conceptualizing community
15 page paper – PSYCH
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15 page paper – PSYCH
FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS PURPOSE: Force Field Analysis is an approach to conceptualizing community problems and to planning actions to address those problems. It is one product of Kurt Lewin’s action research approach to community and social problems. The process of carrying out a Force Field Analysis simulates many of the dynamics involved in actual community work. In this paper, you will focus on the problem in terms of multiple ecological levels of analysis, not merely at the individual level. This Force Field Analysis Exercise is designed as a simulation of a series of community meetings, to build skills in focused thinking, group interaction, and positive movement regarding a problem or issue of genuine concern. While Force Field Analysis is typically carried out in a group, to simplify the process for the purpose of this course you will be completing it as an individual. Select discussion boards and assignments during the semester will allow you to discuss your topic and get feedback from classmates and the professor in lieu of working in groups. The purpose of those assignments will be to imagine yourselves as a community group or coalition meeting addressing a community or social issue and to provide feedback to your peers. FORMAT:
• Approximately 15 double-spaced pages (1-inch margins, 12-pt Times New Roman font) • The paper must follow APA Format. Refer to the OWL Purdue APA formatting cite and
documents posted on Black Board for examples of formatting your paper. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• The following headings and subheadings must be used in your paper: Community Problem and Context Description of the Problem Root Causes of the Problem Goals Driving and Restraining Forces Action Plan Action Plan Outline Community Psychology Concepts Implementation Start-up Details Analysis of Obstacles Evaluation of your Overall Plan Action Letter
• Submit via Turn-It-In • POINTS: 100
DEDUCTIONS: Late papers will be penalized 5 points per day. Please refer to the academic integrity policy of the university, as students who violate this policy will be penalized. http://www.wpunj.edu/human-resources/faculty-and-professional-staff-handbook/academic- integrity-policy-for-students.html
EXTRA CREDIT: 5 points for attending one individual writing center session. To get this extra credit, students are required to have the reports of the tutoring session sent to this professor prior to the term paper due date.
SEVEN-STEP PROCESS Step 1: Selecting a Community Problem and Context (apx: 1 paragraph)
• Write a brief introductory paragraph to your paper identifying the problem and context. • Choose a community problem or issue of interest. It is best to choose a topic you have at
least some direct experience or knowledge with. • Choose a community problem or issue that you care about, and that you are genuinely
committed to finding ways to foster positive change. If citizens’ commitment to change is not genuine, community problems soon appear impossible to address. In addition, Force Field Analysis is much more fun if you choose an issue you care about!
• Suggested Topics: illness and health, homelessness, drug abuse (including alcohol and tobacco), domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, violence among youth, elder abuse, poverty, environmental problems, access to childcare, the impact of divorce, and issues of injustice such as racism or sexism.
o Your final choice of community problem should be specific and tangible; for instance, binge drinking among college students.
• Next, choose a community where this problem occurs.
Step 2: Describing the Problem (apx. 2-3 paragraphs) • Describe the community problem in specific detail. Avoid blaming individuals for the
problem. The more specific you can be about the people affected by the problem, and about the community context, the better you can devise useful responses to the problem.
• If possible, talk with people or groups who are experiencing the problem or affected by it in their own lives.
• Address the following questions: o What is the community context of the problem? For instance, is the community
rural, urban, suburban, or other? What is its racial and ethnic makeup? What age groups are predominant? Are other community qualities relevant to this problem?
o What behaviors constitute the visible aspects of the problem? When and where do these occur?
o Who is involved in or directly affected by this problem? How could those affected by the problem be described in terms of age, gender, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or other dimensions of human diversity?
o What else is important to know about the problem? • YOUR PAPER MUST CONTAIN A MINIMUM OF 2 PEER-REVIEWED
JOURNAL ARTICLES DISCUSSING THIS PROBLEM. Step 3: Identifying Root Causes of the Problem (apx. 1-2 pages)
• Discuss root cases of the problem.
• Understanding a community problem involves understanding something about its causes. A good theory of the root causes of a community problem provides a guide to efforts to prevent or lessen that problem.
• “Root causes” are the most basic, most significant causes of a problem. Some may be individual factors, but others are factors at higher levels of analysis, such as organizational, locality, or macrosystem (e.g., economic and social-political factors).
• To identify root causes: o Review the research and scholarly literature on causes, risk and protective factors;
§ YOUR PAPER MUST CONTAIN A MINIMUM OF 3 PEER- REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES DISCUSSING THESE FACTORS
o If possible, interview persons in the community, especially those who have experienced the problem directly, not just professionals;
o Use the “But Why?” technique: § “But Why?” begins with the community problem you defined earlier. Ask
yourself: “Why does this problem occur?” Each time you identify a cause of the problem, ask yourself, “But why does that occur?” Keep asking “But Why?” until you arrive at the underlying factors that seem to be roots of the problem. Repeat the procedure as often as needed to identify the causes of the problem at multiple ecological levels of analysis.
• Refer to the link for Chapter 17 in Community Tools posted on Black Board. Step 4: Clarifying a Goal (apx. 1 page)
• From the list of root causes, choose one causal factor that you would like to change. • Make sure the factor that you pick is changeable, that it can be altered in a constructive
way that lessens the problem in your community setting. You may eventually plan to attain this goal with a prevention/promotion program, a social policy, or another action initiative.
• Write down the factor selected. Make it as specific as possible. • Next, write a Goal Statement: a description of how you would like to see this causal
factor changed, to resolve or lessen the community problem. • Make your goal feasible: something you can imagine happening, but that also would
represent a real improvement in the situation in your community setting. • Make your goal specific: measurable or identifiable, so that you and others will know
when it has been attained. Step 5: Identifying Driving and Restraining Forces (apx. 1-2 pages)
• Discuss all the Driving and Restraining Forces you can identify concerning the community and goal you have chosen. This step is the heart of Force Field Analysis.
• Driving Forces are those that can push your community toward the goal you specified in the previous step. These may be resources such as committed persons, organizations, or funding which can help attain the goal. Driving Forces may also be intangible resources such as a shared sense of community that motivates individuals to work together. Potential driving forces can also be persons or groups who are not now involved, but could be useful in addressing the community problem. However, consider potential driving forces only if you believe that they can be mobilized readily for work on the
problem. It is a very human error to overestimate the number or strength of those who agree with you or who will work with you. Be realistic.
• Restraining Forces are factors that resist or obstruct movement toward the goal situation. These also may be community forces, persons, or organizations. Root causes of a problem are restraining forces. So is resistance to change, a powerful community force. Any group or person who would be threatened in some way by progress toward the goal situation may also be a Restraining Force. Those who oppose your definition of the problem or its causes may also be Restraining Forces. Essentially, Restraining Forces are the factors already present in the community that keep the problem in existence, even if only by ignoring it.
Figure 1 illustrates the relation of driving and restraining forces to the current situation and the goal. FIGURE 1: DRIVING AND RESTRAINING FORCES CURRENT GOAL SITUATION SITUATION DRIVING FORCES RESTRAINING FORCES Step 6: Prioritizing Driving and Restraining Forces (2 sentences)
• This information should be included under ‘Step 5’ in your paper. Conclude your ‘Step 5’ section by identifying the 3 Driving Forces and 3 Restraining Forces that will be the focus of your action plan.
• Choose up to three important Driving Forces for your community to strengthen, in order to attain your goal. These will be the first focus of your action plan.
• Then choose up to three important Restraining Forces for your community to weaken or work around, to attain your goal. These will be the second focus of your action plan.
Step 7: Action Plan
• When you have prioritized up to three Driving Forces and Restraining Forces for action, you are ready to plan a community initiative to attain your goal by strengthening these Driving Forces, weakening or working around these Restraining Forces, or doing both.
• Typically, you will focus on your prioritized list of Restraining Forces. From this list, you will choose one or two of these forces that you can most feasibly reduce. Your Action Plan should describe in detail how you intend to reduce these Restraining Forces, and thereby impact on the problem situation you identified earlier.
• The Community Tool Box website is a valuable resource for this planning (http://ctb.ku.edu).
PART I: (apx. 2 pages) • The first part of your Action Plan write-up is the Action Plan Outline, which serves as
an overview of the overall plan you are proposing. This write-up should give a broad view of what you would like to see happen and how it will take place, and it should reflect a realistic timeline. Think of it as an Executive Summary, Overview, or Flow Chart. You can write it out or use outline form—whatever will allow you to best convey what you are intending.
• Also, use the Internet or make other contacts necessary to help you determine (to the extent possible) whether something like what you have been proposing has been tried before. It’s not impossible that your Force Field process might take you to some familiar solutions, but these are likely to result in first order change. So, you want to try to reassure yourselves that you are not carrying out something that has recently been tried and has been unsuccessful. Things you learn in this search process often lead to small but important modifications in plans.
o Cite relevant sources! You are permitted to use websites here and can also include peer-reviewed journal articles if relevant.
PART II: (apx. 1-2 paragraphs) • Specify the Community Psychology Concepts that you have integrated into your Action
Plan Outline. This is a very important section, as it gives you a chance to explain principles that may underlie your Outline but not be explicit or obvious. You can draw from the textbook or any related readings for this.
PART III: (apx. 2 pages in numbered outline format) • The third part of the Action Plan write-up consists of the Implementation Start-Up
Details. This will consist of a list of numbered steps that specify exactly what it will take to get your Action Plan started, making no assumptions with regard to time and resources. It takes time to set up meetings, gather resources, obtain funds, design a program, etc. Don’t omit any steps. If there are steps that are necessary but are things you can’t accomplish directly, your plan should reflect how you are going to get the resources or support to get done what needs to happen.
• As you play out these details, you may find yourself needing to revise aspects of your Action Plan Outline, particularly your timeline. You might not find yourself getting too far into your Action Outline. That’s no problem. Just be sure to keep Community Psychology concepts, principles, and values in mind and don’t allow yourself to compromise these in the name of expedience, just to get the plan done. Expedience is what often dooms social action plans and leads to first-order change efforts that allow problems to persist. Be concise!
PART IV: (apx. 1-2 pages) • The next part of the write-up is the Analysis of Obstacles. For each step corresponding
to each number of your Implementation Details, you should provide an analysis of the obstacles to it and propose ideas to get around those obstacles. If you find that there are
significant flaws in your plan, or that the obstacles identified seem highly difficult to overcome, that is not a serious problem. Your realistic, honest analysis is required here. The best outcome is when you and your team, not someone else, discover the obstacles. Realistic and creative planning around obstacles is an essential part of the Force Field Analysis process.
• You can either write this out as a separate section OR combine with Part III. If you combine with Part III, be sure your heading reflects that.
PART V: (apx. 1 page) • Finally, you should provide a brief overview of an Evaluation of your Overall Plan. It
should address the question, “How will you know that the goals of your plan have been attained?” What will have changed to let you know that you are being successful? What indicators will be useful to you? Here, you can look at the research methods and designs in Chapters 3, 4 and 14 of the textbook to help you figure out appropriate ways to determine whether your actions have been successful, and, in the spirit of action research, where they might be falling short and require revision/rethinking.
ACTION LETTER
• Write a brief (2 pages, double spaced) Action Letter to an appropriate person, agency,
media outlet, etc., with several or all of the following goals. o Define the specific problem or issue you are addressing. o Illuminate aspects of a problem that have gotten too little attention. This may
include causes that have been overlooked. Cite sources of specific information. o Suggest causal factors that may have been overlooked in solutions proposed to
date. o Advocate a specific, feasible course of action to address these aspects of the issue.
Examples include a new policy, new practices or ways to carry out an existing policy, or a new or modified community program. Recognize that your ideas will have costs (e.g., money, time, collaboration among groups). Advocate your course of action assertively.
o Indicate areas that you think should have more research and public discussion to analyze the issue.
• Choose a person or organization you want to address, the more specific the better. Examples of places to which one might direct a letter include a newspaper (in your hometown, or the location of your university, or your college newspaper), your representatives or senators in the state legislature or the U.S. Congress, someone at your university, someone at a relevant state agency, the editor of a magazine, the head of a corporation or business, a philanthropy or foundation, or the writer of one of the source materials you read for the project. You are free to quote from class readings, to acknowledge that your work arose out of the work from a class assignment, and to take a forceful position.
• You are not obligated to send the letters, but each one should be sendable.
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