Community Development

Essay | |
|“Is community work about liberation, social control or neither? Discuss this question, illustrating|
|your answer with examples from practice where appropriate”                                         |
|  [pic]                                                                                             |
|Source: Sayer, J. (1986)                                                                           |
|Introduction                                                                                       |
|To discuss this question we will first highlight the very problematic nature of what is             |
|collectively termed `community work`. In attempting to define the role of community work we will   |
|look at the theoretical educational role of the community worker, particularly discussing the       |
|concept of empowerment. The disparity between the theory of community work and its practice on a   |
|day to day basis will be discussed within the context of political ideological frameworks. The     |
|processes of liberation and social control will be discussed briefly in relation to community work |
|theory and practice and some attempt will be made to propose how community work may operate within |
|these processes.                                                                                   |
|Understanding `Community` & the Role of Community Work                                             |
|Before we can begin to discuss the role of community work we must first come to a common           |
|understanding of the term community. This is more complicated than it may sound, as the phrase has |
|been, and is used in many different ways to indicate different things to different individuals and |
|groups. The term community has three major uses within community work practitioners:               |
|1)                  It may be employed to describe locality (a given geographical area) as a basis |
|of social organisation....