The Challenge of Creating Real Relationships
The desired effects of this work, in all senses, arise from the naturalness and personal nature of the relationships that a Citizen Advocacy organisation is able to create. One of the key challenges for a Citizen Advocacy organisation is that this relies on the art of being able to identify two people (one 'valued' and one 'devalued') who seem likely to make a personal connection - and on bringing them together in a way which leads to such a relationship.
There are many actions and influences that can undermine these efforts. Problems tend to revolve around existing social expectations for the 'devalued' person. Often society at large will anticipate that this person isn't really worth knowing, and has little to offer - but that they might be helped through paid services or with the assistance of volunteers. Working in an environment where such expectations are the norm, it becomes easy for an organisations practice to drift towards fitting in with them. An organisation might instead find themselves creating relationships where the 'valued' person is seen to be (or sees themselves to be) a volunteer, at which point the activity has become a fundamentally different one. In this case the effects of the work may even be to add to the devaluation of the 'devalued' person (however effectively the 'volunteer' helps the individual with particular problems or issues in their life).
Read more about this topic: Citizen Advocacy Organisations
Famous quotes containing the words challenge, creating and/or real:
“The great challenge which faces us is to assure that, in our society of big-ness, we do not strangle the voice of creativity, that the rules of the game do not come to overshadow its purpose, that the grand orchestration of society leaves ample room for the man who marches to the music of another drummer.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)
“If the child knows the rewards and punishments in advance and knows that his parents will stick to them, the parents can actually empathize with the child’s plight while, at the same time, creating a firm sense of structure.... Your child will sense your resolve and your empathywhether you do this with words or just a sense of warmth.”
—Stanley I. Greenspan (20th century)
“The desire of most parents is first and foremost to do what is best for their children. Every interview with a mother or father confirms this, every letter written by a parent breathes this deep-seated wish, “I hope I am doing the right thing for my child.” This is real and honest, and at the very base of parenthood.”
—Irma Simonton Black (20th century)