Description:
Social Work: Community Profile (Case Study Analysis)
– This is a paper for a Social Work degree course. Hence, the context and relevant literature should be related to Social Work and community development.
– In this essay, you are required to develop a profile of a ‘community’; this might be a geographic community or represent a ‘community of interest’, with which you are familiar.
– This is NOT an intervention paper. Just the analysis of possible processes and possibilities on how you go about doing it.
Describe this community; the people involved, the assets and strengths it possesses and any power dynamics within it (eg how decisions are made and control and authority is exercised) within this community. Include in your description any issues, concerns or problems faced by this community – HOWEVER, DON’T focus too much on the problems. Just briefly. And then, reframe it in a positive way as to how we could go about making things work/better. In other words, don’t just talk about the problems but also focus on the strengths perspective.
– Include in this profile analysis elements such as its geographical location, population, socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. age, health, employment, education status of people in this community, levels and sources of income), informal and formal power distribution, community assets and any issues faced by the community.
Discuss what makes it a community with references to relevant literature.
– Critically analyse what makes this a community with references to relevant literature.
Choose a realistic, hypothetical goal that this community may wish to achieve –
– As an informed community development worker, what suggestions do you have for ways that you could build on the community’s strengths to achieve this goal together?
What principles might guide your work, what roles might you play and what skills might you need? Identify options you might consider about ways of for working with this community to build its capacity based on empowerment principles. Utilising one or more strategies (eg: the ‘AI Model’ such as stated in the textbook) examined in our course to date, describe a process or processes in which you might engage to work towards the community’s goals. Consider elements of diversity and power and discuss ways in which a community development practitioners might challenge or utilise these dimensions when working with this community to maximise its goals.
Support your answer with relevant examples from the literature. ( Such as the community development and literature resources.)
IMPORTANT: Please use textbook ‘Ife, J. 2013, Community development in an uncertain world: vision, analysis and practice, Cambridge University Press, UK’ as MAIN reference