The document reflects on the importance of context when deciding between asset-based and deficit-based approaches in community development, illustrated through the author's internship experiences. It highlights the need for balance, as both approaches can be beneficial in various situations, such as the Celebration of Giving event that addresses community deficits while utilizing available assets. Ultimately, the author emphasizes that the goal is to create long-term positive change in communities by acknowledging both assets and deficits.

1. Tim Platten
EXPL 390
03/23/18
ABCD Reflection
After reflecting upon the videos of John McKnight, my creation of an asset map, and my
current internship position I have found that the two most important things in regard to
determining if one should use asset-based or deficit-based is the context of the project and
finding a balance. I find context to be the most important because it quite frankly determines the
type of community you are trying to work with. Relating this to my internship position, my
projects pertaining to the Junior Board are much more asset-based because of the unique skills
and character of each member. During our application process we ask a lot about members in
order to have a better understanding of who they are. What results from this process is an asset-
based approach and is something we use quite often in the Junior Board. It is through
determining the Assets within the community that we can help adjust our plans from the board as
we go! Asset-based is not the only form of development I have used at my internship as I have
deficit-based within the context of The Celebration of Giving. The entire aim of the celebration
is to provide supplies and toys to families who cannot afford it themselves, to address issues of
deficits. Although it is deficit driven, it is still rooted in using assets through the sponsorship and
volunteering of companies, churches, and communities.
The second most important part of determining whether or not one should look for assets
is simple- always. By this I mean that it is important that you find balance in your development
work and may not always be able to rely on just one. As someone who was very familiar with the
neighborhood I chose, I was well aware of the deficits that exist within that community already,
but that did not stop me from using an asset-based approach to solving it. McKnight in his videos
made it sound like it was a slippery slope to try to use both, but I have found myself doing both.
In my opinion, the trick is that although you may already have a deficit in mind, you still must

2. Tim Platten
EXPL 390
03/23/18
lay out all the assets that are available as you never know what might be able to work together.
This is how I went about doing the asset map assignment, and this is an approach that I have
used at my internship before. While working on The Celebration of Giving, we were still greatly
in need of connections to large donors. This was our deficit. To find a solution we listed out the
assets of the Board of Advisors and tracked down four potential large donors. As a result, two
assets that were linked together ended up donating a large amount of supplies for us. There is a
place for both, and I do not think the relationship is as black and white as McKnight made it
sound. Ultimately what matters most is that solutions enact long-term change while addressing
the problems of the community.
Considering that Catholic Charities is a needs-based, mission-driven organization, it is
not surprising that the celebration took a very deficit-based approach to their service nor that a
lot of our service opportunities are as well. As a social service provider, the majority of its work
comes from first acknowledging a deficit and then providing services to address that deficit. This
is especially true within the Volunteer Relations Department because of the context of us
supplying the volunteers to those services. This is not to say that the Charities do not at times use
asset maps, but rather the root of their development ideas comes from figuring out the deficits
first. That is where they place their value.
I have already greatly reflected on my toiling with social services versus work that
addresses the problem. I would say that this reflection is the biggest way in which my work
contributes to my understanding of community development. I see so many agencies and
programs that address the day-to-day, which is important, but I also know that the retention rates
at the programs are too high. Not because they want to be there, but because they have to be. I do
not really see a way in which community development could be applied to my work within

3. Tim Platten
EXPL 390
03/23/18
Catholic Charities, but I will be talking to Marie about it in the coming days. Perhaps the
Charities are restricted to just using the approaches because of the context of the organization.