Community work

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Community work (GWA) is a multifaceted concept of action as well as a professional and civil society field of work that emerged in the context of social work and social movements and, with participatory, activating, networking and empirical methods, processes and techniques, is aimed at helping people articulate their needs and to support the collective enforcement of their democratically legitimate interests. Depending on the conceptual form, different constellations of human communities are focused. Starting from and with the involvement of people and their representatives, community work aims to deal with the structural causes of the problem situations expressed in individuals, groups and in social spaces. Community work is therefore an essential contribution to the needs-based implementation of social and communal political tasks and to securing democratic conditions.

Definition and concepts

Today GWA is seen as a concept of social work that provides orientation for professional work in the community . In the field of community work, professional social work refers to the “social space” and thus not only to geographical or physical spaces such as city districts or rural regions. Community work as a concept makes it possible, regardless of whether social workers are mainly active in individual case help or work with groups, or specifically with the community as a whole, also have an eye on the social space everywhere across their focus areas.

In the GWA, social phenomena are always understood in terms of an interaction between socially determined framework conditions and the actions of people. GWA aims to help people articulate their interests and organize them collectively. GWA is currently and in the history of its origins linked to social movements and is understood as a strongly (socially) politically oriented social work.

From this perspective, working on the community cannot be understood as just professional action. Rather, the development of the community is a manufacturing process in which civil society, state and economic actors and thus, in addition to social work, various professions from social science disciplines, planning and geography are involved. Since the spatial turn in the social sciences, a discourse has taken place within social work about the relationship between socio-spatial concepts of social work and community work. It is currently believed that dealing with social space leads to a renewal of community work.

In parts of Switzerland, the concept of “ sociocultural animation ” is used in universities and in practice, which shows strong parallels in content to community work.

GWA as a professional activity deals with social intervention and is - in contrast to z. B. on citizens' initiatives and voluntary work - an activity of professional, paid specialists.

Toynbee Hall in London , founded by Samuel Barnett in the late 19th century, and Hull House (a neighborhood center in Chicago) initiated by Jane Addams , are considered historical starting points for today's community work . The basic idea of ​​these institutions was that the causes of poverty and social injustice can only be combated together with those affected.

From the perspective of social work, community work is on the one hand an action-guiding concept, on the other hand it is understood as a field of action of social work. As a concept, it addresses professional action that allows social phenomena to be understood only in a socially critical analysis. Action is aimed at exploring, negotiating and collectivizing people's interests, developing options for action and helping people to stand up for their interests as independently as possible.

Depending on the socio-theoretical background, the concrete concepts of community work are more consensus-oriented or conflict-oriented. In addition to welfare state integrative forms, there are u. a. system-theoretical, lifeworld-oriented, Marxist and emancipatory concepts of community work. The positioning of professional community work, as an intermediary between systems and the worlds of life (intermediarity) as an independent system, as partisan action on the side of disadvantaged actors, as independent political actors, or as part of the social system and state action, is controversially discussed. This refers to the discourse on the double mandate or the multiple mandate of social work, in the area of ​​tension between norming claims and claims from the addressee's perspective, as well as the need for professional, scientifically based positioning (triple mandate).

Goals and Methods

In cooperation with those affected, an attempt is made to improve the quality of life on site and to address the problems affecting the community and to solve them in the long term. The social workers or professional specialists working as community workers see themselves either in the role of an external, neutral moderator or in that of an active and partisan actor. An important part of community work is mobilizing citizens to commit themselves to improving their quality of life. Motto: Make those affected into participants .

By networking with local institutions (authorities, schools, youth centers , churches), initiatives (associations, groups) and activating individuals (opinion leaders, spokesmen, volunteers ), a lasting effect should be achieved.

In Switzerland and in the French-speaking countries, community work overlaps with socio-cultural animation , which pursues similar goals, but gives central importance to socio-cultural and artistic forms of expression.

See also

literature

  • Oliver Fehren: Who organizes the community? Civil society perspectives of social work as an intermediary instance. Edition Sigma , Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-89404-560-9 .
  • Michael Galuske: Methods of Social Work . An introduction. 7th edition. Juventa, Weinheim / Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-7799-1441-9 .
  • Fritz Karas, Wolfgang Hinte: Basic program community work. Jugenddienst-Verlag, Wuppertal 1978, ISBN 3-7795-7324-5 .
  • Stefan Kirchgraber: What can community-oriented social work contribute to the generation issue? Ed. Sociothek, Rubigen / Bern 2006, ISBN 3-03796-162-7 .
  • Astrid Lewy, Ludwig Weitz (ed.): Practice of citizen participation . A method manual. Foundation for collaboration, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-928053-84-1 .
  • Maria Lüttringhaus, Hille Richers: Manual activating survey. Foundation for collaboration, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-928053-82-5 .
  • Marion Mohrlock, Michaela Neubauer, Rainer Neubauer, Walter Schönfelder: Let's Organize !, Community work and community organization in comparison. Munich 1993, ISBN 3-923126-81-6 .
  • Marc Diebäcker (Ed.): Participatory Urban Development and Agenda 21. Discourses - Methods - Practice. Verb. Wiener Volksbildung, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-900799-57-1 .
  • Fritz Karas, Wolfgang Hinte: Study book group and community work. Luchterhand Verlag, Neuwied / Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-472-07743-3 .

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ a b Saul D. Alinsky (1984): Instructions for being mighty . Göttingen: Lamuv 1999
  2. ↑ Martin Rudolf Vogel, Peter Oel (1966): Community and community action. Analysis of the terms community organization and community development . Stuttgart: Kohlhammer
  3. ^ A b Silvia Staub-Bernasconi (2013): Integral social democracy as a community-based learning process and social vision: Jane Addams . In: Sabine Stövesand; Christoph Stoik; Ueli Troxler (ed.) (2013)
  4. ↑ Sabine Stövesand, Christoph Stoik (2013): Community work as a concept of social work - an introduction . In: Sabine Stövesand; Christoph Stoik; Ueli Troxler (ed.): Handbook of community work. Traditions and positions, concepts and methods. Germany - Switzerland - Austria. Theory, Research and Practice of Social Work , Volume 4. Opladen, Berlin; Toronto: Barbara Budrich Publishing House. P. 23
  5. ↑ a b Sabine Stövesand, Christoph Stoik, Ueli Troxler (eds.) (2013): Handbuch Gemeinwesenarbeit. Traditions and Positions, Concepts and Methods'. Germany - Switzerland - Austria. Theory, Research and Practice of Social Work , Volume 4. Opladen, Berlin; Toronto: Barbara Budrich Publishing House
  6. ↑ Sabine Stövesand, Christoph Stoik (2013): Community work as a concept of social work - an introduction . In: Sabine Stövesand; Christoph Stoik; Ueli Troxler (ed.): Handbook of community work. Traditions and positions, concepts and methods. Germany - Switzerland - Austria. Theory, Research and Practice of Social Work , Volume 4. Opladen, Berlin; Toronto: Barbara Budrich Publishing House. Pp. 14-21
  7. ↑ Christoph Stoik (2013): Community and Partiality . In: Josef Bakic; Marc Diebäcker; Elisabeth Hammer: Current key concepts in social work. A critical manual . Volume 2. Vienna: Löcker
  8. ↑ Fabian Kessl, Christian Reutlinger (2013): Social work . In: Sabine Stövesand; Christoph Stoik; Ueli Troxler (ed.): Handbook of community work. Traditions and positions, concepts and methods. Germany - Switzerland - Austria. Theory, Research and Practice of Social Work , Volume 4. Opladen, Berlin; Toronto: Barbara Budrich Publishing House. Pp. 128-140
  9. ↑ Alex Willener (1998): Foreword to the German version . In: Marcel Spierts: Balancing and Stimulating. Methodical action in socio-cultural work , Lucerne: Publishing house for social and cultural matters.
  10. ↑ Jane Addams (1896/2007): Hull-House Maps and Papers . Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press
  11. ^ Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (1917): SAG Berlin-Ost . In: Die Tat, 9th year, Jena: Verlag Eugen Diederichs
  12. ^ Jo Boer, Kurt Utermann (1970): Gemeinwesenarbeit - Community Organization - Opbouwwerk - Introduction to theory and practice . Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke
  13. ↑ Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1972, ed.): Community work and social change . Freiburg i.Br .: Lambertus
  14. ^ Carl Wolfgang Müller, Peter Nimmermann (1973, ed.): Urban planning and community work. Texts and documents . Munich: Juventa
  15. ^ Victor Gollancz Foundation, GWA working group (1974, ed.): Reader on the theory and strategy of community work . Frankfurt a. M., therein: Ursula Adams: Why do GWA projects in the Federal Republic fail? Pp. 168-172
  16. ^ Jaak Boulet, Jürgen E. Krauss, Dieter Oelschlägel (1980): Community work, a foundation . Bielefeld: AJZ-Druck & Verlag
  17. ↑ Kirsten Ebbe, Peter Friese (1989): Milieu work: Basics of preventive social work in the local community . Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke Verlag
  18. ↑ Wolfgang Hinte, Fritz Karas (1989): Study book group and community work. An introduction to training and practice . Neuwied / Frankfurt a. M .: Luchterhand
  19. ↑ Maria Bitzan, Tilo Klöck (1993): Who is fighting with Cinderella? Conflict orientation and gender difference . Munich: AG SPAK
  20. ↑ Michael May (2008): Participatory project development in the social space . In: Michael May and Monika Alisch (eds.): Practical research in the social space. Case studies in rural and urban social spaces . Opladen: Budrich (contributions to social space research 2), pp. 45–64
  21. ^ Konrad Maier, Peter Sommerfeld (2005): Staging of the social in the residential area. Presentation, evaluation and output of the Rieselfeld neighborhood development project . Freiburg: Publishing house research-development-teaching
  22. ↑ Sabine Stövesand (2007): With security social work! Community work as an innovative concept for reducing violence in the gender relationship under the conditions of neoliberal governmentality . Münster: LIT
  23. ↑ Oliver Fehren (2008): Who Organizes the Community? Civil society perspectives of social work as an intermediary instance . Berlin: edition Sigma
  24. ↑ For the networking of the church with local actors see: Go there - social space and community orientation of the church in the country . 4th Land-Church Conference of the EKD, 20 to 22 September 2018, Evangelical Education and Conference Center Bad Alexandersbad, epd documentation No. 14, Frankfurt am Main, April 2, 2019, 40 pages.