Human Services and the Community

Human Service Community

In today's workforce, rarely is any person an island unto themselves. Many issues are solved through community or group-think. Community is "individuals gathered together to achieve a goal or objective" (Wikipedia). However, before a group can become a unit, it must first go through its natural process of moving from individuality to community. For community to occur, the group must go through the processes of forming, storming, norming, and finally, performing. In this paper, I will discuss my personal experience with group dynamics, as well as the quality of life issues, involving conflict between work and family that many human service providers face as a result of our chosen field of expertise.

The summer of 2008 is one that I will never forget. Local print and mass media descended on the small community of Aguila, Arizona to cover citizen's concerns about law enforcement and public service. The result of the media attention was the forming of an "action committee" to address citizen's concerns. The action committee consisted of various human service organizations and private citizens, to include the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. As the Deputy District Commander, I was chosen to be the representative from my organization. Initially we introduced ourselves to one another and all pretended that we all were delighted to meet one another (forming). However, as time progressed and familiarity set in, numerous conflicts/arguments took place (storming). Looking back, I believe that this was due in-part because there was no clear leader of the group established and we were jockeying for position. We quickly learned that we had to begin "letting go of what is not needed to make room for something new" (Hampton, 2005).

Out of the conflict experienced, came resolution. As we begin valuing one another and our differences, bonds were built (norming). It was no longer important to hear the individual voice on issues – but the community's voice. People started to tell stories of personal experiences and