ABSTRACT
How a worker starts the succession of steps which gains him or her access to a neighbourhood is of critical importance. The ‘way in’ has to be thought through rigorously because of the commitments and pressures that will inevitably build up. In reflecting on how his role in an Irish rural community development project changed over time, O’Donohue (1993) comments: ‘Having to manage many disparate and sometimes unconnected elements of work has forced me to appreciate (as a survival tactic) the importance of efficient and realistic planning of my work’ (p. 21)
This chapter examines the kind of preliminary thinking and action which needs to take place. We call these thinking about going in and negotiating entry. All of it is still very much in the pre-action phase of neighbourhood work. The question of whether a worker will ‘go in’ at all to a neighbourhood remains legitimate and relevant throughout.
