Question

explain the seven approaches of community organization.

Answer 1

The term organization covers series of activities at the community level aimed at bringing about desired improvement in the social well being of the individual, groups, and neighbourhood.

Approaches of community organization

1) Social work approach

2) Political activists approach

3) Neighbourhood maintenance or. community development approach

4)Gandhian approach of community organization .

   Social work approach

In this approach society is viewed as a social organism therefore the efforts are oriented towards building a sense of community. The community organizer act as a advocate and helps the community to identify a problem in neighbourhood and strives to obtain the needed social resources by gathering the existing social services to meet the needs of neighbourhood.The method is more consensual and neighbourhood is seen as a collective client .

Political activists approach

In this approach the community as seen as a political entity and not as a social organism .Here the neighbourhood is viewed as a potential power base capable of getting power. The role of community organizer to help the community to find out the problem in terms of power and necessary steps are taken to mobilize the community.

Community development approach

This approach has emerged out of both the previous approaches (social work&political activist approaches) with in the same neighbourhood movements. It is in the form of civic associations .This associations uses peer group pressure to provide services in community.

They use this strategy to pressurize the officials to deliver the services to the community but sometimes this approach takes the form of political activist approach as they realize that their goals can be only achieved through confrontations.

Gandhian approach to community work

According to Gandhi the basic element of community is mutual cooperation and common sharing.

The emphasis of Gandhian concept of community work is the reconstruction of the community rather than organizing an unorganized community or on the development of new community. Therefore the Gandhian objective of community work is to reconstruct the village communities spread all over the country. This is based on the constructive programme designed to meet the social welfare needy of the community. The role of the worker in this approach is very distinct .In this approach the worker takes initiative and gradually stimulates the community. It demands regularity and sincerity of the worker in the reconstruction programme in his area of work.