Samhällsarbete : Strategier för bevarande eller förnyelse. Om möjligheten att utveckla ett radikalt humanistiskt socialt arbete

Sammanfattning: The object of the study is to make a critical examination of community work as it is conducted within the framework of the social services. The purpose of this examination is to ascertain whether community work can bring about changes in society and contribute to the radical transformation of social work on humanistic grounds. To this end a theoretical frame of reference is elaborated in which specific value premises are made explicit. Specific questions under study. What indications are there in the projects carried out to date that community work is a viable approach for effecting changes in society and for bringing about a radical transformation of the social services? Which perspectives and theoretical frames of reference are fruitful for arriving at a critical understanding of community work?The study takes its starting-point in a critical reexamination of three empirical studies which I carried out partly in collaboration with a research team and partly on my own. A number of past and current community work projects are also reviewed. The study sheds light on the aims and functions of community work and attempts to place this form of social work in a historical, social, and institutional context. Furthermore, an interpretational framework is presented and a number of criteria for evaluating community work projects are suggested.Conclusions: In the 1970s, community work had an impact on the public debate and was able to effect some changes at the local level of society. Since the 1980s and 1990s, however, community work has been on the decline despite the deterioration of conditions in society and despite new legislation requiring the social services to employ the methods of community work whenever feasible. If community work is to have the desired effect, a number of conditions must be met:- community work must be recognized as a social-political undertaking directed toward the meso-level of society, with value premises made explicit and linked to theoretical perspectives on how to achieve social change,- community work must be more clearly demarcated with respect to other methods in social work,- the social service as an organization must make a firmer commitment to developing community work, and thereby to fulfilling its legal obligations,- the competence of social workers must be enhanced so that they become better versed in the theories and methods of community work.