CHOOSING A COMMUNITY

Criteria for selecting communities to mobilize

by Phil Bartle, PhD

Dedicated to Gert Lüdeking

Training Handout
What are the best communities for mobilization?

Introduction:
Sometimes you need to choose a community; other times it is chosen for you.
If you have some choice in the matter, this document will guide you in making your
choice. This discussion is for both mobilizers and managers of mobilizers.

Variations in Opportunities for Choice:

There are various ways that a community may be chosen for you. Perhaps
you work for an NGO or project that has preselected which communities will receive
their interventions. Perhaps you are part of a governmental (regional, provincial,
district) planning process which has decided which communities will be served.
Increasingly, large rural water projects employ the DRA (demand response
approach). Sometimes this means that a public announcement is made that
assistance will be available for water and sanitation if communities apply, and
satisfy a specified list of criteria. Only after a community is selected for such
assistance would a mobilizer be sent to it.
Perhaps you are given a formula, such as villages closest to the regional capital, or
communities over a specified size, and must choose each community in succession
by size or distance. These arbitrary criteria mean you have no choice (based on
principles of mobilization) on which community to choose first, second, third, and on
and on.
Where you do have choice, there are many ways that choice might be
defined. Perhaps you are a manager or coordinator for a specified area (eg district)
and may choose communities within that area to which you may send several
mobilizers. Or you may be one mobilizer with a specified area, and may choose
communities within that area. It is under conditions like these where you may
exercise some of the empowerment principles covered in various places on this web
site, to choose which communities, in what order and over what time frame.
If you are a mobilizer with such choices, then this document should guide you
in making those choices. If you are a manager of mobilizer, we suggest you
communicate fully with your mobilizer or mobilizers, as in participatory
management, and come to agreements on which communities to choose, and when
to intervene in them. If you are a voluntary or freelance activist, you may use
various criteria, but those listed and described here may be useful to you in making
your choices.

Why Should a Community be Chosen?

There are two main criteria on which you should choose a community in
which to make your mobilization intervention. These are (1) need and (2) probability
of success.
In an ideal world, perhaps where every community would respond in the same way
to the same intervention, then choice of community would be easy. The least
wealthy communities, those with the least capacity and least power, should be the
first to have a mobilizer work in them. The world, however, is not ideal. Another
criteria of selection must take precedence. There are many reasons why a
community should not be selected for social animation if it is not likely to respond ?
if all efforts of mobilization are doomed to failure.
Potential for success is an important criterion, not merely need. Failure can
spoil the reputation of mobilization. Success can encourage more mobilization. If
effort is made in mobilizing a community, there will be a waste of resources
(mobilizers salary, time, energy) if that effort results in failure.
Overall, we can build on strengths, and success creates strengths.

Factors Affecting Success:

When faced with choosing which communities where you would send
mobilizers, you need some information about the communities. Some information
would be valuable in making predictions about where mobilization efforts would be
more successful.
Is there a pressing need or problem in a community? If so, can it serve as
focus? If members of the community are in agreement that there is a particular
problem that they are facing, this can be the basis for success in initial mobilizing.
Has there been previous success in mobilizing, self mobilizing? Note that we
used the word "success." Previous mobilization is not an asset, and may even prove
to be a hindrance, if it is seen as failure by community members.
Also we use the phrase "self mobilizing." If some mobilization has taken place
without an outside intervention, then the community has an internal asset that a
good mobilizer should be able to tap.
What are the attitudes of local authorities (leaders, officials)? Are they willing,
sympathetic, knowledgeable? Local political leaders and officials are seldom assets
to empowerment methods, because they are usually looking for outside resources,
and may not be aware of the danger of dependency that may create. If they are
willing to listen to your explanations of empowerment methods, and can see that in
the long run they will benefit themselves (and their political aspirations), then they
may be possible allies (see Politicians). Your primary concern is that they do not
become hindrances to your work. Without their approval, even passive approval,
mobilization is in danger of being hijacked or subverted.
What is the situation viz transport and communication to and from the
community? Is there access to community all year round? Is there an all weather
road? Rain and flooding (in tropical countries) or snow (in communities in or near
the arctic) may make a community inaccessible for some parts of the year. This will
hinder mobilization. Are there functioning telephones all year round? Even if the
road is closed, working telephones can be useful in mobilizing. If there is internet
service, or even email only service, that, too, can be useful, especially if there is no
physical access during parts of the year.
What is the social organization of the community; is it conducive to self help?
Here it is necessary to be a sociologist. You and your mobilizers must not only be
able to conduct some social research, you need to be able to see the data through a
social perspective. (See Culture for an explanation of how the social nature of a
community transcends the individuals that compose it). See the module
on Community Research. The data that is collected and reported by mobilizers
needs to be organized and filed in a Management Information System (MIS) that
allows it to be retrieved quickly and easily as needed. The information needs to lead
you to deciding which community is more conducive to responding positively to
mobilization. How your mobilizers keep records, and make baseline and ongoing
research studies, and how you guide them in doing that, is vital.
Are there potential leaders who can carry the mobilization and empowerment
process? Can they be identified? Can they be trained in necessary skills? Will they
be co-operative in relation to the empowerment process?
What is the size of community? Is it too small to engage in self help activities.
Is it too large to be organized?
Are there conflicts in the community? What is the degree or level of disunity?
Is there a good potential to conduct unity organizing that will bring factions
together? Is there violence in the community? Are there gangs fighting each other
on the streets? Is there ethnic (and language, and religious) tolerance? While
disunity is a fact of life, is there potential to reduce it during the mobilization
process? Is the community receptive to unity organizing? To answer this you will
need some sociological analysis.
All these questions relate to conditions in communities, the answers of which
can lead you to being better at predicting if mobilization efforts will be successful. If
a community is more likely to be mobilized and more likely to become more self
reliant, then it should be a better candidate to be selected for your mobilization
programme.

Conclusion:
There are two important criteria on which you should base which community
you should select for mobilizing, need (poorest first) and potential for success.
If you are responsible for several communities, all of them should have attributes of
both.
If you have to select from several communities (say within a specified geographic
area), then you need to choose those which most need to be strengthened, but are
also most likely to respond positively to the empowerment intervention.
––»«––

© Copyright 1967, 1987, 2007 Phil Bartle

Web Design by Lourdes Sada
––»«––
Last update: 2010.07.26
(http://www.scn.org/cmp/modules/man-ch.htm)

FIELD PRACTICUM SEQUENCE RATIONALE

The field practicum sequence is an extremely important component of the
student's professional development and is governed by the objectives of the MSW
program’s mission statement, the foundation curriculum, and the three advanced
curriculum concentrations: Direct Practice, Administrative Practice and Planning and
Child Welfare. The field practicum sequence provides students with a unique
opportunity to realize the goals and objectives of the program through concrete,
practicum, and community-based interactions with clients and practicing
professionals. In field practicum, students are supervised, monitored, and directed
by agency field instructors and School of Social Work faculty liaisons.
 The field practicum experience allows each student to apply to practice the
academic knowledge and skills acquired from all areas of the curriculum where
diversity, social justice, and attention to the needs of at-risk populations are
emphasized. The field practicum sequence builds upon the generalist foundation,
integrating systems theory, the problem-solving process, strengths perspective, and
social work values and ethics. Field practicum provides opportunities for students to
practice their skills evolving from generalist to more advanced techniques, and to
apply their theoretical knowledge in settings where human conditions must be
respected and enhanced. In essence, the field practicum sequence prepares
students for social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations,
and communities, particularly those encountered within the complex and dynamic
urban environment of southern Nevada.
(http://socialwork.unlv.edu/programs/pdf/MSWmanual_07-08.pdf)