Circles of support for people with disabilities and autism in India and the EU
Developing qualification modules for person-centred community
inclusion
networks Project objectives promoting scientific knowledge promoting professional knowledge and skills promoting social network resources in the
participating
communities setting up sustainable frameworks for the promotion of
circles
of support in the regions
“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows
to be
stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house
as freely
as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Summary
The aim of the project is, through a transnational learning process,
to
develop professional skills in human service professions in order to
promote
informal social networks (circles of support – COS) around people with
disabilities and autism in local communities, thereby contributing to
social
inclusion and cohesion.
The principal target groups are the members of higher educational
institutions
and social service organisations, as well as vulnerable individuals
and their
support networks in local communities.
The main activities consist in the development and testing of training
approaches for the different regions, the implementation and
evaluation of
practical approaches, and the case-based analysis of social support
systems,
while enhancing the partners’ intercultural competences and
transnational
collaboration.
Circles of support for community inclusion
Both in India and in the European Union, vulnerable individuals are in
danger
of exclusion or excluded from community and neighbourhood. Official
declarations call for equal opportunities, full participation and
empowerment
of people with different support needs.
Processes of social change place communities under severe tension,
there are
disintegrative pressures on social cohesion. The most vulnerable
members of
society come under the threat of social exclusion. Although the
specific
characteristics of these tensions vary considerably in the EU and
India, there
is nevertheless in both regions a search for ways to facilitate and
promote
the cohesive and inclusive qualities of communities. We need to
address these
aspirations. One way is through strengthening the informal support
networks in
local communities, empowering their members better to include their
more
vulnerable members. The idea of ‘circles of support’ is a promising
approach
in this context.
The model of a circle of support (COS) was developed in Canada and
spread
fairly quickly to North America and the United Kingdom in the 1980s.
It was
introduced into Germany at the end of the 1990s. A circle of support
is a
group of people who meet together regularly to help an individual (the
‘focus
person’) accomplish his or her personal goals in life. The circle acts
as a
community around that person who, for one reason or another, is unable
to
achieve his or her aspirations independently. The members of the
circle of
support, who may include family, friends and other community members,
are
usually not paid for their involvement. They participate because they
care
enough about the focus person to give their time and energy to helping
that
person to overcome obstacles and enhance his or her options in life. A
circle
properly facilitated is empowering to all of the individuals involved
(not
just the focus person) and, unlike many human service systems, does
not
reinforce dependence.
Within the evolving paradigms of empowerment and inclusion, there is
increasing recognition of the role universities are to play in the
disciplines
of human sciences – in particular psychology, social studies and
education –
in training professionals to work in local communities with their
vulnerable
members. Human services interventions are coming more and more to
focus on
tapping and developing the resources of local communities – a changed
role
from providers to facilitators. This paradigm shift creates new
challenges and
at the same time poses new dangers. University curricula need on the
one hand
to train professionals in community facilitation and empowerment
skills, while
at the same time sharpening their critical awareness of the
ambivalence of
these developments in human services. This project seeks to contribute
in this
respect.
The project impacts at four levels:
- gaining a better understanding of the qualities of social networks
in EU and
India
- understanding the patterns of weak and strong ties and formal /
informal
networks in the respective regions
This is aimed at stimulating learning both within the scientific
community and
among lay audiences.
- developing curricula for higher educational institutions and human
service
agencies with the objective of reinforcing social networks at the
formal /
informal boundary
- promoting the exchange of knowledge and skills among professionals
in human
sciences and human services in the field of community education /
circles of
support
This is targeted at enhancing learning among both professionals and
institutions in higher education and social/community services, with
dissemination to the wider higher educational community and human
service NGOs
and CBOs.
- encouraging dialogical learning processes between human service
professionals and key community activists (citizen involvement in
decision
making)
- strengthening and diversifying social networks and informal
institutions of
civil society
This is aimed at key lay actors in the participating communities, with
dissemination to community activists and CBOs in both regions.
- establishing a bilateral India/EU resource centre on 'circles of
support'
within the ICEA (International Community Education Association)
This is aimed at decision makers, policy planners and scientists in
both
regions.