Community asset mapping Assignment (1 – 2 pages)
Use the following to guide you to do the assignment on asset mapping for your organization:
Use the sample asset mapping on D2L to develop yours.
This assignment is for you to identify assets (i.e. resources both tangible and intangible – human capital, organizational, and material) from both internal and external of the organization that will be useful for your non-profit organization or an agency of your choice that you understand well.
In case you are not able to put all the details into the diagram give a brief description below the asset map. For example, if you identify a pediatrician by name Dr. Jones, you need to tell us what makes Dr. Jones an asset.
Make sure to give your asset map a title.
PowerPoint Presentation Community Asset Map Title (Make Sure Title Provides Information about the Problem, Population, Intervention, Agency, & Community) Month Year Names of students Organization Name Top Administrator Name, Credentials, Title Mission Statement: Agency Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Internal Name, Credentials Job Title Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Internal Name, Credentials Job Title Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Internal Name, Credentials Job Title Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Internal Name, Credentials Job Title Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organizations, Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organization, Assets: Sector: Name, Credentials Position, Organization Assets: Internal Name, Credentials Job Title Assets: untitled RESEARCH NOTE Asset Mapping as a Research Tool for Community-Based Participatory Research in Social Work Elizabeth Lightfoot, Jennifer Simmelink McCleary, and Terry Lum Participatory research approaches such ascommunity-based participatory research(CBPR) have emerged as an innovative way of conducting social work research. As social work researchers increasingly incorporate partici- patory approaches, they adopt and adapt research methods and procedures to fit participatory mod- els. One such procedure, asset mapping, provides an appropriate method for conducting research and is particularly well suited to both the CBPR ap- proach and social work’s strengths-based approach to social issues. Although asset mapping as a com- munity practice technique is not new to social work, it has been seldom used as a research tool in social work research and is generally not intro- duced as a research method in social work courses or in social work research textbooks. ORIGINS AND OVERVIEWOFASSETMAPPING Asset mapping is a method of research originally developed as part of Kretzmann and McKnight’s (1993) asset-based community development (ABCD) strategy for community building and community capacity building. In the ABCD approach, a community explores, describes, and maps its assets and then uses these assets to develop solutions to a specific social issue within the com- munity, such as homelessness, hunger, access to health care, or poverty. This approach shares com- monalities with one of the dominant models in social work behavioral intervention, the strengths- based approach, that seeks to build on the strengths of individuals and families (Saleebey, 1992). Similar to the strengths perspective, the asset approach to community development emphasizes the positive ability, capability, and capacity of communities to identify relevant issues; to develop appropriate solutions from the strengths of their community members, institutions, and structures; and to implement such solutions in a culturally appropri- ate, sustainable way. The asset approach differs from the more prominent deficit orientation to community development, which has historically focused on problems or risks of local communities that require professional resources and interven- tions (Morgan & Ziglio, 2007). In the typical ABCD process, communities map assets, evaluate asset data, mobilize assets for devel- opment, and then assess development efforts and the strength of connections. Although the pro- cesses of ABCD can vary, its key components are its focus on assets rather than deficits and its partici- patory approach. The assets in the ABCD approach include both tangible assets, such as a church con- gregation, a playground, or a community organiza- tion, and intangible assets, such as cultural traditions or social support networks. Assets include the skills and capacities of individuals; informal and formal associations, such as local card-playing or religious groups, sports clubs, or service organizations; insti- tutions, such as hospitals, clinics, neighborhood centers, or libraries; economic development poten- tial; and land and other physical assets (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993). Asset mapping is the process by which the com- munity identifies individual, associational, institu- tional, economic, physical, and cultural assets. This process involves community members in defining the boundary of a community, exploring and iden- tifying community assets, conducting an inventory of the community assets, and composing a physical and/or conceptual map of the community’s assets that also highlights the interconnections and rela- tionships among the assets. This in turn leads to doi: 10.1093/swr/svu001 © 2014 National Association of Social Workers 59 community interventions that build directly on the assets in the community. Community members, organizations within the community, and others can use the asset map to strengthen assets that are already present, to develop new assets where they are needed, and to strengthen connections between various assets. The assets-based model enhances the capacities of individuals and communities to realize their poten- tial to contribute to their own development and strengthens the communities’ ownership of that development. Asset mapping has typically been used as a step in community development or orga- nizing, often from a grassroots participatory action research perspective, in which the community is interested in gaining knowledge for its own con- cerns. Participation in the mapping process can become an intervention, as it builds trust among community members, develops the capacities of the asset mappers, and engenders a sense of com- munity pride. Asset mapping as a community development or organizing technique produces a community asset inventory or asset map that community stakeholders can use to solve their community problems and to promote community development. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized that assets-based approaches to health promotion are critical for supporting overall popu- lation health and reducing health disparities (Harri- son, Ziglio, Levin, & Morgan, 2004). Health assets approaches were used by the American Academy of Pediatrics Community Access to Child Health to help pediatricians work with local associations (McKnight & Pandak, 1999); a large international consortium, the African Religious Health Assets Program, was funded by the WHO to conduct extensive asset-mapping research in Africa (African Religious Health Assets Program, 2006). Assets approaches have been used to develop a variety of health promotion activities, such as reducing tele- vision viewing (Baker et al., 2007) and tobacco use (Struthers, Hodge, Geishirt-Cantrell, & Casken, 2003). Asset-mapping approaches to community devel- opment in the field of social work range from surveying communities to developing a list of resources (Ulrich, Soska, & Richter, 2005), to establishing international community development projects that leverage identified assets to create new interventions and close resource gaps (Ssewamala, Sperber, Zimmerman, & Karimli, 2010). Many community practice social work textbooks advo- cate asset mapping as a community development strategy (Hardcastle, Powers, & Wenocur, 2011; Weil, 2004). Social work researchers have begun to build an evidence base to support asset mapping as an intervention tool in community development and macro practice with communities. ASSETMAPPING AS A RESEARCH TECHNIQUE Whereas asset mapping was designed as a commu- nity development technique and is well known as such within the field of social work practice, it can also be used as a research technique. A review of the social work literature reveals that only a handful of studies use asset mapping as a research tech- nique. Asset mapping as a research technique pro- duces valid and reliable data that help researchers and stakeholders understand the strengths of a community and its ability to solve its problems. The research data generated from asset mapping, such as asset inventories or asset maps, can be used as dependent or independent variables in the research process. Asset mapping is not necessarily participatory, as a research team could hire its own asset mappers. However, a participatory approach in asset mapping increases the validity of the asset inventory and asset map produced, particularly if the researchers are not members of the community being studied. A participatory approach also allows social work researchers to develop strong partner- ships with communities. Asset mapping is increasingly being used as a research tool as participatory research methods such as CBPR have gained prominence in social work and health research. CBPR is a participatory method that arose in the field of public health research. CBPR was developed as a way to encour- age partnerships between academic researchers and communities; to develop appropriate, rigorous research methods that lead to valid findings; and to translate research findings into relevant practice and policy changes. Israel and colleagues (Israel, Eng, Schulz, Parker, & Satcher, 2005) described CBPR as being fundamentally about equitable partnerships, where researchers and community partners share responsibility throughout a research project. A CBPR approach to research can involve either quantitative or qualitative methods and emphasizes collaboration, shared power, and own- ership over the research process and resulting data 60 Social Work Research Volume 38, Number 1 March 2014 and long-term connections between researchers and communities. Generally, CBPR research includes the translation of research findings into policy and practice changes within the same com- munity. Asset mapping is an ideal participatory method for use within the CBPR approach to research. Social work researchers frequently strive to develop community–university partnerships through their research, and these partnerships are an essential com- ponent of participatory research approaches. Asset mapping allows social work researchers to begin to develop long-term and committed partnerships with community members from a strengths-based perspec- tive. Participatory asset mapping requires researchers and community members to work, to communicate, to compromise, to learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and to create together. These ele- ments are building blocks to successful community– university partnerships. METHOD OFASSETMAPPING IN CBPR The technique of mapping communities has been used in public health for many years, and it usually originates from a deficit-based or problem frame- work to map out such factors as health risks (Ayala, Maty, Cravey, & Webb, 2005). Community map- ping typically uses spatial data to learn about com- munities. Asset mapping differs from traditional mapping of communities in its focus on assets rather than deficits and its use of community mem- bers in the identification, collection, and analysis of assets. Key methodological issues in asset mapping in CBPR include identifying the research ques- tion, defining the boundaries of the community, identifying the types of assets that will be invento- ried and mapped, mapping those assets, and creat- ing a valid and reliable asset inventory and asset map. In CBPR, this is a collaborative process between the community and the researchers. The community and researchers jointly identify the boundary of the community. It can be physi- cal, such as a city block, or nonphysical, such as an ethnic or cultural group. The community and researchers jointly own the research question. Some of the sophisticated mapping techniques that have been developed in the fields of geography or urban affairs, such as using global positioning sys- tem (GPS) software technologies and geographic information systems (GIS) for locating, manag- ing