Power is an inherent part of community leadership and community level interventions. Though often invisible or obscured, it is a key feature of the community practice context. The purpose of this assignment is to locate power and leadership in a community intervention and demonstrate an understanding of how both influence the intervention. Students will complete a power analysis related to a community-level change that is currently taking place in a geographical community (i.e., neighborhood, city, rural community) or community of affiliation/interest (i.e., LGBTQ community).
Using concepts from the course, the Power Analysis should address the following:
- Identify a community level initiative taking place in a geographical community (i.e., neighborhood, city, rural community) or with a community of affiliation/interest (i.e., LGBTQ community). Briefly describe the change and why it may be necessary.
- Describe the geographical community where the change is taking place. A community of identity/affiliation may also be chosen but should be located in a defined geographical area (i.e., LGBTQ youth in Charlotte).
- Identify at least one key stakeholder AND one community leader engaged in supporting the community change effort. Also, identify one key stakeholder OR community leader who opposes (or who may oppose) the initiative. For each stakeholder and community leader identified (3 in total), assess their:
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- position inside or outside the defined community,
- reason for supporting or opposing the change,
- form/source of power (identified in course material),
- leadership style or leadership approach,
- likelihood of influencing change,
- vested interests or motivations, and
- any alliances or coalitions among stakeholders.
- Identify other key stakeholders and community leaders who have been or should be targeted in order to gain support for the change effort and describe why these should be targeted.
- Describe strategies (identified in course material) you would use to engage these additional key stakeholders and community leaders.
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Note - the first 7 bullet points in question 3 may be addressed by completing the Power Analysis Table Download Power Analysis Tablewith a short narrative explaining the table. The last two bullet points will require narrative responses.
Think of this as a case study, so if you cannot find a specific person who opposes the change initiative, consider who/what groups of people might oppose it.
Writing Quality & Formatting Expectations – It is expected that students will incorporate material from the course to support the content of this analysis. Remember to use in text citations and to list the sources on the reference page. Additional sources from outside the course can also be utilized. This assignment should be submitted via Canvas in Word Format. It should be free of technical writing errors (e.g., – sentence structure, spelling) and reflect conventions in the 7th Edition of the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual. If you have any questions about how to cite or paraphrase authors’ work properly, please ask.