Where Have All the Organizers Gone?

Abstract

In this era of fiscal constraint and political conservatism, it is essential that graduate schools of social work recruit and prepare professional practitioners skilled in organizing and planning to play a role in improving the social conditions of functional and geographic communities. To develop a strategy for the future, an urban graduate school with a 25-year history of educating social workers with a community organization specialization studied the career paths and perspectives of its Community Organizing and Planning (CO & P) alumni. This paper reports on the views of over 100 graduates of Masters of Social Work (MSW) programs on their pre- and post-MSW values, jobs, work activities and professional identification. There was considerable overlap between the activities performed by organizers and administrators, an increase in administrative and supervisory positions, and a commensurate decrease in direct CO and clinical jobs over time. However, many CO & P alumni were engaged in CO & P activities, held CO jobs and titles, and identified as organizers without categorizing or perceiving the job as CO. The vast majority identified as social workers while also retaining a “CO perspective,” operationalized as both a social change orientation, and a client involvement/process approach to practice. Findings suggest both value-based and career-enhancement motivations for pursuing graduate professional education in CO social work; however, prior CO work experience was a better predictor of pursuing CO career track. There is a need for concerted efforts by educators and practitioners to promote and support community organization as a valued component of professional social work.

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