THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

School of Social Work

SW 550 Section 002

Theory and Practice of Community Organization

Dr. Larry M. Gant
2060 C Frieze
Phone 763-5990
Fax 313-342-5272
e-mail:lmgant@umich.edu

Course Internet Address:

http://www.umich.edu/~sw550/gant/index.html

Also accessible via the School of Social Work Homepage

Fall 1997: Wednesdays September 3, 1997 - December 3, 1997 @9 AM -12 PM

Table of Contents:

Course Activities and Grading Breakdown

Class Exercises

Each month you will be assigned one exercise. Exercises may be done individually or in groups of no more than four students. Course materials will provide instruction on the completion of the exercises. You will be working in one of several Detroit communities (where I have ongoing projects) and directly applying concepts learned to actual community based activities in Detroit communities and neighborhoods. Reports are expected to be of professional or near professional quality. Page length will vary but probably will not exceed fifteen pages. Figures, tables, and drawings must also be typed and prepared with professional quality (freehand drawing is not permitted).

• September: Environmental Scan Exercise: Due Oct. 1
• October: Asset Mapping and Gap Analysis Exercise: Due Nov. 1
• November: Logic Model Development Exercse: Due Dec. 1

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Quiz formats:

Objective Quiz format:

The objective quizzes will be comprised of about 30 items each quiz consisting of matching, true/false, and multiple choice items reflecting the content of the course (lecturettes, workshops, and readings). The quizzes will be available on the course homepage after noon on 9/24, 10/22, and 11/19. Quizzes will be due to the instructor no later than noon of the following day, e.g. noon 9/25, 10/23, 11/20. Answers to the quiz may be submitted using hard copy, disk (prepare in Word for Windows format, please), fax or email.

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Grade Assignment

Grades will be earned solely by your academic performance. I am available to assist your learning in any way I can. The grades of A and A- are reserved for exceptional performance and will be difficult to obtain in this course! The grading scale is as follows:

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Course Description

This course prepares people to work for community change in a culturally diverse society. It analyzes the historical development and changing context of practice, relevant social research and theory, roles of community work in the prevention of individual and social problems, and existing change. Models to be covered include social action, social planning, political advocacy, popular education, and community development. Emphasis is placed on working for change with populations-at-risk. The effects of race, ethnicity, and gender variables are heavily considered.

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Course Objectives

Students should be able to demonstrate beginning level competency in the following:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the changing context and historical development of community organization practice in social work and other fields;

2. Critically analyze the theories and research findings about community organization from relevant academic disciplines and professional fields;

3. Understand and utilize major models and methods of practice, e.g., organizing for social action, social planning, political advocacy, popular education, community development;

4. Assess and apply several skills in the community change assessing community needs and strengths, developing capacity, and building support for implementation.

5. Identify the strategies used by community organizers in preventing the emergence of social problems and promoting healthier communities;

6. Identify ways in which issues of gender, race, ethnicity, social class, age, and other forms of social stratification influence and are influenced by community change efforts;

7. Identify problem and issues of populations-at-risk, such as people of color, women, and gays and lesbians, in addition to those distinguished by age, ethnicity, culture, class, religion, and physical or mental ability.

8. Apply social work professional ethics (using the NASW code and other relevant documents) to issues commonly confronted in community organization practice.

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Required Texts

There are three required texts for this course. They may be purchased at various campus bookstores in Ann Arbor (Ulrichs, Barnes/Noble, Michigan Bookstore). Please call the bookstore before you go!

Cox and Beale (1997). Developing competency to manage diversity. Bennet-Koehler.

Kretzmann and McKnight (1993). Building communities from the inside/out. Acta Publications.

Kirst-Ashman and Hull (1997). Generalist pracitce with organizations and communities. Nelson-Hall.

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On reserve:

Betten, N., & Austin, M. J. (1990). The roots of community organizing,1917-1939.Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Bradshaw. C. et al. (1994). Toward a hybrid model for effective organizing in communities of color. Journal of Community Practice. 1, 2542.

Checkoway, B. (1995). Six strategies of community change. Community Development Journal. 30, 2-20.

Daley, J. M., & Wong, P. (1994). Community development with emerging ethnic communities. Journal of Community Practice. 1, 9-24.

Faulkner, A., Roberts-DeGennaro, M., & Weil, M. (Eds.) (1993). Development and diversity in community practice. Binghamton: Haworth Press.

Gutierrez, L. M., & Lewis, E. A. (1992). Feminist organizing with women of color. In F. G. Rivers & J. L. Erlich (Eds.) Community organizing in a diverse society. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Gutierrez, L. M., & Nurius, P. (1994). Education and research for empowerment practice. Seattle: University of Washington.

Horwitt, S. D. (1989). Let them call me rebel: Saul Alinsky. His life and legacy. New York: Random House.

Rooney, J. (1995). Organizing the South Bronx. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Rothman, J., Erlich, J., & Tropman, J. (1995). Strategies of community organization. Itasca: F. E. Peacock.

Rothman, J. & Gant, L. (1985). Needs assessment approaches and models of community intervention. In Donald Johnson, Larry Meiller, Lorna Miller, & Gene Summers (Eds.), Building A Responsive Society. University of Iowa Press.

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. 5. (1992). Communitv organizing and development. New York: Macmillan.

Simon, B. L. (1994). The empowerment tradition in American social work:A history. New York: Columbia University Press.

Wallerstein, N., & E. Bernstein. (1994). Community empowerment, participatory education, and health. Health Education. 21,141-148.

See also these entries in the Encyclopedia of Social Work (available in SW library on CD Rom):

Citizen Participation (Gamble and Weil) ESW Vol1:483-494.

Community (Martinez-Brawley) ESW Vol 1: 539-548.

Community Organization (Si Kahn) ESW Vol 1: 569-576.

Community Practice Models (Weil and Gamble) ESW Vol 1: 577-594.

Community Development (Harrison) ESW Vol 1: 555-562.

Social Planning (Gummer) ESW Vol 3: 2180-2186

Interdisciplinary and Interorganizational Collaboration (Abramson and Rosenthal) ESW Vol 1: 1479-1489

Progressive Social Work (Bombyk) ESW Vol 3: 1933-1942.

Useful journals in community organization practice:

Journal of Community Practice, Community Development Journal

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Additional Notes

1. Save to clarify class questions, I will not lecture mcuh on the required readings. There is no material in the texts that are beyond your comprehension. It's your responsibility to read the texts and learn from them. Class time will be spent reviewing assigned articles, engaging in group exercises in critical thinking, discussion of case studies, and doing community organization.

2. Office Hours are Wednesdays-Thursdays from 2-5 pm and by appointment only. Please check with me. I will try to be as available and flexible as possible. I am most easily accessible by internet/e-mail.

3. I have provided a detailed outline and time schedule to which I will attempt to adhere. If we do get behind, however, I have built in a few relatively light days during which we will be able to catch up. On occasion, class notes will be available via the course homepage. You're encouraged to download these materials before the class. Of course, notes in an of themselves are not a substitute for class attendance and participaton. This will increase the amount of time we can spend on the subject material. Although my presentations will follow these notes, it is still important that you do the readings before each class if you are to maximize your benefit from this course. This type of material is learned best when your first exposure is not in a classroom situation, but as you grapple with readings before a lecture. I also strongly encourage you to ask questions during class.

4. Class attendance: Highly encouraged, but frankly it is at your discretion. I will simply say that lectures and workshops go significantly beyond reading material of the course. Homework assignments and quizzes will be based both upon readings and class presentations. Finally, students report learning much more as a result of interactive exercises and dialogue.

5. We will be conducting community organization activities in the field. Doing this requires extensive training and preparation. We will try to complete our work and visits to Detroit by Thanksgiving.

6. I encourage you to work in small groups (2-4 people) throughout the course. Students are able to complete course requirements with less stress and strain in groups than alone. Groups may be ad hoc, short term, or enduring. I recommend smaller than larger groups.

7. Students who feel comfortable with substantial portions of the course content are very strongly urged to meet with me as soon as possible. Together, we can develop an advanced track to meet any interest, expertise level or background.

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Course Outline

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Return to the Home Page for Dr. Gant's Social Work 681 course.