Deindividuation

Define:  When a person moves into a group, they shed their individual identity and take on the social identity of the group. This happens because the person has anonymity in a group, and their personal responsibility diffuses across the whole group.

Deindividuation. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/deindividuation.htm.

Apply:  The community you are working with will have less individuation because they are a part of that community. For example, if we are talking about a community of tenants in an apartment, their group identity revolves around their role as tenants of X apartment building. As a community developer working with the tenants to improve access for limited mobility tenants, you could work to decrease the sense of deindividuation among them so that they feel more like individuals. As a free-thinking individual, they are more likely to share out-of-the-box ideas for solutions that they may not if they feel too attached to the identity of the whole group. 

Adapt: In politics, a politician’s goal is to have agreement on an issue so that legislation can be passed that favors it. The politician wants to decrease individuation so that the group he or she is speaking to identifies not as an individual person with unique perspectives, but shares the feeling of the group. The politician does not want dissent that comes from critical thinkers (generally speaking,)  but wants one agreed upon issue to be felt passionately by all people, so it would be good strategy to build up the identity of the group, not the individual.