Community Development in the United Kingdoms - Essay Example

Introduction Community development is the effort which promotes self-help, mutual support, the building up of neighbourhood integration, the development of neighbourhood capacities for problem-solving and self-representation, and the promotion of collective action to bring a communitys preferences to the attention of political decision-makers. (Smith, M. K -1996, 2006) Community development seeks to empower individuals and groups by providing them with the skills they need to effect change in their own communities and to bring about Social Justice, Self-determination, Social Capital, and a community of place and community cohesion. These skills are often concentrated around building political power through the formation of large social groups working for a common agenda and the betterment of the individual and society. Concepts of Community development Community development is the process or effort of building communities on a local level with emphasis on building the economy, forging and strengthening social ties, and developing the non-profit sector. Based on these dynamics Social Justice, Self-determination, Social Capital, and a Community of place and Community cohesion are all integral parts of community development. This can be further understood by understanding what these terms mean. Social justice is the belief that every individual and group is entitled to fair and equal rights and participation in social, educational, and economic. Community development believes in the fair distribution of advantages, assets, and benefits among all members of a society. Therefore we can say social justice is an integral part of community development. Self-determination Refers to a number of distinct human rights, all peoples have the right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” These include the right to equality under the law, the right to a nationality, the right to religion, right of People to preserve its language and heritage. Here again community development has played a huge role through out history in preserving the rights of self determination. Social Capital is the approach, spirit and willingness of people to engage in collective, civic activities. Over time, social capital builds what may be termed as social infrastructure, a key ingredient of Community development Social Cohesion is the ongoing process of developing a community of shared values, shared challenges and equal opportunities, based on a sense of trust, hope and reciprocity. This again is a fundamental part of community development. Community of place is a community of people who are bound together because of where they reside, work, and visit. These people may be from different parts of the world or having different political, religious or social backgrounds, bound by the place they live or work in. Community development promotes these diverse people to work towards forming a stable, resilient and cohesive local community adding to the well-being of the larger society History of Community development in the United Kingdom Community development in the United Kingdom started with the efforts of colonial administrators after the Second World War. The sudden concern with community development in United Kingdoms was a reaction to the growth of nationalism, and a desire to increase the rate of industrial and economic development. Mayo (Mayo.M-1975: 130) suggests that administrators coined the term while attempting to develop basic education and social welfare in the UK colonies. Community development was defined in one of the UK government publication as: ‘active participation, and if possible on the initiative of the community, but if this initiative is not forthcoming spontaneously, by the use of techniques for arousing and stimulating it in order to achieve its active and enthusiastic response to the movement’. (Colonial Office 1958: 2) In early days work of community development in United Kingdoms was carried out by civic leaders, activists, citizens, wardens, secretaries of councils of social services and professionals but they did not possess a common occupational identity. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s the vocation of community workers became a distinct occupation. Two major initiatives in community development were set up in United Kingdom, The Gulbenkian Foundation in 1966 to look at the nature and future of community work in the UK; and the development of the Community Development Projects by the Home Office as part of an anti-poverty strategy. The Gulbenkian foundation focused on helping local people to decide, plan and take action to meet their own needs with the help of available outside resources; helping local services to become more effective, usable and accessible to those whose needs they are trying to meet; taking account of the interrelation between different services in planning for people; and forecasting necessary adaption’s to meet new social needs in constantly changing circumstances (Smith, M. K. -1996, 2006) During the 1960s and early 1970s there was a growing acknowledgment of the degree to which poverty remained a major feature of UK society. In 1969, the Community Development Projects programme was launched to fight poverty and was the largest action-research project ever funded by government. The intention was to gather information about the impact of existing social policies and services and to encourage innovation and co-ordination. In the 1990s however community development became more focused on the notion of capacity building, there was more interest in developing the ability of local groups and networks to function and to contribute to social and economic development. A few altruistic ideologies and effort also emerged that believed that all people have the right to an equitable share in the worlds resources, and to be the authors of their own development; and that the denial of such rights is at the heart of poverty and suffering’ (Eade, D. 1997). This strengthened the peoples capacity to determine their values and priorities, and to act on these, forming the basis of community development. A number of different approaches to community development can be recognized, in the United Kingdom today which includes; Community economic development , Community capacity building, Social capital formation, Political participatory development, Ecologically sustainable development, Asset-based community development, Faith-based community development, Community practice social work, Community mobilization, Community empowerment, and Community participation. Conclusion Community development in the United Kingdom may have started for economical and political gains but it also created a mass and continuous movement to improve society and work for the betterment of the individual and groups. It worked for the building of communities on a local level with emphasis on building the economy, forging and strengthening social ties, and developing the non-profit sector, it fought for social justice and rights of equal opportunity for all communities regardless of race, color, gender or nationality. References Colonial Office (1958) Community Development. A Handbook, London: HMSO. Eade, D. (1997) Capacity Building. An approach to people-centred development, Oxford: Oxfam Mayo, M. (1975) Community development: a radical alternative? in R. Bailey and M. Brake (eds.) Radical Social Work, London: Edward Arnold Smith, M. K. (1996, 2006) Community development, the encyclopaedia of informal education, www.infed.org/community/b-comdv.htm) Smith, M. K. (1996, 2006) Community work, the encyclopaedia of informal education, www.infed.org/community/b-comwrk.htm. Read More