Professional Expertise Versus the Voice of the People

Professional Expertise Versus the Voice of the People

Ellis and Kay also argued over who were the key community informants, that is, who was most credible in evaluating the needs and assets of the community under review. Any assessment must have reliable informants, people whose answers to your questions accurately portray their program, population, or issue for an entire group of people and not just their own points of view. Likewise, community respondents’ answers on trends, problems, and assets must also have a high degree of validity; what they say must carry the authority of soundness and thoroughness regarding the issue at hand. Ellis’s desire to hear from young people reflected his belief in the validity of their experience, regardless of whether it could be generalized beyond themselves. In turn, Kay wanted the reliability offered by professionals’ wider scope, even though such scope may extend beyond their programmatic interests.

This kind of tension between professional experience and community member voice extends back more than 50 years in social work, as seen in its Code of Ethics (National Association of Social Workers, 2009). As such, it, too, is resolved not with an either/or answer but through the mix of both sets of representatives in one’s assessment. Esperanza and Jill forced Kay and Ellis to compromise on an age-old problem of the field so that they completed the course assignment. Selecting the mix of community members and professionals to interview in your own community assessment—all fit within the mix of principles and pragmatism that drive any good community project—will be part of the sifting process that you and your group undertake as well.

At the conclusion of this chapter, there is a topical outline from the Community Toolbox on the specific steps and tools you can use for your own community assessment. You are invited to use the outline and assess the rich material from the Web page for the step-by-step tools you will need as your projects unfold while we continue to frame the broader strategic issues at hand that impact your practice choices—and your career options.

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