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Example research essay topic: Community Development And Empowerment - 2,629 words

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Community development and community empowerment The present research will concentrate on the discussion of the questions and problems of the community development and community empowerment, based on the case study of the Chinese farmers. The aim of the work is to distinguish the main postulates and strategies of the community empowerment, the barriers for their development and the role of community in its own development. The aspect of the community development and the question of the participation of the local residents in this process has become a subject of the active discussion over recent times. Several case studies represent the effectiveness of the community residents in the development of their community, as it is understood from the very beginning that no one better than they knows their problems and needs from inside.

Community development in the primary care is essential, as recognizing the needs and financial possibilities of the community healthcare system is very important for maintaining the health state of the residents at the appropriate level. Community development understands the causes of illnesses and deaths inside the community these causes may be environmental, economic or social, but should be fully taken into account. Though it is recognized that communities may be geographical, of interest or other kinds, we will assume that the community discussed in the present work and the present case study is geographical, as the people described in the case study belong to one geographical location a Chinese village named Guizhou. The community residents and workers, who are responsible for the development of the high quality primary care, are usually involved into the following activities: identifying the healthcare community networks which already exist and work; identifying the needs of the most vulnerable groups of the community population and those who suffer from inequalities of various character; for the satisfaction of the needs of the community healthcare system it is necessary to cooperate with other similar agencies and outside companies; encouraging the dialogue between the suppliers of the healthcare services, making them available for the bigger part of the community residents. (Traynor, 1993) Studies prove, that active community development of the healthcare system contributes into the better healthcare delivery, better protection of health and reduced mortality, while the opposite processes result in the lack of self-esteem, lack of control and higher levels of human morbidity. It is admitted that the sooner the community is involved into the processes of development, the sooner the positive changes are introduced. As analogy, as soon as Chinese citizens decided to undertake the role of constructing the water tap system, it has appeared in their village in the nearest time, while they had suffered from the water absence for many years before without any alterations.

These assumptions are based on the simple logic whom may better know the needs of the community than the community itself and who may better understand the means of solving various problems than the community itself? The residents of the Chinese village created a wonderful system, which now allows them having water all year round without any discontinuations. They have created the system which suits them to the best, and gives them 540 additional free hours per year, as they dont need to walk several kilometers each time they need water. In relation to the primary healthcare, community development may decrease the influence of poverty on the health of those who cannot afford paying for medical services. For example, communities may encourage formation of some kinds of cooperatives, for delivering healthy and cheap food for the poor layers of the society, which in its turn will serve for healthier population. The active participation of the community in altering the system of primary healthcare delivery to the vulnerable groups, by making them more active and making them work for their own protection. (Sullivan, 2003) Community empowerment differs from the community development.

Community development is the process of integrating and implementing the various strategies of better life for the community members in relation to various aspects, and community empowerment presupposes the process of providing the community with more powers, for the better participation and access to the opportunities given by the society. The core essence of the community empowerment is providing community with enough powers for solving social problems and improving the economic situation of the community. As it is seen, the residents of the Chinese village, being empowered for the construction of the tap water system and the orchard creation, were able to find the solution, which appeared to be the best for their community. The have been offered to plant chestnut trees, though understanding the fact that these trees would not produce for many years and would be expensive enough, they decided to plant peach trees, which would grow quickly and soon bring fruits. As far as there were several peach trees, growing wild, the local farmers understood that the natural conditions existing there were suitable for growing those trees, and the community itself decided upon the way the orchard had to be managed.

However, it is also important to understand that community empowerment presupposes the development of the certain strategy, and community development will be only a part of it. In cases, when community is concentrated only at the improvement of the service delivery or pays too much to the community development, the moment when the community should be organized and work our a certain strategy can be lost; both community development and service delivery, with special attention to the primary healthcare sphere should be parts of the well organized strategy and only in this case they will work for the benefit of the community with minimal losses and in line with its primary needs. (Sullivan, 2003) Speaking about the community empowerment, it is also useful to distinguish between the three main strategies designed for supporting and promoting the community empowerment. One aspect of the community empowerment lies in community organizing, which presupposes encouraging people at more active deeds and more brave actions for fighting with the community problems (it means that community participants should raise their voice and visit various institutions and state establishments to make the state understand their problems and needs). The second aspect of the community empowerment can be called community-based development, and this aspect presupposes the actions, undertaken by the local community in its striving for better living conditions, like construction, housing, creating jobs and enterprises.

This namely what has been done by the Chinese people their actions aimed at the construction of the water system and planting the orchard had their ultimate aim of improving the living conditions of the local people and thus may be referred to as the process of community development. The third aspect of the community empowerment is the community-based efforts aimed at the improvement of the social services delivery we have already talked about the community role in the primary healthcare system. (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993) Speaking about the community development and community empowerment, it is also important to note that despite the active state participation in supporting local initiatives, there may appear barriers on the way of implementing these initiatives into real community life. It will be objective to say, that the orbits of the problems, which each community faces, are located outside these communities and are more related to the problems at the state level, thus needing to be addressed by the state establishments of the highest authority. First of all, the state itself may create certain obstacles on the way of the community for better living conditions different laws in the economic and social spheres.

The main barrier for the community empowerment is represented by the laws, which cannot be amended at the local level and should be followed without any exception. Community-based organizations can hardly influence the laws which are adopted at the highest state level. Though there exists the opinion that community-based organizations may contribute much into amending the state legislation, it is hardly true, though it is not under argument that these organizations and their actions create solid basis for initiating certain changes in legislation for the benefit of the community population. However, it should also be admitted that community based organizations cannot implement their strategies on their own and have to address the higher establishments for guidance, permission and assistance, as in our case Chinese people had to address local authorities for the permission to construct the water system on their own for the money of their farmers. (Traynor, 1993) Another important barrier of the community empowerment and the community based organizations on their way to improving the living conditions of their residents is that the organization on its own has limited access to the resources needed for this empowerment and this improvement. Even in case they win certain victories, but in order to sustain the success it is impossible to do without the outside assistance and support.

This limitation is due in part to organizations inability to develop strategies for strengthening their base and moving on new issues. But, it is also due to the fact that the resources or authority needed to address community's problems are not available at the community level, and often not even at the city level. (Sullivan, 2003) One more barrier in community empowerment is connected with the fact that most of the separate community organizations do not cooperate with the other similar establishments from the neighboring communities. The victories of the communities are covered by the failures of the bigger part of community based organizations. This is why one of the main barriers of the community initiatives is in the fact that they dont interact with each others, though united it could be possible to achieve better results in the attempt to promote their interests. (Traynor, 1993) However, not only problems exist on the way of the community empowerment process.

It should be admitted that recent times have shown the states that the success of the state as a whole, both in economic and in social sphere, is mainly based on the success of the local communities. The necessity to give local communities more power in resolving their problems is openly admitted. The Chinese residents have been given enough authority to construct the water system and to plant an orchard, which finally worked for the benefit of the local society, releasing the authorities from the necessity of solving these problems at the higher level and giving the residents an opportunity to solve these problems through the means most appropriate to them. Leadership is essential in promoting community-based initiatives. It is surprising at times, how the united efforts of several community residents, looking for improvements, dont find any response among the higher authorities. The problem here is in the question of leadership.

The role of the leader in promoting community-based initiatives is first of all in persuading people in the necessity for changes and the benefits of these changes. The leader must be able to change the attitudes of those who oppose to any positive changes. In fact, because we rarely hear about the efforts that went nowhere, we fail to note that many grassroots initiatives never get far beyond the first living room complaint session... and went unacknowledged. (Sullivan, 2003) This is the key role of the leader to organize people in their striving for better living conditions, and to develop certain strategy of actions, so that each participant has strictly appointed role and works in his narrow direction for the benefit of the whole community. Though the present case study does not say anything as for the leadership, but it can be assumed that without a leader they would hardly be able to achieve such significant results in their wish to create the water system. Community assessment plays a very important role in the general path for the community empowerment.

In fact, community assessment usually precedes actions aimed at any improvements. In order to make these improvements more effective and the efforts more concentrated, the community assessment is essential. The role of this assessment is as follows: giving a clear picture of the way the community operates at present (it is meant here that this aspect of assessment provides the recipients with the information of how families interact with different local institutions); defining the way in which the newly developed strategies will be different from the currently used (how it is possible to develop better interrelations between the families and the local institutions); identifying the strengths and assets of the community, which may be used for the mobilization of the necessary strategies. (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993) This is why community assessment is the action preceding to the community development, as it allows to create the most beneficial and cost-effective strategy for the improvement of the local living conditions. The active participation of the community members in the community strategies is also essential for achieving success along with the implementing leadership strategies. The case study states that the local farmers, actively participating in the community strategies, feel more committed to the actions they perform and to the activities they participate in. As people usually feel more responsible towards their own possessions, the water system and the orchard now appear to be the possession of the community, constructed through its efforts with the active participation of the local farmers, and this is why these activities were initially aimed at success.

However, it is also important to account for ethical considerations in the community-based initiatives. First of all, these considerations relate to the questions of distributing the obligations between the community members, which should be done on the fair basis, accounting the abilities and roles which each of the members chosen may play. On the other hand, ethical questions also relate to the delivery of social services, as these kinds of problems are often closely connected with ethics. What is meant is that it is essential to pay attention to all representatives of the so-called vulnerable layers of the community.

Conclusion Community development has become the subject of active debate as for its role in the general improvement of living conditions at the local level. However, it appears that community development is only a part of the community empowerment, and that it needs thorough approach to achieve success. Community based initiatives should be applied to the delivery of the social services, especially healthcare, and it is proved that such approach improves the general health and mortality indices; however, addressing only social problems is wrong, and community empowerment needs centralized approach with the application of leadership notions, well-developed strategy and strong striving for the improvements. It is essential, that community members take active part in these strategies, though each of them should understand his role and actions.

It is also very important to provide community assessment, on the basis of which there will be developed through and effective community empowerment strategy. Ethical problems should also be addressed. Thus community development and community empowerment appear to be complex notions, requiring complex approach and the knowledge of leadership and management strategies. Without this aspects taken into account any community based initiative will be doomed to failure, however, it is also important to remember that no matter how successful the developed strategies may be, they will hardly achieve success at the highest level without the cooperation of the locally based organizations between each other. With the account of all above-mentioned aspects it will be possible to create effective system of community-based management.

Works cited Kretzmann, John P. & McKnight, John L. Building Communities From the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community Assets. Evanston, IL, 1993 Sullivan, Mercer. More Than Housing: How Community Development Corporations Go About Changing Lives of Neighborhoods. New York, 2003. Traynor, Bill.

Community Development and Community Organizing. Shelter force, 1993.


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Research essay sample on Community Development And Empowerment

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