Community Turn in My Life and My Thougt on Frontline Work
In Finland, I experienced the community turn in my daily life from various dimensions.
Last year, I had almost joined PAM (Trade Union of Service Industries) as I had a temporary job last year. This union shares critical information with me, organizes events, advocates multi assistance, collaboration and self-reliance to address workplace injustice, issues, protect employees’ rights and offers support to its members and anyone in need. They are shifting the official power forward to a specific group (community). Even though I am not a member of PAM, yet I think it is a great example of community turn.
Another nearby example is the student union and various student clubs at Turku AMK. These organizations work to highlight underused or unidentified resources that promote self-help and social support, particularly for students. For instance, at the beginning of each academic year, they organize events and campaigns to introduce new students to basic but crucial information about student well-being and their rights. This not only helps students adapt but also fosters a sense of community and collective responsibility for well-being, reflecting a community-centered approach.
Additionally, functional departments at Turku AMK contribute to this community turn by implementing policies and services that transform the university into a microcosm of society.
Those examples adaquetly demonstrates that a community turn is an effecient approach of micro democratic self-govern. It empowers individuals to participate in collective wellbeing promotion. It makes rights equal, enables innovation, and fosters a democratic spirit and vibrant society.
However, abuse of power should be vigilant as a negtive impact of community turn. POWER lives in every relationship. Overpower or abuse of rights must harm the members of the community, and even imbalance the relationship between official institutions and micro or meso communities.
How can I play my role in the futurer social worker in the context of the community turn?
Yes!! First of all, as a social worker I must know that SOCIAL WORK IS NOT A VALUE-FREE PROFESSION. I can spot the social problems, injustice, and discrimination as a keen witness; making the issue visible as a journalist or a speaker; demanding change and making change with people as a big community.
When I work on the frontline, I can also define collective patterns of structural injustice or systemic problems.
Be aware and step forward to observe and rethink the problems that happend in my clients. Then, identify relationships between the issues and social structure or social systems. Translating the individual problems into a “collective pattern” and advocating reform actions to change the systemic injustice or structual problems. Work to reduce social injustice and increase self-reliance at the individual level.
In short, document the problems and define the collective patterns, advocate for systemic change, and promote individual empowerment. Both systmatic reform and self-reliance must be consider and practice cocurrently.
No matter COMMUNITY TURN or From Frontline work to POLICY, these ideas all imply that individual autonomy plays an important role in social life. Every bit of awareness, every small change, can lead to a qualitative transformation, making society fairer and better and allowing everyone to live with greater dignity and a stronger sense of value.
The idea of community turn has a profound impact on the field of social work. It has challenged us to shift focus more on larger systemic issues and distance ourselves from individual interventions strategy. As a future sosionomi, this course opened my eyes into how to better understand and adapt into this ever-evolving professional landscape.
ReplyDeleteOne of the key takeaways from my research and assignments on this course is the importance of recognizing what community turn is all about and how to recognize it in everyday professional practice.
The course also highlighted the dual nature of the community turn. While it empowers social workers to address root causes, it can also present challenges. Balancing individual needs with systemic concerns requires a delicate touch and a deep understanding of both micro and macro levels of intervention.
As a sosionomi, I envision a future where we’re not just responding to crises but actively shaping the social landscape. This will require a nuanced understanding of power dynamics, a strong commitment to social justice, and the ability to collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders and policy makers.
The process of defining and addressing collective problems is not always easy. It involves identifying the root cause of the problem, framing the issue in a clear and convincing way in order to be able to mobilize support for change. The course provided valuable tools for this, emphasizing the importance of clear communication, data-driven analysis, and building strong relationships with community members, policy makers and other professionals in similar field of service i.e. medical professionals and social workers etc.
In conclusion, the community turn is a powerful framework that can drive meaningful social change. By embracing this approach and continuously honing our skills, we can work towards a more just and equitable society where we can make valuable impacts on the lives of people we serve and the way we carry out our services to ensure that marginalized group of people and people who are struggling in one way or another in life can find solution to their problems within their community and amongst their friends and loved ones.