Tokenism

Define: Tokenism is when there is 0-10% representation of an oppressed group within on organizing body or community and “the main goal of the minority is assimilation by any means necessary. The minority does not have sufficient numbers within the group to formulate a group identity, and the majority does not see them as a threat...They feel fortunate just to be present, and it is likely that assimilation is a much higher priority than struggles for social justice”.

Apply: This theory is important for community organizers and developers to recognize who is being represented within an effort and to what degree. If there is a low percentage of oppressed populations or those directly affected by the issue at hand  involved in whatever you are trying to do, your efforts will not be effective. It’s also important to recognize that they are not recruited simply for numbers but because their input and experience is valued. Making sure the percentage is higher among your organizing body will ensure that oppressed populations will not be forced to assimilate and social justice will be the main priority.

Adapt: Tokenism could be applied within the workplace, specifically a place of business. For example, if a woman is hired within a male dominated field, the expectation is that the woman should feel happy and content within her position and not seek social justice initiatives to include more women within this particular position or to request a higher salary that is equal to what the men make. The low amount of women to identify with would assist with keeping this woman “in her place” and accepting the role she was given without making waves.

Source: Osborne, W. (2001, July 10). The Sociology of Tokenism. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.osborne-conant.org/tokenism.htm

Community Building Theory

Define: According to Phillips and Pittman (2015), “community building refers to activities pursued by a community in order to increase the social capacity of its members. In the words of Gardner (1993), community building involves “the practice of building connections among residents, and establishing positive patterns of individual and community behavior based on mutual responsibility and ownership.”

Apply: For my group project we have been working with the Pontiac SUN Timebank. As community organizers within the timebank, the community building theory is being used because they are mobilizing residents to build connections as well as take responsibility and ownership of not only the timebank itself but doing acts of service for their community with no financial incentive. The timebank is building social capacity within its membership by focusing on sharing your time with one another rather than your finances.

Adapt: This theory could be applied to a specific learning expedition that took place within the charter school I am doing my field placement at. The first grade students were taken out to a community park next to the school to talk with one another about the needs of the park and what could be done to make it better. The students immediately took ownership of the project and came up with a plan collectively on how improvements could be made. They felt responsible for how the park could look and wanted to make the best suggestions on how the park could be enhanced such as repainting the swing set in a rainbow color.

Source: Phillips, R. (2015). Social Capital and Community Building. In An introduction to community development (pp. 62-63). London: Routledge.

Relational - Cultural Theory

Definition: Relational Cultural Theory “brings relationships to the forefront of human psychology [by examining] the complexity of human relationships, using concepts of connection and disconnection, as well as recognizing and exploring the social implications of psychological theory. The cultural aspect brings into focus the influence of larger culture and power differentials on the quality and nature of relationships and the subsequent effects on healthy coexistence.”

Apply: Community organizers can use this theory to better understand the community they are working within and how the residents of this community interact and view one another based on their relationships. Why are certain residents connected to one another? Why are some disconnected to one another? Considering cultural differences among residents may shed some light on why some residents coexist well together and why other residents may not possibly due to sharing different cultural backgrounds. Identifying how these relationships exist within a community and how culture plays a role within these relationships will allow community organizers to better collaborate and build coalitions among a community.

Adapt: This theory could be used by those who study peace and reconciliation, specifically within war torn countries. If reconciliation and peace are the goals, one must first understand who is connected to one another and who is disconnected. What happened to create such a division within the country? Were there cultural implications for this divide? What differing beliefs may be held?

Source: McCauley, M. (2013, March 1). Relational-Cultural Theory: Fostering Healthy Coexistence Through a Relational Lens. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/relational-cultural-theory

Stakeholder Theory

Definition: Stakeholder theory is about how “the purpose of a business [or organization] is to create as much value as possible for stakeholders”. Stakeholders are people with an interest or concern in something. In business, this could mean keeping the interests of “customers, suppliers, employees, communities, and shareholders aligned and going in the same direction”.

Apply: Stakeholder theory focuses on creating a cooperative environment where the interests of everyone involved are valued without a level of hierarchy. This is important to community development because when you are working within a group, all perspectives and interests need to be valued and taken into account. In order for the development to be effective, there needs to be a shared interest and outcome to ensure that no one is being harmed or left out. It also shows that you value group member’s opinions and that they hold expertise within the development process.

Adapt: When working within a school, if a student is struggling academically or behaviorally, intervention decisions made for this student are made with multiple stakeholders. These stakeholders include the student, the school social worker, the student’s teacher(s), and the student’s parents. This ensures that everyone is on board and is able to implement the intervention strategies when they are working with the student.

Source: Stakeholder Theory. (2015). Retrieved October 26, 2015, from http://www.stakeholdermap.com/stakeholder-theory.html

Selective Perception Theory

Definition: Selective perception theory refers to how a person interprets information and perceives things in way that favors something over another based on your own personal desires, values, and beliefs. Therefore, a person ignores the perspectives of others and acts bias.

Apply: Selective perception theory is important to community development because it’s important to be unbiased while working within a community. Within a community there is often a diverse group of people in regard to race, religious affiliation, culture, sexual orientation, etc. Even if the community members themselves share similar backgrounds and beliefs, they may differ from your own personal backgrounds and beliefs. Therefore, it’s important to understand your own personal biases so you can be open to different perspectives. When you interact with community members with selective perception, you often will have a hard time building personal relationships with people because you hold certain labels or stereotypes that will limit your ability to connect and trust one another.

Adapt: Selective Perception is important to understand when it comes to interpersonal practice where you are working with clients who have been incarcerated. If a social worker had selective perception, they may view the client as less deserving of resources or services based on the crime they committed. However, if the social worker did not have selective perception, they could recognize and understand the ways in which societal forces impacted the client’s life and lead him or her to a life of crime.

Source: Sarah Mae Sincero (Aug 1, 2013). Selective Perception. Retrieved Oct 25, 2015 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/selective-perception

False consciousness

Definition: According to Ledwith (p.xiii), “false consciousness refers to the unquestioning view of the world in which subordinate groups accept their reality in passive and fatalistic ways, leaving the power and privilege of dominant groups unchallenged”.

Apply: I do not believe development work can really even take place if community members are experiencing false consciousness because they are accepting their realities and would have no desire to challenge the system or privileges people have. In order to do effective community development, you need the movement of the community and a collective desire to make a difference and a change. If community members are passive, they would not view anything as a problem or at least a problem that could be solved. If this does occur with certain individuals within a community, you could hold discussions that aim to raise consciousness and understanding of the inequalities that they are experiencing, specifically led by other community members.

Adapt: False consciousness could be experienced by the ways in which people vote in our society. For example, a person could vote in a way that actually benefits those who are privilege rather than themselves or they could not vote at all. There are many people in society who refuse to vote because they believe things will never change. Not voting at all actually ensures that those in power and who have privilege will continue to maintain it.

Source: Ledwith, M., & Campling, J. (2005). Community development: A critical approach. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

Control Theory

Definition: Control Theory explains that when societal institutions do not have a strong control of society than deviant behavior can be a result.

Apply: This can be applied to the way in which a community functions, specifically within the community development process, when members do not have close relationships to those they are working with. Control is often associated with negative consequences but it could also be viewed as building strong social bonds with one another. For example, a community development project could be focusing on creating more safe places within the community for people to gather socially with the hopes that crime will be reduced. If the community does not have personal connections and a sense of respect from one another, crime will most likely be higher. Even if safe spaces were built, they would only be considered safe if there was a strong control, in this case, strong social bonds within the community.

Adapt: Control theory exists within our judicial system where there are set policies and laws in place in an attempt to divert people from becoming deviant. Those who are deviant are met with negative consequences such as fines or prison time.

Source: Boundless. “Control Theory.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 26 Oct. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/deviance-social-control-and-crime-7/the-symbolic-interactionalist-perspective-on-deviance-64/control-theory-382-8938/

Naive Consciousness

Definition: According to Ledwith (p.xiii), Naive Consciousness is, “Freire's concept for partial empowerment which relates to the symptoms of oppression, engaging with single issues rather than the underlying roots of injustice".

Apply: Naive consciousness can be seen when you are working within a community and you are addressing surface level issues and not acknowledging and working through some of the more systemic issues causing the community problems. For example, community developers could enter into a community and assist with getting rid of an abandoned home to get rid of blight in the community. However, getting rid of an abandoned home does not address the issue as to why the house was abandoned in the first place. Perhaps the owners could no longer afford the rent due to gentrification in their community. Therefore, if gentrification is an issue, getting rid of one abandoned house is not going to help with the problem of increasing rent that is causing houses to become abandoned.

Adapt: Naive consciousness could be applied to interpersonal practice where a social worker could assist a male client with a surface level issue of having a fear of talking to women by role-playing situations to try and practice ways in which the client could converse with women. However, if the social worker never talks with the client about why he has a fear of talking with women, such as feeling self-conscious about his physical appearance or a negative experience with a woman that happened in the past, the role-playing will never get to the client’s root cause of the fear. He may feel more prepared on what to say to women he encounters but he will still never approach them due to his self consciousness of his appearance.

Source: Ledwith, M., & Campling, J. (2005). Community development: A critical approach. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

Positivism Theory

Definition: According to Ledwith (p.34), positivism is often used as an approach to research that “result[s] in rational, scientific methods of researching human behavior that treat[s] people like objects and den[ies] the less tangible feelings aspect of being human”

Apply: If you used a positivist approach while conducting research within a community, you would being doing research on the people rather than with the people. This approach makes it easy to overlook important aspects of community life because it disregards the ways in which community members are feeling about a particular situation and is instead more interested in how the situation should be dealt with. Without understanding how community members feel, the changes that take place as a result of the research of development plans, will most likely cause more harm than good.

Adapt: I think positivism theory could be adapted to the way in which our society views women in general. Since positivism disregards the relevance of feelings, women in society are often cast aside and seen as unreliable. This is due to the fact that women are associated with having a lot of “feelings” which in a positivist view makes them react irrationally.

Source: Ledwith, M., & Campling, J. (2005). Community development: A critical approach. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

Empowerment Theory

Define: Empowerment theory is the process by which individuals and groups gain power, access to resources and control over their own lives. In doing so, they gain the ability to achieve their highest personal and collective aspirations and goals.
Macro Practice Theory. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2015, from http://home.apu.edu/~ksetterlund/2012-2013/MACRO PRACTICE THEORIES.pdf

Apply: Empowerment theory can be applied to community development because when you enter into a community, it's important that you incorporate leadership development of those directly impacted by the issue you are addressing if you wish to create real systemic change. During this leadership development, those affected by the issue gain power and control over their lives through collective action, lobbying politicians, and increasing public and media awareness of the issue.

Adapt: Empowerment theory can be applied to micro practice by making sure the social worker facilitates the process of an individual gaining control over their own lives but does not create the goals themselves or make decisions for the client.