Community refers to an interrelated subsystem that is instrumental in performing significant function for the members. The subsystem of a community is not rationally organized through centralized authority. Community cohesion needs reciprocity that is commensurate with the individual rights along with benefits (Hardcastle, Powers and Wenocur 2004). Indigenous people refer to the aboriginal peoples and they are original inhabitants in relation to a given region. The indigenous groups maintain the traditions of the earlier culture in relation to a particular region. The indigenous people can be settled within a particular region or they may have a nomadic lifestyle through a large territory. The indigenous societies can be found in all the inhabited climate zones and across all the continents in the world. This essay discusses about the meaning of indigenous community work and the different methods that can help in the identification of the issues related to community. The essay contrasts the different community intervention strategies and the implications of these strategies on the indigenous work practice in Australia.
Community work refers to planned process that helps in mobilising communities for using the social structure and the resources that would help in addressing their problems. Community work emphasizes on the aspect of participation and it fosters the element of empowerment in the society. Community work helps in bringing about change with the help of collective action and the community work is related to the human rights. Community work revolves around people in the communities that helps in the creation of opportunities for their growth. According to Long and Sephton (2011), community work is on the basis of democratic ideal, equality and the solidarity in relation to the affected individuals. It helps in the generation and in the communication of new insights that can help in bringing about change. Community work can be said to be ideological and the practical approach pertaining to social life. Community work is sustained with the help of a basic trust that the ability of the people can improve the life chances of the people. Society can be said to be the resultant of collective action that can be changed with the help of action. Community work is aimed at helping the vulnerable groups that exist in the community like chronic patients, women and the elderly. Community work helps in organizing the people so that they would participate in the collective action that can help in the solving of the problems related to community in a collective manner. It can improve the living environment and the quality of the life of the people. Indigenous community work is aimed at improving the lives of the native or the aboriginal people so that they can become integral part of the society. It has been argued by Mendes and Binns (2012) that neo-liberal agenda paved the way for decentralizing the responsibilities to the local institutions. The indigenous community work promotes the idea of participation that acts as fundamental tenet pertaining to the local governance of the communities. The homogeneous communities denies issues related to community politics that has an effect on the representation of the issues in the community. Empowerment acts as the core value that acts as the guiding principle in relation to community work commitment. According to Mertens (2014), community governance is framed by the governments outside that of communities and the participation of the community members is guarded with the help of the government The indigenous people in Australia are the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander people and indigenous community work in Australia helps them in getting good job and the healthcare facilities that can improve their standard of living. The indigenous community work makes use of programs that helps in harnessing life aspirations in relation to Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander people. The indigenous community work in Australia helps in empowering the indigenous people so that they can counteract racism. The Aboriginal people in Australia have to deal with racism frequently that makes them prone to depression along with post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Padgett (2016), racism permeates the daily life of the Aboriginal people in Australia and it is evident in the fact that the indigenous people are deprived of the cultural rights. The discriminatory practices perpetrated on the indigenous Australians have effect on health along with well-being of young people. The community work with the Indigenous Australians builds the self-worth and the pride of the Indigenous people that leads to their development in the social structure.
There are different methods that can be used for the identification of the community issues. The two methods that are mainly used for the identification of the community issues are the qualitative and the quantitative methods. The research methods of qualitative research are participant observation, focus groups and the interviews. Research methods on the other hand in relation to quantitative research are survey, questionnaire and the experiments. Qualitative methods helps in gathering information that can produce results without being translated into the numbers (Macrothink.org 2018). Qualitative methods lays stress on the factor of subjective experience which is filtered with the help of perceptions of people. The quantitative methods on the other hand express the result in terms of the numbers. The quantitative methods can be used to assess the results of the similar kind of things. The quantitative methods can help in measuring on the basis of the same standard. The quantitative methods are asked for by the policy makers and they are thought to be trustworthy because the measurement of the results can be done against that of one another. The qualitative methods do not produce any kind of numerical results and the people are asked for their subjective responses (Bernard 2017). In the event of asking people about the community issues, one can get different kinds of answers. A complex situation can have different aspects and different manner of interpretations. The researchers and the policy makers perceive the qualitative method to be less accurate as compared to the quantitative ones. According to Iier.org.au (2018), the community work involves a lot of culturally diverse communities and hence the qualitative methods are mainly used for discovering the community issues. The qualitative method in the case of community work can help in understanding of a problem from the point of view of the population who is involved. The qualitative methods helps in the obtaining of culturally specific information like values, behaviours and the social context of the particular population.
There are different kinds of intervention strategies that can be used by the community workers for improving the lives of the indigenous people in Australia. The communities can use the family support programs that will be directed towards the low-income parents. The family support programs can help the parents in forming the emotional attachment with that of the other people. The educational components of the programs can help in enhancing the parenting skills and it can help the parents in making progression in the labour market. The innovative programs of the community organizations impart the care giving skills and helps the parents in coping with the stress of their lives. According to Hotu et al. (2018), the family support programs can help the parents in developing the personal networks that can help the parents in solving problems related to guidance and the monitoring. Mobilizing the neighbourhood can act as an intervention strategy that can help in strengthening the neighbourhood that can help the indigenous communities in Australia. Sustained change can occur in the event of the local residents investing themselves that can be useful for the indigenous communities in Australia. Political, financial and the institutional forces within the neighbourhood should be aligned that can act as an effectively strategy in removing the sad plight of the indigenous people living in Australia. The community development corporations (CDC) can be funded with the help of public-private collaboration. It has been stated by (Wakerman et al. (2016) that a CDC can carry out housing rehabilitation program that can help in renovating the existing housing stock. The CDC can help in enhancing the beauty of the neighbourhood that can help in retaining the residents belonging to the indigenous communities. There should be collaboration in between the federal, state and the community-based entities that can help in regard to neighbourhood mobilization. The jointly organized community services can help in offering the tangible benefits that cannot be achieved with the help of traditional modes. Collaboration can enhance attachment of adults to that of the neighbourhood that can improve the client outcome (Bartleet et al. 2014).
The identification of the community issue can help in finding the resources that can help in solving a problem. It can help in developing plan of the action that can help in solving an issue. The driving forces that can help in bringing about changes should be identified that can help in resolving the community issue. There are factors related to the individual that can help in solving a problem besides there can be factors in the community environment that can contribute to a problem. These can include the lack of the resources, degree of the accessibility and the financial costs (Maru et al. 2015). The environmental factors that can give rise to a community issue are poverty, being unemployed and unavailability of the healthy food that can create a community issue. The community issues can be resolved with the help of policy changes and advocacy effort of the officials can help in the implementation of changes in relation to the indigenous people living in Australia. Economic development depends on global economy and one cannot have sufficient control over global economy (Brandler and Roman 2015). The community issues should be approached from various directions that can help in finding the answer to the problem. Community-based participatory research involves the community members and the organizational representatives and it can help in devising intervention strategies that can help in solving community issues (Ferguson et al. 2016). The participatory research can increase the knowledge in relation to a phenomenon that can improve health and the quality of the life of the community members. There should be flexibility pertaining to the implementation of the deadlines that can help in implementing programs related to indigenous communities. The community intervention strategies can improve the social along with the emotional well-being of the indigenous people in Australia. It can help in improving the health of the Aboriginal people living in Australia. The implication of Australian indigenous community work practice is that it can empower the indigenous people that can aid in their assimilation in the broader society (Briskman 2014). Training provided to the local indigenous people can enhance their skill set that can help them in the arena of employment. The indigenous people in Australia can enhance their professional skills with the help of programs that can help in the development of community of the indigenous people living in Australia. The community programs can help in the building of trusted partnership in between the indigenous community partners (Dyer and Hartung 2018). The community development employment programs has benefit for the particular individual along with the community. The primary health care interventions can remove the health issues of the indigenous people that can help in improving the quality of life of the indigenous people in Australia.
Community is indicative of interrelated subsystem that can function for the well-being of the people in the society. Community work revolves around participation and it helps in empowering indigenous people in the society. Collection can help in bringing changes to the society and community work and the human rights are related to each other. Community work forms the basis in relation to democratic ideal in the society. Community issues can be identified with the help of qualitative and the quantitative methods. Community work deals with diverse communities and so qualitative method can help in discovering issues related to community. Family support programs can help in developing the community of indigenous people in Australia. Neighbourhood can be mobilized that can be effective in bringing about changes in the lives of the indigenous people in Australia. Sustained changes can be brought about by taking recourse to the intervention strategies aimed at the indigenous people. The community development programs can be useful for both individual and community. Community based participatory approach can help in devising the intervention strategies that can solve the issues related to indigenous community in Australia. Training should be provided to indigenous people living within Australia that can help the native people in getting employed in Australia.
References:
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