Community organization is a method of social work that aims to develop capacity within communities to handle their own needs and problems. It involves helping communities identify and prioritize needs, develop confidence to address them, find internal and external resources, and promote cooperative attitudes. The objectives of community organization are to involve community members democratically in meeting needs and developing services, and to improve coordination between organizations. It is guided by democratic values and empowering communities through participation.

1. Community Organization:
Concept, Nature,
Objective & Values
Dr. Purshottam
Guest Faculty
Department of Social Work, KUK

2. Community Organization
• The third basic method of Social Work is community
organization.
• Concept developed in United States since 1870- to
meet people’s need and to promote their participation
from the experience of involving organizations and
institutions.
• The aim of community organization is ‘developing
capacity’ in the community ‘by making it more
organized’ to handle its own needs or problems.
• Community organization is a well-established method
in social work. It has value orientation and the practice
is guided by a set of general principles.

3. Conti..
• Community organisation means helping the
community to solve its problems.
• Community organizing is a process by which
people are brought together to act in common
self-interest. While organizing describes any
activity involving people interacting with one
another in a formal manner, much community
organizing is in the pursuit of a common agenda.
• Community organizing is usually focused on more
than just resolving specific issues. Organizing is
empowering all community members, often with
the end goal of distributing power equally
through out the community.

4. History of Community Organization
• Historically Elizabethan poor law (1601) in England was one
of the first efforts to provide services for the needy. But
charity organisation societies were forerunners of modern
community organisation planning. They were first
organised in London in 1869 to eliminate discriminate alms
giving by the relief agencies at that time.
• In America the first charity organisation society was
organised in Buffalo in 1877. Later on it spread to the other
cities of USA. The charity organisation movement is an
influential factor for emergence of community
organisation.
• In 1952, the community development project was launched
in India and with this we find the emergence of a new era
of community work. (1936- 1st school of social work)
• 1970- NGOs and voluntary organizations, 2005- CSR
(Corporate social responsibilities

5. Definitions
• Murray G. Ross (1967) defines community
organisation as a “process by which a
community identifies its needs or objectives,
gives priority to them, develops confidence
and will to work at them, finds resources
(internal and external) to deal with them, and
in doing so, extends and develops cooperative
and collaborative attitudes and practices in
the community”

6. Conti…
• Lindeman(1921) defines “Community
organization as “community organization is
that phase of social organization which
constitutes a conscious effort on the part of
community to control its affairs
democratically and to secure the highest
services from its specialists, organizations,
agencies and institutions by means of
recognised inter-relations.”

7. Conti…
In general four different major ideas are reflected in
these definitions-
1. The idea of co-operation, collaboration and
integration
2. The idea of meeting needs and of bringing about
a balance between needs and resources
3. The idea that community organization deals
with program relationships as contrasted with
the direct service of case work and group work
4. The broad philosophical concept of community
organization as furnishing a working relationship
between the democratic process and specialism.

8. Nature
1. The fundamental aspect of the community organizations
is the principle of “Co-operative spirit“.
2. Community organization recognizes the spirit of
democratic values and principles .
3. Organizing is about empowering. When people unite
together, barring all discriminations and get involved in
the community organizations, they develop confidence.
4. The empowerment comes when people learn skills to
help themselves and others.
5. The community organization recognizes the power of
individual. It believes through the collective strength of
the people, better teamwork and adopting scientific
methods can make comprehensive solutions. .

9. Conti…
6. It is concerned with the adjustments and inter-
relations of the forces in the community life .
Community organization is therefore, is a continuous
process in which adjustments are made and remade to
keep pace with the changing conditions of community
life.
7. Within the area of social work the process of
community organization is carried on not only in
communities or neighborhoods, or on the local level
but also on a state wide basis and on a nation wide
basis or on the state and national level.
8. Community organizations is usually and perhaps
always concerned with intergroup relationships.

10. Objectives:
• The primary aim of community organizations is to bring
about and maintain a progressively more affective
adjustment between scarce resources and multiple needs
of the community.
• This implies that community organization is concerned with
(a) the discovery and definition of needs (b) planning for
meeting those needs (c) the articulation or pulling the
resources (d) channelizing these resources to solve the
problems.
• To involve the people democratically in thinking deciding,
planning and playing an active part in the development and
operation of services that affect their daily lives.

11. Secondary objectives are-
1. To secure and maintain an adequate factual basis
for sound planning and action;
2. To initiate, develop and modify welfare programs
and services in the interest of attaining a better
adjustments between resources and needs.
3. To improve standard of social work and to increase
the effectiveness of individual agencies.
4. To improve and facilitate the interrelationships
and to promote coordination among
organizations, groups and individuals concerned
with social welfare program and services;

12. Conti…
5. To develop a better public understanding of
welfare related problems and needs and social
work objectives, programs and methods.
6. To develop public support of and public
participation in social welfare activities
• Analyzing resources available, gaining facts
about human needs, bringing participation,
creating motivation for action through
participation and education, determining
priorities, identification of gaps and
duplication of services.

13. Values
Values direct our thinking and action towards socially
accepted patterns
1. The essential dignity and ethical worth, integrity, self-
respect, equal opportunity of the individual
2. The possession of potentialities and resources in each
person for managing his own life
3. The importance of freedom of expression of one’s
individuality (Community should be given full liberty in
decision making and in that process coming differences
should be tolerated)
4. The great capacity for growth within all social beings;
5. The right of the individual to basic physical necessities;
6. The need for the individual to struggle and strive to
improve his own life and environment;

14. Conti…
7. The right of the individual to help in time of
need and crisis;
8. Community organisation practice believes in
confidentiality, social justice and modernization
9. The need of a social climate which encourages
individual growth and development;
10. The right and the responsibility of the
individual to participate in the affairs of the
community; (Approach to community work
should be democratic, welfare oriented and need
based,)

15. Conti…
11. The practicability and importance of
discussion, conference, and consultation as
methods for the solution of individual and social
problems;
12. The importance of a social organization for
which the individual feels responsible and which
is responsive to individual feeling;
13. “self help” as the essential base of any
programme of aid.

16. Thank you