Transcript Community Systems Photo Essay - Cydney Jones` Human Services

COMMUNITY SYSTEMS
PHOTO ESSAY
Cydney Jones
Western Washington University
Learning Outcome #1
Summarize the historical roots of community
development and organizing, advocacy, and
social movements.
Learning Outcome #1: Summarize the historical roots of community
development and organizing, advocacy, and social movements.
Saul Alinsky
Photo courtesy of Googleimages

Saul Alinsky is often
referred to as the
Father of Community
Organizing (Seal,
2008). The quote shown
on this photo represents
a key principle in
community organizing.
You must meet the
world, the community or
an individual where it is
in order to make lasting
change.
Learning Outcome #1: Summarize the historical roots of community
development and organizing, advocacy, and social movements.
Studs Terkel
Photo courtesy of Googleimages

Studs Terkel was fascinated by
the everyday lives of people.
He would interview them and
write about their experiences.
He did this, for example, about
the experiences of people during
the Depression in his book Hard
Times. It was said that he could
tell the stories of others better
than they ever could themselves
(Spartacus Educational, n.d.).
Terkel is an early example of an
advocate; speaking on the
behalf of others when they didn’t
have the opportunity to have
their voices heard.
Learning Outcome #1: Summarize the historical roots of community
development and organizing, advocacy, and social movements.
Dorothy Day
Photo courtesy of Googleimages

Dorothy Day was considered
to be somewhat of a
contradiction; she was both a
saint and a troublemaker.
She was a devoted Catholic,
but she took a stand against
the things she didn’t approve.
In fact, she was arrested
multiple times for protesting
war and social injustice
(Forest, 2006). Day is a
great representative of the
historical roots of advocacy
and social movements.
Learning Outcome #1: Summarize the historical roots of community
development and organizing, advocacy, and social movements.

Women’s Suffrage Movement
Photo courtesy of Googleimages
The Women’s Suffrage Movement
was one of the earlier social
movements in the United States.
Studying this movement is a great
reminder that changes take time.
Women were not granted the
right to vote immediately. In fact,
the movement technically began in
1848 and the 19th Amendment
wasn’t passed until 1920 (NWHM,
2007). It can be easy to become
disheartened when there isn’t
instant gratification from your
work, but social change is an
ongoing process that requires a
lot of time and energy.
Learning Outcome #2
Analyze community systems and structures, and
design and evaluate processes to initiate and
sustain change through specific strategies, tactics,
activities and social policy advocacy.
Learning Outcome #2: Analyze community systems and structures, and design
and evaluate processes to initiate and sustain change through specific
strategies, tactics, activities and social policy advocacy.

Starting Small
Photo courtesy of Googleimages
An important thing to keep in
mind when trying to design a
process to make change is
that you can’t do everything.
Social issues are huge and
impossible to tackle all at
once. We must start small,
which can be frustrating
because you don’t see large
and significant changes right
away. But by keeping the big
picture in mind, we can feel
satisfied by the small changes
we make.
Learning Outcome #2: Analyze community systems and structures, and design
and evaluate processes to initiate and sustain change through specific
strategies, tactics, activities and social policy advocacy.
Working Together
Photo courtesy of Googleimages

A strategy that can initiate
and sustain change is to work
together. Homan (2011) said,
“remember this fundamental
principle: Any problem that
involves more than one person
requires the involvement of
more people than just you to
resolve it” (p. 9). This may
sound very simple, but some
people dread asking for help
fearing that it may make them
look weak or inadequate. But
in order to make lasting
change, working together may
be very necessary.
Learning Outcome #2: Analyze community systems and structures, and design and
evaluate processes to initiate and sustain change through specific strategies, tactics,
activities and social policy advocacy.
Lobby Day
Used by permission, Anna Valkov,
personal communication

By researching a particular
policy this quarter and writing a
policy brief, I learned a lot about
being an advocate in a larger
system. I was more familiar with
advocacy for an individual, but
advocating at Lobby Day in
Olympia gave me a new
perspective. I was able to see
the power of speaking with
various legislators and rallying
for important social causes. Our
legislators are there to represent
us, the people, so it is our
responsibility to make sure they
hear our voices.
Learning Outcome #2: Analyze community systems and structures, and design and
evaluate processes to initiate and sustain change through specific strategies, tactics,
activities and social policy advocacy.
Raising Public Awareness
Used by permission, Katie Plewa,
personal communication

Something that has proved its
success to me time and time again
is public awareness campaigns.
This photo is an example of a time
when I, along with a group of
people, marched through campus
with posters in an attempt to raise
awareness about domestic
violence. In my policy brief, I
suggested that a public awareness
campaign be implemented to raise
awareness about the legal
protections of immigrant women
under the Violence Against Women
Act. I believe this is one of the
most crucial strategies to initiate
and sustain change.
Learning Outcome #3
Record, assess, and reflect on experiences with
community and the influence of human services
values, attitudes, and ethics in relationship to
community change.
Learning Outcome #3: Record, assess, and reflect on experiences with
community and the influence of human services values, attitudes, and ethics in
relationship to community change.

Provoking People
Photo courtesy of Googleimages
Homan (2011) made the suggestion
to “provoke people… to get them
thinking differently and thinking
about behaving differently so they
will begin to believe in the
possibilities” (p. 288). The word
“provoke” may sound somewhat
negative, but this is actually a great
piece of advice. By shocking people
with the harsh realities of social
issues, you can spark a new passion
and sense of awareness that makes
them want to take action and make
change. When people are provoked
like this, I believe we are influencing
them with human services ethics, like
believing that every person is worthy
of respect and acceptance.
Learning Outcome #3: Record, assess, and reflect on experiences with
community and the influence of human services values, attitudes, and ethics in
relationship to community change.
Diversity
Photo courtesy of Googleimages

Human services values the
strength diversity can bring.
By asking for the opinions
and viewpoints of a variety
of people, especially those
from diverse populations,
you can get a better idea of
what the actual needs of the
community are and therefore
come up with a better and
more effective plan for
community development and
organizing.
Learning Outcome #3: Record, assess, and reflect on experiences with
community and the influence of human services values, attitudes, and ethics in
relationship to community change.

Empowerment
Photo courtesy of Googleimages
Human service professionals
should strive to use
empowerment-based models
with their clients as often as
possible. As stated in the
ethical standards, human
service professionals
promote the selfdetermination of the client,
and recognize and build on
their strengths, both of which
are key components of
empowerment (NOHS, n.d.).
Learning Outcome #3: Record, assess, and reflect on experiences with
community and the influence of human services values, attitudes, and ethics in
relationship to community change.

Safe Space
Photo courtesy of Googleimages
Safe Space is a program
people can be trained in that
provides them with the skills to
be an effective ally for the
LGBTQ population, and listener
in general. These skills can be
applied to being a strong
advocate and community
developer, as well as to any
population. Those trained in
Safe Space make a
commitment to being open and
accepting of all individuals,
which is a major value of
human services.
Learning Outcome #4
Analyze the systemic issues related to culture,
diversity, and social class in the context of
community systems.
Learning Outcome #4: Analyze the systemic issues related to culture, diversity,
and social class in the context of community systems.

Racial Disparities
Image courtesy of Googleimages
The prevalence of racial
disparities really prevents
communities from embracing their
diversity and engaging with
people who are “different” from
them. For example, black people
are disproportionally
represented in prisons. These
inmates spend their time primarily
with those who share similar
racial backgrounds. This creates
a stereotype that black people
are criminals so other racial
groups look down on them and
are less likely to associate with
them.
Learning Outcome #4: Analyze the systemic issues related to culture, diversity,
and social class in the context of community systems.

Cultural Competency
Image courtesy of Googleimages
One major issue
communities face is a lack
of cultural competency.
Sometimes people look at
others who are different
from them in one way or
another like they are
someone from another
planet. They don’t take
cultural practices or norms
into consideration as an
explanation for some of
their differences, or even
look to find commonalities.
Learning Outcome #4: Analyze the systemic issues related to culture, diversity,
and social class in the context of community systems.
Language Barriers
Photo courtesy of Googleimages

When individuals come to the
United States from another
country, they may speak very
little English or none at all.
While this should make our
society richer because of the
diversity it brings, it often
causes a lot of issues for those
non-English speakers. There is
a lack of resources in most
communities for these people so
they often can’t apply for or
receive services, or even just
engage with their fellow
community members.
Learning Outcome #4: Analyze the systemic issues related to culture, diversity,
and social class in the context of community systems.

Imbalances of Power
Photo courtesy of Googleimages
Power imbalances are
everywhere in our society,
whether it be in relation to
gender, socioeconomic status,
ethnicity, and a wide variety
of other things. Sargent
(2009) recognized this, saying
that all relationships have
some sort of power dynamic.
This leads to one person, or
group of people, being the
dominant ones or the “haves,”
which in turn creates the
“have-nots.” This lack of
equality is a major systemic
issue.
Personal Learning Outcome
Human services professionals must keep an open
mind and think critically about social issues in
their community.
Personal Learning Outcome: Human services professionals must keep an open
mind and think critically about social issues in their community.

Flip-flopping
Photo courtesy of Googleimages
In addition to my learning through
the designated learning outcomes,
I learned how important it is to
research the opposition’s
viewpoints, think critically and be
open to their ideas. While it did
not happen to me, a few students
found that after really looking into
their topic of choice for their policy
brief, they changed their minds on
what their stance was. In human
services, you must be willing to do
the background research to make
sure you are strong in your opinion
and have the information to back it
up, as well as be willing to change
your mind, or “flip flop”.
References
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Forest, Jim. (2006). All is grace: A biography of Dorothy Day. Retrieved from:
http://www.jimandnancyforest.com/2006/03/24/all-is-grace/
Googleimages. (2013). Googleimages. Retrieved from: http://www.google.com/imghp
Homan, M.S. (2011). Promoting community change: Making it happen in the real world (5th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
National Organization for Human Services (NOHS). (n.d.). Ethical standards for human service
professionals. Retrieved from: http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hsprofessionals
National Women’s History Museum (NWHM). (2007). Causes: The woman suffrage movement.
Retrieved from: http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/suffrage.html
Sargent, Lyman T. (2009). Contemporary Political Ideologies: A comparative analysis. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Seal, Mike. (2008). Saul Alinsky, community organizing and rules for radicals. Retrieved from:
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/alinsky.htm
Spartacus Educational. (n.d.) Studs Terkel. Retrieved from:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAterkel.htm