Principles of Community Problem-Solving

In effective outreach campaigns, the community owns the problem and the solution. The station's primary role is to facilitate communication. As the station lends its services as a broadcaster and communicator to help the community solve its own problems, it must ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Having some knowledge of the principles of community problem-solving may help the station act as an effective facilitator.

The principles of community problem solving:

1. Be inclusive. Involve both sides of a divisive issue in seeking a solution.

5. Social change begins by everyone in society owning the problem.

(These principles in community problem-solving are based on ideas from The Spirit of Community, by Amitai Etzioni, who advocates a new "Communitarian" movement.)

1. Be inclusive. Personal responsibility and self-help are the best ways to solve a problem. People who own the problem need to be included in and take control of the problem-solving.

So, if the outreach topic is youth violence, stations should invite both the gang leader and the president of the honor society to be on the Youth Violence Task Force. If either the honor student or gang leader is left out of the problem-solving process, they are unlikely to accept or work with the task force's solution.

2. Localize the outreach effort and (3) allow for reciprocity. The people closest to those in need of help are the most effective helpers. A friend or community member's help may be more useful than the help of a social worker. Localizing solutions avoids a sense that an "outsider" is patronizing the person in need of help. It also allows for the possibility that at some point in the future, those who receive help will be able to return the favor. Even in national outreach campaigns, the goal is to find a way to localize solutions.

4. Empower the person in need. Homeless people or victims of a natural disaster are examples of groups faced with situations where they need more help than they can provide for themselves.

When society must play a more decisive role in devising or implementing solutions on behalf of others, it is very important to be respectful of the people in need. Especially in situations where those in need are feeling dislocated; restoring some sense of control is essential. When offering to help implement solutions, be sure those in need agree with the suggested solutions.

For example, an innovative and empowering outreach project was launched at a homeless shelter. The shelter installed a voice mail phone system so residents seeking jobs could be contacted by potential employers. They recognized that homeless job seekers often couldn't find jobs because they didn't have phones. The solution offered by the agency was respectful of the broader needs of the clients they served, and restored some sense of personal control.

5. If a problem belongs to everyone in a large community (society), everyone needs to take a role in finding a solution. Some issues are so broad that everyone needs to participate in finding a solution. For example, improving the public school system concerns almost everyone. Businesses need quality schools to educate competent workers, and families need quality schools to ensure their children's educational needs are met.

Neighborhoods need quality schools to ensure safety. To help schools realize these goals, society as a whole must contribute toward a solution. The need for everyone to be involved in these over-arching issues is summarized in the slogan "If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem."

Taking on an outreach campaign dealing with a macro issue often means shifting the public perception on the issue. Long-term public service announcement (PSA) campaigns are one way to shift ownership or responsibility to the public. Attitudes on drinking and driving have been influenced by long-term PSA outreach campaigns. The same approach used by national PSA campaigns—chipping away at one issue over time—can be applied locally.

This is a particularly effective strategy for stations that choose to identify a single issue and commit all the station's outreach energies toward working on the various facets of that issue. Such an outreach strategy requires a long-term commitment to realize measurable results.