Building a worldwide evaluation community: past, present, and future

This article describes recent efforts to build a worldwide evaluation community. It notes events that led to an almost 200 percent growth in the number of regional and national evaluation organizations in slightly more than one year. Profiles are provided on the present status of many national and regional evaluation organizations that participated in the W.K. Kellogg Foundation-sponsored international evaluation meeting in Barbados, West Indies. Afterwards, the authors engage in a scenario planning exercise to picture alternatives of what the future of international evaluation might look like.     

Banking on community: The use of time banking as an innovative community practice teaching strategy

ABSTRACT

This article explores the use of a classroom-based, experiential time banking project as an innovative community practice teaching strategy. It presents a preliminary, qualitative evaluation of a seven-week, time banking project among 40 students enrolled in a Master of Social Work community practice course, spanning two academic years. Findings highlight challenges (e.g., lack of time) and benefits (e.g., building a sense of community) associated with the model specifically, as well as the ways in which participation expanded understandings of and appreciation for the power and potential of community practice more generally. Recommendations for future teaching and research applications are offered.     

A Safe Place for Predators: Online Treatment of Recovering Sex Offenders

ABSTRACT

This study examines the process and effectiveness of a voluntary online support group for recovering sex offenders. The study used unobtrusive observation of the group for a period of 10 months. The support group was facilitated by two nonprofessional, recovering sex offenders. The group was found to be a positive therapeutic environment, with members providing positive support and confrontation through the process of change. Among those who were active participants, there was significant improvement in several indicators of change.     

Building a virtual research and teaching community

The Sloan Work and Family Research Network was created to provide web-based resources to individuals interested in work–family studies. The Network's website includes a database that contains over 5,000 citations/annotations of work–family research, a range of teaching resources for faculty and a newsletter. Experiences with the implementation of this project offer opportunities to consider the importance of devising community-building strategies for virtual networks that function as part of the ‘invisible college’.     

Harnessing the community sector

The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically the prevailing policy approach that seeks to cultivate the community sector by the ‘third sector’ route of developing existing community-based groups. Analysing the extent and nature of participation in the community sector using both secondary data from the 2000 General Household Survey and primary data from a case study of the community sector in rural England, the finding is that a culture of participation in ‘third sector’ groups is relatively alien to lower-income populations and that such groups are much more used by relatively affluent populations for the purpose of developing their social networks. If the intention of harnessing the community sector is to improve the material circumstances of lower-income populations, a third sector approach of developing existing community-based groups is thus found to be inappropriate. Instead, it is argued that a ‘fourth sector’ approach is required. This seeks to further cultivate the prevailing culture of participation in one-to-one reciprocal exchange that is predominantly used by lower-income populations to improve their material circumstances. The paper concludes by outlining how this might be achieved.     

Community members' perceptions on social,cultural changes and its implication for educational transformation in a small school district community

Abstract

Systemic organisational transformation with broad stakeholder involvement is needed in our educational systems. While involving all stakeholders is crucial for building grass-roots community support and garnering input in order to achieve fundamental transformation in schools, community members are typically the least represented stakeholder group in most change efforts. This article's investigation of the community's involvement in a change effort in the United States reflects how important it is to harness the power of stakeholder ownership and help community members communicate and participate in learning communities. This study specifically examined the impact of community members' involvement in school-based community forums on the change effort at large.     

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Capacity Building Intervention in Empowering Hard-to-Reach Communities

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on hard-to-reach communities with weak histories of engagement and it explores whether facilitated community interventions can empower and develop community resilience. Drawing on data from 6 communities, the article indicates a need for tailored and context-specific support that matches local needs. Implementation of community projects is not linear and the delivery of interventions in hard-to-reach communities is associated with the risk of failure. Developing community resilience among communities that do not engage requires long-term interventions, on-going input, and a collaborative approach to working with communities to support equal and harmonized development.     

The social capital of obese persons: implication for self-help/mutual aid groups and social work practice

This study investigates the amount of social capital possessed by obese persons. This is an interesting issue for social work because the relational attitude of users and their social capital are crucial for the efficacy and sustainability of helping actions. The study found that the social capital of a sample of obese persons undergoing obesity treatment in an Italian hospital ward did not differ from that of the general Italian population and no association between the BMI of the obese patients and the characteristics of their social capital was found. Overall the social capital of the obese patients was similar to that of the general population. This can be considered a useful prerequisite for the launching of recovery projects based on the involvement and reinforcement of interpersonal relations, using the social capital of the obese people to communicate and support a course of treatment structured according to the methodology of relational social work, particularly through self-help/mutual aid groups.     

Assessing the effect of community violence in minority children

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess the extent to which minority inner city children were adversely affected when exposed to violence in their homes and in their communities. The findings from this study suggested that Hispanic children endorsed the highest levels of physiological cues and somatic complaints from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptomatology compared with groups of African-American and Caucasian children. The importance of assessing minority children exposed to traumas and ethnocultural issues are discussed.     

“Once in a Blue Moon … Anything is Possible”

Each of the articles in this volume highlights concerns and issues related to cultural diversity and community development. Together they provide significant guidance for further work in theory construction and curriculum development, and offer direction for effective practice and research. Leadership development, self-help, and empowerment practice approaches are presented for work in communities of color and neo-gemeinschaft communities. Effective methods and strategies for working with diverse populations in changing social and economic times are provided for community practitioners and faculty.     

上海社区建设调查报告

为深入了解上海社区建设现状,进一步提高上海社区建设水平,上海社会调查研究中心上海大学分中心在全市范围内开展了社区建设问卷调研,结果显示,上海社区建设目前总体状况较好,市民认同感较高,但也存在一些突出问题。据此,对于如何进一步加强上海社区建设,提出对策建议。     

Authenticity and community process

How does community process constitute an opening to an authentic existence? Martin Heidegger suggests that authentic Being-in-the-world is rooted in self-reflection and isolation from others—far from the public realm. Conversely, Mary Parker Follett argues that collaborative processes embed action with meaning that have far-reaching implications for individual development as well as for democracy. Drawing on classical political philosophy’s public space and citizenship, this research maintains that community process enhances authentic, self-aware participatory practices—fundamental for one’s full development and practical democracy. Public and nonprofit administrators working in community-based or oriented organizations ought to cultivate opportunities for such development.     

What I do I understand: Teaching community work in the Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

Social work students need to develop both theoretical and practical foundations of knowledge. In a period where community practice is becoming more marginalised the Australian Catholic University subject Social Work Practice with Communities is a core component in the two year professional degree program. It combines an experience based learning approach with traditional teaching methods. Through community projects students learn real-life problem solving and gain confidence in their abilities as community workers. The paper focuses on the relationship between gaining knowledge of conceptual frameworks for community work practice and learning skills. It reviews educational considerations in teaching a subject where conceptual, practical and theoretical components are equally important for competent practice. It demonstrates how the School promotes community work.     

Information technology, networks and community voices

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have altered the form and structure of urban centres across the globe. Scholars suggest that hybrid spaces of electronic networks and urban sites herald the future of city planning, representing a fluidity of material place and cyberspace that transforms patterns of city life. This project examines the regenerative capabilities of ICTs in decaying urban neighbourhoods that link virtual networks of community participation and expression with the physical presence of community media centres. Using symbolic interactionism and qualitative interviews, this research suggests that inner-city residents find ICTs to be a key element in neighbourhood and community revitalization. Overall, this research considers the notion that ICTs are integral components of contemporary urban planning.     

Built community: architecture,community, and participation in a permanent supportive housing project

Housing and the social processes that create it are an important part of a better world. The permanent supportive housing movement holds that housing, in addition to a variety of human services, is the most dignified and effective way to help people without homes. But the design of such initiatives matters. This community-based, qualitative research project investigates the connection between space, participation, and community. It draws on the experiences of residents of an innovative housing organization on Skid Row in Los Angeles, California. Residents of the program find community space to be both promising and contested. Their experiences also reveal the way that institutional space can be trauma-informed and impact their overall wellbeing and opportunities for interacting with others. However, their feelings of being a part of the community and their involvement in activities are not always connected, as identity and social context can cause residents to identify or dis-identify with their community despite how involved or uninvolved they are. Intentionally designed community spaces in permanent supportive housing units can respond to trauma and set the stage for interaction, but they cannot solve all problems.     

Ethnic and gender diversity,process and performance in groups of business students in Sweden

This article investigates the complex interrelation between ethnic and gender diversity, process and performance among groups of business students. The article is based on an empirical survey of business students working on a complex assignment in groups of two to five in a small Swedish university. The results indicate that gender diversity leads to positive group outcomes, while ethnic diversity appears to create negative group outcomes. Intervening process variables, such as group communication, conflict and effectiveness in problem solving, were not found to be influenced by diversity, or to influence group outcomes. While the non‐influence of intervening variables can probably be explained by methodological difficulties, the negative outcome for ethnic diversity indicates a need to help students better manage ethnic diversity in order to reap its benefits.     

Exploring community stress and empowerment among stakeholders and youth in an urban community

ABSTRACT

Community-level stress, such as pervasive substance abuse and violence, can yield negative health and mental heath outcomes for youth from disadvantaged communities. Community empowerment is a process whereby community members work together to increase control in their community. This qualitative inquiry analyzed in-depth interviews with adult stakeholders (n = 17) as well as focus group interviews with token youth (n = 85) to explore perceptions of community stress and empowerment in one disadvantaged locale. Each of the 102 total participants helped interrogate the research questions: What does it mean to live in a stressed community? How might youth and adults perceive themselves capable of impacting a stressed community’s quality of life? Emergent themes, which include a nod to the utility of coalition building, are explored. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are also discussed.     

Reflections on facilitating a participatory community self-evaluation

This paper is a reflective essay about our experience in conducting a participatory, community self-evaluation of a neighborhood revitalization effort in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We took a controversial approach to evaluation by focusing on learning community dialogues as a vehicle for program evaluation. As we implemented our strategy, two sets of contradictions surfaced. The first points to the fundamental differences between conventional and constructivist research paradigms. The second centers around our focus on dialogue as a strategy for evaluation. In response to these contradictions we performed three complementary roles: program evaluator, process consultant, and learning facilitator. We are not implying that we performed an outstanding job in these roles. Rather, this article is our way of taking stock of what we learned about our practice as evaluators and how we may expand our repertoire of skills in the future.