Value Orientation of Community Organisation

Community organisation derives from a unique frame of reference, the nature of which is based on a particular value orientation. In social work, the focus of community organisation practice is influenced by a system of personal and professional values. These values affect worker’s style of intervention and the skills they use in working with community members. Values are beliefs that delineate preferences about how one ought or ought not to behave. Such formulations of values obviously have some subjective element. Values differ between groups and between individuals within the same group. Moreover, there has been no explicit, comprehensive, or generally accepted formulation of basic ethical and social values by any representative group of community organisation practitioners.

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The value orientation of community organisation as of all social work methods, derives from acceptance of certain basic concepts and principles as a foundation for work with people. Among these are the essential dignity and worth of the individual, the possession by each individual of potentials and resources for managing ones own life. The importance of freedom to express one’s individuality, the capacity for growth within all social beings, the right of the individual to these basic physical necessities (food, shelter and clothing) without which fulfillment of life is often blocked, the need for the individual to struggle and strive to improve own life and environment, the right of the individual for help in time of need and crisis, the importance of a social organisation for which the individual feels responsible are very basic. The need for social climate which encourages individual growth and development, the right and responsibility of the individual to participate in the affairs of own community, the practicability of discussion, conference, and consultation as methods for the solution of individual and social problems, and “self help” as the essential base for community organisation are some of the value orientations which constitute the basis of community organisation process.

Source: * Dr. Suresh Pathare, TISS, Tuljapur (PDF File)

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