Chloe Rankin
3/3/23
WRIT:150
Community Service As Decentering
Community service aims to support people and communities, and or work towards solutions to issues the community is facing. Creating a solution requires a deep understanding of the root sources and symptoms of the problem. The people with the best understanding of the problem are the ones who are experiencing the problem first hand. However, the people experiencing that problem lack access to necessary resources due to systemic disadvantages. This deprivation of resources creates a need for support or service. By contrast, the people who are positioned to provide such support are often in a position of power and privilege. Many such privileged people see service as a self-centered “teaching” or “giving” opportunity, where the service provider is a key solution to problems that a community is facing. However, I argue that genuine service is a de-centering process, where you “learn” by listening to the affected community and working in solidarity to help support the solutions they want.
Many people come into service with a teaching mindset: I have the answer and need to teach it. Thus, the outsider believes they know best what the problems and solutions are for the affected community, and service is about imparting or imposing these answers. By centering yourself, community service becomes a single-serving generosity, where the donation of time and energy flows one way: from the giver to the receiver. The giver is unchanged except for maybe feeling better about themselves for helping. Ultimately, in this view, the giver’s work ends after the community service shift ends. However, I argue that this conventional approach can be damaging because it reinforces existing power imbalances and does not result in meaningful change. Such constructions of service can be damaging because they reinforce power dynamics where the giver remains at the center of the work: the value of the work occurs solely because of the giver. The receiver is passive. This dynamic perpetuates systems of oppression and power imbalances that harm the more vulnerable person or community in the equation.
Many outsiders who come into service aren’t aware of the full issues that exist within the community they are serving. Some people may only have a fleeting concept of the community’s values and goals, rather than the concept of the problem. For example, when I began my service with the Francisco Homes community, I had little to no knowledge about the background and history of incarceration. Additionally, I had no prior opportunities to expose myself to this community, so even being in this community’s presence was a new experience for me. Because of my lack of knowledge I felt less compelled to impose my views and was urged to listen. However, people in this situation with little to no knowledge don’t always tend to listen. Many people attempt to close the gap of understanding by centering themselves in the act of service. They see their leadership role as more directive, sharing their thoughts or opinions with the community they are serving. They seem motivated by a belief that, since they are in a position to help, their thoughts and opinions would be better than the community’s.
The outsider’s belief that they know best comes from the blindness of privilege, which– if left unchecked–reproduces power imbalances. There are many factors that impact one’s privileges and rights. There are also many systemic issues that oppress certain communities, and work to maintain certain privileges of different groups within society. For example, the article “Breaking the Cycle of Recidivism: Strategies for Successful Prisoner Reentry” looks at the challenges of successfully reintegrating individuals into society after incarceration. Formerly incarcerated people face many challenges, such as severely limited access to housing, education, employment, and healthcare, as well as rejection from stigma and discrimination. These challenges, lack of resources, and lack of support, limit some people’s options of where or how they can start again. With so few options, recently incarcerated people often return to the community that originally led to their crime. In other words, the system itself often reproduces power imbalances.
The systemic reproduction of power imbalances is also evident in the Washington Post article, “The moral outrage of American parole.” That article highlights how parole is often used as a means to punish people for their past crimes, rather than — — as it pretends to be — — being used to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into society. Most people are unaware of such systemic discrimination, even though people who experience incarceration or parole understand these problems all too well. If someone who wanted to provide community service believed that re-entry was easy, they may blame recently released people for recidivism, when there are so many systemic explanations for it. That misperception could lead to the provision of service that actually imposes some of the power imbalances that cause many problems in the first place. In other words, many people or entities do not understand how recidivism demonstrates power imbalances and systemic oppression. Community service should not contribute to this cycle or be blind to it.
Francisco Homes understands this problem and tries to shift the cycle of recidivism by providing support for reentry. However, no service work or other intervention will actually help unless it is informed by the expertise and first hand experience of formerly incarcerated people themselves. My impression, from listening to so many Francisco Homes residents, is that the program shows it is listening and responding to their experience and expertise. That’s why Francisco Homes makes a difference: it centers and empowers the impacted community, seeking to change power imbalances.
Imposing existing privileges and power imbalances is inconsistent with true service. I come from a community where I have the privilege of never experiencing incarceration or the injustices of the prison system. If I attempt to provide service in a way that reproduces the power imbalances, I am not making a difference; in fact, I could be making things worse by doing performative service. Instead, I recognize, as an outsider, I need to de-center myself and instead, center people with lived experience and give them power. For example, in the Francisco Home service, my classmate and I asked the residents what activities they might like to do as a community to bond and connect. They said they had never been to USC before and were curious about what it was like. We asked if they’d value a tour of the campus, and they said yes. We brainstormed ideas and came up with a plan to tour campus, share dinner, and watch a movie. We asked what their food preferences were and surveyed what movies they might like to watch. We then put their ideas into a plan. The evening was so great for all of us that the residents that attended said they wanted to tell those who didn’t attend how much they missed.
This example demonstrates how important it was for me to listen. I went into the service thinking that I would be helping to solve some big systemic issue or problem, but by listening to the residents, I was surprised to learn that they were most interested in building community. Once I understood their interests, I saw how important it was to them to reduce physical and psychological distance between them and others “on the outside.” Hearing them meant that my preconceived notions of what my service should do totally changed. I let go of my initial expectations and focused on asking questions and supporting the translation of their needs and interests into the plan. I felt how powerful it was to give them the space to be heard, seen, and supported. As I think about it today, that shift in my perspective was also a shift in power: they drove the plan. Therefore, this example demonstrates how important it was to decenter myself. Ultimately, this re-centering requires outsiders like me to listen, learn, and support the affected community. For me, the deepest impact of this service experience was that I feel less like an outsider than before. Perhaps forming a community– and recognizing your power and privileges inside and outside that community– is the most powerful lesson I learned from the Francisco Home residents.
