13 Program development as a Social Action Process

Dr. Anwara Hashmi

epgp books

Course Outline

  1. Introduction
  2. Objectives
  3. Concept of social action
  4. Goals of social action
  5. Principles of social action
  6. Process of social action
  7. Summary

Introduction

 

The success of any community or area development program depends in large part on how effectively the program mobilizes human and non-human resources in the action phases. Mobilizing the resources of a community or area to achieve the objectives of development is a process of social action. Whether the project is an area vocational training school, a labour survey, a nursing home or a community education program, the process of attaining the objective is social since it depends on motivating key people and organizations to participate actively in the action necessary to accomplish the development objectives.

 

This module discusses the process of social action and suggests how this process may be used most effectively by individuals and groups who choose to work toward bringing about certain changes in their community or area.

 

Objectives

 

By the end of this module the students shall:

  • understand the concept of social action
  • come to know about the goals of social action
  • come to know about the principles of social action
  • get acquainted with the process of social action

Concept of social action

 

Mary Richmond was the first to use the word ‘social action’ in 1922. He has defined social action as “mass betterment through propaganda and social legislation”. This definition stresses on improving the condition of huge sections of population as an aim of social action with propaganda and social legislations as main strategies. Social action may be considered as a method used for mobilizing masses in order to bring about structural changes in the social system or to prevent adverse changes. In the Indian context, Social action is taken as a transformational practice to meet the objective of promoting well-being by bringing change in the arrangements in social system that lead to inequality and injustice, preventing people from realizing their full potential as self-determining agents.

 

Purposive social action of the kind being stressed in this module will be referred to as “instigated change” in that it is purposely planned and executed. Those persons or groups who instigate the change will be referred to as change agents. The emphasis of the module will be on the process involved in any social action project and will not focus on any particular types of change.

 

Social action projects may be instigated by a particular group or organization or may be undertaken on a community or area-wide basis. Groups, organizations, communities and in some cases areas have in common the fact that they are social systems. As used in this discussion a social system is a very general term and can mean any group of people who share some common interest and interact together over time. It may include county, area and even state or national groups or organizations. The important feature is that the members of the system know about each other and take each other into account in their actions.

 

Planned, purposeful social action attempts to bring about social change which (it is assumed) maximizes satisfaction for a particular social system or systems. If decisions are made and action carried out regarding a community centre, a hospital, united fund drive, school reorganization, government reorganization, or area development, at least the majority of the community or area leaders must coordinate their decisions and actions in order to attain the planned objective. Social action thus may be analyzed in terms of the flow, or stages, of social action over a period of time and the persons and social systems involved.

 

Goals of social action

 

Mishra (1992) has identified following goals of social action:

  1. Recognition of needs
  2. Solution of mass problems
  3. Improvement in mass conditions
  4. Influencing institutions, policies and practices
  5. Introduction of new mechanisms or programmes
  6. Redistribution of power and resources
  7. Decision-making
  8. Effect on thought and action structure
  9. Improvement in health, education and welfare

Principles of social action

 

Considering Gandhian principle of mobilization as a typical example of the direct mobilization model of social action Britto (1984) brings out the following principles of social action:

  1. Principle of Credibility Building: It is the task of creating public image of leadership, the organization and the participants of the movement as champions of justice, rectitude and truth. It helps in securing due recognition from the opponent, the reference- public and the peripheral participants of the movement. Credibility can be built through one or many of the following ways: Gestures of goodwill towards the opponent, Example setting, Selection of typical, urgently felt problems for struggles Success.
  2. Principle of Legitimization: Legitimization is the process of convincing the target group and the general public that the movement- objectives are morally right. Leaders of the movement might use theological, philosophical, legal- technical, public opinion paths to establish the tenability of the movement’s objectives.
  3. Principle of Dramatization: Dramatization is the principle of mass mobilisation by which the leaders of a movement galvanize the population into action by emotional appeals to heroism, sensational news- management, novel procedures, pungent slogans and such other techniques. Almost every leader mobilising the masses, uses this principle of dramatization. 
  4. Principle of Multiple Strategies: There are two basic approaches to development i.e conflictual and non- conflictual. Taking the main thrust of a programme, one can classify it as political, economic or social. Zeltman and Duncan have identified four development strategies from their experience of community development. These have been framed for use in social action. They are: Educational strategy, Persuasive strategy, Facilitative strategy and Power strategy. The basket principle indicates the adoption of a multiple strategy, using combined approaches and also a combination of different types of programmes. 
  5. Principle of Dual Approach: Any activist has to build counter-systems or revive some unused system, which is thought to be beneficial to the mobilized public on a self-help basis without involving the opponent. This is a natural requirement consequent upon the attempt to destroy the system established/maintained by the opponents. This cooperative effort indicates that Gandhians adopted or attempted to a dual approach in their mobilization. 
  6. Principle of Manifold Programmes: This principle means developing a variety of programmes with the ultimate objective of mass mobilization. They may be: Economic Programs, Social Programs and Political Programs.

Process of social action

 

It has been found that successful and efficient social action projects usually do not just “happen” but are carefully conceived and planned. It has also been found by research and observation that successful social action projects tend to follow a certain identifiable sequence of steps. Certainly not all social action projects follow the same procedure from start to finish. But sufficient similarities have been noted to justify the discussion of social action in terms of a sequence of steps. Depending on the magnitude of the project these steps may be highly formalized and easily identified or may blend into one another so that there is almost a continuous flow of action. The steps may not occur in the exact sequence stated –but sometime during the program all of the functions explicit in the steps seem to get performed. The following steps forms part of Social Action. They are:

 

Step 1  Analysis of the Existent Social System :

 

All social action takes place within existing social systems. The social systems comprising a community or the arena of social action are resources available to aid community action.

 

In addition to knowing what groups or organizations exist within a community or area, it is also important

  1. to understand something about the interrelationships between the systems.
  2. to understand something about the goals and objectives and the purposes of each of these organizations along with their relative position of leadership (influence) in the total community or area.
  3. to know something about the groups and organizations to which key leaders in the community or area belong.

Step 2   Convergence of Interest:

 

Social action begins when a problem is recognized and defined as a need by two or more people and a decision is made to act. Usually the original convergence of interest on a problem involves only a few people. The idea for the project may come about as a result of an informal discussion among a few community leaders or may be an outgrowth of a meeting of a particular group or organization. In any event at this step few people are involved and only highly tentative plans are made for the continuance or completion of the project.

 

Step 3   Analysis of the Prior Social Situation:

 

At this stage, the change agents need to ask and seek the answers to several questions.

  • Has there been any experience in the community or area with the kind of project being proposed? Was it successful? If so, is it possible to determine what factors contributed to the success? If it wasn’t successful, why not? The intent of these questions is to capitalize on past experiences in the community or area to provide insight concerning where emphasis may be required to improve the chances of success in the anticipated social action projects.
  • What methods have become traditional in the community or area? Have most action projects succeeded in the past because of the efforts of a few individuals or organizations or have they involved a majority of the people in the community or area?
  • What is the general attitude in the community (area) concerning progress? Is there a defeatist attitude or are people looking for ways to improve the community?
  • What groups or organizations seem to work together best? Is there ill feeling between some organizations which may prevent them from working together on a community wide project?

By answering the above questions the change agents (planning group) can gain a better understanding of the prior social situation in the community and use this information in developing plans for proceeding with the proposed project.

 

Step 4  Delineation of Relevant Social Systems:

 

There are several criteria which may be used to decide which systems are relevant to the proposed action program.

 

First we might ask which groups in the community are or have in their membership, the people to be reached with the program — the target systems. If the proposed project is a community youth centre then at a minimum all youth organizations in the community become relevant to this particular project.

 

Second to what degree do the various groups or social systems in the community represent the needs and interests of the people of the community (area) or a particular organization that is the target system:?

 

A third important criterion relates to the legitimation process. Organizations or individuals having legitimation power should be considered as relevant to the project regardless of whether or not they actively participate in other stages of the process.

 

A fourth criterion of relevancy is related to the extent to which a group might possibly be actively involved in planning, sponsoring or in other ways participating in the proposed project or program. It is important to identify as relevant not only those groups or organizations which express active interest but also those who have the potential for involvement and which may oppose plan. Taking potential opposition into account from the very start of a program will enable plans and strategies to be developed to counter the opposition when it arises.

 

The tentative delineation of relevant groups allows the planners to use limited resources of time and personnel more effectively. As social action

 

progresses from one step to another, certain systems may drop out of the “relevant” classification others may have to be added.

 

Step 5  Initiating Sets:

 

The initiating set is a group of persons (probably including the change agents previously involved) who are centrally interested in consulting with the key leaders of the relevant social systems. In this sense the initiating set is “organized” to perform these “sounding-beard,” consulting and legitimating functions. At this step it is essential that accurate and complete communication take place with individuals who become a part of the initiator sets.

 

Step 6  Legitimation:

 

Legitimation is used here mainly in the sense of giving sanction (authority, justification or “license to act”) for action. It is recognized that

 

  1. Final legitimation for any action program rests with the majority of the people in the relevant social system.
  2. In most social systems there are certain key people who have the power of legitimation for most action programs effecting their particular organization or following or in many cases in action programs involving the whole community or area.

 

There is usually a formal legitimation structure (e.g. elected officers in positions of authority in relevant groups) and an informal legitimation structure (e.g informal leaders in positions of influence that may be even more important than the formal legitimizers.) Both kinds of legitimation are equally important but may differ in the way the task of legitimation is approached and carried out.

 

Legitimation at this stage of the planning process consists of consultation with the formal and informal leaders of the previously specified relevant groups organizations and individuals.

 

Step 7  Diffusion Sets:

 

At this step, there is a need for people who can provide the kinds of resources needed to inform the community or larger area system about the proposed project and give community residents an opportunity to express their opinions. (The people who perform this function are called diffusion sets.) These resources include time, communication skills, organizational skills, access to many people or groups, etc. This step is launched, however, only after the successful completion of the preceding steps.

 

Step 8 Definition  of Need by More General Relevant Groups and Organizations:

 

At this stage the activities of the diffusion set usually attempt to broadly involve relevant individuals groups and publics. The purpose of course is to convince the relevant social systems of the need for the proposed project. The process can be as simple as providing a social situation in which individuals’ felt needs are channelled into a general consensus. However, in most cases this step involves detailed and lengthy activities before the degree and amount of “felt need” is developed which will lead to action. In essence this step is an outgrowth and continuation of the activity of diffusion sets.

 

Some of the techniques and methods in obtaining a ‘felt need’ regarding a problem are- Basic education, Surveys or Questionnaires, Comparison & Competition, Exploiting Crisis Situations, Channelling Complaints or Gripes and Demonstration or Trial.

 

Step 9  Decisions (Commitment) to Action by Relevant Systems:

 

This step is included to emphasize the importance of getting not only tacit agreement that the problem exists and needs to be solved but also to commit people to act in relation to the problem. Since it is necessary to have the active cooperation and participation of relatively large numbers of people to carry out most community action programs, it is very important to obtain overt commitments to assist at this stage.

 

These commitments to assist in various ways are important to the planners and/ or initiators of the project at this stage. They determine;

  • What resources and assistance can be counted on.
  • Whether these will be sufficient to carry out the project at the level planned.

Lack of sufficient commitment to action at this point to carry out the project as planned may indicate that the problem and its proposed solution have not been sufficiently well defined. This would of course mean that additional effort will have to be expended on the “definition of need” step of the process.

 

Step 10 Formulation of Objectives/ goals :

 

It may seem rather curious to think that the project has developed to this step without objectives. It hasn’t. Many short run and intermediate goals have been developed and met up to this point. It is at this step (after a problem has been defined and a need to solve the problem recognized) that the goal or objective should be formalized and stated explicitly.

 

In more complex action programs there may be more than one objective. Some of these may be immediate or short run while others may be more general or long run. It is often of value to state the objectives of an action program in such a sequence so that the more general objective is not lost sight of in the details of carrying out the immediate project.

 

Step 11  Decision on Means to be Used:

 

Once objectives are set (agreed upon and formalized), there is need to explore alternative means and their consequences that might be used to reach these objectives.

 

At this stage It is very important that;

  1. A consensus of opinion be reached among the relevant social systems concerning the means to be used to attain the defined objective.
  2. To have sound information and facts concerning various alternative methods.

This will require anticipation of the kinds of information and facts which may be needed. Who actually makes the final decision concerning means will vary from situation to situation. It may be a committee selected for this purpose, it may be the planners or initiators of the action project, or any one of several combinations of individuals or social systems. The important consideration is that as an end result there is agreement among the relevant systems concerning the means to be employed.

 

Step 12  Plan of Work:

 

Decisions on organizational structure, designation of responsibilities, training, timing, planning of specific activities, etc. , are all part of this step. A formally stated plan of work usually includes the following elements:

  • Objectives to be accomplished– these usually correspond to the group’s short-term , intermediate and long-term objectives stated in a logically related fashion.
  • Means to be used — such a statement usually includes a statement of the general means to be used and in addition, a more detailed description of specific methods and actions to be taken.
  • The organizational structure, authority patterns and the persons and groups responsible for actions to be taken.
  • Training required to enable those responsible to accomplish the actions to which they are assigned.
  • Additional specification of time sequence.

 

An important part of the plan of work is the statement of the organizational structure. Such a statement should include role descriptions, the lines of authority and the authority and responsibility of each person or group. In essence, the plan of work summarizes the objectives, means and commitments to action and places them in proper time sequence for carrying out the action process.

 

Step 13 Mobilizing Resources:

 

This step refers specifically to the mobilization and organization of the resources for carrying out the plan of work. The plan of work usually calls for the  mobilization   of  many  different  kinds  of  resources  —   human, physical facilities, financial, communication, etc. If the preceding 12 steps have been adequately performed, the mobilization of resources needed to accomplish the objective should be relatively easy. The project to this point has been carefully planned and legitimized; relevant systems have been  convinced  of  the  need  for  the  project  and  committed  to  act  in relation to it. This step then should be the “pay-off” of all the work and planning that has gone into the project up to this point.

 

Step 14 Launching the program:

 

It is at this point that the plan of work (and available resources) are put to work to carry out the actual project mentioned above. The ease with which this stage is accomplished will depend in large part on how effectively the preceding steps have been carried out. It is important to bear in mind that coordination and leadership are required to insure smooth implementation of the project.

Step 15 Evaluation:

 

One of the most important steps of the process of social action actually comes after the completion of the project. Since this will probably not be the last action project carried out in the community or area, it is beneficial to build on past experience and gain new insights concerning future action programs. The adage that “experience can be an excellent teacher” is perhaps a sound logic for final evaluation. It is at this stage of the process that answers needed to be sought for the questions:

 

(1) If our project was successful, why was it successful?

(2) If it failed, why did it fail?

 

Summary

It can be summarised that the SOCIAL ACTION is effective method to involve people  to analyse, understand and solve their own problem  with  or  without  external assistance.

Most community action projects are probably accomplished following a procedure which does not necessarily point out any new concepts, but does highlight those steps which are most essential in successful social action projects. The steps and their order are a suggested guideline and not a rigid formula to be followed. However the process presented has been tested and researched; in most cases it will probably best be applied in the order presented. In utilizing the process of social action at least three ideas are central to its effective application. Throughout the process attention needs to be devoted to: (a) complete and accurate communication (b) periodic evaluation of progress at each stage and (c) careful planning of steps.

you can view video on Program development as a Social Action Process