work. They are a contemporary example of the blending of clinical and community practice envisioned by social work's founders. Jane Addams and other founders outlined a social work practice which stretched from the individual level to the community level. This vision came from their belief that strengthening communities would help strengthen individuals and families. They tested a variety of concepts to carry out this vision, including community theater and a neighborhood coffeeshop.
Addams and the others had a "holistic rather than a specialization approach," writes Rolland Smith in an essay for the Encyclopedia of Social Work. Also important, he writes: "An orientation to family and neighborhood strengths rather than to individual pathologies."
A coffeeshop is a great place to do this work. It offers opportunities
for community as well as for individuality. And it offers a "home" for
individuals from many different backgrounds.
Every person needs places to experience a sense of belonging, scholar
Ernesto Galarza said. That means everyone, he said, even individuals
with mental illness and those with chronic alcoholism should have the
chance to "take part in some type of social relationships." In a
speech to social workers, he urged the profession to invest "much more
care and time and funding...in this direction." A coffeeshop offers a
great setting for such interaction.
This is not as easy as it sounds. In a 1998 essay for the journal
Social Work Janet Finn and Barry Checkoway said that the profession
has an "uneven record" when it comes to an integrated practice which
combines both clinical and community elements. They were looking
particularly at youth work and suggested the profession needs a
"reorientation from therapeutic models of individual treatment to
consciousness-raising models for group reflection and action." They
went on to call for a "redirection" of social work roles from
"counselor, case manager and broker to those of collaborator, mentor
and animator.."
Bill's, its crosstown cousin Uptown Bill's, and a number of other
coffeeshops are trying out these ideas every day. Perhaps you know of
another coffeeshop where this kind of social work is taking place.
Write to the Newsletter and tell us about it.
ANOTHER CREATIVE
WEB SITE FOR YOU
Have you seen the Body Secret website? It's a community art project on the web created by students at Sierra College (Rocklin, Calif.). It was inspired in part by the PostSecret website. This new website is based on anonymous submissions about body image. Among them are wishes to be taller, slimmer and wrinkle-free.
There are also startling submissions like these:
"I gave away the love and respect I had for my body...when...you gave
away your faithfulness."
"I want to be his everything."
You can find the website with a Google search for "Body Secret," and "Sierra College."
Posts
3 comments:
To sit and visit in a casual setting will put people at ease. Talking and community problem solving could happen in a good and positve way. Sometimes when things happen to us that are not good we tend to look at ourselves in a negative way, we beat ourselves up because we can not accept disappointment easily. The one who hurts you usually has the unhealthy issue but we forget that and start blaming ourselves.
B Kirk
I believe that it has to be a very certain place that many different people can come together in one place to discuss problems.
~Kristi S.~
People that sit and visit have a lot in common. They pick a place that will have a nice setting and that feels comfortable to them. They are the ones who talk about anything that is going on in the community or helping each other out with their problems.
J. Cavanaugh
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