Logical Framework
Analysis (LFA)
Fund raising methods, Budgeting, Financial Management Techniques, Gantt chart,
Monitoring tools, Alternative technologies or methods like micro-finance, sustainable
agriculture, alternative medicine, co-operative, indigenous forest management,
appropriate technologies for livelihoods
Stakeholders workshops & meetings, community-based evaluation tools,
27
PRA tools for many purposes to understand and organize the communities
Gaining ideas
Brainstorming can be applied to gain as
many ideas as possible without getting caught
up in detailed discussion.
Organizing and ranking ideas, factors,
issues
Cause and effect mapping can be used to
brainstorm on and organize causes for a
particular problem
Card techniques are an easy way to
cluster, organize and rank information.
The Delphi technique can be used to
categorize ideas, issues or questions with a
group
Mind mapping is a good exploring tool to
cluster similar ideas and see links.
Nominal group techniques enable a
group to quickly develop a ranked list of
problems, issues or actions
Collecting information
Focus groups discussions take place with
a small group of selected people to collect
information about an issue.
With historical narratives you can create
personal testimonies of past events and
conditions.
Questionnaires and surveys are a
structured way to gather quantitative
information.
By semi-structured interviewing we
mean guided conversations where broad
questions are asked and new questions are
allowed to arise as result of discussion.
Planning
Visioning is a nice tool to let people think
about and describe how they would like things
to be in the future Action plans are tables with
tasks, resources, due date and responsible
persons
28
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High Infant
Deaths
Too Young
Mothers
(<18 yrs)
Close spacing
of births
(<2 yrs)
Pregnancy
Mothers are
living in far
flung areas
Intermittent
use of Family
Planning
Methods
due to rape
Children are
living on the
streets
Too many
Births
(>5)
Mothers dont
know their
pregnancy is
high risk
Short Breast
feeding
practice
Non use of
Family Planning
methods
Religious
belief forbids
use of Family
Planning
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High incidence
of infection
(sepsis)
Midwives use
unhygienic
practices
31
EMPOWER
COLLABORATE
INVOLVE
CONSULT
INFORM
Level
Objectives
To provide the public with
balanced and objective
information to assist them in
understanding the problem,
alternatives, or
solutions
To obtain public feedback on
analysis, alternatives, or
decisions
Major techniques
Meeting
Public notice
Written
Website
Citizens panel
Community information
and feedback session
Facilitation
Focus group
Meeting
Public hearing
Questionnaire
Facilitation
Planning focus meeting
Precinct committee
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Advisory committee
Charette
Facilitation
Policy round table
Regional forum
Search conference
Citizens jury
Search conference
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36
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The work of the organizations is largely the work of the groups. Most of the stuff of community
organization discussing, planning, and decision -making and camaraderie occurs in groups.
Building a successful organization
Synopsis
demands an understanding of the
Groups in the context of Community Organization
functioning of successful groups.
The importance of Groups
Meaning of a Group & Decision Making
Meaning of Decision Making
Meaning of Group Decision Making
Understanding the Groups
Stages of Group Formation
Johnson & Johnson / Napier & Greshenfeld
Task roles and Relationship roles
Improving the efficiency of the Groups
Providing proper learning climate
Deciding the size
Group Decision Making
Involvement / Types of decision making
Difficulties in decision-making
Making good decisions
Advantages & Disadvantages in group decision making
Forms of group decision-making
Meeting practice
Conference practice
Committee practice
Good decisions
Informed
Supported by best evidence
Compatible with patients values
Considers patients preferences
Weigh pros and cons
Practical
Poor decisions
Objective data inadequate
Too few options considered
Alternatives unclear
Values and preferences unexplored
Roles unclear
Communication is poor
Different Types
of Decisions
Irreversible
Reversible
Delayed
Quick decisions
Experimental
Trial and Error
Conditional
Decision
Making Styles
Authoritative
Facilitative
Consultative
Delegative
incompleteness, from which we move out in constant search, which can be carried out only in
communion with other people.
Group decisions require an intense faith in human beings; founded on love, humility and faith,
group decision-making process develops mutual trust. (It requires intense faith in human being;
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40
2. Storming Stage
It is characterized by rebellion as members
assert their individuality and resist
authority
3. Norming Stage.
Members establish procedure and a sense
of how they should act in the group
4. Performing Stage
The group concentrates on the tasks to be
achieved
5. Adjourning Stage
When the group completes its work, which
results in a change in the relationship
among its members
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Relationship Needs
Relationship or Maintenance Component:
Actions not directed at the working of the, but to
enhance the harmony among individuals and the
group. Maintenance component includes the
ability of the group members to work well
together, to effectively manage their conflicts and
to feel good about them. This necessary after a
sequence of intense task activities or otherwise
the group will probably fall apart
High
Low
Low
Rationale Mode
Political Mode
Emotional Mode
Anarchy Mode
Technical
Uncertainty
High
42
Steps,
Strategy, tools
& techniques
Community
is a great place
to work
Communities
can be
transformed,
made liveable
43
Plop
Hand Clasp
One Person
Minority
Clique
Majority Vote
True Consensus
Silent Consensus
The plop:
Here the group makes a decision by not making a decision. Not to decide is to decide. Some one
makes a suggestion but drops like a stone into a pond and no one pays any attention to it all. If the
person who made the suggestion really felt enthusiastic about it, the fact that it was totally ignored
could make that person withdraw or resist later suggestions.
The one-person decision:
This is quickly made, but later when the decider depends on free or voluntary support from others to
implement it he /she may find himself / herself carrying it out alone.
The hand Clasp:
One person makes a suggestion. Another says, what a marvelous idea, and without further
discussion, the matter is decided. These decisions are more frequent than one thinks, and often
passed unnoticed at the time, but resentment comes to the surface later.
The Clique:
Decisions are made by a small group who plan beforehand to get their way, because they are better
organized than those who disagree. They are often successful on the immediate issue, but they bring
a spirit of rivalry rather than the co-operation in to the group. Sometimes groups of people who have
formerly been excluded or silent form a caucus in order to present a common agenda. This can be a
positive action and check-and- balance to a dominant group.
It is a healthy sign in a participatory democracy.
Minority: these decisions are not consciously organize as those of the clique, but a few powerful
personalities dominate the group, often unconsciously and later they wonder why the others are
apathetic.
Majority Vote:
In big groups this is often the most effective way to make a decision. However, one may lose the
interest or the loyalty of the minority who voted against a decision, especially if they feel that their
point of view was not heard.
Silent Consensus:
Some groups aims at unanimous decisions. These are good, if genuine, but they are rarely achieved
completely on certain issues. Unanimous agreement is some times assumed, when some members
have not felt free to disagree and kept silent.
Consensus
This as an agreement, often involving compromise or the combination of various possibilities, after all
opinions have been heard. Disagreements and minority viewpoints are discussed fully. It takes time
and care to build a climate in which all feel free to express themselves, but this method does build
unity, cooperation and commitment. It does not mean listening to people and then doing what we
were going to do in the first place. It means adapting to accommodate the concerns of all. It may
take longer to make a decision this way, but it will often be carried out more quickly and
wholeheartedly.
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Disadvantages
Slow and time consuming
Risky shift
Passing the buck
Strong vocal minority opinion overrides majority
opinion.
Group think [norm for consensus overrides the
Realistic appraisal of alternative of alternative
solution; hesitation to disagree with others]
Conference
Conference means an
informal group discussion
by three or more persons,
with the object of carrying
out open minded
exploration and usually of
achieving consensus or
integration of thinking on
a subject or problem
DO
Face to face contact
Committee
Committee may be defined as a
group of persons, limited in
membership, by selective appointment,
usually appointed by some superior
authority and having joint
responsibility for inquiry, deliberation,
decision, action or related activities in
regard to matters assigned to them
Participation
To get consensus
To generate group idea
To explore the problem
46
DO
Meeting Practice:
A meeting may be defined as any gathering, assembly or coming together of two or more
persons for the transaction of some lawful business of common concern.
The proper functioning of any association of persons, large or small requires that the members of
the association come together from time to time discuss matters of common concern and take
decisions by common consent by the majority.
Meeting may be classified as public meeting and private or business meeting. It is a statutory
requirement for a registered community organization to conduct regular and proper meetings to
transact its business. A registered organization has to conduct executive committee meeting,
annual general body meeting and extraordinary general body meeting.
These meetings should be properly convened (i.e. by proper authority, by proper notice)
properly constituted (i.e. quorum and chairman) and follow proper procedures (meeting
procedure, agenda).
The method of meeting practice usually adopts parliamentary procedure to make decisions.
Parliamentary procedure is based on the democratic principles of majority rule, which requires
that the minority abide by the will of the majority. In turn, the acceptance of the majority rule by
the minority is based on the willingness of the majority to permit the minority to express its
views before action is taken.
Merits and demerits of parliamentary procedure
Merits
It provides rules and regulations for the
orderly conduct of the business.
Decisions must be made in the fact of
conflicting interests among members
It increases the belief in the organization
Demerits
It is much too formal method
It decreases the losing factions commitment to the
decisions
It discourages exploration of innovative
ideas in a free and open manner because people
tend to take sides early in the discussion.
Conference
The term conference means informal group discussion by three or more persons, with the
object of carrying on open minded exploration and usually of achieving consensus or
integration of thinking on a subject or problem.
Consensus is a co-operative effort to find a sound solution acceptable to everyone. Consensus
occurs after all members have had an opportunity to voice their opinions and can then arrive at a
decision that almost everyone can support. It ensures that each individuals concerns are heard
and understood and then a sincere attempt is made to take them into consideration in searching
for a resolution. This resolution may not reflect the exact wishes of each member, but since does
not violate the deep concerns of anyone, it can be agreed upon by all.
Characteristics:
1) It is carried out by a group.
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Organization of a committee:
1. Chairman, 2. Members, 3. Committee Aide / Secretary.
Chairman
- Official head of the committee in both internal and external relationship.
- Decides when meetings should be held.
- Preside the meetings of the committee. As a president, he has to keep the committee on the
track; he has to preserve an atmosphere of freedom and vitality of participation.
- Officially presents the reports to the superior authority.
Members
- The members should be reasonably well equipped for the work of the committee or should be
willing to raise their level of competence.
- The membership should be interested and willing to serve and should have sufficient time,
health and strength.
- The committee membership should adequately represent the interest that needs to be
represented.
- The members should be able to work together as a group.
Committee Aide (Staff Assistance to committee)
Committee aide is a technical resource; he supplies professional assistance to the committee, he
helps the committee in the following ways:
Program Service
- He helps the committee to develop its programs.
Organizational Service - Provides the necessary manpower.
Administrative Service - Planning meetings and agendas in consultation with the chairman making physical arrangements for the meetings , sending notices, writing reports and handling
correspondence.
The basic task of committee aide involves working with and strengthening the position of the
chairman. He is to facilitate the work of the committee, to help or enable it to perform its task
effectively, but never to dictate or determine its course of action nor to usurp the functions of the
chairman.
Committee Procedures:
1. Agenda
2. Minutes.
Agenda :
A Committee meeting needs a written agenda. The world Agenda literally means things to be
done. It refers to the programme of Business to the transacted at a meeting. Agenda is essential
for the systematic transaction of the business of a meeting in the proper order of impotence. It is
customary for all organizations to send an agenda along with the notice of meeting to all
members. Usually routine items are placed first and controversial items later.
The business of the meeting must be conducted in the same order.
Items for agenda may be drawn from:
-
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50
Synopsis
Conflict.
Competition
Aggression
Conflict theory
Conflict handling modes
Conflict resolution
Functional Vs Dysfunctional
Positive Vs Negative
Competition Vs Conflict
Basic properties incompatible goals, emotional hostility, antagonistic interaction
Levels of Conflict intra personal (approach, avoidance types), interpersonal, group conflict, organizational
conflict.
Types of conflict economic conflict, power conflict, value conflict
Conflict due to personality clashes, conflict due to different needs, roles, goals, interest.
Different needs,
Stages in conflict antecedent conditions, perceived / felt conflict; manifest behavior, conflict resolution or
suppression, resolution aftermath.
Escalation of conflict causes.
Methods of conflict resolution promoting pro-social behavior, approaches to manage conflict (win-win,
win-lose, lose-lose), withdrawing, smoothing, compromising, forcing, third party consultation (arbitration,
mediation)
Conflict- Meaning
The word conflict carries negative
Conflict is usually defined as a social situation in
connotations. It is often thought of as the
which incompatible goals and activities occur
opposite of co-operation and peace, and is
between two or more parties (individuals or groups)
most commonly associated with violence, the
threat of violence or disruptive (nonviolent)
who hold antagonistic feelings towards each other
disputes. This view of conflict as negative is
and attempt to control each other.
not always helpful. In non-violent settings it
Conflict exists whenever incompatible
can often be seen as a force for positive social
activities occur.
change, its presence being a visible
Conflict occurs when an individual is
demonstration of society adapting to a new
motivated to make two or more
political, economic or physical environment.
mutually incompatible responses.
Conflict is a tension between two or more entities (individuals, groups or larger
organizations), which arise from incompatibility of actual or larger responses.
Competition implies an opposition in the goals of the interdependent parties such that the
probability of goal attainment for one decreases as the probability of other increases.
Aggression is a form of behavior intended to inflict injury to a person or object.
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Conflict
Conflict interferes
There is no agreed upon rules. All
is fair in conflict
Community Conflict
The potential for community conflict exists whenever and
wherever people have contact. Communities faces increasing
community conflicts due to the cultural, linguistic and ethnic
diversity associated with its changing population. Communities
and government services are being redefined and, at the same
time, neighbors are facing unfamiliar lifestyles in their
neighborhoods. Stresses caused by economic or social change
can impact community resources, leaving groups feeling that
they are being denied government services at the expense of
other groups. Law enforcement, schools and local government
officials are increasingly affected by resulting tensions and need
to be prepared when serious conflict erupts.
Community conflict also can occur when individuals or groups
perceive or experience discriminatory behavior directed at them
by an agency or its representative, by members of another
group, or by members of their own group. For example, a highprofile case of police misconduct, an incident of violence on a
college campus, a hate crime or case of discrimination can
polarize a community. All of these events can produce stress on
community residents, often resulting in disagreements over what
should be done to solve these problems. This stress can even
lead to open conflict within the community.
Levels of Conflict
intra personal (approach,
avoidance types), interpersonal,
group conflict, organizational
conflict.
Types of conflict
economic conflict, power
conflict, value conflict
Conflict due to personality
clashes, conflict due to different
needs, roles, goals, interest.
different needs,
Economic Conflict:
It arises due to competing
motives to obtain scarce
resources. Each group wants to
maximize its gain at the cost of
other party. Economic conflict will not be resolved by improving communication, but by
difficult and detailed negotiations among the parties.
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Escalation of Conflict:
Human beings behave in ways calculated to maximize their goals and minimize their loses. The
behavior of each party in conflict imposes constraints on the potential satisfaction of the other.
This tends to escalate conflict. Unless it resolved at an early stage, it become more intense and
hostile to proliferate more issues and involve stronger and more destructive attempts to control.
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54
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56
Third
Party
Consultation:
Arbitration: Involves a third party judgment that is arrived at by considering the merits of the
opposing cases and their imposing a settlement.
Mediation: Involves a skilled third party who attempts to help clients reach a compromise on
specific issues that are amenable for negotiation
57
Negotiation
Co-operation
Co-optation
It involves bringing
the demands of one
party to the attention
of another and forcing
compliance
It is a process of
bringing parties with
different needs and
perspectives to an
agreement
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*Combined resources
* More people to work
* More dependence of
Opposite group is
uncooperative and is
not a good target for
confrontation.
Key individuals in the
opposite group are
amenable to some
sort of affiliation.
Weakening the
opposite by putting
them in our agency
where their opinion is
silenced.
* Silencing a
potentially harmful
critic
* More energy is
needed to maintain
the relationship
* Loss of autonomy
* Others may take
credit for the success
Things to know
Basic facts; causes and effects of problems; solutions applied in other places;
rights and obligation of parties
Probable reaction to specific tactic; principal decision makers; degree of
rationale for support or opposition; strengths and vulnerabilities; cohesion
Degree of commitment; numbers; probable reactions to opponents tactics;
cultural norms; strengths and vulnerabilities; cohesion
Awareness of needed additional resources; availability and location of
resources; steps required to gain additional resources
NEGOTIATION
In trying to solve certain problems, community Organizations often find it necessary to Negotiate
with other parties. Negotiation is an attempt to hold discussion with those who evidence
varying degrees of resistance, in the hope of ultimately arriving at an agreement. This is
the essence (i.e. arriving at an agreement through discussion) and the end point of the
negotiating process. In this context a negotiant is anyone whom the community organization is
trying to influence. A negotiant can be undecided, neutral or hostile.
E.g. Strike by the govt. staff. Activism against lock up deaths.
The common element in all these examples is that the community organization attempts to hold
discussions with those who evidence varying degrees of resistance in the hope of ultimately
arriving at an agreement. Thus negotiation implies a conflict and the promotion of a cause or
certain interests.
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Negotiating
power
of
the
60
Visioning
Planning &
Problem Solving
Fund Raising
Communication
Skills
61
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63
Skills
64
Dissemination
Analysis
Information literacy
Information literacy
Problem solving
Critical thinking
Self-management
Independent learning
Goal skills
Social
perspective
Oral communication
Written communication
Non-verbal communication
Leadership
Teamwork
Networking
65
Group& Organizational
Development
Professional perspective
Ethical perspective
understanding
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