Community 's Membership And How My Identity As A Social Worker Is Influenced By The Community

My community, Kissimmee, Florida, is just south of Orlando and it is mainly known to outsiders for its multitude of amusement parks such as Walt Disney World, Gator land, Volcano Bay etc. and its beautiful lakes surrounded by walking paths, playgrounds and fishing post. Although my community has many wonderful attributes, the thing I truly admire the most is how strongly it is invested in each other. There is always something going on that gives the community the opportunity to come together. Throughout my first three years living in Kissimmee, there has always been community-wide parades, the annual fair, Boys and Girls club, YMCA, many establishments lending a helping hand to help our schools excel etc. It didn’t matter if you knew someone

This paper will be expressing a theoretical perspective on the communities in the macro social environment. This paper will be discussing the Human Ecology Theory, Socio-Psychological Theory, Structural Theory, and Functionalist Theory. I will be identifying the strengths and weakness and explain why they are so. I will also provide you with some similarities and differences among each perspective. Lastly, I will choose which theory I prefer. By the ending of this paper, I hope to have given an understanding about communities and how they all work. Communities are a contributing factor for why individuals act the way they do, in the macro social environment. Social workers need to be aware of how these communities work to understand and work with the individuals.

We, learning and development, training, OD practitioners etc, are in the business of the restoration of humanity. Society is designed as a system of economic units. They extract our humanity.

Rosslyn has developed several programs to improve the wellbeing of its members. For example, the recently introduced Local Exchange Trading System (Siri, 2014) has encouraged the community’s economic growth and enhanced a sense of belonging among the community members. Asset based community development approaches are always given priority in Rosslyn. Various community development programs in collaboration of community members, third sectors and other stakeholders has been taking place in my community. Some members of the community are involved in activist network and support community awareness programs.

The section on social capital will be coded on the relationships within the community and with the community organizations and services available. The trust or mistrust of members/services will used to measure relationship strengths. The overall views of individuals on community interactions will be coded on whether they consider themselves part of the community, part of the issue, or in need of assistance. The views on whether the individual feels they are part of the community and their engagement will measure social capital within that

The definition of a community is a group of people who live in the same place and have similarities. The success of a community is the responsibility of every individual in it. What you invest and what personal interest you put aside for the community will determine its success. Many people don't help their community because it infringes with their own personal interests or well being, which sadly is the case with most communities, be that the USA, Decatur Il, or Meadowlark.

Traditionally, a community is made up of a group of individuals living in the same geographical location who share common values and interests. However, a community can also be a small group of people who share something in common such as a public housing project or a sports team. A community can even be a larger group of people within the same community. It is already complex to help an individual; helping a community is even more difficult. It requires the support of everybody in the community, and a social worker to help individuals increase their well-being. Social workers must understand the community in order to help an individual, family, or specific group. Social workers must get a clear sense of the setting they are working with, as

Communities @ work provides a large range of programs of social value and practical benefit in the community. They set out to see a buoyant and socially inclusive community that looks after the well-being of all people.

While it is difficult to define what constitutes a successful community, many of these share a variety of common characteristics. Successful communities strive to capitalize on the unique history, natural surroundings, architecture, and locally owned businesses found in their area to bring economic success to their citizens. In order to achieve this, a successful community must work to organize their members and to maximize community engagement to plan for the future (McMahon, 2013).

In the Macro level of social work, communities are the primary settings for human behavior. Communities are clusters of people who have something in common. A major social work perspective views communities as entities where citizens can organize or be organized in order to address mutual concerns and improve their over-all quality of life. Throughout this paper I will discuss four conceptual perspectives of communities. I will cover the following, Human Ecology, Socio-Psychological, Structural, and Functionalist.

As a social work it is important to understand the communities you are working in, from a professional perspective because it is crucial to know if there are any other resources your patient can potentially access for assistance. Getting to know your community can help you build a strong relationship with individuals to achieve the common goal, to help families in the community. Being aware of what is going on in the community can demonstrate to others that you are there in their best interest. The environment where people live often shape individuals. Learning the environment where someone is from can help you learned about a person. What goes on in the community often have an effect on how people are and often shape families. Being able to be the person individuals from the community trust and greet every day can make the job easier.

In addition to conventional societies known to the world, “utopian thinkers have developed imaginary visions of ideal city, a nowhere, where all obstacles are removed” (Manuel 1973). This vision has inaugurated the quest for human’s happiness and fulfilment in an alternative better world known as intentional community, among which New Harmony. Obviously, this community was composed of people produced by different types of cultures, education and societies, who joined the community from varied backgrounds. Interestingly, much dynamism characterized the community in its initial phase but it did not last for long ending up in fortuitous miscarriage. Unquestionably, there are worthwhile experiences concerning social reconstruction within this community to bring to limelight. Along with surveying them however, a question to ponder over is ‘in what ways might those experiences suggest ideal conditions for peaceful co-existence?’

According to Cantle (2008) the concept of community cohesion refers to the aspect of togetherness and bonding exhibited by members of a community, the ‘glue’ that holds a community together. It is important as it is the thing that keep everyone working together and to ensure that the neighbourhood works together in a beneficial way. One of the main issues that communities face in the present day is the recession and unemployment rates. Community cohesion will create confidence in each other and as a result, in the economy meaning we would spend more money and revitalise the economy. The best example of this is the Olympics in 2012 which boosted the UK economy by ‘£13 billion’. If the UK is able to sustain that community cohesion, they will be far more likely to avoid economic crisis in the future.

Community psychologists sometimes strive to foster a sense of community in a group. Members participate in communities in part because their needs are met by connecting with other members. Members are also attracted to communities in which they feel influential, share commonly held ideals that can be pursued through involvement in the community and experience a sense of belonging (McMillan & Chavis, 1986).

Community can be considered to be subjective because it looks at how the community and society understands how people see and experience situations. As Hardcastle, powers and Wnocur say that community is about understanding how people think and act. (2014, p. 146) this means that it is important to consider how values and behaviour influence generations and societies. Community Development looks at how individuals connect within societies and community levels and the implications and outcomes of this. Harms identified how being aware how community connectedness is about not only the support systems but also the consideration of environments that provide supports of acceptance and consideration of diversity. (2010, p.41). Community is about understanding people’s the need for belonging in a disadvantaged environment.Therefore, community development is important because it looks at impacts of stress and implications.Welbourne, Blanchard and Wadsworth input that analysing stress in a community is important because it considers how by reducing stress for people who are facing high levels of stress can have impacts on multiple health outcomes including wellbeing. (2013, p. 136). However, there are many levels and implications of threat to consider that being said include economic issues, social issues and environmental issues to consider. Thus the significance to understand how people are affected including young people, women and children escaping violence, issues of poverty and