Practicing Social Work in Deprived Communities

This contributed volume offers a holistic understanding of social work practice in deprived communities through its thematization of understanding deprived communities globally, the development of competencies for social work practice in and with deprived communities, social work education as a community development tool, and the empowerment of social workers in deprived communities. Inequality as a globally recognized challenge is extensively elaborated within the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Agenda program for social work, making this a timely and important contribution to the literature. Deprived communities, used in this book to mean slums, ghettos, favelas, and low-income, remote, underserved, vulnerable, impoverished, underdeveloped, or less-favoured communities, exist worldwide and are conceptualized under different terms and concepts. For that reason, social work, specifically in deprived areas, is not sufficiently recognized as a specific field of practice within community work. As a result, this volume features contributions that:

• provide a conceptual clarification of many different terms that are used for describing deprived communities and offer a systematic literature review on community processes and effects on well-being in underdeveloped communities;
• map different fields of social work involvement in deprived communities with concrete practice examples; and,
• stress why social work as a profession needs support and how it can be empowered to improve its capacities in deprived communities. With international authorship and perspectives on social work approaches for deprived communities from India, Sub-Saharan Africa, North and Central Europe, and North America, Practicing Social Work in Deprived Communities is an essential resource for social workers, social work educators, and community development practitioners. The text also should be of interest to students of social work, as well as other professionals and researchers working within community development and deprived communities.

Auteur
Ana Opai, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of Social Work within the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb in Croatia. Her field of interest includes community social work, international social work and theory of social work. As a researcher and practitioner, she is involved in local vulnerable communities in Croatia. Ana Opai did her PhD thesis on the conceptualization of developmentally sensitive communities in Croatia, and has published numerous articles on this topic in distinguished peer-reviewed journals. Some of the subtopics include typology of underdeveloped communities, environmental justice, social capital and post-war reconstruction.
Ana Opai was active not solely as a researcher in deprived communities in Croatia, but was also engaged in developing service-learning programs, social services, strategic planning and evaluation of development projects. Her professional as well as personal experience is deeply connected with challenges of living in deprived communities alongside all other issues that build this experience, such as war, post-socialist transition or social inequalities.

Contenu

Part I: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Deprived Communities

1 Understanding deprived communities globally; Author: Ana Opacic In this chapter different meanings of deprived communities are discussed and positioned within a specific global context. These meanings refer to the following concepts: low income , impoverished , vulnerable , remote , disadvantaged , undeserved , less favoured community, slum , ghettö, favelä. Different deprived communities are classified in five groups. The first group is based on lower income or health indicators as a proxy for poverty. The second group is the deprived community and based on a multidimensional approach that can be compared with non-deprived neighborhoods. The third group consists of marginalized, disadvantaged, and less favored communities with a focus on development trajectories within a wider social context. The fourth group reflects communities with a severe exposure to risks that result from geographical isolation in remote communities. In the fifth group, there are so-called controversial communities in urban settings that do not differ solely from their surroundings, but also exhibit a specific lifestyle and identity leading towards stigmatization in a wider context.

2 Effects of deprived community on personal well-being and community processes; Author: Ana Opacic

In this chapter the author discusses what it means to live in a deprived community based on systematic literature review. Deprived community as a context produces adverse effects on both the individual level and community level. Existing research show that people who live in a deprived community face poverty, higher rates of crime, and have lower health and education prospects. In deprived communities lack of social services is notable. Research show that deprived communities are characterized by community processes such as segregation, exclusion, and lower sense of autonomy, resilience, and empowerment. In this chapter the author places these effects in the frame of theoretical approach, such as community development theory, diversity, and multicultural context and community resilience.

Part II. Social Work Practices in Deprived Communities Throughout the World

3 Community development principles in the context of deprived communities. Authors: Ana Opacic, Carmen Luca Sugawara, Nino Zganec

In this chapter the authors outline central principles of community development and position them within the frame of deprived communities. Specific attention is given to principles of autonomy (including community participation, ownership, self-help), principles of inclusive communities (advocacy, access and equity, inclusion), and principles of active communities (social action, networking, empowerment, lifelong learning). Many times deprived communities as systems demonstrate system archetypes that suggest challenges of implementing community development principles into practice. For example, deprived communities may demonstrate addiction on external relief; there is a strong sense of powerlessness, communities may face stigmatization, and communities with scarce resources may develop inner inequalities and lack of trust towards community structures. These challenges are supported through empirical findings and the authors outline the importance of these principles for sustainable community development. 4 Strategies for increasing community engagement in a community with a lack of perspectives, Author Baiju P.Vareed Engaging community or following participatory practice in development was initiated by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and subsequently by various government departments. Working with stakeholders in communities demands an understanding of the local culture, social milieu, and power dynamics. Local problems need local solutions as well as support and resources from outside of the community. Community engagement is imperative while working with culturally diverse countries like India, where there is no one-size-fits-all. The vast voluntary sector comprising community-based staff of NGOs and trained social workers have vigorously embraced engagement since the last decade of the last century. Community agencies ensure involvement of stakeholders and community members in all sorts of development activities including agriculture, livelihood, gender development, micro business, and health and sanitation. This article discusses how citizen engagement is undertaken in community development programs in India by NGOs and government departments, with case studies from rural, urban, and slum dwellings 5 Strengthening social capital in deprived communities: From Empty Foyer to Shared Social Spac…