Compare methods

	Asset-Based Community Development	Social Network Mapping
Field	Social Work	Social Work
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1993	1990
Originator	John P. Kretzmann & John L. McKnight	Elizabeth M. Tracy & James K. Whittaker
Type	Strengths-based approach to community practice and development	Visual and structured assessment of a client's personal social network
Seminal source	Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. L. (1993). Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets. ACTA Publications / Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University. ISBN: 9780879461089	Tracy, E. M., & Whittaker, J. K. (1990). The Social Network Map: Assessing social support in clinical practice. Families in Society, 71(8), 461–470.
Aliases	ABCD, Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), Asset Mapping, Capacity-Focused Community Development	Social Network Map, Personal Network Mapping, Network Mapping (Social Work), Social Network Grid
Related	4	4
Summary	Asset-based community development (ABCD) is an approach to community practice that begins by identifying and mobilizing the strengths a community already possesses — the skills of its residents, the energy of its associations, and the resources of its institutions — rather than starting from a catalogue of its problems and deficits. Articulated by John Kretzmann and John McKnight in their 1993 book Building Communities from the Inside Out, ABCD reframes community members from clients and recipients of services into citizens and producers of their own development, and is a cornerstone of strengths-based community social work.	Social network mapping is a structured way to assess a client's personal social network by listing the people in it, organizing them by life domain, and rating each relationship for the kind and direction of support it provides, its closeness, and how often and how long contact occurs. Developed for social-work practice by Elizabeth Tracy and James Whittaker as the Social Network Map and accompanying grid, it turns the often-vague question of who is in a client's life and what they offer into a visual and tabular assessment that guides support-focused intervention.