• Part of a process that brings people together to collectively

address problems, concerns or issues with the goal of

enhancing self-determination, achieving greater equality and
affecting a shift in power relationships to benefit member of
oppressed communities.
• According to Murray G. Ross, Community organization is a
process by which a community identifies needs and takes
action, and in doing so extends and develops cooperative
attitudes and practices.
• Eduard C. Lindeman in 19211 defined community
organisation as “Community organisation is that phase of
social organisation which constitutes a conscious effort on
the part of a community to control its affairs democratically
and to secure the highest services from its specialists,
organisations, agencies and institutions by means of
recognised inter relations.”
• Walter W. Pettit in 19252 defined it as “Community
organisation is perhaps best defined as assisting a group of
people to recognise their common needs and helping them
to meet these needs.”
• Community organization is a technique for obtaining a consensus
concerning both the values that are most important for the common
welfare and the best means of obtaining them – Sanderson and Polson
(1939).
• Community organization is achieved whenever a group of citizens
recognizing a need, band together to see that the need is met – Kurtz
• Community organization means enabling people to find satisfying and
fruitful social relationships and not for specific and preconceived forms of
relationship.
• Community organization is concerned with efforts
to direct social resources effectively towards the
specific or total welfare needs of any
geographical area.
• Community organization has been defined as the process of bringing
about and maintaining a progressively more effective adjustment
between social welfare resources and social welfare needs within a
geographic area or functional field.-Neil
• Community organization is described as the orderly application of a
relevant body of knowledge, employing practice–wisdom and learned
behavior through characteristic, distinctive and describable
procedures to help the community to engage in a desirable procedure
to achieve planned change towards community improvement –
National Association of Social Workers.
• Community organizing is “a process through which communities are
helped to identify common problems or goals, mobilize resources, and
in other ways develop and implement strategies for reaching their
goals they have collectively set.”
• The fundamental aspect of the community organizations is the
principle of cooperative spirit which promotes the people to
unite together to address a common issue.
• Community organization recognizes the spirit of democratic
values and principles with the focus on creating democratic
involvement.
• Organising is about empowering. When people unite together,
and get involved in community organisation, they develop
confidence. This empowerment comes when people learn skills
to help themselves and others. The collective action helps in
• The community organization recognizes the power of
individual. It believes, that through the collective strength of
the people, better teamwork and adoption of scientific
methods, can provide comprehensive solutions to social
problems.
• Coordination. It is concerned with adjustments and inter-
relations of the forces in the community life for common
welfare.
• Community organization is therefore, a continuous process
in which adjustments are made and remade to keep pace
with the changing conditions of community life.
 Arthur Dunham in 1958 formulated a statement of 28 principles of
community organization and grouped those under seven headings. They
are:
• Democracy and social welfare
• Community roots for community programs
• Citizen understanding, support, and participation and professional
service
• Cooperation
• Social Welfare Programs
• Adequacy, distribution, and organization of social welfare services
• Prevention.
• Communities of people can develop the capacity to deal with their own
problems
• People want to change and can change
• People should participate in making, adjusting, or controlling the major
changes taking place within their communities
• Changes in community living that are self-imposed or self-developed have a
meaning and permanence that imposed changes do not have
• A “holistic approach” can deal successfully with problems with which a
“fragmented approach” cannot cope
• Democracy requires cooperative participation and action in the affairs of the
community, and people must learn the skills that make this possible
• Frequently, communities of people need help in organizing to deal with their
needs, just as many individuals require help with individual problems
• Inherent dignity and worth of the individual -community pace
• Everyone /community possess resources to deal with his problems
• The inherent capacity for growth
• The ability to manage one’s own affairs
 Locality Development

Social Planning Social Action

• According to Murray Ross the "process of self help and communal
action is valuable in its own right". The model of locality development is
based on this particular thought process. It originated from the
traditional community organization practice. The main focus of this
model is whole community or a part of it. The basic belief is that
communities have some common needs and interests and once the
people realize this need and work together democratically they can
take appropriate steps to improve the quality of life.
Role of the community organizer:
• to enhance the involvement of the people in the community and help
the community to plan and help them find a solution to the problem. It
is similar to work of community development, which is done in the
 It refers to the type of community work where a worker or
agency undertakes an exercise of evaluating welfare needs and
existing services in the area and suggests a possible blue print for a
more efficient delivery of services, it is termed as social planning. It
is concerned with social problems For example. Housing, education,
health, childcare and so on. Its aim is to affect a large population.
The community planner works in greater capacity with the
government and is often identified with power structure of the
community but interested in the needs and attitudes of the
community.
• According to Friedlander,W.A. ( 1963) " Social Action is an
individual, group or community effort within the framework of the
social work philosophy and practice that aims to achieve social
progress, to modify social policies and to improve social legislation
and health and welfare services". Another model of community
organization suggested by Rothman is that of social action.
According to him social action is a strategy used by groups or sub
communities or even national organizations that feel that they
have inadequate power and resources to meet their needs. So
they confront with the power structure using conflict as a method
to solve their issues related to inequalities and deprivation.
• This has been used as a means to redress the social
problems of the nation, redistribute the resources and power
to the poor and powerless. Social action as model has an
important role in community organization.
• The community organizer uses all means to pressure the
power structure to give in to demands. The role of organizers
may differ depending the issues they get involved in. The role
may be of advocate, activist, agitator, broker or negotiator. It
is a process. This organizing process goes through different
stage .So the role of the organizer will also change as per the
roles of the organizer at each stage.
• A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an
organization representing the community, allowing it to influence key decision-
makers on a range of issues over time. In the ideal, for example, this can get
community organizing groups a place at the table before important decisions
are made.
Main Objective/aim: To bring adjustment between the resources available
and felt needs of the people
• To get information about the resources and needs
• To arouse the people to work for the welfare of the community
• To create sounds ground for planning and action
• To create a sense of cooperation integration and unity among people
• To motivate the people to take better participation in the developing
community programs
• To highlight the causes of various problems affecting the community
and hinder the way of progress and development
• To implement programs required for the fulfilment of people basic
• To develop better understanding among the people about the issues
and needs
• To mobilize the resources to create a suitable ground for the basic
needs completion and eradication of problems
• To bring coordination between the individuals, groups and
organization to focus their point and challenge their objectives for
fulfilment
• To launch necessary reforms in the community for eradication of
community evils
• To develop democratic leadership among people through their
participation in community programs
• To develop the idea of ability and better thinking to work for the
betterment of community
• To abolish the differences among individuals, develop spirit of
common interest and sacrifice and also participate collectively in
community programs
• To organize the people for the promotion and progress of community
• Removal of blocks to growth (in individuals, groups as well as in
communities)
• Release of full potentialities (in individuals, groups as well as in
communities)
• Full use of inner resources (in individuals, groups as well as in
communities)
• Development of capacity to manage one’s own (individual, group &
community) life
• Increasing the ability to function as an integrated unit