Dear Sarena,
Thank you for your thoughtful invitation to active participation in discussion. I would like to draw our attention to the meaning of community (construct) and then to pose some questions.
"Community" may not have the same meaning to all, therefore, operationalization of the construct or a community development and/or community organization, may not be the same process or outcome for all involved who are observing it, or studying and measuring it. Community development/organization is a collaborative, interactive process... with active participation. For example, I live in a "community" which really is not a community according to the above understanding of it. There is no active participation, no action, no commonly generated agenda; we just live in the same section of the town….
Along with it, very important is cultural origin & beliefs of individuals who are constituents of the "community:" do they come from individualistic or collectivistic culture. Therefore, very important is an individual member’s definition of a person: is it individualistic or collectivistic? The differences in perceptions and measurement units of the "community" therefore, may differ widely and may cause disagreements. Particularly, if we use individualistic units of measure to measure collectivistic nature of community and vice versa, may cause disagreements in views and great differences/disappointments in perceptions and attitudes of all involved… how is power defined in individualistic vs. collectivistic cultures?
Is a community a process or an outcome?
How do we define participation: an empowerment at an individual level, at the community level? What is the difference?
Is there a community in a school/college classroom?
How do we learn about the power and control?
Thanks & regards to All,
Bojana Beric
In a message dated 8/2/2005 12:56:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Sarena Seifer <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>Dear Linda,
>
>Thank you for your insightful observations - I hope you and others
>on this list will also share your perspectives on CBPR on the CBPR
>listserv at https://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/cbpr
>
>Also, I hope you'll plan to participate in Community-Campus Partnerships
>for Health's next conference, the whole focus of which is "Walking the
>Talk: Achieving the Promise of Authentic Partnerships" The conference
>will be delving into the questions and issues you raise below about power
>and community participation: "With the remarkable expansion of interest
>and investment in community-campus partnerships, we believe the time is
>right to take a critical look at these partnerships in all of their
>iterations and ask (and answer) key questions about where we are now,
>where we are going and where we need to be.
>
>*How do we fully realize authentic partnerships between communities and
>higher educational institutions?
>*How do we balance power and share resources among partners?
>*How do we build community and campus capacity to engage each other as
>partners?
>*How do we create healthier communities through partnerships?
>*What are the barriers and challenges getting in our way?
>*How do we overcome these, individually and collectively?
>*How do we translate "principles" and "best practices" into widespread,
>expected practice?"
>
>The conference website is at
>http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/conf-overview.html. Workshop and poster
>proposals are due on October 7; the conference is May 31-June 3, 2006 in
>Minneapolis, MN USA.
>
>Thanks again,
>
>Sarena
>Community-Campus Partnerships for Health
>www.ccph.info
>
>
>On Tue, 2 Aug 2005, Linda Green wrote:
>
>>> Announcing the publication of Methods in Community-Based Participatory
>>> Research
>>> for Health Edited by Barbara A. Israel DrPH, Eugenia Eng DrPH, Amy J.
>>> Schulz
>>> PhD, Edith A. Parker DrPH
>>>
>>> Written by distinguished experts
>>
>> Let's just flag the phrase 'distinguished experts' for a moment
>> in light of the claims being made about equal partnerships below.
>> With the respect due those who have developed CBPR and are
>> promoting it so that community based organizations can get into
>> line with the requirements of new evidentiary regimes (including
>> program and outcomes evaluation), I noticed that the principles
>> and practices that inform community based participatory research
>> are essentially those of community psychology. Given that, I wonder
>> about the strength of the argument that CBPR is truly community
>> based? I find it very difficult given my exposure to the practices
>> of knowledge production in the field of psychology to see the field
>> as capable of leading anything truly grassroots. When I inquired of
>> those online recently about the history of usage of the term citizen
>> engagement, someone (forgive me for forgetting for the moment
>> who that was) responded with a comparison with the participatory
>> approach that is credited to Paolo Freire. However, I want to point
>> out that from my point of view, it is a significant political leap from
>> CBPR to the work of Freire. This was an extremely generous
>> comparison I think.
>>
>> For those who weren't aware of the origins of CBPR in community
>> psychology, take a look at the book Community Psychology: Linking
>> Individuals and communities. Dalton, J.H. (2001). Stamford, Conn.
>> Wadsworth Publishing.
>>
>>> in the field, this book shows how researchers,
>>> practitioners, and community partners can work together to establish and
>>> maintain equitable partnerships
>>
>> why are we so sure these are equitable partnerships? I think
>> that assertion may need some reality testing. My experience is
>> you don't have to dig very deep to hear how this isn't quite a fit
>> on the community side of these partnerships. I suspect we need to
>> have a closer look at how the role and power of universities and
>> academics in knowledge production are being reasserted and
>> redefined by the machinery of evidence based policy making.
>>
>>> using a community-based participatory research
>>> (CBPR) approach to increase knowledge and improve health and well-being
>>> of the
>>> communities involved. What distinguishes CBPR from other approaches to
>>> research
>>> is the active engagement of all partners in the process. This book
>>> provides a
>>> comprehensive and thorough presentation of CBPR study designs, specific
>>> data
>>> collection and analysis methods, and innovative partnership structures
>>> and
>>> process methods. This book informs students, practitioners, researchers,
>>> and
>>> community members about methods and applications needed to conduct CBPR
>>> in the
>>> widest range of research areas?including social determinants of health,
>>> health
>>> disparities, health promotion, community interventions, disease
>>> management,
>>> health services, and environmental health.
>>
>> just a few observations. Linda
>>>
>>
>> ____________________________
>> Linda Green, OISE/UT
>> Counselling for Community Settings
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
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