From the bottom up

University of Otago Associate Prof Pat Shannon considers ways of tackling some of New Zealand's "wicked" social problems. Photo by Peter McIntosh.

Indeed, the influential social issues researcher is cautiously optimistic, despite the torrent of negative economic and social statistics, that local community development networks can provide more effective support for local needs, including people who have suffered damaging "life shocks".

"There are lots of grounds for hope," he says, but cautions that communities must look to themselves.

• Benefits of going back to community living

"The system is not delivering, from international banks to shonky local finance companies; inequality in New Zealand is exploding and we know from 'The Spirit Level' [an international study of inequality] that this is not good for anyone, even the multimillionaires.

"People don't believe the Establishment any more. They are starting to take action for themselves - communities, transition towns, iwi development, social entrepreneurs, social enterprises, the whole voluntary non-profit sector and volunteers, thousands of people - keeping society sustainable.

"We are doing things for ourselves despite the system. Of course we don't have long, but it is starting."

In and among those participating in the grass-roots efforts that Prof Shannon observes, are the social workers and community development entrepreneurs that he has spent half a lifetime educating and advocating for. That their contribution to the revitalisation of hard-pressed communities is not routinely heralded comes as no surprise.

"It is no surprise that social work, despite being an extremely complex and demanding task, with a range of knowledge required of few other professions, is treated poorly by the Establishment," he says.

"Supporting and advocating for the disadvantaged is not something that endears itself to the silver spoon brigade. Yet they cannot do without us."

That is not to say they have not tried. In the early 1990s, a government minister had tried to get rid of social workers in mental health but "we had a series of major tragedies and they had to bring them back".

Prof Shannon says that though much social research is "just descriptive counting and measuring outcomes" with little or no knowledge on how the outcomes had arisen or "what to do about them", work done at the university's department of social work and community development studies had identified ways forward.

He has been involved, with colleagues, in a 10-year research programme and, by using 12 case studies, has helped develop a "strategic model of how to bring about change in the community".

"I intend to continue this programme even though I am no longer in the university."

He plans to call it " Reunion: re-creating connections for people and communities".

In a talk given at a University of Otago conference earlier this year, Prof Shannon urged the development of a more effective regional partnership between community groups and government departments, in order to counter poverty and avoid "a serious social crisis".

The failure to eradicate family and child poverty in New Zealand and the rapid increase in associated serious problems must "lead to a reconsideration of the value and effectiveness of social support", he said.

He noted recent groundbreaking research by the Ministry of Social Development had highlighted the importance of "life shocks" in contributing to severe hardship.

A detailed investigation of critical incidents leading to hardship in Dunedin, which he led last year in association with Christian agencies' foodbanks, had also identified "the importance of community-level social support".

He noted there had been improvements in national superannuation, while political developments involving the Maori renaissance had brought positive outcomes, as had the introduction in 2006 of the wage-earner family support scheme Working for Families.

But there had also been major increases in "wicked problems", including those involving family and child poverty, as well as health and crime issues.

Research undertaken by the Government had indicated the reason people ended up in financial hardship was "a combination of low income and bad luck: what they called 'life shocks'. Health problems, losing their jobs, marriage breakup, losing their houses and things like that."

"In the Dunedin foodbank study we wanted to understand how it happened, the process of social exclusion, how people reacted and how we could best help before things got too bad."