Community engagement: evolution, challenges and opportunities for change

Abstract

The role of community engagement in the field of community practice and generally in social work have continuously evolved over the last century. Included in this issue is “From the archives: Jesse Frederick Steiner assesses community organization in 1922” by Paul Stuart (Stuart, 2022). Stein’s 1922 article “Community organization: A study of its rise and recent tendencies” discusses the origins of the community organization in social work, including case study examples that illustrate community engagement strategies used by early community organizers. Stein described community organization practice as focusing on “the needs of the larger social group, the community,” while “the other area of social work” (e.g., direct practice) focused on the “problems of the individual and the family.” Stein emphasized that working with communities could not be separated from working with individuals and families. Community organization was also discussed by Stein as form of social work that was not entirely new but one that was integral and woven into social work to address the “conditions of community life.” Stuart (2022) highlighted the importance of community collaboration and engagement as central to community organization practice. The role of social settlements (e.g., settlement houses) were described as the “very essence of community organization” because of their role in developing a cooperative spirit with the communities in which they worked. Community organization’s purpose was seen as the socializing people by providing opportunities for them to address their common problems. Case studies discussed by Stein illustrated various forms of community organization practice in the early 19 century, including ways in which the community was engaged through collaborations among organizations, associations, or welfare agencies to address issues of recreation, health, and other public welfare issues. Most of the case studies described by Stein focused mainly on organizational forms of engagement and collaboration. However, there were a few exceptions where community organizing efforts engaged regular citizens and residents in advising and guiding programs. For example, the Community Council Movement, whose governing board was made up of official social and civic organizations, also engaged “citizens chosen by the people of the community at an open meeting.” The Cincinnati Social Unit Organization also engaged residents in a more democratic manner. Each block in the community elected a block council and chose its own executive or block worker who was essentially playing some of the same engagement roles that today’s community organizers play: building JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE 2022, VOL. 30, NO. 4, 351–358 https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2022.2144061