REPORT

ON

COMMUNITY WORKS
+ Meaning: -
The word community has been derived from two words of Latin namely ‘com’ and
‘munis’. In English ‘com’ means together and ‘munis’ means to serve. Thos, Community means to serve
together.

The term community has both social and spatial dimensions. A community could
involve interaction among people with common interests who live in a particular area. Or it could involve
a collection of people with common social, economic, political, or other interests regardless of residency.
Place and non-place communities represent two forms of we-ness and identity.

* Definition: -

define a community as “a group of people who are socially interdependent, who

participate together in discussion and decision making, and who share certain practices that both define
the community and are nurtured by it."

Scope of Community Work :- Community development is the process where community

members come together to strengthen the civil society by prioritizing the actions of communities, and
their perspectives in the development of social, economic and environmental policy.

Community development workers communities to bring about social change and improve the quality of
life in their local area, Community development leads members to become more responsible, develop
healthy lifestyles, empower, and reduce poverty and economic opportunities.

Community work takes place in particular geographical areas, focusing on identifying their needs, issues
and strategies. It can also be concentrated on a particular area in identifying the problems of the
human being or region.

* CHARACTRISTIC OF COMMUNITY WORK-

1. A group of people:
A group of people is the most fundamental or essential characteristic or element
of community. This group may be small or large but community always refers to a group of people. Because
without a group of people we can't think of a community, when a group of people live together and share a
common life and binded by a strong sense of community consciousness at that moment a community is formed.
Hence a group of people is the first pre-requisites of community.
+ Community Sentiment:
It is another important characteristic or element of community. Because without
community sentiment a community can't be formed only with a group of people and a definite locality.Community
sentiment refers to a strong sense of awe feeling among the members or a feeling of belonging together. It refers
to a sentiment of common living that

exists among the members of a locality.

+ Naturality:
Communities are naturally organized. It is neither a product of human will nor created by
an act of government. It grows spontaneously. Individuals became the member by birth.

5. Permanence:
Community is always a permanent group. It refers to a permanent living of individuals
within a definite territory. It is not temporary like that of a crowd or association.

Similarity:
The members of a community are similar in a number of ways. As they live within a definite
locality they lead a common life and share some common ends. Among the members similarity in language, culture,
customs, and traditions and in many other things is observed. Similarities in these respects are responsible for the
development of community sentiment.

+ Wider Ends:
A community has wider ends. Members of a community associate not for the fulfillment of a
particular end but for a variety of ends. These are natural for a community.

Objectives of Community Work

The main aim and objective of community organization is to bring adjustment between the
resources available and felt needs of the people. Special objectives of community organization are following:

To get information about the resources and needs

To arouse the people to work for the welfare of the community

To create sounds ground for planning and action

To create a sense of cooperation integration and unity among the people

To motivate the people to take better participation in the developing community programs
To highlight the causes of various problems affecting the community and hinder the way of progress and
development

To implement programs required for the fulfillment of people basic needs

To mobilize the resources to create a suitable ground for the basic needs completion and abdication of problems.

To bring coordination between the individuals, groups and organization to focus their point and their objectives
for fulfillment

To launch necessary reforms in the community for eradication of community evils .

To develop democratic leadership among people through their participation in community programs

To develop the idea of ability and better thinking to work for the betterment of community.

The basic aim and objective of community organization is to abolish the differences among individuals, develop
spirit of common interest and sacrifice and also participate collectively in community programs.

To organize the people for the promotion and progress of community

 * Principles of Community Work
It is very significant for a professional social worker to understand some of the underlying
principles in community organization before looking at the specific processes involved. McNeil, in a pioneering
effort, observes that there are certain principles that seem universally applicable:

Community organization for social welfare is concerned with people and their needs.

Its objective is to enrich human life by bringing about and maintaining a progressively more effective adjustment
between social welfare resources and social welfare needs.

The community is the primary client in community organization for social welfare. The community may be a
neighborhood, city, country, state or nation. community may be a neighborhood, city, country, state or nation.

All the people of the community are concerned in its health and welfare services.

Representation of all interests and elements in the population and their full and meaningful participation are
essential objectives in community organization.

The fact of ever changing human needs and the reality of relationships between and among people and groups
are the dynamics in the community organization process.

Interdependence of all threads in the social welfare fabric of organization is a fundamental truth. No single
agency can usefully live onto itself alone but is constantly performing its fonctions in relation to others.
 + Components of Community Work
There are five significant components of community work in community organization:

+ The Community:
The term in social work terminology is used to denote a targeted population within a
defined geographical locale. However, the nature of the community varies with the perplexing variety of
settings for social life in villages, towns, cities and metropolitan regions in modern societies.

+ The Groups:
In India, it is common to see groups living in a particular locality on the basis of caste,
occupation, religion and place of migration which may also mean linguistic affiliations. These particular
divisions structure relationships in the community. The hold of tradition on different groups is another
vital point of analysis for the professional social worker.

One of the basic values of social work practice is a belief in the inherent worth and dignity
of human beings. Therefore, no matter whether the ultimate purpose is to introduce welfare services for
the entire community or to work with a group, the worker is always conscious of the importance of each
member of the community. The participation of each member in the benefits of development is a prominent
objective in any type of social work intervention.

D. The Social Worker:

The social worker is an important component of community organization. He is required
to possess scientific temper and skills to work with communities. He has to learn several things such as
language, new customs, unfamiliar behavior patterns, and so on.

E. The Agency:
The nature of the agency, the people who make policy decisions, the way in which
these decisions are made, the sources of funding and the political

affiliation of the organization, all have a significant bearing on community work in India and other third-
world countries, Community work through an agency means that the method of determining needs and
priorities, the beneficiary and the range of activities, will be substantially influenced bythe agency
manifest to. Ingovernmental agencies, the worker has very little freedom to deviate from the norms set by
the agency.
* Types of community work

Individuals

As you may have guessed already, an individual is not a community but rather its subject and
agent. In terms of its focus, this is the narrowest level for analysis. The main consideration for this
level is examining how an individual interacts with his or her community and vice versa.

Microsystems

Just beyond the level of the individual are microsystems, Microsystems are the most intimate groups
with which an individual participates, engages, and grows.
OUR COMMUNITY WORKS PICTURE..