Community Violence or Community Empowerment?

This is an excerpt out of a Proposal I wrote. I am sharing the ideas.

Over the past 20 years society has been changing. People are typically working longer hours, families are breaking up to reconfigure into blended families or single parent families. We are witnessing increasing social attitudes that are apathetic about violence on television and community violence citing ‘there is nothing I can do’. This apathy may be a result of dumbing down or desensitisation around issues of violence or a general sense of disempowerment, that nothing can be done. Increasingly the local community is a group of strangers and not people who all know each other and look out for each other. Interestingly, initiatives like Neighbourhood Watch galvanised small groups in suburbs to build a sense of responsibility and vigilance in respect of criminal activity and to inform the local area of issues that directly affect them.

Conflict resolution is a field that has been emerging since the 1950’s and in response to the growing violence worldwide. It was developed on the theory of preventative violence with the notion of training people on dealing with conflict with an approach of win/win. The early practitioners in this field included include Mahatma Gandhi among the precursors; Kenneth Boulding, Johan Galtung and John Burton among the founders; and Herbert Kelman, Roger Fisher, William Ury, Adam Curle and Elise Boulding.

Issues in respect of violence were, until Johan Galtung (Transcend), typically perceived as the cessation of violence. That is to stop violence. In societal terms this would be the use of police to force people to stop fighting or the threat of legal consequences as deterrence to violent behaviour. Johan Galtung, a sociologist, introduced the notions of direct violence and structural violence. The former includes suffering of physical and emotional pain and the latter looks at the institutions and structures of society which result in inequality or oppression among individuals. Galtung further explored the notion of peace and categorised it into two categories, negative and positive peace. Negative peace refers to the cessation of violence and positive peace deals with relationships such as cultural and social.

The issue of community violence is an issue that is of worldwide import. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) designated 2001-2010 the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the children of the world. The global movement for a culture of peace is a proactive response to empowerment of societies, and in particular children, in non-violence and developing skills that help build positive peace within their schools, homes and communities. This was to focus communities on the importance of non-violence and peace education for children.

Community violence is modelled from one generation to the next, the increasing incidence of bullying in children is a warning sign that bullying behaviours are endemic in society. Moreover, 1 in 5 children are viewed as having being bullied at least once a week and recently the Girl Guides Association has indicated the incidence as 68% of girls being bullied by other children. The statistics on bullying do not include parental behaviours of bullying towards children or indeed other adults. To add to the complexity of social problems it is estimated that 1 in 4 have some form of mental illness. Many families are undergoing separation, blended family configurations which create complex dynamics.

In respect of community violence children are often witnesses or experiencers of violence in the home. Parents increasingly appear unsure of what is appropriate or inappropriate behaviours as society loses its sense of shared social behaviour. The increase of violence in the media and diminishing of displayed ethical values has created more confusion as to what is acceptable and what is not. Other social issues such as alcohol and drug addiction are surrogates to ‘feel better’ but ultimately lead to more social fragmentation and violence.

Councils in Australia and the UK are now looking at empowering local communities to stimulate community members to action. Rather than remain in a state of apathy with attitudes of ‘it is none of my business’, it is considered essential for the community to democratise at the grass roots. This arises from learning to take responsibility and deal with issues that affect their lives and learning to change attitudes and approaches. Local government can empower communities by giving responsibility to citizens and support to ensure improved quality of life, social inclusion and community cohesion.

OWN Empowerment is interested in cultivating empowerment through training in anti-bullying and conflict resolution with an emphasis on humour and shared interest. Moreover, the focus is on positive peace through improving how people deal with conflict and the promotion of conflict resolution to resolve underlying conflicts that is affecting positive relationships, as the outcome.

Proposed Wise Communities Program

This proposal advances the idea of creating win/win resolution of conflict at the suburban (neighbourhood) level. It is based on utilising the Neighbourhood Watch Networks, police and community groups. Facilitators commence an incubator program in a local area to train the community in community based conflict resolution and positive peace approaches to foster harmony. Philosophically the program emerges from the idea of ‘the wisdom of the elders’. Traditionally in tribal society whenever there were disputes the elders or wise people of the tribe were consulted and wise decisions arrived at. The decisions had the best interests of the individuals and the tribe in mind. The wisdom promoted shared values and fair responses to disputes or community problems.

OWN Empowerment proposes to strength communities and local democracy by piloting a Wise Communities Program. The Wise communities program empowers the community through forming community groups who are trained in conflict resolution and problem solving to assist with informing the local community and empowering action at the local level to stop violence before it starts, notify authorities after it starts, to provide information and encourage communication at the local level to resolve conflicts before they escalate.

Community Empowerment, Leadership and Citizenship

The inspiration for a wise community came from the notion of a tribe. In a tribal setting all the members know each other and feel a shared responsibility for the whole group. If there are conflicts, then a wise person would be told the problem and solved through workable and wise solutions. The attitudes in approaching the issues include: understanding, fairness and awareness of harmony of the whole tribe. Thus, transforming this concept to the present day, a wise community is a community that chooses to maintain and promote peace and harmony through fostering a culture of peace and civic responsibility at the local suburban level. This is a place where community neighbours get to know each other and come together to collectively respond to community problems in a spirit of harmony.

This program is inclusive and would invite the community to participate in this trial program. Government would be invited to fund the program as an initiative that empowers community cohesion, strengthens local leadership and citizenship to ensure safe communities. Other community groups would be informed and invited to participate as a community initiative. Moreover, the community would be invited to participate through a consultative process.

Community Consultation

All members of a community within a specified geographical area could be invited to attend a Community Consultation meeting at the local Council. This invitation to attend the meeting would be communicated through the Council, community groups, newspapers and radio.

At the Community Consultation meeting, the community will be informed about the rising violence in their community. The community will hear from experienced speakers. For example they could learn about the challenges police experience in policing violence and the need for more community involvement in creating cultures of peace at the local level. This could be discussed within the framework of UNESCOs outline with an emphasis on the future of children to raise interest. The issues of bullying in local schools could be presented by a school principal, the social issues experienced by social workers, conflict resolution techniques could be discussed by mediation experts, and the legal implications of ignoring problems by Family Lawyers. The Council could talk about the general importance of civic behaviour and modelling for young people and importantly, to hear from a local person who has seen the extent of change at the local level. This could be covered by the local media to generate interest and invite participation.

At the consultation meeting the community will be invited to form groups of up to 15 persons per suburb to have a brainstorm session about issues. They would then present the issues they generated. A working community group would be formed through volunteers to participate in the Wise Communities Program trial. They would be selected across 4 suburbs within the Council catchment area. The groups would be formed to have representation across the suburb e.g. elders, parents, singles, young people, ethnic persons, males/females (50:50). They will be informed it is voluntary and is part of community service and perhaps some incentive is offered. The benefit of participating is to get to know your neighbours and work together for harmonious and happy communities. Moreover the trial would be evaluated as part of a research process, and if successful, may be rolled out across Melbourne.

Wise Communities Program Trial

The Wise Communities Program is an inaugural 8 week program of theory and practice which is similar to Neighbourhood Watch in fostering community responsibility, vigilance and ownership of problems that affect the local community. However, the program differs in respect of empowering community neighbours through training on how to deal with community problems and foster a sense of positive community and shared responsibility.

The Wise Communities Program could be designed as follows:

• Planning: The Wise Communities Program planning is refined and endorsed.

• Formation of the Wise Project Team: A project team will be comprised of Family Lawyers, social workers, mediators, police, elders, parents, youth, researcher and others deemed reflective of society with diverse skill and perceptual sets. The idea is to give the group a community feel and to be able to access a diversity of viewpoints. The group themselves will go through a program of learning to appreciate diversity, conflict resolution and peaceful attitudes in a group process. They will inspire, challenge and empower each other. They role model the behaviours that are taught in the community and practice in their own lives.

• Neighbourhood Community Group: The group reflect representation across the suburb e.g. elders, families, singles, young people, ethnic persons, males/females (50:50). They would be volunteers providing a community service.

o The neighbourhood group would meet with the project team. They will be shown the outline of how the 8 week program will work, mentoring support they would receive and encouraged to provide input and questions.

• Community advertising: The community in all four suburbs will be informed by brochure and media advertising (local radio, local papers) that trial groups have formed, if they have any issues, questions to contact project leader. This ensures the community are aware.

• Meet the Neighbours: This could be organising a street party to meet the neighbours or in smaller groups go to houses to introduce themselves and explain what the project is about and answer any questions. The whole suburb is personally contacted. An estimate could be 200 houses per suburb. Perhaps leave a magnet brochure for the fridge on conflict resolution steps and how to make contact with the group if problems arise.

• Capacity Building – Training Program Part 1: The group will be trained by a professional trainer for 4 weeks (2 hours) in community conflict resolution and peaceful attitudes. They will be taught how to: work in groups, diversity, power, communication, listening, fostering a democratic framework and problem solving. They will receive free resources from the Conflict Resolution Network (http://www.crnhq.org ) to provide greater insights. They will be given scenarios to investigate how issues could be handled effectively. They will be shown what are the safe approaches to ensure the resolution of conflict. They will be encouraged to share their knowledge and wisdom of what works from their own lives. They will be asked to practice conflict resolution processes such as listening, clear communication, embracing diversity and problem solving. They will explore what are peaceful attitudes, positive thinking, non judgement and problems solving. They will be asked to practice what they have learned at home and record their experiences in a diary.

• Capacity Building Training Program Part 2: The group will put their training into practice. Any issues that affect community harmony and happiness are identified as eligible for discussion. Courses of acton are put to the vote and cleared with a mentor. For example if there is a vote of 66% yes to approaching a neighbour, then that is a clear majority. For example there may have been yelling and screaming from a house, it is decided to go and approach them and offer help to both parties. Group process could be as follows:

o The problem is discussed from a range of perspectives to identify the core problem;
o 6 Thinking Hats process: brainstorming;
o Testing beliefs ‘is it true’ refer to www.thework.com ‘Judge Your Neighbour Worksheet.
o Options and solutions;
o Empathy test ‘if this person was me how would I feel?’;
o Determine information that can be given to parties to help them;
o The Wise course of action determined e.g telephone contact, face to face, letterbox, mentor, professional help etc.;
o External persons to be notified, if necessary;
o Design an intervention process and vote on appropriate course of action. Who, when, where and how? Sometimes action may just be contacting authorities if the group is uncomfortable with direct approaches.

Research Process

A qualified researcher will be selected who has both theoretical and practical research skills and a background in psychology, counselling or social sciences.

Research methodology will comprise of both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The research will ascertain how the program was received by the community. The research will pick up positive, negative, neutral reactions and any new ideas that may emerge. A satisfaction survey could be undertaken with the project team, group participants and a cross section of the suburb trialled.
The researcher will undertake qualitative research on the Wise Communities Program. To observe the project and participant group meetings, to ascertain positive, negative reactions, challenges, realisations and new ideas for the development of the program. Moreover, a focus group with community members would provide more depth information to how they felt about having a Wise Communities Program in their suburb and issues of violence.

The research process:

o Researcher pilots survey instruments and topic guides for focus groups. Research plans interviews with project team and participants.
o Researcher observes the 8 week program. Researcher interviews members at the beginning (expectations), middle (half way through) and at the end.
o Researcher surveys and organises focus groups for the community;
 Researcher surveys a random sample of the suburb to find out reactions, awareness, perceptions and ideas. To find out why they did or didn’t get involved and any other information that is pertinent;
 Researcher holds a focus group with residents receiving feedback about the Wise Communities Program and exploring issues of violence.
o Researcher collates information and conducts analysis.
o Researcher produces a report on the trial program. This is done in 4 suburbs (high, average, low, [neutral – no trial]) for comparisons.
o The research is analysed together to be presented in a report and presentation.

Presentation of Wise Communities Program Findings

The Wise Communities Program Project Team will report on the findings of the trial program. The results of the trial program will be presented to the local Council, community groups involved and members of the communities participating.

On the basis of findings, a larger meeting will be held as a community initiative to be presented to the whole community and also to other interested Councils.