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GUIDELINES FOR THE OUTREACH ROLE
1. It is very important to understand the culture of the group or type of people
you are trying to reach out to. Sometimes this won't be clear until you get
to know them. Try to understand: What does it mean for the person to
accept help from someone outside the group? How does the group feel
about Human Services professionals? If a person talks to you, does she
or he become suspect to the rest of the group? Are people in the group
allowed to have significant relationships with anyone outside the group?
2. Decide after a while if you are going to try to support the group, or
undermine it. The group has meaning for its members, or it would not exist. Leaving
the group, or allowing it to end, may be painful for the members. The group may be their only social support. On the other hand, the group may be
involved in activities that are illegal or dangerous. Can the group change its focus, adopting positive activities rather than negative ones? Only time
will tell.
3. Usually there is an introductory phase of outreach, during which time the
worker and her potential targets probe and test each other. Then an incident
usually occurs that allows the outreach worker to show some helpfulness or
other useful characteristic. This leads to bonding between at least some
members and the worker. Once this occurs, the real work of developing
relationships and changing behavior can begin.
4. An outreach worker must "leave" the environment in which she or he
is
comfortable, and "live" for a while in the target group's environment.
It
is important to make this transition in ways that do not compromise the
worker's own values and identity. The worker should not be involved in
illegal activities, or do things that unnecessarily confuse her role.
5. The hardest ethical issues about outreach involve "enabling," in
the
sense that substance abuse treatment uses the term. This means that
sometimes the outreach worker, either knowingly or not, provides support
for illegal or harmful activities. For example, she may provide food to a
person who is involved in prostitution, as a way to form a relationship with
the person. This may allow an acquaintanceship to form, but it may
also allow the person to continue in "the life." This is a very
complex
area that needs to be thought out carefully.
Go to Concepts Page
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