Social problems and collaborative planning: toward a theory and model of social planning

Abstract

(; 4 -, Frey' / ~ ~~ The concern of this dissertation is planning theory and practice; its purpose is to make planning more responsive to the problems of the city. The premise that the study is built on is that social planning must be in harmony with the nature of its subject matter, and that so cial problems is its subject matter. The supposition is that if we grasp the nature of social problems and build planning theory and prac tice on these insights, planning efforts will be more relevant and more effective. The approach is a theoretical one; social problems are the start ing point. After urban problems--and poverty in particular--are exam ined from an historical perspective, a social systems framework is pre sented to clarify how problems are generated and maintained as well as to explain how responses to problems are shaped. The inquiry into the nature of social problems then draws upon sociological theory. This theoretical literature is found to focus on either the objective ele ments of social problems or on the subjective, that is, the process by which persons come to judge whether a condition is a social problem.Structural aspects of problems are not an important concern of the theorists.However, in this study a problem is considered as social only when its causes lie outside of individuals--when the sources or origins can be found in existing structural or institutional arrangements. Problems are conceptual ized as having two dimensions: objective and subjective ones.Social problems--specifically, their objective and su~ective di mensions--are related to social planning. It is contended that planning must deal with the objective elements of social problems, including structural aspects, as well as with the subjective dimensions. Or, in other words, social planning must (1) treat the structural causes of problems and also (2) address itself to the values, beliefs, defini tions, etc. that obstruct social change.In addition to this theoretical linkage of social problems and social planning, the dissertation situates planning in the context of a general theory of social reality. Drawing upon the work of Berger and 3 Luckmann (1966), planning is conceptualized as a process in which real ity is socially constructed. These theoretical concepts--the objective and subjective di'mensions of socia1 problems as the object of social planning and social planning as the social construction of realityprovide the basis for the model which is developed.Three components of the model are treated. First, characteris tics of the process are discussed, and it is contended that the social planning process must be IItask-oriented," "experimental,1I "cybernetic," dialogic, and collaborative. Second, roles and phases in the process are discussed and illustrated. : Consistent_ with the theoretical frame \"JOrk in which knowledge is considered as sociall'y distributed, citizen, planner, and decision maker have roles in each of the planning phases.Since no one has a complete view of social reality, each is seen as hav ing a distin...