Community Profile Case Study

As part of my learning, I decided to develop a community profile to gather information that would help me better understand the needs of the community, and the services available to it. This was a valuable piece of work, which allowed me to build a comprehensive picture of a community I knew very little about. Regular review of this profile would also be a good way of highlighting changes in the population over time, which may impact on service need.
Visits to other agencies included Sligo FRC, the C.R.I.B Youth Project and Health Café, and Foroige National Youth Development Organisation, Carrick on Shannon. I met with a range of public health nurses, project co-ordinators, and youth and community support workers. An overarching theme, and

However, while research points towards improved strategies for youth work, I found research regarding issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, was scarce in rural areas. Similarly, despite an increase in the prevalence of domestic violence in rural counties of the North-West (COSC, 2011), there remains a lack of recognition and understanding of the issues relating to domestic abuse.
9. Case Study (Youth Café)
The Youth Café, runs every afternoon from 2pm for children aged between 8 and 12 years. Up to ten young people attend each group for homework support and recreational activities. The social skills targeted in the Youth Café involve problem-solving, conflict resolution, self-efficacy and self-esteem. Research suggests that positive behavioural adjustment, and school performance are significantly improved in young people who participate in after-school programs (Durlak & Weissberg, 2007). Groups were led by either the Youth worker and I, or myself and an employee from the TUS scheme. In accordance with child protection guidelines, two group leaders had to be present during each session. Since the young people knew each

Although members are quite used to students on placement, understandably my presence at first created feelings of uncertainty, distrust and tension among group members. My own lack of confidence and assertiveness no doubt contributed to this, and although group facilitation required me to establish a relationship with participants, I appreciated that I had to earn the space to do this. Lee (2003), offers an interesting explanation of the difficulties for group facilitators in setting themselves apart from the group, whilst also being acceptable to them. I therefore felt it would be helpful to establish a relationship with the group, before responding to members individually, so that I could observe how each member of the group interacted with others. In doing so I came to understand how group work requires systemic thinking, that recognises how the actions of individuals are linked with the context of the wider group. For example, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (1979) best describes this by explaining how relationships between peers do not exist in a social vacuum, but are entrenched in the larger community structure.