Transcript The network analysis in Community Work

The network analysis in Community Work
Anna Krausova
Department of Social Work
Medico-Social Faculty
University of Ostrava
What is a network?
In literature various definitions of a network can be found.
Often, it is described as a structure of relations and
connections created by organizations due to the fact these
organizations are mutually dependent. A network can be
compared to a road or railway network. It contains various
nodes {stations, cities, traffic centers} interconnected by
lines of communications.
These lines of communications can be used in various
ways, ranging from very intensively to very seldomly.
Sometimes direct connections between certain nodes are
missing.
The nodes may be big and important, or on the contrary,
small and unimportant for the whole. Each point can be
reached in various ways. In the theory of networks, the
nodes are called “actors” {these are groups,
organizations, institutions and persons} and the lines of
communication are called “relations”.
Important characteristics of a network are:
Autonomy: each actor is an independently acting
person, organization or institution
Horizontal relations: a network is composed of
horizontal connections. There is no central power that
might control and dominate the whole. Since power
relations are missing, processes of negotiation play
important role.
Various positions: position of the actors may vary
greatly. Within the network, their influence may be
more or less important. They may have less or more
auxiliary resources {money, space, staff, information,
contacts}. Their position within the network may be
central {with many relations to other actors} or on the
contrary, may be rather isolated.
Dependent: the actors are mutually dependent on each
other {to different degrees} in the sense that they need
each
other
to
attain
certain
goals.
A network is dynamic. The character of the relations
may change, new actors may appear and others
disappear.
Transformable: a network can be made. If contacts do
not exist, they can be established. Perhaps, some
relations are not used for some time, but they may be
established again when needed. Unnecessary relations
can be interrupted.
The basis principle of the network is that we do not hold
the individual actor as crucial, but the relations between
them. We do not concentrate on one person, group or
organization, but on all persons, groups and
organizations mutually related to a certain goal or
problem, and we examine the character of these
relations {do they counteract, collaborate or establish
coalition}. “Networking” means using and influencing
the relations between actors.
Network types
Issue networks or strategic alliances
These networks are mainly composed of organizations,
institutions and groups which can be easily identified
and contacted. All actors of an issue network are in some
way or another concerned with a specific “issue”. An
issue may be a problem, a need or an idea to be solved
or realized like stimulating school attendance. Actors
who may have a contribution in the realization of that
issue or whose collaboration is expected or who on the
contrary might act negatively, may become visible in a
network drawing showing the mutual relations of the
actors. This information can be useful when formulating
a strategy for the problem solution.
Organizational networks
Also, in these networks are organizations, institutions
and formal groups. An organizational network is one of
the possibilities to shape the interaction and
collaboration between actors. An organizational network
can be defined as a co-operative or formalized
relationship between autonomous entities that are
working towards a common goal, or whose individual
interests are better served within a collective structure.
Here, the network can be regarded as a kind of
organization.
Networks are a favored organizational form wherever a broad
operational field is involved (for example, where links are made
between grass roots and international levels), where problems or
themes are so dynamic that rigid structures are not suitable, and
where loose ties are preferable to formal organizational bonds. In
the field of community development, networks have proven to be
a useful way to bring about change.
Social networks
Actors of social networks are persons and informal
groups. Examples of social networks are families,
neighborhoods, informal contacts between colleagues,
visitors of a cultural centre or a church, parents of
children visiting a specific school. Social networks
fulfill an important role in the life of people and for the
functioning of the society.
Support networks
The actors in these networks are also persons and
informal groups. Support networks are organized with a
specific interaction. For instance, networks in the
women’s movement, self-help groups or initiative
groups of different communities consulting each other.
The first two types of networks are characterized by the
fact that they are constituted by formal organizations
and in the second two types the actors are persons and
informal groups. Networks can also be sorted according
to others criteria, for instance according to extend of
continuity and the scope of their goals. Issue networks
and support networks are developed and activated in
certain goal has to be reached. These networks are goal
oriented and have a temporary and flexible character.
Dependent on the issue, relevant institutions and groups
launch coalitions. After reaching the goal {for instance,
a medical centre is build in the community} or finishing
a joint activity or project {for instance, a summer camp
for children}, the participants return to their own
matters.
Network analysis
The network analysis is a method used for developing a
strategy or plan. It is mainly used when tracing issue
networks, but it is also appropriate for the research and
development of other types of networks. The premise is
that you have a clear idea about the aim you want to
attain. Therefore, the starting point of the analysis is
always the chosen issue. In this section we will focus on
issue networks.
Actors may cluster around a specific issue. In this way,
issue networks arise. Making a picture of these of these
networks can help to analyze the situation, and based on
this analysis a strategy can emergence.
In this strategy, you can use your knowledge about the
involvement and possible influence of the different
actors in the issue of network, be it in favor or against
your goal at particular moment. In strategic thinking,
this kind of knowledge is commonly used without
making a network analysis, but then people often rely
only on intuition. The network analysis makes is
possible to work more systematically. But the network
analysis, you examine which actors (groups,
organizations, institutions and persons) play, or might
play a role in solution of a certain problem.
By carrying out this analysis in systematic steps, you will
have the possibility of:
- finding partners for collaboration
- finding counteracting forces
- preventing work duplication (when it becomes visible
that other persons or organizations are already
working on specific issues)
- formulating the strategy for attending your goal.
It is important to realize this picture in always only a snapshot, a
registration of the moment. A network has a dynamic character:
new actor appears, old ones disappear, the attitude of actor and
their possibilities or readiness to act may change. Therefore, it is
necessary to check regularly if the shape of the network has since
changed.
Steps of network analysis
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
identify central actor
set the goal
brainstorm about actors
selection of actors:
significance
is ready to act (positively or negatively)
network mapping
analysis
problem definition
interests
resources
influence/power
strategy
Step 1: Defining the central actor (CA). This is a group,
organization, institution or person wanting to find an
approach for a specific issue. This central actor must be
defined carefully and precisely. First of all is necessary
that there is full agreement about the goal to attain. For
instance the central actor cannot be an organization in
which various counteracting parties have arisen in
connection with the issue. In such a case, it is better to
define one of the parties as the central actor. The
starting point of the strategy is simply the goal this
central actor wants to reach.
Step 2: Setting a clear and concrete description of the
issue and goal. It is important to make a clear the
problem definition on which these are based, because
the way you look at a problem often shows specific
ways to the solution. Because other actors may have
different definitions of the problem, our own clarity
makes it possible to identify eventual discrepancies or
conflicts.
Step 3: Brainstorm about the actors who are involved in
this issue or may play a role in realizing the goal. It is
important to find out all possible actors who might hive
a contribution. That is the intention of brainstorming.
Using a technique we avoid the danger of forgetting
important partners or actors inhibiting the fulfillment of
the goal. The organization of some actors is so complex
that it is also important to analyze their inner structure.
For instance, a municipality will have a minorities
department, a department for civic matters and an
information desk. Each department will follow its own
policy and the approach of the various departments
towards the issue can be very different.
Step 4: Selection of relevant actors. You can now ask
two questions concerning each of the actors found:
- to what extent is this actor really important for
reaching the goal (significant)?
- to what extent can it be expected that this actor
will act and take specific steps supporting or
counteracting the fulfillment of the goal (ready
to act)?
Now, unimportant and non-acting actors may be
skipped. Relevant are those actors that are really
significant and ready to act. You must pay attention to
them from the outset and start to work with them. Those
actors that are significant but yet not willing to act, must
be kept in the background. Perhaps they can play a role
later or should be informed earlier than later to prevent
any ill feeling and counteracting.
Step 5: Making a drawing of the network. You are now
able to map the position and the mutual relations
between the different actors and their relations with the
central actor. This can be carried out in different ways
(see for instance scheme). This map serves as a visual
aid to get an insight into the situation.
Step 6: Carrying out a deeper analyzing of each actor. For
this analysis the following questions are important:
What is the problem definition of the actor in relation to
issue?
- Which interests does the actor have in the
realisation/non-realisation of the goals of the central
actor?
- Which resources (money, space, contacts, information,
PR possibilities, expertise etc.) does the actor have and
which resources are needed by the central actor?
- How much influence/power has the actor on the central
and the other actors in the network? The direction and
the extent of the influence can be indicated by arrows
and the thickness of these arrows in the network
drawing.
Step 7: Choice and development a strategy. Answers to
the questions above will make up an important part of
date needed for the development of the strategy to obtain
the goal of the central actor. Some extra information will
be needed concerning the environmental factors that
cannot be influenced directly but that may have a lot of
power (for instance, governmental policy). The analysis
makes clear on which actors the strategy should focus
primarily and also who will support or counteract. The
network drawing will also show the missing link,
enabling you to see which relations must be developed
or strengthened and how best to execute this process.
Sometimes, for instance, it’s advisable not to act directly
but to use a “roundabout:” approach. This means using
one actor to make contact with another.
Social networks/social structures
The actors in social networks are persons and
informal groups. Examples are family relations,
contact between neighbors, circles of friends, groups
of colleagues, members of a football club, visitors of
a church or mosque. Actors in these kind of networks
know each other. They exchange experiences and
carry out joint activities. Social networks fulfill the
basic needs of social contact, belonging, material and
emotional support and appreciation.
Social networks are always face-to-face groups.
Social networks have a rather permanent character.
Like organizational networks the structure may vary
from loose to very tight (a weekly choir forms a more
loosely structured social network than a family). The
intensity of participation by the different actors and
their interest in this participation can also vary.
Social networks are not only important for the
individual, they fulfill a basic task in the process of
socialization needed for the smooth functioning of
society. The cohesion of society is given by its common
frame of reference, in a pattern of values and norm that
members of this society see as legitimate. In modern
complex society, this common framework cannot
consist of very detailed rules since there are so many
groups – each of which has its own culture and norms.
Our society is based on a certain amount of central
values, basically those that are formulated in the
constitution: freedom of speech, the right of selfdetermination, equivalence, ban on discrimination and
physical violence.
People make themselves familiar with the values and norms in
their social networks. It is therefore important for a society to
use these networks. Examples can be found in the practice of
influencing the public. If the state wants to change the attitude
and the behavior of its citizens (for example, on the topics of
smoking or environmental awareness), it has to reach out to
the social networks. Opinions are primarily formed within
social networks and our behavior and choices are very much
influenced by them. This fact is also very important for all
kinds of preventive, educational and information activities,
and for the whole process of community development. When
we want to establish contact with particular target groups to
activate and motivate them, it is advisable to do this through
the social networks that are important for them.
Networks in the neighborhood
In the past, people’s social contacts were mostly in
the neighborhood in which they lived. Nowadays,
many social networks exceed the borders of the
neighborhood, the quarter, the tow and even the state.
People no longer live their whole life in one village or
neighborhood near to their family members,
colleagues and friends. It means that the function of
networks in the neighborhood is less comprehensive
that is used to be.
Their value for everyday life nevertheless remains
important for groups of inhabitants with lesser
mobility (physical and economical) who are
dependent on the neighborhood (the elderly,
household wives and men, children, people with a
low income or disabled persons). This is also true for
many Roma communities.
Social networks in the neighborhood/community have a
lot of different functions for the people who live there,
such as:
- mutual help: tending coffee, daily care for children,
shopping for the sick, translation of a letter
- sociability
- social control (can be positive: you feel jointly
responsible for a clean street; or more negative: a
certain way of life is imposed)
- exchange of information about all kinds of vital
questions
- identification with the neighborhood an from this,
mobilization for actions and activities.
The charakter and intensity of these social can vary
greatly. A common characteristic is the avoidance of too
much intimacy and conflicts. Many relations within a
neighborhood become more visible from the moment
when help or support is needed.
Social networks in neighborhoods are important for
community for many reasons:
They serve a reservoirs for mobilizing people to become
involved in actions and activities. Word of mouth
promotion is still more effective than posters and
pamphlets. If you know informal leaders in the
neighborhood or community, you may involve them. If
you know the meeting places of the member of the
target group you want to address, you can use them for
the dissemination of information.
If you want to meet the interests of people, it is more
favorable to gain information from informal circuits
than to use more formal policy of an organization and
the ideas of the people it claims to represent.
Many people don’t want to become an active member of
a group or organization permanently, but they do wont
to do something from time to time. It is important for
know such people
A social network can be made and influenced. Thus, it
can be used as an instrument to stimulate specific
changes in the community.
Tracing social networks/structure
Social networks cannot be found in a list of important
institutions or organizations of the municipality. They
have to be found by research. Social networks can be
traced by various methods:
Making a social map
Based on numerical information that can be obtained
from the municipality or other institutions, a social
map of a specific community or neighborhood can be
created. Nowadays, a lot of data is connected with the
post code. In this way, a global picture of people in a
geographic area can be acquired.
Put more precisely, “position groups” living in an area.
Position groups are groups that can be discriminated
according to their position. This position is determinated
by criteria such as social origin, age, sex, educational
level, ethnicity, way of living etc. People from the same
position group may have identical interests and mutual
contacts. The target group we want to contact, can be
identified as a position group and can be indicated on
the map by a certain color. The presupposition is that in
localities where many members of a certain position
group live side by side, there will also exist social
networks.
Meeting places
Another method is to trace the places where members of
a certain target group meet. These places may be public
buildings (for instance, a school, church or mosque,
health centre or educational centre) as well as informal
meeting places (coffee house, pub, club room or cultural
centre) and outdoor places such as a square, a corner of
the street or a park.
Key persons
Another way to gain information about social networks
is to assess informal leaders and key figures. Two
methods can be used. The position method: looking for
people about whom you assume, on the basis of their
position, fulfill a leading role in their community
(people who are active in the trade unions, political
parties or other organizations). Using the so called
reputation method, you ask random members of the
relevant target group who are their informal leaders.
You will find that certain people are mentioned time and
again. Such people know must about the target group
and the mutual relations.
Sociogram
When working on a lesser scale, you can use the
sociogram method. This method involves asking the
target group with whom they have contacts. This
method is used for instance in elementary schools when
allocating pupils into classes.
All children are asked the question whom they would
invite for their birthday party. The answers can provide
information about various social networks.
Observation
The research can also be carried out through the method
of “participated observation”. Through participation in
various activities and in everyday life of the target
group, you can find out the structure of their contacts.
Means of communication
Another method is to assess the ways in which a group
communicates with each other, other than by direct
verbal contact. For example, journals, daily papers,
local TV broadcasting, internet, websites, club
newsletters, special broadcast transmissions, appeals in
promotional journals and posters. In this way, you also
find out about places where members of the target group
meet.
Tracing social networks and establishing contacts is an
intensive and time consuming activity. Be aware of this
importance and keep your eyes and ears open.
Surprisingly, many things will be known to you
beforehand. Looking, listening and asking questions
will give you a lot of information about social networks.
Social networks have their own dynamics and basically
develop without external interference. In this aspect,
they differ from the three other types of networks.
People establish mutual contacts and meet in very
different situations: at work, in their neighborhood, in
free time activities, during education, or political
activities. From there new contacts and new social
networks come to being. But you may take initiatives to
stimulate specific social networks, for instance by
organizing social activities, serving to meet other
people. Co-operating in task groups and in selforganized community groups will also increase the
scope, intensity and complexity of social structure.
The following five factors stimulate accidental and
loose contacts to develop into more permanent social
networks:
- by doing the same activities or common execution of
activities (this factor appears to have the most
influence)
- the degrese of homogenity within a particular
category of people
- the degrese of dependence on the situation (if people
cannot go away, it becomes more important to make
contact with others)
- the image of the community or neighborhood
the extent to which common activities are stimulated
wittingly
When one or more of these five factors changes, the
informal circuit will be strengthen or weakened.
Schuringa, L. “Community work and Roma
inclusion”, Utrecht: Spolu International Foundation,
2005 p 130 – 139
Thank you for your attention :o)