community services
Case study
You are a worker at the Whitford Community Centre. The centre is based in a large housing estate on the fringe of a major city. The area has only been established for a relatively short time. A significant number of the residents have very low incomes or are in receipt of Centrelink benefits.
The centre has focused its efforts on lobbying the local council and the state government for resources and an improved infrastructure (public transport, parks, shopping centres, and so on). Workers have also provided a crisis welfare service to people living on the estate.
At the last staff-planning day, a number of workers stated concerns about the amount of people they have seen who expressed feeling lonely and isolated. The theme of what workers were saying seemed to be that refugees, people who can’t afford to live closer to the city and people who are in Department of Housing accommodation, make up the bulk of people who live in this area. Most residents do not have family living nearby and the vast majority do not appear to have made many friends. Many of the residents are either young mothers or older women who are divorced or widowed. A lot of these women expressed feeling scared and alienated from the community.
At the planning day, meeting staff decided to run a group for women living on the estate.
1. How can you manage potential conflict in this group?
The way I would handle potential conflict in this group is that I would use the resolution process and it consists of making new rules and they are the following;
• Observe the conflict that is going on;
• Make sure that I help all members involved to talk about the problem;
• Never to take sides on the conflict;
• Make sure that the members that are in the conflict have their say;
• Establish rules that only one person is allowed to talk a time and to ensure that everyone in the conflict will have a chance to speak;
• Take the time to make it clear what they are here for, to let
You are a worker at the Whitford Community Centre. The centre is based in a large housing estate on the fringe of a major city. The area has only been established for a relatively short time. A significant number of the residents have very low incomes or are in receipt of Centrelink benefits.
The centre has focused its efforts on lobbying the local council and the state government for resources and an improved infrastructure (public transport, parks, shopping centres, and so on). Workers have also provided a crisis welfare service to people living on the estate.
At the last staff-planning day, a number of workers stated concerns about the amount of people they have seen who expressed feeling lonely and isolated. The theme of what workers were saying seemed to be that refugees, people who can’t afford to live closer to the city and people who are in Department of Housing accommodation, make up the bulk of people who live in this area. Most residents do not have family living nearby and the vast majority do not appear to have made many friends. Many of the residents are either young mothers or older women who are divorced or widowed. A lot of these women expressed feeling scared and alienated from the community.
At the planning day, meeting staff decided to run a group for women living on the estate.
1. How can you manage potential conflict in this group?
The way I would handle potential conflict in this group is that I would use the resolution process and it consists of making new rules and they are the following;
• Observe the conflict that is going on;
• Make sure that I help all members involved to talk about the problem;
• Never to take sides on the conflict;
• Make sure that the members that are in the conflict have their say;
• Establish rules that only one person is allowed to talk a time and to ensure that everyone in the conflict will have a chance to speak;
• Take the time to make it clear what they are here for, to let