Transformation theory

Transformation Theory

Definition- A model of adult learning in which individuals are prompted by discourse to reflect on their own meaning structures (schemes) and come to a new understanding that is perhaps outside the original schema.

Apply: Instead of focusing on information dissemination like in traditional forms of education, transformation theory encourages communicative learning through discourse. This could be a useful tool for empowerment when a community developer needs to raise consciousness of the group they are working with. It encourages people to reflect and reevaluate what they know to be true, and why they believe it to be true.  

Adapt: This could be used in many different fields, as it is simply a different way to prompt learning and thinking. Transformation theory could be helpful in a political context when parties can be so divided. Encouraging politicians to question the basis of their beliefs could lead to greater understanding among groups.

Mezirow, J. (1994). Understanding transformation theory. Adult education quarterly, 44(4), 222-44.

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

Carol Gilligan's Theory of Moral Development

Define: Since women generally "failed" to reach a "higher" level of moral functioning in Kohlberg's theory and interviews, Carol Gilligan reasoned there must be some gender differences in moral reasoning. This theory says women use relationships and responsibilities to develop morals, as opposed to rules and abstract principles that males use.

Source: Robbins, S., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E. (2012). Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work (3rd ed., p. 281). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Apply: One of the most important aspects I take from this theory is the removal of age from the theoretical development process. When in the field, I feel it's terribly limiting to tie a person's moral or cognitive development simply to their age, we must also consider their environment. This is a critique of the theory, as it bases differences in gender on psychological differences rather than structural differences. Back to the theory, it is important to recognize that folks develop differently largely in response to the white male dominated world, making it difficult to separate psychological and structural differences.

Adapt: This research is important in itself to move forward the dialogue around the structural impacts of our society. The majority tends to say this kind of research is causing a divide between genders or races or religions but that's just their go-to answer to avoid having to face the injustices they have caused. 

Drive Theory

Definition: The presence of a passive audience causes arousal which creates a response. In some cases, the presence of an audience will facilitate the better performance of a task while in other cases, it will inhibit the performance depending on if the task is a dominant response (easy to the individual) or a non-dominant response (being subjectively difficult).

Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.

Application: This theory can be applied to community development because often community organizers have an audience in which they are speaking to. If the task is a dominant response, that is if speaking about the community development comes easy, the response will be heightened.  It is important for community organizers to understand if doing a task is a dominant response or not, and if it is dominant to include an audience to strengthen their task response. If it is not dominant, to practice it alone. 

Adaptation: This social psychology theory can be adapted to the theater.  For example, when rehearsing (if the individual is comfortable and used to performing), having coworkers or a few people in the audience will improve their response because it is a dominant response.

Cognitive Behavioral Theory

Definition: Cognitive Behavioral Theory covers the evidence based, clinical cognitive behavioral therapy that is based on the assumption that cognitive activity affects behaviors, cognitive activity may be monitored and altered and behavior change may be achieved through cognitive change.
Hupp, S. D., Reitman, D., & Jewell, J. D. (2008). Cognitive-behavioral theory.Handbook of clinical psychology: Children and adolescents, 2.
Application: In community development, community organizers need to understand the interaction between cognition and behavior. Furthermore, if organizers are working with demographics that use CBT, they must understand the basic components of the theory. Lastly, if organizers are aware of people's negative cognition's, they will have a better understanding of how to motivate and engage them.
Adaptation: Although CBT is used primarily in clinical social work, CBT can also be adapted to athletic disciplines. That is, if someone started to moved and do activities that they enjoy (even small tasks), they will start to feel better and continue to do more activities. Therefore, athletic facilities should work on making their customers feel good and that they've done some type of positive behavior as soon as they can.

Existentialist Theory or "does anything matter?"

Theory: We must stay vigilante when looking at mortality, injustice, and morality, to correct and prevent oppression and maintain human dignity to not alienate and dehumanize ourselves and each other. If we fail to create meaning through these venues, all hope is lost because there is no other meaning than what we create.

Source: Robbins, S., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E. (2012). Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work (3rd ed., p. 383). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Apply: Community organizing is creating meaning by challenging injustices. It's absurd that children starve, that folks fear for their lives everyday, or that people believe that a human's worth is based on their paycheck but that's the world we live in and we face it.

Adapt: Who cares? Realistically, this is something, if there were such a thing as inherent human values, that everybody should recognize, to some extent. We only get one life, what right do we have to add any level of misery to another person's life? What right do we have to allow folks to be homeless? But, we do. We lock our doors and close our blinds, worried about myths that prey on our fear.

Shame Resilience Theory

Define: "...shame is an intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of acceptance and belonging." (Robbins et al., pg 231) Shame is dependent on the individual on how they experience shame and people can develop resiliency by moving out of isolation and fear.

Source: Robbins, S., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E. (2012). Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work (3rd ed., p. 231-232). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Apply: SRT has a huge focus on awareness and education for moving through shame and those experiences. By helping folks work through their shame, we build community over shared experiences and by going through it together. We also do work at dismantling the patriarchy by addressing and naming shame, as women face a much more complex and layered shame system.

Adapt: Early education professionals can use this theory in the classroom to begin the awareness and education aspect of this up at an early age. At younger ages, it can be framed in a way where people won't see a polarization of genders.

Transculturality

Definition: "A person is able to relate respectfully, comfortably, and competently in many different cultural contexts, while appreciating both differences and commonality." It is a theory that asserts a connection with others based on humanity and the needs we all have of love, meaning, supportive community, and justice.

Source: Robbins, S., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E. (2012). Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work (3rd ed., p. 156). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Apply: In a U.S. specific context, this is seeing our culture as a salad rather than a melting pot. By organizing communities, folks begin to appreciate the different flavors that cherry tomatoes, onions, croutons, and other ingredients bring rather than melting them into a singular form. We bring this into practice by remaining culturally competent and respecting each culture's unique needs while organizing a community.

Adapt: This a pretty critical and radical theory that politicians could try to wrap their heads around when speaking about our nation. Perhaps it could help ease some tensions, domestically and internationally.

Theory of Change

Definition: Theory of Change is a comprehensive model that includes a description and illustration of how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular context.  This model is mapped out in order to see what a program does and how these lead to desired goals being achieved, but the model works backward filling in the desired long-term goals and then filling in what must be in place to achieve the goals.  

What is Theory of Change? (2013). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.theoryofchange.org/what-is-theory-of-change/

Application: Community organizers will often work with logic models that are centered on the theory of change in order to map out what is the goal and how that will be achieved.

Adaptation: This theory can be applied to the college application process. While college acceptance is the goal, applicants must map out how exactly they will be able to achieve that by taking the SAT, writing essays, asking for letters of recommendation, being involved in community service and maintaining good academic standing. Applicants often map out their application process to get into college.

Globalisation Theory

Definition: Globalisation is the 'market-organized and imposed expansion of production that emphasizes comparative advantage, free trade, export orientations, the social and spacial divisions of labor and the absolute mobility of corporations' (Fisher and Ponniah, 2003, p 28). In other words, we find ourselves in a world where capitalism has reformed on a global level, exploiting the most vulnerable people and environments in the world in the interests of the dominant and privileged.
Ledwith, M. (2005). Community Development. Chicago: Policy Press.

Application:Globalisation plays out in community development because the idea that the western worldview is superior plays out in oppression of subordinate groups of people based on gender, race, age, sexuality, age, faith, ethnicity and disability play out both locally and globally. It is important for community organizers to understand these power dynamics and how they may play out in working with a community.

Adaptation: When one tries to call an IT support line, the call is often routed to an automated system or someone who may be in India or another country. This globalisation enables companies to outsource and have workers provide IT consult and services at an extremely low rate.

ABCD Model

Definition: The ABCD model is based on the fact that communities should be healthy, thriving places where people flourish in a more satisfying, equitable and sustainable way.













Ledwith, M. (2005). Community Development. Chicago: Policy Press.

Application: In community development, the ABCD model challenges community organizers working with community members to be clear about what they are trying to do, how to achieve it and how to embed evaluation into the process as change is effected at policy, program and project levels.

Adaptation: A model such as this should also be used in developing a new business model that is built upon a clear focus and incorporates bench marks for evaluation.

Transpersonal Theory

Definition: Transpersonal theory focuses on the spiritual dimension and how spiritual and religious aspects of human existence can be understood.  Transpersonal theory goes beyond biopsychosocial development and enables people to achieve levels of consciousness and functioning beyond self or ego.

Cowley, A. (1999). Transpersonal Theory and Social Work Practice with Couples and Families. Journal of Family Social Work, 5-21. 

Application: This theory enables community organizers to understand the role of spirituality, religion and the potential for a higher power in communities. It stresses the importance of spiritual and religious support systems for life meaning and well-being, which is often factor to consider when entering a new community. 

Adaptation: Often times one's spiritual or religious beliefs place out into politics and what individuals support in terms of policies. By taking into consideration one's spiritual beliefs, one may be better understood as a potential candidate. 

Psychodynamic Theory

Definition: Psychodynamic theory explains how inner energies and external forces interact to impact emotional development. It emphasizes unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and fears of which we're not fully aware), and contends that childhood experiences are crucial in shaping adult personality.

The Psychodynamic Perspective. (2015). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://nobaproject.com/modules/the-psychodynamic-perspective

Application: In community development, organizers must interact with many community members on a personal level, it is important to understand motivation, adaptation and interpersonal relationships within a new community. Through this theory, one is able to display empathy and establish, build and use the relationship to facilitate change.

Adaptation:Psychodynamic is used in mental health therapy to analyze unconscious and conscious mental activity that motivates human behavior.

Family Systems Theory

Definition: Family Systems theory is a theory of human behavior that views that the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit. It is the nature of the family that its members are intensely connected emotionally.

Kerr, Michael E. "One Family's Story: A Primer on Bowen Theory." The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family. 2000. http://www.thebowencenter.org

Application: In community development, one does not just consider the individuals that are present at a community meeting, but also considers family members who may not be present at said meeting. The way one individual interacts within its family affects the way he/she interacts within the community.

Adaptation: When an individual is in palliative or hospice care, family members are often responsible for the fate of the patient. The interaction between family members greatly affects the treatment and care that is determined for the patient by the family members and hospital staff.

Self Determination Theory

Definition: Self Determination theory is a broad framework for the study of human motivation and personality, it defines intrinsic and varied extrinsic sources of motivation and the roles they play in cognitive and social development and in individual differences. It focuses on autonomy, competence and relatedness and how they affect impact wellness within a setting.

Theory - selfdeterminationtheory.org. (2015). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.selfdeterminationtheory.org/theory/

Application: This theory is important for community organizers to establish what will motivate community members to get involved with community development. Community members are agents of their own autonomy and will decide on their own whether or not they want to get involved in community change. Community organizers must be able to recognize what will motivate community members to get involved.

Adaptation: Self determination theory is used in mindfulness to make people aware and cognizant of what exactly it is they want and need to do in order to achieve that goal. Mindfulness always helps with stress management.

Social Action Theory

Deftinition: Society is a product of human activity. Social action is an action carried out by an individual to which an individual attached a meaning. It is an act which takes into account the actions and re-actions of others and is therefore orientated in its course. These actions are divided into: rational actions-leading to a valued long term goal (principled) and instrumental-leading to short-term goals (pragmatic). 

Source: CN Trueman "Social Action Theory" hisotrylearningsite.co.uk The History Learning Site, 25 May 2015. 15 Nov 2015. 

Application: In community development, a social worker can enter a community and complete a needs assessment. This needs assessment is not just for the sake of doing a needs assessment, but rather to create community-driven change within a community. 

Adaptation: Someone doing something with a motive, an intention behind that action, for example, someone shoveling snow in their driveway in order to clear the driveway and drive out into the street. 

Community Capitals Framework

Definition: A way of to analyze community and economic development efforts from a systems perspective by identifying the assets in each capital (stock), the types of capital invested (flow), the interaction among the capitals, and the resulting impacts across capitals. (Emery and Flora, 2006: 19)

Emery, E. and Flora, C. (2006) Spiraling-Up: Mapping Community Transformation with Community Capitals Framework. Community Development 37(1): 19-35.

Application: When working in community development, community organizers must identify the strengths within a community and the interaction between different stakeholders, whether that be schools, churches, organizations, individuals and the implications for the community.

Adaptation:An adaptation for this theory would be within a school system, the superintendent must analyze the strengths of each school within the district and also the students within each school and how they progress through the school system.

Framing theory

Theory- Framing

Define- the idea that the combination of beliefs, values, and attitudes of an individual is reflected in they way they perceive a situation. It effects how one may infer meaning and understanding to the situation at hand. ( Tversky & Khaneman, 1981)

Apply- this can be used to ensure that the person going into the community (outsider) looking to help really keeps their perspective in check. For example, what the outsider may view as a potential weakness of the community m.ay really be a strength or asset in the eyes of the community. This again outlines the importance of community participation

Adapt- This can also be used in advertisement. Adviser must first understand the  target audience and the frame of that audience in order to market a product correctly.

collaborative learning

Collaborative learning approach

Define- An experience where two or more people engage in learning together. It is based on the idea that members can learn by interacting with one another and sharing experiences,each taking on a role.
Apply- This could be used in community development as a way to build rapport and ensure the community is actively involved in the processes. It will place the developer/ organize in a place of being the teacher as well as the learner. It could also be used among members of the community to increase awareness and information sharing.

Adapt- This could be used in the educational setting, as it has been a good way for students and teachers to share information with others in the classroom as well as a way for everyone to contribute to the learning process.

game theory

Theory- Game theory
define - this concept assumes that all decisions makers in the process are rational and that each individual will make decisions in a way that will sole benefit them. Since their gains depends on the losses of other participants.

apply- This theory could be used to understand organizational context  or the motivation in a community. It could also be used to make decisions in a way to make sure everyone benefits from the decisions at hand. It could also be used to weed out ill intentioned stakeholders.

adapt- This theory can be seen in political science and the current presidential election process at hand. In particular looking at the candidates within the same party as they are competing for votes in order to be in the final election

Terror Management Theory

Definition: The theory suggests that human mortality causes existential dread and terror, and that much of human behavior exists as a buffer against this dread (e.g. self-esteem and worldviews).  Furthermore, the solution to this dread is culture, i.e. symbolic systems that act to provide life with meaning and value.
Greenberg, J., & Arndt, J. (2011). Terror management theory. Handbook of theories of social psychology, 1, 398-415.

Application: Community organizers can use cultural values that manage the terror of death to help engage and sustain development.  Simple examples include belief in afterlife and religion.  Other cultural values also offer symbolic immortality such as value of nationality. These are universal attractions that will help unite an organization.

Adaptation: TMT can also be used in marketing. When the thought of human mortality is made salient, the management is made stronger.  Therefore, marketing agencies can use this thoery to increase the sales of national pride (flags, memorabilia). For example, after a terror attack, people usually join together to value their nationality to prove that one is part of something that will outlive the individual.

Critical Alliance

Definition: "These are strategic alliances across difference, which are built on the collective strength of diversity in mutual collective action for social justice."
Ledwith, M. (2005). Community Development. Portland: Policy Press.

Application: An example of this is when different woman's groups (black, white, asian, latina, etc) reach out to one another. in confidence and respect, and work collectively to protest for changes in the wage gap.

Adaptation: This theory/practice can be used in business. A group of business that offer the same services can merge/work together to create a collective brand and share profits.