Annotated Bibliography
Andrews, M.P., Reed, C.S., Brown, R.E., Hembroff, L.A., Seabrook, L. (with Villarruel, F.A.), (n.d.)
Check points — A training manual for evaluation of educational and human services organizations
E. Lansing, MI: ADS@MSU & United Way of Michigan.
Summary: This training manual is designed to support training in evaluation. The focus is on increasing the capacity of staff to identify long, intermediate and short range outcomes and then design program interventions likely to achieve these outcomes. The manual will support participant efforts to complete an evaluation plan; including identifying and selecting indicators and establishing a data collection plan to measure their progress, without having to constantly rely on an external “evaluation expert.”
Zoom
New York: Puffin Books.
Summary: In this children’s book the artist presents a wordless series of drawings showing pictures imbedded in pictures, with nothing being quite what it seems as the reader “backs up” through the drawings into broader and broader understandings of the context of each image.
Beck, D.E., & Cowan, C.C. (1996)
Spiral dynamics: Mastering values, leadership, and change
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.
Summary: The authors base their material on work on a bio-psycho-social systems perspective designed by their teacher, Dr. Clare W. Graves. The framework presented is a way of assessing, modifying and transforming complex human systems at individual, group, organizational, national, or international levels. Spiral dynamics identifies at least eight, potentially nine, progressive stages of increasingly complex developmental evolutions of patterns of thought. These core intelligences, called MEMES, impact life choices because they establish the context for thought. Humans have the capacity to hold a variety of MEMES at the same time, with some being more dominant at certain times or under certain conditions. The authors also suggest that there may be more stages yet uncovered, because not enough people or systems have evolved far enough to identify with certainty the characteristics of subsequent levels. The authors propose that understanding the patterns or characteristics in these stages can help us identify emerging processes more clearly, and if change is needed, more clearly and precisely specify “from what/to what?” are we attempting to change. They identify seven variations of change and match those against six conditions that must exist for different variations of change to occur. They also discuss these principles in the context of managing and directing change at any level of intervention, with a particular focus on intentional change in large complex organizations.
Integral change equation: A sequential checklist for determining the nature of change and the multiple variations available to decision makers
Denton, TX: National Values Center.
Summary: This pamphlet provides an easy to follow checklist for those interested in creating change. It guides the user through the steps of determining a strategy for who and what type of change will be attempted. Eight variations of change, including first and second order change ranging from alpha to delta, are described. Users can score their “relative concentration of energy within the flow of change” using the Change State Indicator. A glossary of terms is also provided.
Stewardship: Choosing service over self-interest (Rev. 2nd ed.)
San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Summary: The author presents what is heralded as the 21st century approach to running organizations by offering his perspective of organizational structure and organizational dynamics and then walking the reader through the steps to get there. The author presents the central idea of the book as stewardship, which is defined as the choice to preside over the fair and orderly distribution of power within an organization. The book teaches how a focus on stewardship and service can cause a shift in governance within organizations by changing the things that have been hardest to change; namely, the distribution of power, purpose and rewards. The author maintains that the overall intention of the book is to help organizations learn how to govern such that they create meaning by what they do, thereby ensuring their survival. The author presents how that takes place by reconciling what is good for the soul, customer, and the overall health of the organization.
Brown, R., & Reed, C.S. (1998-1999)
Evaluating services by linking outcome-based and asset-oriented approaches [Electronic version]. Best Practice Briefs, 5, 1-8.
Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://outreach.msu.edu/bpbriefs/issues/brief5.pdf
Summary: This issue describes a model that links asset-oriented and outcome-based approaches and proposes that it can be used by human service agencies to engage in the first step of the service evaluation process — understanding the impact of their services.
Brown, R.E., & Reed, C.S. (1999)
The outcome-assets impact model [Electronic version]. Outreach Linkages, 4, 1-4.
Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://www.msu.edu/user/linkages/linkagesfall99.pdf
Summary: This article provides a brief synopsis of the Outcome-Asset Impact Model (O-AIM), an approach that links program outcomes to individual and community assets. The model can be used as a framework for both program planning and evaluation. A description of both outcomes and assets is provided, as well as the synthesis of the two approaches into the O-AIM. The strengths of the approach and its ability to advance understanding of program planning and evaluation are described.
Burns B.J., & Goldman, S.K. (Eds.). (1999)
Promising practices in wraparound for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families. Promising Practices in Children’s Mental Health, 4
Washington, DC: Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice, American Institute for Research.
Summary: This report includes a consensus on the definition, values, essential elements, and practice requirements for implementation of wraparound. Ten elements were identified, as were ten practice requirements. The organization and spread of the wraparound approach across the country is described. Training and quality monitoring of programs such as the identification of knowledge, training, and skills necessary to accredit programs and/or individuals in the approach are discussed. Finally, a literature review of 16 wraparound studies conducted to date is presented.
Clifton, D.O., & Nelson, P. (1992)
Soar with your strengths
New York: Dell.
Summary: The authors present an approach to achieving success and managing careers, lives and companies based on a psychology of achievement derived from 40 years of research into leading companies. Some of the major steps the authors teach as part of the process to dramatically transforming one’s company, career and life include: recognizing and awakening hidden talents; excelling in business using the Strengths' Theory (which focuses on increasing productivity and performance); recognizing the crippling power of myths about methods to success; identifying and recognizing the strength of having a personal mission plan.
Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention
New York: HarperCollins.
Summary: The purpose of this book is to explain and describe the concept of creativity. The author conducted a qualitative study, involving in-depth interviews with 91 contemporary people over the first 5 years of the `90’s decade. The author describes what creativity is, how the process works, and what environments and conditions facilitate or hinder it; and what creative people are like including the ways in which they work and live. The author ends the book with suggestions about how readers can enhance the creativity in their lives by making their lives more like the creative people that he studied. The author maintains that the most important concepts from his study are that creative things and ideas are more often the result of years of hard work and the synergy of several sources rather than a sudden insight or inspiration of a single person. Creativity is more easily enhanced by trying to change the conditions of a context rather than by trying to change a person.
Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences
New York: Basic Books.
Summary: Gardner proposes the notion that if society is to fully and adequately encompass the realm of human cognition, then a more expansive and more universal set of aptitudes than has traditionally been accepted, must be considered. Furthermore, he maintains that we must remain open to the possibility that these aptitudes may not be measurable by modern verbal methods that are highly linguistic and logical in nature. Gardner offers a revised definition of intelligence as “the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings.” Based on this definition, and drawing from anthropological and biological evidence, Gardner offers eight discrete criteria for intelligence and then proposes seven human competencies that meet these criteria. The greater part of his book consists of a detailed description, evidence, and mode of operation for each of these seven competencies or intelligences.
The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference
Boston: Little, Brown.
Summary: The author describes major social change that often occurs suddenly and unexpectedly as social epidemics (because they spread like infectious diseases) and engages the reader in understanding how and why this happens. The main purpose of the book is to illuminate the idea of the Tipping Point, which the author describes as the moment when these social epidemics take off and reach their critical mass. The author describes personality types who are naturally equipped to initiate new ideas and trends. The author also analyzes different trends, phenomena and revolutions to illuminate ways in which social epidemics are initiated, spread, and sustained.
Hawkins, J.D., & Catalano, R.F. (1992)
Communities that care: Action for drug abuse prevention
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Summary: This book offers a guideline for how educators, parents, and other concerned citizens can initiate a comprehensive prevention program that addresses the drug and alcohol problems of their community’s youth. Strategies to utilize community mobilization, education, volunteerism, and the mass media are presented based on existing communitywide programs both in the United States and Europe. The authors emphasize the importance of strengthening protective factors while reducing risk factors. Phases of program development are described from beginning to end, with methods of adapting the program to fit the needs of the reader’s community.
Communities working collaboratively for a change. In M. Herrman (Ed.), Resolving conflict strategies for local government
Washington, D. C.: International City/County Management Association.
Summary: This paper offers definitions of the four strategies of networking, coordinating, cooperating, and collaborating to make clear the distinction among each and to clarify the most appropriate use of each in a given situation. Examples are also provided. Decision-making power and ownership of a social change process are described in two basic forms: “collaborative betterment” and “collaborative empowerment.” Definitions and key principles of each are provided. Finally, eleven roles, such as convener, funder, and partner, which an organization may play in a collaboration, are described.
Kretzmann, J.P., & McKnight, J.L. (1993)
Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets
Chicago: ACTA Publications.
Summary: This book is based on the premise that communities cannot be rebuilt by focusing on their needs, problems, or deficits; rather, attention must be directed to assets, skills, and capacities of community members and associations. Methods to identify and employ the unique gifts and talents of community members are suggested. Descriptions of numerous community groups who have voluntarily collaborated to improve their communities are offered, along with techniques for identifying and activating such groups. A description of how local institutions can collaborate with one another and with community members and citizen associations is presented. Three different procedures that can be utilized for building on existing economic assets and a five-step process of community-building are summarized. Finally, the book includes ways that people and institutions outside the community can support the asset-based community building activities.
The careless society: Community and its counterfeits
New York: BasicBooks.
Summary: The author presents a compelling description of how capable and competent communities mobilize the capacity to heal themselves from within. The author maintains that the invasion of professional social services can overwhelm communities, stifle their spirit and render the members invalid in terms of maintaining their communities. The author maintains that the work of a community involves the consent, care and concrete work of its member families, neighbors and friends. It is the community member’s inherent capacity and working together that allows for the saving, rebuilding and revitalization of a community. The author describes how this occurs.
Mundell, K., Frost-Kumpf, H., & Simmons, P. (1995)
Sensing place: A guide to community culture
Summary: This pamphlet serves as a resource for guiding the reader through a thought provoking exercise in defining ‘place’ and ‘community.’ It helps readers identify community characteristics and resources that are unique to their community.
Reed, C.S., & Brown, R.E. (2001).
Outcome-asset impact model: Linking outcomes and assets
Evaluation and Program Planning, 24(3), 287-295.
Summary: This article introduces the Outcome-Asset Impact Model (O-AIM). This approach combines 1) a focus on the benefits that participants gain as a result of program participation (outcomes) and 2) interventions that are framed in such a way as to highlight the strengths that are fostered within an individual rather than the problems that are relieved (asset orientation). Both facets of this model are described in depth, as is the synthesis of the two into the O-AIM. The O-AIM is presented as a framework for understanding, planning, and evaluating activities designed to achieve impact. Three different actual case studies are presented to illustrate the application of the O-AIM.
Diffusion of Innovations
New York: Free Press.
Summary: Now in the fourth edition, a textbook and reference on diffusion studies, the author presents the culmination of more than thirty years of research offering choice examples of his wide cross-cultural experience. The Diffusion of Innovations model is based on the process of understanding how new ideas and products spread.
Scales, P.C., & Leffert, N. (1999)
Developmental assets: A synthesis of the scientific research on adolescent development
Minneapolis: Search Institute.
Summary: The authors review the scientific research that supports the Search Institute’s asset model/conceptual framework. The purpose is to demonstrate the scientific support for the assets identified by the model, and specify what research has identified in terms of how to build these assets for and with different populations of youth. The authors apply this approach to each of the Search Institute’s categories of developmental assets. Findings of youth’s experiences with the assets, based on the Search Institute’s survey, are also presented. Overall, this book is presented as a reference guide to the scientific literature that supports the Search Institute’s developmental asset approach, for organizations and communities seeking to build assets in the lives of youth.
The value of spiritual health: Spirituality and medicine must find common ground in the new healthcare era. [Electronic version.]
Health Progress, 74 (7). Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://www.chausa.org/PUBS/PUBSART.ASP?ISSUE=HP9309&ARTICL=H
Summary: The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHAUSA) defines spiritual health as “...that aspect of our wellbeing which organizes the values, the relationships, and the meaning and purpose of our lives.” According to their website, patients and healthcare professionals are experiencing a growing recognition of the importance of spiritual health as a foundation for physical health and well-being. They suggest reforming the healthcare system to place greater emphasis on etiology and prevention as opposed to relief of symptoms. In reforming health care, creative and holistic partnerships between the medical profession and spiritual caregivers can provide increased recognition of a holistic approach to well-being. Eleven characteristics related to spiritual health are noted.
The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization
New York: Currency Doubleday.
Summary: The author describes his blueprint for developing a learning organization, which is considered the organization form of the 1990’s. The organization type encourages members expanding their capacity to create the results they desire, new and expansive ways of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is promoted, and collective learning is supported. The author presents theory and practical application techniques to aid the reader in understanding and applying this approach.
Senge, P.M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R.B., & Smith, B. J. (1994)
The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization
New York: Currency Doubleday.
Summary: This book is a practical guide to the development of learning organizations based on Senge’s revolutionary bestseller, The Fifth Discipline. Most chapters are devoted to the five “learning disciplines” of a learning organization: personal mastery, mental modes, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking. The guide is designed with cross-references so that readers may begin at any point in the book and find meaningful links. Margin icons indicate different types of material, such as guiding ideas, infrastructure, and theory and methods. Exercises and techniques are also offered as another form of learning for the reader.
The several forms of “community mapping”—1 [Electronic version].
Best Practice Briefs, 3, 1-4. Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://outreach.msu.edu/bpbriefs/issues/brief3.pdf
Summary: This issue describes the concept of community mapping and specifically outlines geographic mapping, the “presentation of data on a base map of roads, parcels or blocks.” This process can show spatial distribution as well as illuminate the relationship between two phenomena. The result can be the creation of a common base of knowledge for individuals or groups interested in altering the outcomes of communities and their residents. Computerized mapping programs are discussed, as are both the advantages and concerns associated with community mapping.
The several forms of “community mapping”—2 [Electronic version]. Best Practice Briefs 4, 1-4.
Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://outreach.msu.edu/bpbriefs/issues/brief4.pdf
Summary: This issue describes the conceptual approach of community mapping, “Community Asset Mapping,” that is a “process of inventorying the resources or assets available to a specified neighborhood or community.” This process is used for individual development, public capital, and cultural resources. Examples of Community Asset Mapping as a way to refocus community development and as a mechanism for youth development are presented. Other forms of conceptual mapping are also described.
Tableman, B. (Ed.). (1998-1999)
The assets/strength-based approach to programming: Promoting positive youth development [Electronic version]. Best Practice Briefs, 2, 1-8.
Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://outreach.msu.edu/bpbriefs/issues/brief2.pdf
Summary: This issue focuses on shifting paradigms from a problem/deficit orientation to a strength/asset orientation in human service organizations to promote positive youth development. The issue describes how the shift occurs, what the asset approach is, and how the approach is applied in families, schools, and communities. Findings from asset-based research, with an emphasis on the Search Institute’s findings are described. Ways in which communities can engage in action that supports youth asset development are described.
Developing Community Systems of Care [Electronic version]. Best Practice Briefs, 9, 1-8.
Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://outreach.msu.edu/bpbriefs/issues/brief9.pdf
Summary: This issue describes “Community Systems of Care,” which the author describes as the most organized and integrated approach to a system of interconnected human service agencies. This system is described as being different from the traditional way of delivering community-based human services. The characteristics of and the methods and steps for developing a Community System of Care are described.
A community approach to the prevention of violence by youth [Electronic version]. Best Practice Briefs, 24, 1-12.
Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://outreach.msu.edu/bpbriefs/issues/brief24.pdf
Summary: This issue describes a community-based approach to reducing youth violence employed in Boston. The framework employed, and the characteristics of and lessons learned from the change process that occurred are described.
Validating the assets approach to achieving good outcomes for children and youth [Electronic version]. Best Practice Briefs, 25, 1-17.
Retrieved June 9, 2003, from http://outreach.msu.edu/bpbriefs/issues/brief25.pdf
Summary: This issue describes and summarizes the Search Institute’s research and findings of the developmental assets of youth. The issue provides an assessment of the asset approach to youth development by reviewing empirical, other than correlational, research that have findings that validate the approach.
Taylor-Powell, E., Rossing, B., & Geran, J. (1998)
Evaluating collaboratives: Reaching the potential
Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, Cooperative Extension.
Summary: This manual presents information about evaluation as a process of inquiry that facilitates learning rather than as a tool to determine success or failure. Collaboration is viewed as a process whereby parties who see different aspects of a problem work together to find solutions that go beyond what any one party could do separately. Collaboratives are perceived as dynamic and flexible, changing as they develop. The phases of the journey into collaboration are described and readers are taught how to use logic models to map the journey. Evaluation that answers questions dealing with feasibility, process, and outcomes at both the level of the individual member or organization (self-interest) and at the level of the collaboration as a whole (collaborative) is discussed at length. The methods and techniques necessary to answer these questions are also presented. Two tools are provided: a sample survey and an assessment tool.
Measuring program outcomes: A practical approach
Washington, D.C.: Author.
Summary: This manual is intended for executive directors and program managers in the field of human services. Programs that address both intervention and remediation for families and individuals as well as preventative and developmental programs will find this manual useful. Its contents are applicable to direct-services organizations, in addition to programs aimed at advocacy, capacity building, and public education. An eight-step approach to developing a system for measuring program outcomes and then applying the results is presented using four hypothetical programs. Worksheets and tools are provided to help readers plan their program’s outcome measurement system. The manual also highlights the experiences of human service providers who have implemented such a system in their program.
General systems theory
New York: George Braziller.
Summary: This book represents von Bertalanffy’s reaction against reductionism and his attempt to revive the unity of science. He emphasized that real systems are open to, and interact with, their environments, and that they can acquire qualitatively new properties through emergence, resulting in continual evolution. Rather than reducing an entity (e.g., the human body) to the properties of its parts or elements (e.g., organs or cells), systems theory focuses on the arrangement of and relations between the parts that connect them into a whole (cf. holism). This particular organization determines a system, which is independent of the concrete substance of the elements (e.g., particles, cells, transistors, people, etc.). Thus, the same concepts and principles of organization underlie the different disciplines (physics, biology, technology, sociology, etc.), providing a basis for their unification.
Sex, ecology, spirituality—The spirit of evolution
Boston & London: Shambhala.
Summary: With 19 books translated in over 30 languages, Ken Wilber has been described as America’s most translated academic author and as the foremost integrated thinker alive today. After extensive reading in many disciples, particularly in both eastern and western philosophy, he devised a framework to organize human knowledge based on the premise: “What if these authors are all right in some way? How can they be connected to one another?” This book describes the resulting philosophical framework, including detail on Wilber’s twenty tenets of the evolutionary process. It also includes an analysis of Wilber’s human equivalent to Einstein’s famous equation for energy. He identifies four major divisions or paths to knowledge: the objective, subjective, individual and collective. Wilber argues that understanding must consider all four paths and their interaction to completely describe the evolutionary development of humans.
Wilber, K. & Schwartz, T. (1996)
A brief history of everything
Boston: Shambhala.
Summary: The authors offer their account, written in question-and-answer format, of men and women's place in a universe of sex and gender, self and society, spirit and soul. The course of evolution is examined as the “unfolding manifestation of Spirit, from matter to life to mind, including the higher stages of spiritual development where Spirit becomes conscious of itself.” The authors provide original and innovative views on many topics, including gender relations, modern liberation movements, environmental ethics, the conflict between this-worldly and other-worldly approaches to spirituality, and much more.
Young, N., Gardner, S., Coley, S., Schorr, L., & Brunder, C. (1994)
Making a difference: Moving to outcome-based accountability for comprehensive service reforms
National Center for Service Integration.
Summary: This resource provides an overview of three separate articles and describes how they fit together. Information is presented from a systems, community, and service perspective. The chapter written from a systems perspective provides a conceptual framework that stresses the need to consider outcomes within the context of goals, strategies, and resources. It argues that communities should be involved in determining the outcomes to which they will be held accountable. The chapter written from a community perspective offers a rationale for developing an outcome- based accountability system, presenting both opportunities and dangers in such an approach. A collection of child outcome measures is provided that can be used, holistically and on a community-wide basis, to measure progress. The chapter addressing a service perspective describes the challenges in measuring the impact of service strategies that seek both to empower and develop families and to empower and regenerate neighborhoods and communities. A new approach to evaluating comprehensive, community-based service reform efforts is suggested. This new approach is based on six levels of measurement of service impact, with impacts on the first five needed to expect changes at the sixth level, community-wide outcomes.
Characteristics of Spiritual Health (as cited in Seidl, 1993)
Catholic Health Association of the United States (September, 1993).
Summary: The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHAUSA) defines spiritual health as “...that aspect of our well-being which organizes the values, the relationships, and the meaning and purpose of our lives.” According to their website patients and healthcare professionals are experiencing a growing recognition of the importance of spiritual health as a foundation for physical health and well-being. http://www.chausa.org/PUBS/PUBSART.ASP?ISSUE=HP9309&ARTICLE=H They suggest reforming the healthcare system to place greater emphasis on etiology and prevention as opposed to relief of symptoms. In reforming health care creative and holistic partnerships between the medical profession and spiritual caregivers can provide increased recognition of a holistic approach to well-being. In “Health Progress” on the website CHAUSA lists eleven characteristics related to spiritual health.
