ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how project design, implementation, and evaluation should address the combination of external factors influencing the delineation of the social problem and related needs and effective delivery of the service. The question has implications for the data collected to establish and assess a service as well as its management. The chapter explores the potential for developing an alternative approach to social intervention, and by necessity policy. It shows a number of examples in different locations to analyze how social action reflects opportunities and constraints generated by the political, institutional, social, and economic context. The chapter examines project aims and categorization of 'need', types of available services, and existing external and internal constraints on organizational capacity to address the more extensive social problem; for instance, why young people commit and continue to commit crimes. Organizational capacity can depend upon access to political networks, current policy directions, and sources of funding.
