Journal of Community Practice ISSN: 1070-5422 (Print) 1543-3706 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wcom20 Understanding How Community Organizing Leads to Social Change: The Beginning Development of Formal Practice Theory Shane R. Brady & Mary Katherine O’Connor To cite this article: Shane R. Brady & Mary Katherine O’Connor (2014) Understanding How Community Organizing Leads to Social Change: The Beginning Development of Formal Practice Theory, Journal of Community Practice, 22:1-2, 210-228, DOI: 10.1080/10705422.2014.901263 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2014.901263 Published online: 29 May 2014. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 707 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 1 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wcom20 Download by: [University of Michigan] Date: 19 October 2015, At: 14:42 Journal of Community Practice, 22:210–228, 2014 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1070-5422 print/1543-3706 online DOI: 10.1080/10705422.2014.901263 Understanding How Community Organizing Leads to Social Change: The Beginning Development of Formal Practice Theory SHANE R. BRADY and MARY KATHERINE O’CONNOR Department of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA Community organizing practice can be traced back to the settle- ment house era. Although the literature of community organizing is rich in approaches to practice built from practice wisdom, case studies, and conceptual frameworks, the literature lacks for- mal practice theory. This article provides beginning results from research with a long–range aim of building formal practice theory for social workers engaged in community organizing practice with empowerment related social change goals. KEYWORDS community organizing theory, delphi method, empowerment based community organizing, community organiz- ing, community practice, progressive community organizing PROBLEM STATEMENT Social work throughout history has maintained an explicit ethical commit- ment to promoting social justice (Allen-Meares & Garvin, 2000;Finn& Jacobson, 2003). According to the NASW Code of Ethics, “social workers Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 14:42 19 October 2015 promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities” (National Association of Social Workers, 2008, preamble). Although social justice is defined very dif- ferently in the literature as both a process and a product of practice (see, for example, Freire, 1970; Kahn, 2010; Rothman, 1979; Sen, 2003), many scholars relate social justice to professional ethics and values (Adams, Bell, & Griffin, 2007; Finn & Jacobson, 2003;P.M.Morris,2002; Nussbaum, 2003). Address correspondence to Dr. Shane R. Brady PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University, Social Work, 1001 W. Franklin Street, PO Box 842027, Richmond, VA 23284-2027. E-mail: [email protected] 210 How Community Organizing Leads to Social Change 211 Finn and Jacobson (2003) viewed social justice as relating to values that promote human rights, fairness, and equity, while opposing inequality, degradation, and violence against humankind. Nussbaum (2003) utilized a feminist and ecological perspective to define social justice through the pres- ence of 10 distinct capabilities that every just society should possess. These 10 capabilities focus on human rights, liberties, and freedoms. Nussbaum’s framework includes such entitlements as the right to participate in politics, freedom of speech, and the right to creativity. This article is thus grounded in these core social work definitions of social justice. Over the years, social work has encountered a good deal of criti- cism from the scientific community related to a lack of formal, scientifically built theory to guide professional practice (McNeece & Thyer, 2004; Payne, 2005). Although social work has borrowed from other disciplines such as psychology, sociology, medicine, physics, economics, political science, and anthropology, it has also made strides in developing its own approaches to professional practice (Gutierrez, Parsons, & Cox, 2003; Rubin & Babbie, 2011). Although social work has made strides in professional practice and research across micro and macro practice, it is clinical practice that has benefited most from the development of formal practice theory and mod- els (Payne, 2005). Although clinical practice makes use of practice level theories such as cognitive and behavioral theory to build formal prac- tice models such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, community practice, and specifically community organizing, lacks this level of formal practice theory and models (Payne, 2005;Walsh, 2006). The goal of this research study was to extend the current knowl- edge base of community organizing by taking initial steps to build formal community organizing practice theory grounded in the literature and uti- lizing the expertise of highly experienced community organizers. Although practice wisdom, conceptual frameworks, approaches to practice, case studies, and grand and mid-range theories have been, and continue to be, important guides for professionals engaged in community organizing (see for example; Addams, 1930; Alinsky, 1971; Brager & Specht, 1973; Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 14:42 19 October 2015 Checkoway, 1995; Gamble & Weil, 2010; Gutierrez, 1990;Gutierez&Lewis, 1994; Hardcastle, Powers, & Wenocur, 2004; Horton, 1998; Hyde, 1996; Jefferies, 1996;MacNair,1996; Netting, Kettner, & McMurtry, 2008; Piven & Cloward, 1977; Reisch, 2008; Rothman, 1979, 2008; Rothman et al., 2001; Solomon, 1976; Weil, 1996), there is an unfulfilled need for formal practice theory in community organizing. It is through the development and test- ing of formal practice theory that organizing practitioners will have direct guidance for how to do practice, as well as the process of community organizing derived from the real world experiences of seasoned community organizers. 212 S. R. Brady and M. K. O’Connor REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Community organizing has no single agreed upon definition (Szakos & Szakos, 2007). Community organizing is not unique to professional prac- tice or to the profession of social work (Brown, 2006;Garvin&Cox, 2001; Kahn, 2010). Community organizing is also not inherently progres- sive, liberal, radical, or conservative, and is utilized by professionals and nonprofessionals alike for a wide range of goals (Netting et al., 2008; Sen, 2003). Although definitions of community organizing vary (see Brager & Specht, 1973; Rothman, 1979, 2001, 2008; Weil, 1996, 2010), the authors were concerned with community organizing that had explicit goals of bring- ing together and/or working with members of marginalized groups for the broad purpose of attaining social justice and social change. Here we define social change by synthesizing and building upon previous definitions and define social change as: progressive and beneficial changes to individuals, groups, and systems coming about as a result of community organizing that involves to some degree persons experiencing marginalization (Checkoway, 1995; C. M. Payne, 1995; Solomon, 1976). Community organizing in professional practice has been used to refer to various purposeful activities aimed at helping develop communities, challenge unjust systems and policies, and promote interconnectedness among community members (Brager & Specht, 1973; Gamble & Weil, 2010; Rothman, Erlich, & Tropman, 2001). The literature supportive of these efforts is rich in frameworks and conceptual models of how community organiz- ing relates to specific goals, macro theories, typologies of organizing, and desired outcomes (Rothman et al.; Thomas, O’Connor, & Netting, 2011; Weil, 1996). To fully understand the formal practice theory aim of this study, it is important to define terms. Formal practice theory is defined here as theory derived directly from empirical evidence attained through rigorous scientific inquiry for the purpose of providing specific guidance to practitioners about how to do practice and what can be expected (M. Payne, 2005; Turner, 1996). Formal practice theory differs from terms such as approaches to practice or frameworks, because it is empirically derived, has a goal of generalizability, Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 14:42 19 October 2015 and can be empirically tested and improved upon through further research (M. Payne, 2005). The term framework in community practice refers to a heuristic that provides a logical categorization of some aspect(s) of community practice (Thomas et al., 2011). Often times, frameworks are used in community orga- nizing to categorize the types of organizing practice that are possible by criteria, such as goals, outcomes, power dynamics, leadership, and ideology (Netting et al., 2008). Approaches to community practice and organizing provide practitioners with guidance about how to do practice based on practice wisdom and/or various conceptualizations of practice (Lee, 2001; Solomon, 1976; Thomas et al., 2011). Practice approaches and frameworks How Community Organizing Leads to Social Change 213 in the literature are also ideologically derived by professionals based on their own values in relation to what is the best way to do organizing practice or the best way to think about organizing practice, and therefore are seldom built from the inductive-deductive