Force Field Analysis (Page 2 of 2) in pdf

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Chapter 11 / Data Collection and Assessment

5. Select a strategy for change. The sheet of paper with these assessments re-

corded thus becomes a tool to assist in planning a change strategy. The goal might

be to strengthen the driving forces and weaken the restraining forces by enlisting the

help of the influential actors.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jay, Ros. Book of Ultimate Business Creativity: 50 Great Thinking Tools for Transforming Your

Business. Oxford, England: Capstone, 2000.

Palmer, Brian. Making Change Work: Practical Tools for Overcoming Resistance to Change. Mil-

waukee, WI: ASQ Quarterly Press, 2004.

Community Decision-Making Analysis

11.26

To assess the factors that influence the actions of elected officials and other decision

PURPOSE:

makers.

As social workers seek to influence decisions that affect the quality of human ser-

DISCUSSION:

vices in a community, they must develop a strategy for convincing the person or per-

sons in authority that a particular course of action is the best choice among the pos-

sible options. Ideally, decisions should be made on the merit of the proposal; in

reality, however, decision makers usually respond to external pressures and various

personal considerations. The social worker must be alert to the factors and forces

that may sway a decision maker.

Research on community decision making and community power structures

does not yield a consistent picture of the forces that lead to these decisions. How-

ever, several generalizations can be made regarding variables that at least partially

explain why some communities tend to center the decision making in a small, elite

group of people while others are more pluralistic and involve a broader spectrum of

the community:

1. Size. Large cities tend to be pluralistic. They are likely to become more diverse

and competitive as they grow, resulting in a greater range of people and interest

groups involved in making decisions.

2. Population diversity. Communities that have more varied and complex class

and ethnic structures develop more special interest groups and more community

organizations that compete for power and resources. Consequently, there are more

challenges to any dominant elite group and a tendency to increase pluralism in deci-

sion making.

3. Economic diversity. More diversified communities in terms of varied sources

of employment, high levels of industrialization, and the presence of absentee-

owned industry (as opposed to local people owning the major industries) all tend to

make communities more pluralistic in how decisions are made.

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