community work - a review of its development and the curent state of thinking and practice

8/3/2019 Community Work - A Review of Its Development and the Curent State of Thinking and Practice

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ideas thinkers practice

What is community work? How has it developed in the UK? What is it's current state?

We review thinking and practice in the field of community work, and question the

direction it is currently taking.

contents: introductionthe emergence of community workthe gulbenkian report:

community work and social changethe community development projectscommunity

work in the 1980s - service extensioncommunity work in the 1990s - economic

development, community practice and capacity buildingcommunity work today

further reading and referenceshow to cite this article

linked articles: animationassociationalismcommunitycommunity centres

community developmentcommunity education - theorycommunity organization

community participationcommunity studies

The term community work has a relatively

short history in the United Kingdom.

Nonetheless, the number of full-time

practitioners who were described as being

engaged in community work by the early

1980s was roughly equivalent to youth work

or adult education. Then there appeared to be

some 5,365 community workers, 60 per cent

of which were employed in the voluntary

sector (Francis, Henderson and Thomas 1984). Since then there has been no substantial survey of

community workers - and there have also been fundamental changes in the economic and

institutional context in which they operate.

In this piece we explore: the emergence of community work in the UK; the impact of anti-poverty

initiatives such as the Community Development Project in the late 1960s and early 1970s; the

shape of work in the 1980s - here focusing upon the categorisation and definition of community

work advanced by David Thomas in his bookThe Making of Community Work(1983) (also of

special importance here is Barr's (1991) study of community work practice in Strathclyde); and

the state of practice in the 1990s and at the turn of the century.

The emergence of community work

In the late 1950s and early 1960s accounts of practice and theoretical explorations began to

appear that viewed community workers as a distinct occupation. Prior to this there were separategroups of workers such as community centre wardens, secretaries of councils of social services

and development workers on new housing estates, who did not possess a common occupational

identity. As Thomas (1983: 25) has argued, the main orientation was to the educational. Not

munity work - a review of its development and the curent state of thi ... http://www.infed.org/community/b-comwrk.ht

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unexpectedly - given the process-focus of many of the key figures, and the institutional location of

much of the funding and work. TheYounghusband Report (1959) on social work was a significant

turning point. It specifically drew on the North American division of social work into casework,

group workand community organization, describing the latter as:

primarily aimed at helping people within a local community to identify social needs,

to consider the most effective ways of meeting these and to set about doing so, in so

far as their available resources permit.

The first major collection of material (Kuenstler 1961) took up the notion of community

organization, but it was the terms community development and community work that became

popular - and tended to merge. The term 'community development' was adopted by many U.K.

workers and projects for work that focused on work with local neighbourhood groups to set and

meet their own needs. The changes were symbolized in two initiatives - the setting up a study

group by the Gulbenkian Foundation in 1966 (the first report appeared in 1968) 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. We will look at both

in turn.

The Gulbenkian Report: Community Work and Social Change

The Gulbenkian Report was actually focused around training but inevitably spread its net much

wider. Community work was taken to include:

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;

forecasting necessary adaptions to meet new social needs in constantly changing

circumstances (Gulbenkian 1968: 149).

From this the committee concluded that community work had in it aspects of direct

neighbourhood work, closer relations between services and people, inter-agency coordination,

and planning and policy formulation. In a crucial section they argued:

This community work function should be a recognised part of the professional

practice of teachers, social workers, the clergy, health workers, architects, planners,administrators and others. In the modern conditions of social change it is also a

necessary full time professional task. (ibid: 149)

The educationalists on the committee had argued for the conceptualization of community work as

part of education - especially adult education. Their case rested on a belief that as an intervention

it was fundamentally an educational or learning process, in fulfilment of which the use of

specialist community workers was only one strategy (Thomas 1983: 29). Thus, the advancement

of specialist workers - and the emphasis on the role of workers in making services more effective,

and in planning, signalled a significant movement away from the educational position. Further,

this report needs to be considered in conjunction with other shifts, especially in social work withthe move to generic workers recommended by the Seebohm Report (HMSO 1968). There did

appear to be a possibility that community work might become a key element of social work

(mirroring the three strands of practice in the North American literature - casework, groupwork


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and community organization). Thomas argues that:

The most profound effect of the demise of the educational influence was that the

process goals of community work were not developed beyond the rudimentary

expression they were given in the texts of the 1950s and 1960s... The educational

aspects of intervention... have remained rooted in two narrow orthodoxies... The

first... was that process goals became associated in the minds of the new

practitioners of the 1970s only with changes in individual or personal development.The second orthodoxy was to identify process goals with the rhetoric of 'raising

political consciousness'... The educational goals of community work embrace both

these... but they are also much wider. (Thomas 1983: 31)

The opportunity was also lost of developing community work within community centres and the

definition of community work continued to be tied to the particular issues of the day (ibid: 32).

In Scotland, the position was a little different. Following the Alexander Report (SED 1975) and

the establishment of a new local government structure community education services were

formed in most regions. While a considerable amount of community work remained in social

service departments in a number of regions (see the later reading by Barr 1991 concerning

Strathclyde), there has been a significant lobby for community development within community

education (PCEO 1992). Significantly, bearing in mind our earlier comments concerning

community associations, the linking of adult education with youth and community work, has

meant that the educative core of community development has been asserted.

The process is educational. It is about people in communities creating opportunities

for growth and change and deliberate movement towards the ends which they

determine and in process of doing so increase their critical awareness, knowledge,

skills and attitudes. (PCEO 1992: 7)

The Community Development Projects

During the 1960s and early 1970s there was a growing recognition of the extent to which poverty

remained a major feature of UK society (see, for example, Coates and Silburn 1970). There had

also been a fairly substantial series of debates around the significance and importance of people's

participation in various aspects of government activity - perhaps the best known being the

Skeffington Report on planning (MHLG 1969). Following the efforts of the Democratic

administration in the United States of America to wage a 'War on Poverty', the UK government

sought a similar, but cheaper, initiative. Self-help and resident participation were seen to be

possibilities for the improvement of inner city situations.

The result, in 1969, was the launch of the Community Development Projects programme. It was

the largest action-research project ever funded by government. The avowed intention was to

gather information about the impact of existing social policies and services and to encourage

innovation and co-ordination. The projects had a strong and explicit research focus and an

emphasis on social action 'as a means of creating more responsive local services and of

encouraging self help' (Loney 1983: 3). The projects were initially based in 12 areas of social

deprivation. These were neighbourhoods of 3,000 to 15,000 people. Each project involved a

small group of professional workers and researchers. The emphasis in CDPs on research meant

that they produced a range of important material both about the nature of community work andabout the social, political and economic condition of particular areas (full listing in Loney 1983).

Workers in many of the projects came to reject the analysis and strategies of the original project

proposals. They sought to organise and research around larger questions of inequality and


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deindustrialisation rather than more localized concerns around community organization. There

was often a desire to bring about a much stronger link between the struggles of the workplace and

those of the neighbourhood and community; and to develop means by which groups can join

together in things like federations to better influence decision making on a city-wide, regional and

national basis. As Loney (1983: 23) comments, the community workers who entered the field in

the late 1960s and early 1970s frequently rejected the traditional (educational) models of

community work. They replaced the process-orientated 'non-directiveness of Batten and Batten

(1967) with a commitment to organizing and a readiness to take up oppositional positions

(Baldock 1977). By 1974 the Home Office had largely given up on the projects and they were

wound up in 1976.

In some respects, the optimism and enthusiasm with which community work and 'participation'

were greeted in the early 1970s and late 1960s waned with the realisation that many of the issues

the work sought to confront were not resolvable at the local level - a realisation that was

underlined by the widespread public expenditure cuts after the oil crisis of 1974. There was a

considerable growth in the political awareness of community workers in the mid to late 1970s and

this has been reflected in the adoption by workers of very different ideological stances. This is

sometimes represented by the contrasting of so called social work or community development

traditions of practice, with political action traditions:

The former focused on the community as a social unit or organism, and was

concerned with so called 'soft' issues such as social disorganisation and the need to

build up networks and resources. The 'political action tradition' identified the

community as a political unit, and emphasised 'hard' issues such as oppression and

powerlessness. People associated themselves with each tradition, and each was

thought to have its own particular organising styles and methods ('consensual' and

'conflict'). (Thomas 1983: 93)

Three further dynamics were also at work: a more general movement away from associational

and community group activity (perhaps best articulated in more recent years in the work of

Robert Putnam); the rise of managerialism; and the coming to power of politicians who stressed

market solutions. All can be seen in developments during the 1980s.

Community w ork in the 1980s - service extension

In the early 1980s another report sponsored by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (and written

by David Thomas) suggested that community work had three major aspects:

First, to help people take action on specific issues of importance to them. Theseissues will almost invariably involve the influence of resources, either those held, for

example, by local authorities, or to be found within communities themselves. I have

referred to this as the distributive aspect of community work. It is equivalent to the

conventional category of 'product goals' familiar in community work literature.

Influence on the distribution of resources will be terminal goals for the people

involved, but I have argued that we should see them also as instrumental in

contributing towards:

secondly, the development of political responsibility; and

thirdly, that of communal coherence. (Thomas 1983: 102)


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David N. Thomas: Approaches in community w ork

Thomas (1993) isolated five main strands or approaches in his study of community

work in the early 1980s:

Commu nity Action focuses on the organisation of those adversely affected by the

decisions, or non-decisions, of public and private bodies and by more generalstructural characteristics of society. The strategy aims to promote collective action

to challenge existing socio-political and economic structures and processes, to

explore and explain the power realities of people's situations and, through this twin

pronged approach, develop both critical perspectives of the status quo and

alternative bases of power and action.

Community Development emphasises 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 community's preferences to the attention of political decision-makers.

Social Planning is concerned with the assessment of community needs and

problems and the systematic planning of strategies for meeting them. Social

planning comprises the analysis of social conditions, social policies and agency

services; the setting of goals and priorities; the design of service programmes and

the mobilisation of appropriate resources; and the implementation and evaluation

of services and programmes.

Community Organisation involves the collaboration of separate community or

welfare agencies with or without the additional participation of statutory authorities,

in the promotion of joint initiatives.

Ser vice Extension is a strategy which seeks to extend agency operations and

services by making them more relevant and accessible. This includes extending

services into the community, giving these services and the staff who are responsible

for them a physical presence in a neighbourhood. (Thomas 1983: 106-139)

In a sense these five approaches are far broader than 'community work' - especially the last,

service extension. As Thomas argues:

The correct relationship is that community work is a contribution to each of theseapproaches and, perhaps more importantly, we need to be aware of the range of

other contributions that are possible and desirable, and whose value may have been

obscured by the attention given to community work. (Thomas 1983: 107)

Here, especially, we need to consider youth work, adult education, planning, public health and

social work. Social workers, in particular following the Barclay Report (NISW 1982) and the

emphasis on community care began to explore the potential of 'community-based' approaches.

The nature of community work had shifted. While some workers still had the freedom, and were

disposed, to encourage opposition to the social and economic policies of the Conservative

government in Britain - and their impact on local communities (especially with regard to the

closure of heavy industries, engineering works and mines upon local communities); the context in

which many were employed had changed. The language of managerialism had spread through

many local authorities recasting much of the work in terms of meeting organizational objectives


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rather than local community needs. Most particularly, the focus was upon the more effective use

of resources and the efficiency of services - especially with regard to housing and care. There was

a significant shift away from locating workers in local neighbourhoods in order to sustain and

develop local groups and associational life.

In many respects we have a clearer picture of local activity in Scotland than in England from this

time. This is largely due to Alan Barr's (1991) detailed account of practice in Strathclyde. He

brought out a number of significant elements. However, two things in particular stand out. Thefirst is the emphasis on community development and process that the workers studied still had

(in contrast with the context in which they were working). This may flow, in part, from the

particular cultural, political and social situation in Scotland and the focus that community

education provides. That said, the work was located in a social work department; and it is likely

that a number of community workers in other parts of the UK would have assented to these

concerns at this time. The second, and endearing, feature of this research is that it brings out a

great deal of the routine day-to-day activities that go to make up jobs such as ours. One of the

significant features here is the relatively low amount of face-to-face work undertaken by senior

workers as compared to their assistants.

Community w ork in the 1990s - economic development, community practiceand capacity building

By the early 1990s the position ofcommunity development work had become a little battered and

activity was reduced (Popple 1995: 30). The squeeze on public expenditure; moves to curtail the

activities of local authorities (and even to abolish some - such as the Greater London Council);

continued high levels of unemployment and poverty; and movements into community care had all

acted to alter the face of the work. As Butcher (1992) argued at the beginning of the decade,

community work was going through considerable change and redefinition.

By the mid-1990s it was clear that community work approaches were being further harnessed tothe development of centrally planned initiatives such as community care; and have become less

the province of the traditional concerns of community organization and development. Where

people have been able to hang on to some of these concerns - as perhaps has been the case in a

number of the rural community initiatives (see Francis and Henderson 1992) - the emphasis was

arguably less on fostering democracy than on facilitating enterprise, holding onto local services

such as post offices and pubs, and on developing social provision such as housing. There has also

been a flurry of interest in rural work (Francis and Henderson 1992; Henderson and Francis

1993) and in childrens work (Henderson 1995; Cannan and Warren 1997).

Instead of looking to community work as an organizing idea, a number of people started to talk ofcommunity practice (and this is certainly reflected in the North American literature - see, for

example, Hardcastle and Powers 2004). In other words, various areas of work can be seen to

have a 'community dimension' and that we need to do is look at the ways in which ideas of

'community' permeate public and social policies and can be used to create alternatives (Butcher

et al 1993).

A further shift in the rhetoric of community development emerged in the mid-1990s with the

turn to capacity building. Skinner (1997: 1-2) defines capacity building as follows:

Development work that strengthens the ability of community organizations and

groups to build their structures, systems, people and skills so that they are better

able to define and achieve their objectives and engage in consultation and planning,

manage community projects and take part in partnerships and community


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enterprises.

It includes aspects of training, organizational and personal development and

resource building, organized in a planned and self-conscious manner, reflecting the

principles of empowerment and equality.

The language and direction of capacity-building fitted in with moves toward a greater concern

with economic development and planning - although a number of those interested in promoting

(such as Eade 1997) are aware of some of its limitations. It was deeply inscribed with a technicist

orientation - and was a long way from the more radical concerns of community workers in the

early 1970s.

The radical tradition has kept alive (in the literature at least - see the material on community

participation in particular). Cooke and Shaw (1997) argued for the re-etablishment of the value of

and direction of radical community work - but freedom of movement remained limited for many

practitioners - and much of the writing remained caught up in the theoretical concerns of the

early 1970s (the class of 68 as Cooke describes it).

Community w ork today

State-sponsored community work remains largely locked into the mix of care, economic

development and service delivery improvement work that developed during the 1980s and 1990s.

However, three particular areas of state-sponsored work did, to some limited extent, bring a

stronger emphasis upon community-based organization and group-functioning in England. First,

the emergence and growth oftenant management organizations has led to some attention being

given to the cultivation of local groups and the deepening of their capacity to develop and run

their own organizations. However, this has not been without tensions (ODPM 2002). In

particular local authorities have tended to see tenant management organizations as extensions of

their management activity whilst those involved are more likely to see themselves as communityactivists. They have also tended to see them as rivals. The result was that those employed to

facilitate the development of tenant's management organizations and cooperatives often slipped

into either representing the view or policies of the local authority to the group or advising them on

the technicalities of housing finance funding. The enhancement of local group life was commonly

sidelined into a series of courses on 'how to chair a committee' and such like.

Second, the New Deal for Communities Programme in England - part of the government's

strategy to 'tackle multiple disadvantage in the most deprived neighbourhoods' - has involved an

emphasis upon local community involvement. (New Deal for Communitieswas established in

1998 and expanded in 1999 to include some 39 partnerships and involving a spend of some2bn). However, results from the interim evaluation of the initiative indicate that there is only

patchy evidence of increased participation in local networks, neighbourliness and involvement in

local groups. In contrast, there does appear to have been a significant increase in the trust

invested by local residents in local institutions. As the evaluators stressed, community

involvement and engagement takes time (Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research

2005: 67).

Third, the Sure Start programme, originally announced in 1998 and aimed at increasing the

quality and availability of child care in selected areas in England, improving the health and

well-being of children, and providing support for parents initially involved a significant emphasisupon community development and involvement. Some interesting and apparently successful

locally-based work emerged. A strong case was made for this by Norman Glass and others

involved in the development of the programme on the grounds that:


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... it was necessary, in the case of early years at any rate, to involve local people fully

in the development and management of the programme if it was to take root and not

simply be seen as another quick fix by middle-class social engineers. "What works"

is important, but "how it works", at least in this policy area, is equally, if not more,

important. (Glass 2005)

If people 'owned' programmes it was argued, then they would both be more likely to address

relevant needs and to engage people. However, the community development orientation alsocontributed to the effective abolition of the programme.

Community development takes time. Disadvantaged communities have to be

persuaded to participate, and their natural suspicion leads them to hang back until

there is something to show. So the "local" Sure Start programmes (as the DfES took

to referring to them) have always been behind schedule, and - a mortal sin under

New Labour - underspent. (Glass 2005)

The governments desire to rapidly extend the programme as part of a larger strategy around

child care and parenting involved the establishment of large numbers of children's centres within

what was termed a 'children's trust approach' and the development of interdisciplinary

professional teams. The patient, and it was argued, ultimately rewarding business of community

development and full participation did not fit in with such a model.

The main carrier of a concern to cultivate community coherence and local group life in England

and Wales at least, were churches and religious groups. The numbers of youth workers employed

by local churches had increased significantly during the 1990s and alongside it there had also

been a noticeable emphasis placed upon community development. In part this was linked to the

need to encourage better use of church buildings and facilities - but there was also a strong

theological argument for attention to community life beyond that of the church. A number of

Methodist churches, for example, used a community centre model around which to base their

activities. Within, and associated with, mosques there developed a significant range of welfare

and other networks and services.

In Scotland, the picture was a little different. The community education tradition remained

reasonable strong and vocal - adopting, in significant part, the language of community learning.

In a Scottish Executive paper this was defined as 'informal learning and social development work

with individuals and groups in their communities. The aim of this work is to strengthen

communities by improving people's knowledge, skills and confidence, organisational ability and

resources'. The paper continued, 'Community learning and development makes an important

contribution towards promoting lifelong learning, social inclusion and active citizenship'

(Scottish Executive 2003). There is a real sense in which the educational role of community

development had not been lost (as was the case in England in the 1960s and 1970s) (see Tett

2006).

One further important element came into play in terms of debates about policy - social capital.

Significant press attention was given to Putnam's arguments around the diminution of social

capital in the USA (and the impact this had upon people's health, education and happiness). It

also encouraged some important debates within academic and policy circles (see lifelong learning

and social capital). While there has been some exploration of what a concern with deepening

social capital might mean in terms of work in communities (see, for example, Putnam and

Feldstein with Cohen 2003) it has been, on the whole, rather disappointing. Part of the problem is

that it entails policymakers and practitioners entertaining and making sense of issues within a

markedly different frame of reference than that which dominates discussion and policy today.


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The work involved is long-term, dependent upon process and concerned more broadly with

flourishing and happiness.

Further reading and references

I have tried to select texts that illustrate the development of the work and contemporary debates.

For ease material is themed: the development of community work; principles and practice texts;

and aspects of practice.

The development of community work

In this section I have listed some landmark books and reports, plus some histories and overviews.

Batten, T. R. (1957) Communities and their Development. An introductory study with special

reference to the Tropics, London: Oxford University Press. Chapters on: Trends in community

development; Agencies and communities; Some principles of agency work; Directing change;

Aiding community projects; Projects in disorganized communities; Building community; The

school and the community; Making people literate; Introducing new ideas; Working with groups;

Selecting and training the worker; Making communities better.

Batten, T. R. and Batten M. (1967) The Non-Directive Approach in Group and Community Work,

London: Oxford University Press. Provides a clear description of a more process and group-

oriented approach to community work. See, also, T. R. Batten's earlier, and very influential, text:

(1957) Communities and their Development. An introductory study with special reference to the

Tropics, London: Oxford University Press.

Broady, M., Clarke, R., Marks, H., Mills, R., Sims, E., Smith, M. & White, L. (ed. Clarke, R.)

(1990) Enterprising Neighbours. The development of the community association in Britain,

London: National Federation of Community Organisations. 209 + ix pages. Chapters examine

community associations as a people's movement; roots and influences; early days; high promise

and disappointment: fifteen post war years; community associations in changing society:

1966-1980; local groups and community development; group activities and personal

development; retrospect and prospect.

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1968) Community Work and Social Change. A report on

training, London: Longman. 171 + xiii pages. First substantial report focused on community

work. Surveyed the position of community work in the late 1960s; examined functions and aims;

and argued for the development of training.

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1973) Current Issues in Community Work. A Study by theCommunity Work Group, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 180 + xii pages. Follow-through

report from the 1968 report based on the activities of various sub-groups. Chapters on the scope

and value of community work; community work methods; community action; analysis and

evaluation; community workers and their employers; trining; some present needs and proposals

for meeting them.

Cannan, C., Berry, L. and Lyons, K. (1992) Social Work and Europe, London: Macmillan. 181 +

xii pages. Has chapters on social Europe; social policies and social trends in Europe; social

workers, organizations and the state; branches and themes of social work (concentrates on

Germany and France); French social work; participation; and social action. Includes material on

community work.

Cockburn, C. (1977) The Local State. Management of cities and people, London: Pluto Press. 207

pages. Important critique of the turn to community in local government and how it may serve to


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Kegan Paul.

Kuenstler, P. (ed.) (1961) Community Orga nization in Great Britain, London: Faber and Faber.

164 pages. The first substantial British collection of material - drawing on the (1959)

Younghusband Reports definition of community organization. Contains some fascinating

material - an overview of community organization in Britain (Kuenstler); the needs of old urban

areas (Mays); new estates (Smith): new towns (Taylor); councils of social service (Littlewood and

Clements); community associations and centres (Milligan); community and sociology (Dennis);and conclusions (Goetschius). Includes a useful bibliography.

Leaper, R. A. B. (1968) Community Work. Common ground explored in an experimental course,

London: National Council of Social Service. 211 + vi pages. Provides a nice snapshot of thinking

and brings out the then central focus - of working with community groups. Chapters on

'community', surveying, administration, techniques and principles, process and learning. Various

useful appendices.

Loney, M. (1983) Community Against Government. The British Community Development Project

1968-78: a study of government incompetence. Heinemann. 221 + vii pages. Definitive study of

the Initiative and how the twelve local projects variously developed a radical critique (and came

to a sticky end). Chapters deal with the context for the Initiative; the development of the CDP

proposal; establishing local CDPs; the first four projects; issues of practice; developing

difficulties in the central administration; the emergence of the radical CDP; CDPs and the politics

of urban change and conflict; and the decline and fall of rational incrementalism. There is an

extensive bibliography.

Some CDP Reports and Publication

Selected by Popple (1995: 123-124)

Benwell CDP (1978). Slums on the Dra wing Board, Final Report No. 4. Newcastle:

Benwell DP.

Birmingham CDP (1987).Youth on the Dole, Final Report No. 4. Birmingham and

Oxford: Birmingham CDP Research Team and the Social Evaluation Unit, Oxford

University.

CDP (1978). Leasehold Loopholes, Final Report No. 5. Birmingham and Oxford:

Birmingham CDP Research Team and the Social Evaluation Unit, Oxford

University.

Butterworth, E., Lees, R. and Arnold, P. (1980). The Challenge of Community

Work,

Final Report of Batley CDP, Papers in Community Studies, No. 24. York: University

of York.

Canning Town CDP (1975a). Canning Town to North Woolwich: The Aims of

Industry? London: Canning Town CDP.

Canning Town CDP (1975b). Canning Town's Declining Community Income.London: Canning Town CDP.

Canning Town CDP (1976). Growth and Decline: Canning Town's Economy


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1846-1946. London: Canning Town CDP.

CDP (1977a). Gilding the Ghetto, The State and The Poverty Experiments. London:

Community Development Project Inter-project Editorial Team.

CDP (1977b). The Costs of Industrial Change. London: Community Development

Project and Inter-project Editorial Team.

CDP IIU (1975). The Poverty of the Improvement Programme. London: CDP

Information and Intelligence Unit.

CDP IIU (1976a). Profits against Houses. London: CDP Information and

Intelligence Unit.

CDP IIU (1976b).Whatever Happened to Council Housing? London: CDP

Information and Intelligence Unit.

CDP PEC (1979). The State and the Local Economy. London: CDP PEC and

Publications Distributive Co-operative.

CIS/CDP (1976). Cutting the Welfare State (Who Profits?). London: Counter

Information Services and CDP.

Corina, L. (1977). Oldham CDP. An Assessment of its Impact and Influence on the

Local Authority, Papers in Community Studies, No. 9.York: University of York.

Corina, L., Collis, P. and Crosby, C. (1979). Oldham CDP. The Final Report.York:

University of York.

Coventry CDP (1975a). Coventry and Hillfields: Prospetity and the Persistence of

Inequality, Final Report, Part 1. Coventry: Coventry CDP.

Coventry CDP (1975b). Background Working Papers, Final Report, Part 2.

Coventry: Coventry CDP.

North Tyneside CDP (1978a). North Shields: Working Class Politics and Housing

1900-77, Final Report, Vol. 1. Newcastle: Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic.

North Tyneside CDP (1978b). North Shields: Organizing for Change in a Working

ClassArea, Final Report, Vol. 3. Newcastle: Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic.

North Tyneside CDP (1978c). North Shields: Organizing for Change in a WorkingClass Area: The Action Groups, Final Report, Vol. 4. Newcastle: Newcastle upon

Tyne Polytechnic.

North Tyneside CDP (1978d). Women's Work, Final Report, Vol. 5. Newcastle:

Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic.

North Tyneside CDP (1978e). In and Out of Work: A Study of Unemployment, Low

Payand Income Maintenance Services. Newcastle: Newcastle upon Tyne

Polytechnic.

Penn, R. and Alden, J. (1977). Upper Afan CDP Final Report to Sponsors. JointReport by Action Team and Research Team Directors, Cardiff, University of

Wales, Institute of Science and Technology. Cardiff: University of Wales.


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Some other publications

Lees, R. and Smith, G. (1975)Action-Research in Community Development,

London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 202 + xi pages. Collection of papers written by

people involved in the projects. Sections on the national community Development

Project; establishing local prjects; action in the local areas; and action and research

strategies. Some useful materialon community education.

Thomas, D. N. (1976) Orga nizing for Social Change. A study in the theory and

practice of community w ork, London: George Allen and Unwin. 199 pages.

Chapters on the relevance and value of neighbourhood resources; criteria for

intervention; community actors and the organization and structure of the

Southwark Community Project; opening moves in neighbourhood work; residents;

community workers; material resources; working with service agencies; and

assessment of Southwark Community Project.

McConnell, C. (ed.) (1996) Community Education. The making of an empowering profession,

Edinburgh: Scottish Community Education Council. 372 + viii pages. Very useful collection of

documents, articles and extracts that detail the development of community education in

Scotland. Includes material from the Alexander Report, and from many of the key writers on

Scottish community education since the mid 1970s.

Midgley, J. et al (1986) Community Participation, Social Development and the State, London:

Methuen. 181 + ix pages. The book begins with an excellent overview of community participation

and is followed by chapters exploring community participation in health, education, rural

development, urban development and housing, and social work. Midgley completes the collection

with an examination of community participation, the state and social policy. Good for placing

'community work' within a wider context of practice thinking.

Popple, K. (1995)Analysing Community Work. Its theory and practice, Buckingham: Open

University Press. 131 + x pages. Provides an introductory overview with chapters on: the

development of British community work; community work theory; models of community work;

community work in practice; conclusion and future directions. The models are basically those of

Thomas (1983) with the addition of community care; feminist community work; and Black and

anti-racist community work.

David N. Thomas (1983) The Making of Community Work, London: George Allen and Unwin.

324 + x pages. The first major review of community work in the United Kingdom since the 1960s

and really the best historical overview. Chapters on the 1960s and 1970s; participation in politics

and the community; the contribution of community work; practice in the 1980s; training for

community work; employing and funding workers; communication, research etc.

Willmott, P. (1989) Community Initiatives. Patterns and prospects, London: Policy Studies

Institute. 110 pages. Important review of developments that charts the use of community in

policy initiatives - community policing, community care, etc. Was an expression of the turn to

community practice that happened in the early 1990s.

Community work - principles and practice texts

Here I have tried to pick out some of the more popular and contemporary texts that have


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appeared. Material on community development and community organization can be found

elsewhere. Earlier material is signposted in the section on the development of community work.

Francis, D. and Henderson, P. (1992)Working with Rural Communities, London: Macmillan.

160 + xiv pages. Compact guide in the Practical Social Work series and focused on the UK.

Chapters on rural development and community work; communities and people in rural areas;

developing a strategy; a model of rural community work; working from a distance; focused,

indirect work; direct community work; management in rural community work; and ruralcommunity work in the 1990s..

Harrris, V. (ed.) (1994) Community Work Skills Manual 2e, Newcastle: Association of

Community Workers. Thoroughly updated and extended, the handbook provides practical

guidance on a comprehensive range of questions affecting community work. 24 sections deal with

matters such as roles, skills and responsibilities; tacking inequalities; empowerment and

participation; gettin to know a community; working with groups; meetings;volunteers; training;

supervision; surveys; campaigning; funding; organizing conferences and events; handling

information; publications; evaluation; managament committees; and local government. Within

each section there are briefing sheets dealing with different aspects. Accessible and designed foruse with local activists.

Henderson, P. and Thomas, D. N. (2001) Skills in Neighbourhood Work3e, London: Routledge.

296 pages. This remains the standard treatment of neighbourhood work in the UK. Although

somewhat dry and 'technicist', the book's strength lies in its comprehensiveness and focus on

process. Chapters examine some of the ideas around which the book is organized; entering the

neighbourhood; getting to know the neighbourhood; needs, goals and roles;making contacts and

bringing people together; forming and building organizations; helping to clarify goals and

priorities; keeping the organization going; dealing with friends and enemies; leavings and

endings; and a little more about process.

Pearse, M. and Smith, J. (1990) Community Groups Handbook, Nottingham: Journeyman. 119

+viii pages. Handbook for community groups (first published in 1977) with sections on how

community groups work;community groups and public authorities; and taking action.

Robertson, C. and Shaw, J. (1997) Participatory Video. A practical approach to using video

creativity in group development, London: Routledge. 256 pages. Very much a practical guide to

using videa in group development work. Features over 60 exercises and advice on workshop

planning; video equipment; and running long-term projects.

Skinner, S. (1997) Building Community Strengths. A resource book on capacity building ,London: Community Development Foundation. 136 + xiv pages. Part one is an introduction to

capacity building; Part two deals with developing people; Part three: developing organizitions;

Part four: developing community infrastructure; and Part five: developing plans and strategies. A

practical guide and rather 'listy'.

Twelvetrees, A. (1982; 1991; 2001) Community Work, London: Palgrave Macmillan. 224 pages.

Popular practical guide with an emphasis on working with community groups. Chapters on what

is community work; contact making, analysis and planning; practical considerations in working

with groups; psychological considerations in working with community groups; working towards

institutional change; and survival.

Brief guides


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The Community Development Foundation have produced a number of short guides/briefing

papers arising from UK community work practice:

Clinton, L. (1993) Community Development and the Arts, London: Community Development

Foundation. 35 + vi pages.

Francis, D. and Henderson, P. (1994) Community Development and Rural Issues, London:

Community Development Foundation. 45 + x pages.

Gilchrist, A. (1995) Community Development and Networking, London: Community

Development Foundation. 42 + x pages.

Heaton, K. and Sayer, J. (1992) Community Development and Child Welfare, London:

Community Development Foundation. 47 + viii pages.

McDonald, D. and Tungatt, M. (1992) Community Development and Sport, London: Community

Development Foundation. 42 + x pages.

Smith, J. (1991) Community Development and Tenant Action, London: Community Development

Foundation. 42 + x pages.

Taylor, M. (1991) Signposts to Community Development, London: Community Development

Foundation. 36 + x pages.

Community w ork - aspects of practice

Barr, A. (1991) Practising Community Development. Experience in Strathclyde, London:

Community Development Foundation. 184 6+ xii pages. Rare study of the actual practice and

thinking of workers which makes for fascinating reading. Dispels much of the radical rhetoric

around the work. Sections look at the study; the nature of community work; workers views of

their practice (includes aspirations; workers and managers; politicians, and community groups);

and 'reflections' (community work and local government, the state, planning and participation;

local interests).

Butcher, H., Collis, P., Glen, A. and Sills, P. (1980) Community Groups in Action. Case studies

and analysis, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 290 + xiv pages. One of the few substantial

studies of community groups and community initiatives. The book combines five substantial case

studies with a thematic commentary and analysis. The latter looks at: groups and their

environment; goals and foal achievement; organization: process and structure; strategy, tactics

and resources; the role of the community worker.

Butcher, H., Glen, A., Henderson, P. and Smith, J. (eds.) (1993) Community and Public Policy,

London: Pluto Press. 281 + xv pages. Part one deals with concepts and context: methods and

themes in community practice, social change, community policy. Part two looks at community

policy in practice: youth work; community arts; community enterprise; community policing;

community government; community care. Part three offers some critical perspectives.

Cannan, C. and Warren, C. (eds.) (1997) Social Action with Children and Families. A community

development approach to child and family welfar e, London: Routledge. 225 + xiv pages. This

book looks beyond the usual narrow confines of British social work texts - looking at more

community oriented forms of engagement (especially family centres) and drawing on traditions

of practice from the UK, Germany and France. There is some recognition of the potential of more

educative approaches and a concern with local networks and institutions.

Cooke, B. and Kothari, U. (eds.) (2001) Participation: The new tyranny?, London: Zed Books.


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224 pages. Popular and useful overview of community participation and participatory

techniques.

Cooke, I. and Shaw, M. (1997) Radical Community Work. Perspectives from practice,

Edinburgh: Moray House. 187 pages. Examines the changing context of radical community work

in Scotland. Chapters examine partnership; campaigning; housing work; community care;

disability; women and community work practice; lone parents; anti-racist work; and community

arts.

Craig, G., Derricourt, N. and Loney, M. (eds.) (1982) Community Work and the State. Towar ds a

radical pra ctice. Community Work 8, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 166 + ix pages. Part

one looks at thinking politically about practice; part two: issues and strategies; and part three:

radical developments outside the UK.

Curno, P. (ed.) (1978) Political Issues and Community Work. Community Work 4, London:

Routledge and Kegan Paul. 264 + xvi pages. Collection explores dilemmas of community work

and ideology; local politics and community work;and perspectives for development.

Dominelli, L. (1990; 2006)Women and Community Action, Bristol: Policy Press.Overview of developments and contemporary practice. See, also, Dominelli, L. and McLeod

(1989) Feminist Social Work, London: Macmillan.

Elsdon, K. T. with J. Reynolds and S. Stewart (1995)Voluntar y Orga nizations. Citizenship,

learning and change, Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. 168 + viii

pages. Important report of a six year research project in England, Scotland and Wales. Examines

the nature of voluntary organization and the educative possibilities of associational life. An

overview of the 31 case studies that formed the basis of the research is included. The study also

produced three useful collections of case studies plus an overall study of voluntary organization in

Retford.

Elsdon, K. T. (1991)Adult Learning in Voluntary Orga nizations. Volume 1: case studies 1

and 2, Nottingham: University of Nottingham Department of Adult Education. (A group of

the National Women's Register plus a rural community association)

Stewart, S., Reynolds, J. and Elsdon, K. T. (1992)Adult Lear ning in Voluntar y

Orga nizations. Volume 2: case studies 3 - 15, Nottingham: University of Nottingham

Department of Adult Education. 236 pages. (Includes the Percival Guildhouse, Rugby;

self-help groups; a Women's Institute, and an arts centre).

Elsdon, K. T. with Stewart, S., and Reynolds, J. (1993)Adult Learning in Voluntary

Orga nizations. Volume 3: case studies 16 - 30, Nottingham: University of NottinghamDepartment of Adult Education.

Reynolds, J. et al (1993)A Town in Action: Voluntary networks in Retford. Volume 4 of

Adult Learning in Voluntary Orga nizations, Nottingham: University of Nottingham

Department of Adult Education.

Ellis, J. (1989) Breaking New Ground. Community Development with Asian Communities,

London: Bedford Square Press. Study of a number of projects and initiatives that spreads light on

developments in practice in the late 1980s.

Goetschius, G. W. (1969)Working with Community Groups. Using community development as a

method of social work, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 250 + xix pages. Exploration of work

undertaken with housing estate community groups. Close and thorough account of practice with

chapters on: the background to the study; factors affecting the development of the service;

development; examples of field-work; the role of the worker; conditions of fieldwork practice;


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further considerations and conclusions.

Henderson, P. (1995) Children a nd Communities, London: Pluto Press. 203 + xvi pages. While

not specifically oriented around community work - common themes run through the

contributions. The book is split into four parts: care and protection; environment; education; and

neighbourhood.

Henderson, P. and Francis, D. (1993) Rural Action. A collection of community work case studies,

London: Pluto Press. 178 + xi pages. The book is split into three parts: remote rural areas; areas

of industrial change; and issue-based work. Includes a number of chapters on less explored

aspects of the work e.g. village halls; rural housing and adult education.

Hickey, S. and Mohan, G. (eds.) (2004) Participation: From Tyranny to Transformation? -

Exploring New Approaches to Participation in Development, London: Zed Books. 304

pages.Helpful debunking of simplistic critiques of community participation as largely rhetorical

or tyrannical. Explores different examples of practice and examines recent convergence between

participatory development and participatory governance.

Hoggett, P. (ed.) (1997) Contested Communities: experiences, struggles, policies, Bristol: PolicyPress ISBN 1 86134 036 2. 15.95. Following introductory essays on contested communities

(Hoggett) and neighbours (Crow), this book has sections on community and social diversity; local

government and community; and community participation and empowerment. The book uses a

set of case studies to examine the sources of community activism, the ways communities define

themselves and defined by outsiders, and the room for partnerships with different agencies.

Internal conflicts within communities are also examined.

Jacobs, S. and Popple, K. (eds.) (1994) Community Work in the 1990s, Nottingham: Spokesman.

177 pages. Includes chapters on the values base; socialism as living; community work praxis;

Black British to Black European; women, community work and the state; feminist work; Blackempowerment; rural community work; community organizing.

Lupton, R. D. (2005) Renewing the City: Reflections on Community Development and Urban

Renewal, London: InterVarsity Press. 240 pages.

Putnam, R. D. (2000) Bowling Alone. The collapse and revival of American community, New

York: Simon and Schuster. 540 pages. Groundbreaking book that marshals evidence from an

array of empirical and theoretical sources. Putnam argues there has been a decline in 'social

capital' in the USA. He charts a drop in associational activity and a growing distance from

neighbours, friends and family. Crucially he explores some of the possibilities that exist for

rebuilding social capital. A modern classic. Chapter One of the book is extracted on-line at the

Simon and Shuster website (Bowling Alone).

Tett, L. (2006) Community Education, Lifelong Learning and Social Inclusion, Edinburgh:

Dunedin Academic Press. 96 pages. Explores the contribution in Scotland of community

education to social inclusion and lifelong learning. Lyn Tett draws from a range of contexts

including detached youth work, family literacy, health education and community regeneration

programmes.

Van Rees, W. et al (1991)A Survey of Contemporary Community Development in Europe, The

Hague: 7 Opbouwteksten. 148 pages. Chapters examine community development and theCommunity; community work as a professional strategy; combatting poverty; social networks;

integrated apporaches to development; work experience; evaluating innovatory social projects.


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Other references

Alinsky, S. D. (1946) Reveille for Radicals (1969 edn.), New York: Random House.

Alinsky, S. D. (1971) Rules for Radicals. A pragmatic primer for realistic radicals, New York:

Vintage.

Baldock, P. (1977) 'Why community action? The historical origins of the radical trend in British

community work', Community Development Journal 12(2) also reprinted in P. Henderson and D.

N. Thomas (eds.) (1981) Readings in Community Work, London: George Allen and Unwin.

Beveridge, W. H. (1948)Voluntary Action. A report on methods of social advance, London:

George Allen and Unwin.

Brierley, D. (2003) Growing Community: Making Groups Work with Young People, Carlisle:

Authentic Lifestyle.

Butcher, H. (1992) 'Community work: current realities, contemporary trends' in P. Carter, T.

Jeffs & M. K. Smith (eds.) Changing Social Work and Welfare, Buckingham: Open University

Press.

Butcher, H., Glen, A., Henderson, P. and Smith, J. (eds.) (1993) Community and Public Policy,

London: Pluto Press.

Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University (2005) New

Deal for Communities 2001-2005: An Interim Evaluation, London: Office of the Deputy Prime

Minister. http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/publications.asp?did=1625. Accessed February 2,

2006.

Coates, K. and Silburn, R. (1970) Poverty. The forgotten Englishmen, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Follett, M. P. (1918) The New State. Group organization the solution of popular government

(3rd impression [1920] with introduction by Lord Haldane), London: Longmans Green.

Eade, D. (1997) Capacity Building. An approach to people-centred development, Oxford:

Oxfam.

Glass, N. (2005) 'Surely some mistake', The Guardian January 5, 2005,

http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,1074,1383034,00.html . Accessed February 2,

2006.

Hardcastle, D. A. and Powers, P. R. (2004) Community Practice: Theories and Skills for Social

Workers 2e, New York: Oxford University Press.

Harrison, J. F. C. (1961) Learning and Living. A study in the history of the English adult

education movement 1790-1960, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

HMSO (1960) The Youth Service in England and Wales ('The Albemarle Report'), London:

HMSO.

HMSO (1968) Report of the Committee on Local Authority and Allied Personal Social Services

(The 'Seebohm Report'), London: HMSO.

Jones, D. (1977) 'Community Work in the UK' in H. Specht and A. Vickery (eds.) IntegratingSocial Work Methods, London: George Allen and Unwin. [Also in P. Henderson & D. N. Thomas

(eds.) (1981) Readings in Community Work. George Allen and Unwin.


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Kelly, T. (1970)A History of Adult Education in Great Britain. From the Middle Ages to the

Twentieth Century, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

Martin, G.Currie (1924) The Adult School Movement. Its origin and development, London:

National Adult School Union.

Mayo, M. (1975) 'Community development: a radical alternative?' in R. Bailey and M. Brake

(eds.) Radical Social Work, London: Edward Arnold.

Ministry of Education (1944; 1946) Community Centres, London: HMSO.

Ministry of Housing and Local Government (1969) People and Planning. Report of the

Committee on Public Participation in Planning, ('The Skeffington Report'), London: HMSO.

National Institute of Social Work (1982) Social Workers. Their Role and Tasks (The Barclay

Report). Bedford Square Press.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2002) Tenants Managing: Evaluation of tenant

management organizations in England, London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

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Pierson, John (2007). Going Local: Working in Communities and Neighbourhoods. London:

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York: Harper & Row.

Rothman, J. (1968) 'Three models of community organization practice' in Social Work Practice

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Scottish Education Department (1975)Adult Education. The challenge of change. Report by a

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of Professor K. J. W. Alexander, Edinburgh: HMSO.

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Executive. Available in the informal education ar chives: http://www.infed.org/archives/gov_uk/working_together.htm.

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London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

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How to cite this a rticle: Smith, M. K. (1996, 2006) 'Community work', the encyclopaedia of

informal education,www.infed.org/community/b-comwrk.htm.

Mark K. Smith 1996, 2006

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