Successful community organizing

Successful community organizing requires that social workers recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their client populations. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 of Community Organizing in a Diverse Society by Felix Rivera and John Erlich describes the opportunities and challenges of organizing the African-American, Puerto Rican, and women of color populations, respectively. Each approach brings insight into the internal and macro socio-political forces affecting each group.

The feminist perspective is addressed in each of these three chapters. Wynetta Devore's essay on the African-American community points out the lack of media and research attention given to black females. With the exception of teenage pregnancy issues, black females are neglected in terms of their lack of role models, their prospects for upward mobility, and their propensity for being victims of violence, particularly in domestic settings.

In the Puerto Rican community, the concept of male sexism is still strong. The cultural values related to machismo have led to the oppression of adult women because males are given more privilege and superiority in society. The poverty and discrimination that exists in the Puerto Rican community due to outside forces has contributed to an atmosphere where men feel demasculated due to their inability to provide for their families. Domestic violence sometimes results from such pressures.

Guiterrez and Lewis discuss the need to bridge the gap between the feminist movemen

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employment resources. Women of color are severely tested by modern society. A soaring divorce rate has meant that they must assume a greater share of family responsibility. Computer technology is reducing a significant portion of traditional female segments of the job market, particularly in the clerical field. In addition, recent legislative changes in welfare reform could have a disastrous effect on women of color, almost a third of whom currently live below the poverty line (Guiterrez and Lewis 96). Morales makes a keen observation when he states that a community's response to a problem hinges on the way the way that a problem is defined. A prime example is teenage pregnancies. Different communities believe this problem stems different sources, e.g., a breakdown of family values, lack of religious traditions, or the failure of schools or health care institutions to provide adequate sex education. The social worker is obligated to work from the perceptions of the client population in resolving problems in the community, particularly regarding highly emotional issues. The interaction between community and social worker should not occur as a one-way exchange. Each community has distinct strengths as well as weaknesses

Category: Psychology - S