Abstract
This chapter explores the use of community asset mapping as a strategy for achieving liberatory ideals. This exploration draws on one case illustration in a peri-urban Western Cape context, SCRATCHMAPS (Spiritual Capacity and Religious Assets for Transforming Community Health through Mobilizing Males for Peace and Safety). This project was located within a community-based participatory research approach, and used community asset mapping as a key strategy for community building. The chapter covers the theory and practice of asset mapping as method, discusses its application in the above context, and offers a critical account of the liberation capacities of such a method. Both successes and challenges experienced in this project are highlighted, and suggestions for how to address the ambiguities and challenges of adopting asset mapping as a critical approach to community building are offered. The authors argue that community asset mapping, guided by the values and principles of critical forms of participatory research, is a viable strategy for achieving liberatory ideals.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
An official language of South Africa.
- 2.
While these terms inherited from Apartheid are not accepted by the authors, researchers still use them as they represent historical and contemporary indicators of oppression and disadvantage.
References
African Religious Health Assets Programme (ARHAP). (2006). Appreciating assets: The contribution of religion to universal access in Africa (Report for the World Health Organization). Cape Town: International/African Religious Health Assets Programme, School of Public Health, University of Cape Town.
Bettez, S. C. (2011). Critical community building: Beyond belonging. Educational Foundations, 25(3-4), 3–19.
Cutts, T. (2011). The Memphis congregational health network model: Grounding ARHAP theory. In J. R. Cochrane, B. Schmid, & T. Cutts (Eds.), When religion and health align: Mobilizing religious health assets for transformation (pp. 193–209). Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications.
Cutts, T., Olivier, J., Lazarus, S., Cochrane, J. R., & Taliep, N. (2012). Community asset mapping manual for community members. Tygerberg: South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit.
Cutts, T., Olivier, J., Lazarus, S., Taliep, N., Cochrane, J. R., Seedat, M., et al. (2016). Community asset mapping for violence prevention: A comparison of views in Western Cape, South Africa and Memphis, USA. African Safety Promotion Journal, 14(1), 1–14.
de Gruchy, S., Cochrane, J. R., Olivier, J., & Matimelo, S. (2011). Participatory inquiry on the interface between religion and health: What does it achieve and what not? In J. R. Cochrane, B. Schmid, & T. Cutts (Eds.), When religion and health align: Mobilizing religious health assets for transformation (pp. 43–61). Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications.
de Gruchy, S., Dooms, T., Matimelo, S., Cutts, T., Cochrane, J. R., & Olivier, J. (2009). CHAMP/PC: Community health assets mapping for partnerships in palliative care, version 2. Participatory inquiry workshop for health providers, Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: IRHAP, School of Public Health, University of Cape Town.
ESRI. (2010). GIS for asset and facilities management: Efficient management of assets, interior space, and the building life. Redlands, CA: ESRI.
Isobell, I., & Lazarus, S. (2014). SCRATCHMAPS development of safety and peace indicators research report. Tygerberg: South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit.
Israel, B. A., Eng, E., Schultz, A. J., & Parker, E. A. (2005). Methods in community-based participatory research for health. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kramer, S., Amos, T., Lazarus, S., & Seedat, M. (2012). The philosophical assumptions, utility and challenges of asset mapping approaches to community engagement. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22, 539–546.
Kramer, S., Seedat, M., Lazarus, S., & Suffla, S. (2011). A critical review of instruments assessing characteristics of community. South African Journal of Psychology, 41(4), 503–516.
Krantz, L. (2011). The sustainable livelihood approach to poverty reduction: An introduction. Stockholm: SIDA Division for Policy and Socioeconomic Analysis.
Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. L. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. Evanston, IL: Institute for Policy Research.
Lazarus, S., Bulbulia, S., Taliep, N., & Naidoo, A. V. (2015). Community-based participatory research as a critical enactment of community psychology. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(1), 87–98.
Lazarus, S., Duran, B., Caldwell, L., & Bulbulia, S. (2012a). Public health research and action: Reflections on challenges and possibilities of community-based participatory research. In J. Maddock (Ed.), Public health (pp. 309–324). Intech (Open Access).
Lazarus, S., Taliep, N., Bulbulia, S., Phillips, S., & Seedat, M. (2012b). Community-based participatory research: An illustrative case of community engagement in one low-income community. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22(4), 511–519.
Lazarus, S., Naidoo, A. V., May, B., Williams, L. L., Demas, G., & Filander, F. J. (2014). Lessons learnt from a community-based participatory research project in a South African rural context. South African Journal of Psychology, 44(2), 147–159.
Lazarus, S., Taliep, N., & Olivier, J. (2014). SCRATCHMAPS community asset mapping research report. Tygerberg: South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit.
Lazarus, S., Seedat, M., & Naidoo, T. (2017). Community building: Challenges of constructing community. In M. Bond, I. Serrano-Garcia, & C.B. Keys (Eds.-in-Chief), M. Shinn (Assoc. Ed.). APA handbook of community psychology: Vol. 2. Methods for community research and action for diverse groups and issues (pp. 215–234). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Marais, S., Naidoo, A. V., Donson, H., & Nortje, C. (2007). Strategic violence prevention partnerships in a peri-urban South African town: The case of the Jamestown community project. African Safety Promotion Journal: A Journal of Injury and Violence Prevention, 5(1), 19–30.
Mathie, A., & Cunningham, G. (2003). From clients to citizens: Asset-based community development as a strategy for community-driven development. Development in Practice, 13(5), 474–486.
Mathie, A., & Cunningham, G. (2008). Mobilizing assets for community-driven development. Participant manual. Antigonish, Nova Scotia: Coady International Institute, St Francis Xavier University.
Minkler, M., & Hancock, T. (2008). Community-driven asset identification and issue selection. In M. Minkler & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes (2nd ed., pp. 153–169). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Minkler, M., & Wallerstein, N. (2008). Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Naidoo, A. V., & Van Wyk, S. B. (2003). Intervening in communities: Combining curative and preventive interventions. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 25(1), 65–80.
Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation. (2009). What is ‘Planning for Real’? Retrieved from http://www.nif.co.uk.html
Nelson, G., & Prilleltensky, I. (2010). Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and well-being (2nd ed.). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Olivier, J., Cutts, T., Lazarus, S., Cochrane, J. R., & Taliep, N. (2012). Community asset mapping manual for service providers. Tygerberg: South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit.
Railton Foundation, & Stellenbosch University. (2010a). Railton community assessment project: Research report. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University.
Railton Foundation, & Stellenbosch University. (2010b). Railton community assessment project: Research report for the railton foundation. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University.
Railton Foundation, & Stellenbosch University. (2010c). Railton Community Assessment Project: Conducting a community assessment: A practical community handbook. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University.
Ratele, K., Suffla, S., Lazarus, S., & van Niekerk, A. (2010). Towards the development of a responsive, social science-informed, critical public health framework on male interpersonal violence. Social Change, 40(4), 415–438.
SCRATCHMAPS. (2014). SCRATCHMAPS community booklet on community asset mapping. Tygerberg: South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit.
Seedat, M., & Suffla, S. (2012). Editorial: Community engagement: Conceptualisation, methods, and illustrations. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22, 483–485.
Serrat, O. (2010). The sustainable livelihoods approach. Washington, DC: Asian Development Bank.
Smith, R. J., & Miller, K. (2013). Eco-city mapping using GIS: Introducing a planning method for assessing and improving neighborhood vitality. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 95–106. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/soc_work_pubs/9
Springett, J., & Wallerstein, N. (2008). Issues in participatory evaluation. In M. Minkler & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes (pp. 404–418). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Van Gesselleen, M., Taliep, N., Lazarus, S., Carelse, H., & Phillips, S. (2015). Process evaluation of SCRATCHMAPS’ Building Bridges Mentoring Programme research report. Tygerberg: South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit.
Wallerstein, N., & Duran, B. (2008). The theoretical, historical, and practice roots of CBPR. In M. Minkler & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes (pp. 25–46). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the financial support received from the Community Engagement Programme of the National Research Foundation, and the University of South Africa’s Directorate for Community Engagement. We are also grateful to our academic partners, IRHAP, and our community partners. In particular, we appreciate the invaluable contributions of the local community research team in Erijaville who were centrally involved in all the processes and outputs linked to this project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lazarus, S., Taliep, N., Naidoo, A.V. (2017). Community Asset Mapping as a Critical Participatory Research Method. In: Seedat, M., Suffla, S., Christie, D. (eds) Emancipatory and Participatory Methodologies in Peace, Critical, and Community Psychology. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63489-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63489-0_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63488-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63489-0
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)