5 ROLE OF COMMUNITY ORGANISER IN DIFFERENT SETTINGS...

Role of Community Organiser in Different Settings 81

5

ROLE OF COMMUNITYORGANISER IN DIFFERENT

SETTINGS

* A.J. Christopher

Introduction

Community organisation can be practiced in differentcommunities or settings. The community can beclassified as rural, urban and tribal on the basisof geographical location. The other classification ofthe community can be based on the caste, religion,occupation etc. These communities are under differentsettings where community organisation can be putinto practice.

Community organisation is applied when thecommunity takes initiative in solving their problemsand meetings their needs. In such a situation thecommunity plays different roles in dealing with thevarious needs and problems. Usually within thecommunity either the interested people or the peoplewho are affected by an issue take up the lead inaddressing the problem. In other words they formthe community and undertake different roles in solvingthe problems and consequently needs get fulfilled.But such a process does not take place easily andhence someone has to take the lead.

When the initiative is not forthcoming from thecommunity an external agent or an outsider or acommunity organiser steps in and works with the

Dr. A.J. Christopher, Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur

82 Social Work Intervention with Communities and Institutions

community. The community organiser depending onthe setting, situation and the problems appliesappropriate roles. The roles are likely to vary accordingto the settings, problems and needs.

Community organisation can be used by the communityorganiser in different areas or settings like, rural,urban, tribal, institutional, non institutional settings.Whatever may be the settings, depending upon themodel of community organisation like localitydevelopment, social planning and social action, thecommunity organiser has to apply different rolesrespectively. Therefore a community organiser hasto be familiar with all the roles of communityorganisation.

Settings of Community Organisation

There are different areas where communityorganisation has scope. The community organisercan practice community organisation in differentsettings. The settings can be identified based oncertain characteristics like location and the natureof administration.

Geographical LocationRural, Urban, Tribal

Sector Institutional, Non-institutional

Or

Organised, un-organised

Model Locality development

Social planning

Social action

The target group with whom the community organiseris going to work with has to be identified andunderstood. The needs and problems of the community


in different settings will not be the same, and moreover,the characteristics of the people in different settingsare likely to vary. Accordingly the methods andtechniques of community organisation and the rolesof community organiser will have to be used in sucha way as to suit the differing settings andcharacteristics of people.

The organiser can use different methods to identify,assess the need, analyse and understand the situation.There are two levels of understanding, the firstlevel is the understanding of the community by theorganiser and the second level is making thecommunity to understand their own situation. Differentmethods and techniques can be used to understandand make the community to understand. ParticipatoryRural Appraisal (PRA) and Appreciative Inquiry canbe more useful in this regard. Since these are notwithin the scope of this unit, it is not discussedhere.

Whatever may be the settings there is a communityor a group of people with needs and problems. Inother words there is a general discontentment whichhas to be focused and channelised in such a waythat the people come together, think together, plantogether, implement and evaluate their actions. Inall the stages the community has to be fully involvedand their capacity increases as a result of accessand control over resources and decision making.Therefore in community organisation the communityorganiser has to play different roles in making thepeople to be on their own, without any dependencysyndrome.

The types of settings may be have limited. But itcan be said that wherever there are people livingtogether or where like minded people or the affectedindividuals come together, they form a communitydemand their due share from the society.


In different settings depending on the needs andproblems and the social situation of the communitythe roles and strategies have to be changed. Moreover,all the roles need not be applied in all the settings.In order to adopt different roles the communityorganiser has to be very clear about the processor the steps involved in the practice of communityorganisation methods and skills and accordingly theroles can be selected and applied.

Rural area is differentiated from the urban, basedon the population size, density of population andoccupation of the people. If any area the populationis more than 5000, the density is more than 300per square kilometer and more than 75 per centof the people are engaged in agricultural activities,such areas are called rural area. Along with thesecharacteristics if the geographical location in generalis in the hills occupied by tribals it is called thetribal area. In the case of urban area the populationis more than 5000, density is more than 300 persquare kilometer and more than 75 per cent areinvolved in non-agricultural activities.

Among the people inter-personal relationship andreceptiveness is high and positive in rural and tribalareas, whereas in urban area the primary relationshipwithin the community is rather low. Organising ruraland tribal people is less difficult compared to urbanpeople.

In the institutional and non-institutional settingsthe people are organised and not organised respectively.In an institution due to the organisational structurethere is possibility to bring the people together forany common purpose, whereas in the case of non-institutional there is not structured pattern andhence it may be difficult to bring them together.


The three models of community organisation expectdifferent sets of roles. In locality development modelthe people come together to discuss and decide aboutthe improvement of an area, or locality, emphasizingthe broader participation at the local level in goaldetermination and action.

In the social planning model the people come togetherand gather pertinent facts about the problems, thendecide on a rational and feasible course of action.It is a technical process of solving social problems.Arranging and delivering goods and services to peoplewho need them. External help is more. Interestedgroup members participate. Broader participation isless.

Social action model brings the people to destroy theoppressors. Basic changes in social situations arebrought about by organising the affected segmentof the population so that they make demands onthe larger community for increased resources orbetter treatment in accordance with social justiceand democracy and redistribution of power, resourcesand decision-making.

The community organiser has to see, observe andunderstand all the settings and the models beforeresponding or making the people to respond to thesituation.

Steps of Community Organisation

Community organisation has a series of steps. Byfollowing these steps one would be able to apply thedifferent principles, methods and models of communityorganisation. The steps of community organisationare discussed in the following pages.


People/Community

1) Are they in a difficult situation?

Yes No get out and go to other locality

2) Did they express it?

Yes No make the people to realize it

3) Did they analyse the problem for itsmagnitude, symptoms and causes?

Yes No enable them toanalyse it

4) What is their level of consciousness –magic, naïve and critical?

Critical level Magic or increase the levelNaïve level of consciousness

The above first four stages or steps are the basicsteps to make the community to attain the requiredcapacity to identify, analyse and understand theneeds and problems of the community. This couldbe otherwise called as Assessment of Needsand Problems of the community. Communityorganiser has to know about the needs andproblems. At the same time he has to enablethe people to make an assessment of the needsand problems. In order to do this the communitymembers have to come forward and express theirviews for further action individually or collectively.In this process the people get empowered by


way of acquiring the skills of analysis and raisingthe levels of consciousness.

5) List the problems – All the identified needsand problems of the community are listed by thecommunity with the help of the communityorganiser. This is a process which makes thepeople to understand their own situation.Realization of the needs and problems will bringawareness about their own situation. Theinvolvement of the community in identifying thevarious needs and problems will increase theparticipation of the people. The problems in differentsettings are likely to differ and hence accordinglythe identified problems are listed.

6) Give priorities – All the needs and problemscannot be considered together for further action.Therefore all the needs and problems are analysedfor its severity, magnitude, symptoms and causesbased on which they are ordered and priorityis given to the needs and problems. The communityafter having identified the needs and problems,analyze them and give priority and the order inwhich they have to be taken up for further actions.

7) Select a problem – From the priority list mosturgent problem which needs to be taken upimmediately is selected. All the problems cannotbe approached simultaneously therefore thereis need for selecting any one problem to initiatefurther action. Based on the order of prioritythe first in the list is taken up for working outsolutions.

8) Redefine the problem – The selected problemis redefined for better understanding by thecommunity. For better planning the problem hasto be analysed and defined before taking anyfurther step in addressing the problem. Manytimes one may look at a phenomenon as a problem


by its appearance or at the peripheral level, insteadit has to be further analysed as to what is thereal problem. Does it affect the normal functioningof the community? How many people are beingaffected? How are they affected? If nothing isdone towards this how it will disturb the community?These are some of the questions by which wecan easily analyse and redefine the problem.

9) Formulate achievable objective – The redefinedproblem is converted into achievable objectiveswhich will be considered for further action. Attimes the objectives have to be split into manyparts so that they could be converted intoprogrammes and activities towards fulfilling theneeds and solving problems. Let us assume thatilliteracy is a problem in a community. It is furtheranalysed that majority of the people of the localityhave not gone to school in their childhood. Oneof the reasons for that was that there was noschool in their locality. At present a school hasbeen constructed and teachers are appointed.Now non availability of the school is not thereason for illiteracy. It is further analysed andfound that the children are not sent to the school.Though there were many children in the school-going age, the parents do not send them to theschool because the teachers are not regular onthe one hand, and on the other, when the teachersare present they do not teach the children. Inthis situation the general problem externallyappears to be illiteracy but its root cause is thedefective functioning of the school.

10) Work out the alternatives – Based on theobjectives the different ways and means are tobe found out by the community throughbrainstorming. One should not be content witha problem with one solution because it will limitthe practice of community organisation. In order


to solve the selected problem the communityhas to generate maximum number of alternativesto address the problem. Let us take the problemof illiteracy as stated in the previous stage. Howdo we solve the problem? The problem is directlyrelated to the defective functioning of the school.What are the different ways to solve this? Theconcerned teachers can be met and advised. Thedefective functioning can be brought to the noticeof the higher authorities in different ways. Thehigher authorities can be met by therepresentatives with a written representationor various alternatives may be tried. Motivatemore children to join the school, withdraw allthe children from the school, close the school,organise a protest march, organise a hunger strike,etc. There could be many such alternatives topin-point attention on the problem and initiatedirect action to solve the problems on a long-term basis.

11) Select an appropriate alternative – Among theproposed alternatives one of the best alternativesis selected for tackling the selected problem. Tosolve a problem there could be many ways butthere may be one best and suitable way or methodby which the problem could be easily solved.Such options should be selected. While selectingan alternative one has to start with softer approachand in a sequence. If the lower level approachfails apply the next one and even that one failsthen select the next one and nothing works outfinally we may resort to social action methodsand may be at times we may have to resort tostrong measures.

12) Work out a plan of action – In order to realizethe selected alternative an action plan is proposedin which the responsibilities are assigned anda tentative organisational structure is prepared.


The time frame, resources needed and personnelinvolved are decided at this stage. Supposingthe illiteracy problem of a community is to betaken up first, it may be decided to meet theauthorities and present a petition. This has tobe discussed at length in order to decide aboutthe date, time, who, how many, where etc willbe the meeting. Also at the time of meeting theauthorities who is to speak? What to speak? Howto speak etc will have to be decided early androle play and sufficient practice is done in aperfect manner in order to get the desired results.

13) Mobilization of resources – To implement theplan of action the required resources are to beassessed, identified and mobilized. The resourcesmay be in terms of time, money, manpower andmaterial. An estimate is made and the sourcesare identified for mobilization. Many times manpower resources alone may help to arrive at asolution. Therefore the community has to havea thorough understanding of the uses of manpowerdue to which people by themselves may comeforward to offer themselves for further action.Apart from this any other resources have to bemobilized internally and if it is not possible, onlythen think about getting them from externalsources.

14) Implement the plan of action – After havingmade a plan of action along with the resources,the plan is implemented. The implementationtakes care of the time and resources towardsfulfilling the fixed goals. While implementing theplan of action the involvement of the people andtheir active participation by accepting theresponsibilities has to be ensured. The peoplehave to be prepared and guided to become apartner in the problem solving process.


15) Evaluate the action – The implemented plan isevaluated to find out the success and deviationof the action against the objectives. Any shortfallor any undesired results are identified and thereasons for the deviancy are discussed. The positiveand desirable results are to be appreciated. Theevaluation can be made as an ongoing componentof working with the community. It could beorganised either at periodical level or at theend of the activity either within the organisation,by the organisational personnel or by an outsideror an expert. The task is not complete unlessthe evaluation is completed.

16) Modification – Based on the evaluation, necessarymodifications are decided and introduced. In orderto bring about a permanent solution to the selectedproblem, it is to be tackled affectively with themodifications suggested. These modifications areproposed in order to find a permanently solutionto the given problem.

17) Continuation – The modified action plan isimplemented and continued.

18) Select the next problem – Once the selectedneed is fulfilled the next problem is selectedfrom the priority list.

Characteristics of A CommunityOrganiser

Characteristics of a Good Organiser

1) Curiosity – The function of an organiser is toraise questions that agitate, and challenge theaccepted pattern. He goes forth with the questionsand suspects that there are no answers but onlyfurther questions.


2) Irreverence – Curiosity and irreverence gotogether. He is challenging, stimulating, agitating,discrediting. He stirs unrest. In other words heis creating discontentment among the people byhighlighting the given situation or making thepeople to understand the dimensions and possiblesolution of their social situation.

3) Imagination – To the organiser, imagination isnot only a mental faculty but something deeper.It ignites and feeds the force that drives himto organise for change. To realistically appraiseand anticipate the probable reactions of the resistingforces, he must be able to identify with themtoo, in his imagination, and foresee their reactionsto his action.

4) A Sense of humour – Humour is essential tosuccessful tactician, for the most potent weaponsknown to mankind are satire and ridicule. Itenables him to maintain his perspective and seehimself for what he really is and helps to havefriendly relationship with one and all.

5) An organised personality – He should be ableto accept and work with irrationalities for thepurpose of change. He should recognize that eachperson or community has a hierarchy of values.He must become sensitive to every thing thatis happening around him. He is always learningand every incident teaches him something. Hemust also accept without fear or worry that theodds are always against him and be preparedto accept both positive and negative reactions.

6) Free and open mind – He must have a flexiblepersonality, not a rigid structure that breaksdown when something unexpected happens. Theorganiser while working with the community doesnot have any hidden agenda or preconceived ideas.


7) Discerning and critical eye – The organiser shouldbe able to look at the situation and differentiateit critically. Any situation has to be viewed throughthe eyes of the people carefully and find out itsmagnitude, symptoms and causes.

8) Receptive ear – The organiser has to be a goodand an attentive listener, listening to the peopleand to their problem. The organiser while workingwith the community has to be person havingcapacity patient listening, and does not give ordersto the people.

The difference between a leader and an organiseris – the leader goes on to build power to fulfillhis desires to hold and wield the power for purposesboth social and personal. He wants power tohimself. The organiser finds his goal in creationof power for others to use.

Skills of an Effective Community Organiser

Problem Analysis – One of the major tasks of thecommunity organiser is to assist the people in arrivingat a solution to the problem. The organiser is capableof identifying the problem and making the peoplealso to identify, analyse, give priorities, select anappropriate priority, mobilize resources, make a planof action, implement, monitor, evaluate, modify andcontinue.

Resource Mobilization – Any problem of the communitywhile working out the solution requires resources.The resources may be in terms of manpower, moneymaterial and time. On the one hand the organiseris aware of the availability of the resources withinthe community or outside the community and onthe other makes the people to identify the sourcesof resources and the way to tap such resources.

Conflict Resolution – Problems of the communityinvolves the people affected by the problem and the


others who are the causes for the problem. Thereforethere could be a conflict between these two groupsor between the people and the system. The organiseris equipped with the skill for identifying the conflictingsituation and making the people to understand theconflict and then work out the ways and means tofind solutions to the conflict.

Organising Meeting – Communication within thecommunity and between the community and theorganiser is most important. There needs to betransparency in the dealings for which formal andinformal meetings have to be organised andinformation shared. The sharing of information enablessharing of responsibility and decision making.

Writing Reports – Documentation of the events forfuture reference and follow up is absolutely essential.Any communication or any written representationand the report of the dealings have to be recorded.This task is either done by the community organiseror delegated the task to some one else.

Networking – In a community while working withthe people the participation of the people strengthensor increases the power of the people. At times supportfrom like minded people or organisation has to elicitedso that a pressure is built against the oppressiveforce. This helps to create pressure and increasethe bargaining power for which networking with otherpeople and organisations is done by the communityorganiser.

Training – Capacity building of the people and thepersonnel of an organisation is important while workingwith the community. In the process of capacity buildingthe community organiser has to be a good trainer.The community organiser has to use his trainingability and skills in this regard.


Roles of Community Organiser

Community organiser having the requiredcharacteristics and skills and the knowledge aboutthe process and steps of community organisation,will be able to apply the same in different settingsby playing appropriate roles. The different roles ofa community organiser are discussed here. Theseroles are neither exhaustive nor mutually exclusive.

1) Communicator – The community organisertransfers or transmits information, thought,knowledge etc. to the members of the community.Sharing of information enables the communityto be better prepared and empowered withinformation. The communication between theorganiser and the community and within thecommunity is essential. The people have to beprepared and informed about the various effectsor consequences of the community organisationprocess. The communication takes place byindividual contact, group meetings, groupdiscussions, public meetings etc.

At times the community organiser takes an upperhand and considers that the people are illiterateand ignorant and hence the dealings with thepeople become a master slave relationship. Inorder to avoid any such undesired relationshipthe community organiser has transparency andcommunicates with the people. The communicationenables better interaction which leads to a healthyrelationship and cooperation for further actionand response.

The community organiser in order to disseminatethe information to the people can use differenttechniques like skit, role plays, street plays andaudio and vides shows. The organiser can trainthe people in all these communicative techniques.It will be more effective if he is able to organise


the small children and train them in this regard.The children are an effective communicativechannel and a fast growing channel.

The local groups like women’s group, youth groupsare other channels for communication. By givingthe responsibility to such groups to communicateto all other members in the community, willalso be helpful in reaching out the whole community.There should not be any secrecy or suppressionof information which would only create undesiredresults.

2) Enabler – The community organiser facilitatesthe process in the community for a change. Hedoes not carry out any work by himself but heenables the community to do the work. Theorganiser gives importance to the process thanthe product. Therefore the people learn the processrather than get worried about the results orconsequences of the process. By the role of enablerthe organiser would create independence amongthe people by which they avoid the dependencysyndrome.

The community organiser is present with thepeople and encourages and gives differentsuggestions so that the people are able to decidewhat they would like to do and how they wouldlike to do. The community organiser only initiatesthe process and people have to follow and at thetime of difficulties they refer back to the communityorganiser. Therefore the role of the communityorganiser is to make the people to understandthe process and fully participate so that theyare ready to stand on their own.

3) Animator – In any process of communityorganisation the organiser encourages, providesdirection and guidelines to proceed in carryingout different activities. Many people because of


their culture, tend to depend on others and donot want to decide anything on their own. Insuch situation the organiser as an animator helpsthe people to come forward and have activeparticipation. Any further corrections ormodifications in the works of the community arebeing done by the animator. The animator playsa vital role in eliciting the active participationof the people from planning till evaluation, especiallyensuring involvement of people in all the dealingsof the issues and problems.

The people in general do not want to take anyrisk and at times they do not even want to doanything for common good. One of the reasonscould be that the people have the attitude ofculture of poverty or culture of silence. Thiscould be changed by the community organiserby pricking or tickling the conscience of the peoplethrough raising questions. This would furtherenable them increase their level of consciousness.

4) Guide – The community organiser instead of doinganything on his own guides the members of thecommunity in the process of communityorganisation. The community organiser is not aperson to shoulder the responsibility or solveproblems of the people. Instead he has to makethe people to respond for which the organiserprovides the various avenues and shows differentroutes while dealing with the community problems.As a guide, the organiser provides the neededinformation. He has to be a person with lots ofinformation and ideas. For example in a communitythere are many educated unemployed youth andtheir presence in the community is consideredmore of nuisance than as a human resource.In such a situation the community organisershould be able to provide information about thevarious employment opportunities, and different


ways to become self-employed, the terms andconditions for availing credit from the creditinstitutions etc. have to be told to the youth.Once the community organiser is able to provideinformation which is useful to the people, theyouth from the neighbouring areas may alsoapproach in getting some guidance from thecommunity organiser. This would surely fetchcredit to the community organiser as well ashelps gain the goodwill of the people.

5) Counsellor – The community organiser understandsthe community and enables the community tounderstand itself. At the time of difficulty theindividuals or the groups are given the requiredcounselling to help them proceed in the correctdirection. One of the very basic dimensions ofcounselling is to be a patient listener. Usuallyevery one likes others to listen to them andhesitate to listen to others. Moreover as a counsellorhe has to step into the shoes of others, understandand respond. People when they are in trouble,what they need most is that there should besome one to listen to them. When people approachwith a problem there should be someone to attendto. In all such situations the community organisercan easily step in as a counsellor for helpingthe people.

6) Collaborator – The community organiser joinshands in performing his task with his colleagueswith other like minded people and organisations.The organiser has to have interpersonalsrelationships and public relations skills. Nowadaysorganisations approach a problem not with theirpersonal capacity as they also depend uponneighbouring organisation. Similarly otherorganisations may also look for cooperation andcollaboration with different organisations. Thereare also organisation working towards a similar


problem, wherein a collaborative effort willstrengthen both the organisations. Therefore therole of collaborator is very much needed fornetworking with similar and like mindedorganisations working for a common cause.

7) Consultant – The community organiser enjoysthe confidence of the people and advises themin matters of vital interest. The communityorganiser becomes a person with knowledge andinformation which is being shared with the people.As a consultant the community organiser makeshimself available to the people who are in need,because the community organiser has informationand expertise which could be availed of by thosewho are in need of it. The community organiserinstead of working in the field in one area, willbe able to contribute his expertise through manyindividuals and groups by performing the role ofa consultant.

8) Innovator – The community organiser innovates,performs, and improves upon the techniques,through in the process of community organisation.This gives a lead to the people of the communityand enables them to try out new ways and meansto find solutions to their needs and problems.The community organisation should not be merelyfor solving problem. On the other hand it hasto function in the areas of capacity building ofthe individuals and community where the organisercan be an innovator by introducing new waysto improve the capacity of the people. Communityorganiser is not a person to maintain the systemthat exists, but he should be a person to introducenew ways and means to climb up the developmentladder.

9) Model – The community organiser commandsperfection as a community organiser and servesas a source of inspiration. The role of the organiser


is to become an example while working with thepeople. This should further become a model whichcould be applied in other areas with similarproblems. By proper planning in approaching aproblem and executing the plan and documentingthe whole process will be of great help to others.The problem solving process becomes a modelto others.

10) Motivator – The community organiser stimulatesand sustains active interest among the peoplefor reaching a solution to the needs and problems.The community organiser encourages thecommunity to take up a minor task and completeit successfully which would enable the peopleto take up more difficult tasks. In such a processthe people at times may not take any initiativeor content to live with the existing situation.Therefore the organiser motivates the people bymaking them observe, analyse, understand andrespond to the situation. When people arediscouraged because they were not able to achievewhat they wanted or there is resistance andopposition in such situations the organiser playsthe role of a motivator to help them continueefforts in spite of difficulties.

11) Catalyst – In the process of community organisationthe community organiser retains his identity,at the same time enables the people to beempowered. The people gain accessibility andcontrol over resources and acquire skills in decisionmaking. The community organiser acceleratesthe actions and reactions so that people areable to achieve the desired results. As a catalystthe organiser is able to increase the responselevel of the people. The catalyst role furtherenables the people to become independent andbecome expert in responding to their own needs.


12) Advocate – The role of the advocate is to arepresent or persuade the members of thecommunity and prepare them to be arepresentatives so as to represent the issues tothe concerned authorities to bring about solutionto the unmet needs. The advocacy role is animportant one in the present context. The needsand problems of the people have to be representedand the required support and networking obtainedin order to increase the pressure on the oppressiveforces. In the role of advocate the communityorganiser champions the rights of others. Thecommunity organiser speaks on behalf of thecommunity when community is unable to do so,or when community speaks but no one listens.The advocate represents the interests of thecommunity to gain access or services or to improvethe quality of services which may be hamperedby other forces. An advocate argues, debates,bargains, negotiates, and confronts the evil doerson behalf of the community.

13) Facilitator – The community organiser helps thecommunity to articulate their needs, clarify andidentify their problems, explore appropriatestrategies, select and apply intervention strategies,and develop the people’s capacities to deal withtheir own problems more effectively. A facilitatorprovides support, encouragement, and suggestionsto the community so that they may proceed moreeasily and skillfully in completing tasks or solvingproblem. A facilitator assists the community tofind coping strategies, strengths and resourcesto produce changes necessary for realizing goalsand objectives. A facilitator helps client systemsto alter their environment.

14) Mediator – The community organiser intervenesin disputes between parties to help them findcompromises, reconcile differences, or reach


mutually satisfying agreements. The mediatortakes a neutral stance between the involved parties.A mediator is involved in resolving disputes betweenmembers or between the community and otherpersons in the broader environment.

15) Educator – The community organiser as educatorconveys information to the community and thosein the broader environment. Organiser providesinformation necessary for coping with problemsituations, assists the community in practicingnew behaviour patterns or skills, and teachesthrough presentation of role models. Thecommunity organiser provides informationnecessary for decision making.

Community organisation is a macro method insocial work. The community organiser with therequired qualities and skills will be able to workwith the people. While working with the peopleof different background or from differentgeographical set up the different roles can beapplied. All the roles need not be, or cannot be,applied in all the settings or in dealing with allthe problems. Moreover there is no one role whichis superior or inferior and while dealing withany problem the organiser has to play more thanone role. Therefore depending upon the situationand the needs and problems of the communityappropriate role has to be applied.

Conclusion

This chapter has described the settings in whichcommunity organisation can be applied and the skillsand characteristics of a community organiser. Thecommunity organisation process involves thecommunity in taking the initiative in identifying,analyzing, selecting the different needs and problemsof the community. The community also identifies


the needed resources and works out the plan ofaction, implements, evaluates and continues withthe next priority areas. In the process of communityorganisation the organiser plays different roles likecommunicator, counsellor, consultant, motivator,innovator, guide, advocate etc. in different settingsdepending on the situation and needs and problemsin the area.

References

Cox, F.M., et.al. (1987), (Fourth Editions) Strategiesof Community Organisation, Illinois : Peacock Publishers.

Gangrade, K.D. (1971), Community Organisation in India,Bombay, Prakashan.

Kramer, Ralph M & Harry Specht (1975), Readingsin Community Organisation Practice, New Jersey: PrinticeHall Inc.

Ross, M.G. (1955), Community Organisation, Harperand Row Publishers, New York.

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