Community drama as medium in community social work

This thesis reflects the author's views on the use of the medium of community drama within the method of community social work. Through participant observation, the author gained an insight into the medium over a period of four years in which he undertook some experiments himself, observed experiments undertaken by others, discussed the variables with colleagues and, through a literature search, compared notes. This thesis is an outcome of that research. The author regards community drama as derived from psycho- and sociodramatic principles and roleplay, and as offering part of community theatre; but a unique contribution as a communication medium when facilitated by the social worker (enabler) to enlist local support in working on community needs. Within community social work, the medium consists of the following phases: the introduction and preparation, performance, audience involvement and the follow-up phase. The enabler is viewed as an important link to facilitate the various phases, and guidelines are provided to ensure that the first critical attempt with the medium will be successful. Effective employment depends not only on the enabler following these guidelines, but also relies on the co-operation of others involved with the issue, and calls for a unified objective shared by all participants. For this reason, the 'actor' target group must be carefully selected by the enabler before introducing the idea of community drama to the community. The introduction should follow a sequence of steps to transform the community's shared common idea/need into spontaneous dramatisations