What the Best OUTCAN Communities Do: How to Foster OUTCAN Community

Looking for a little advice about your relationship? Perhaps you have questions about parenting? Ask Andrea! Our social worker, Andrea Liss will pick one question a month and answer it in our mid-month bulletin. You can submit your questions anonymously to her at https://forms.office.com/r/F3rxQKvTdQ

Dear Andrea,

I have just arrived OUTCAN and though we are in a small community of a few families and singles, I am curious as to your thoughts on building community. I haven’t ever lived in such a small “community within a community” before and I am noticing it’s hard to get people together. Can you write about this in your column? 

- Let’s Get Together 

Dear Let’s Get Together, 

The OUTCAN experience is rather unique for those posted where there is only one family or CAF member. The upside for such CAF members and families in very remote locations is that one doesn’t have any obligation to socialize or make nice. The downside is the potential for loneliness, the absence of Canadian feel-good rituals, and lack of brethren protection. Small communities on the other hand require that its members try their best at community engagements. And still, challenges do arise. Here are some of my thoughts on OUTCAN community building based on my four years of working with OUTCAN families.  

1. Well-functioning communities help foster successful OUTCAN missions 

   Healthy community functioning improves a CAF member’s ability to complete their mission. When members and their families feel neutral or good about their community, they are best able to focus their energy on the task at hand. When families are OUTCAN, Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS) quietly leads the community charge. Its branches- Military Family Services, Personal Support Programs, and Education Services are absolutely crucial to maintaining community. Why? Let’s consider the basics of healthy community functioning.

   
   

2. All humans need human connection 

   There is irrefutable evidence from the fields of Psychology, Anthropology, Biology and History indicating the need for human connection. All we need to do is recall the pandemic. Connection promotes protection and wellbeing which are fueled by our attachment relationship with others.

   
   

3. What’s so special about an OUTCAN? What contributes to a “sense of community” in an OUTCAN? 

   Community psychology research in the 1970s (McMillan) studied groups to better understand what fosters a “sense of community.” Structures that promote a sense of community include membership dues, boundaries, status, and task value. Let me give you some examples of how this works both in the military at large and in an OUTCAN.

   
   

   The CAF community “buys” into the CAF by virtue of the service each member and family provide. Protection of our amazing country and its allies constitutes the “dues” paid. Those that don’t serve are not part of this special community. The dues paid in an OUTCAN may include significant domestic upheaval and adapting to life in a foreign country. When we contribute the group “dues” we are rewarded with Canadian social gatherings and activities.

   
   

   With regard to the importance of communities by virtue of their boundaries, not just anyone can be a CAF member or family and certainly, not everyone screens green for an OUTCAN. Only those chosen to be OUTCAN are fit for OUTCAN.

   
   

   Status helps gel a community because the group is thought to be special and therefore attractive. The effort required to belong makes you want to be a part of it. Military service is prestigious and generally admired and OUTCANs are highly prized and highly sought after. Status is conferred by all the glamourous travel to be done and generous post living allowances. Status intensifies group cohesion because we all have an interest in benefiting from OUTCAN perks.

   
   

   Finally, “sense of community” is intensified the more attractive a community activity is to its members. When the community participates in what they believe to be ‘high value’ activities, members connect and bond over the special offering. For example, unit fund trips (where applicable) are highly sought after because they are opportunities for travel that require little individual planning and are generally modestly priced.

   
   

4. There are however, factors not within one's control that negatively impact “sense of community.” 

   McMillan (1976) noted that two issues negatively impact “sense of community”- a short length of residency and home rental. Unfortunately, this is a drawback of military service both OUTCAN and INCAN. Settling into a house that is one’s own for many years promotes rootedness and bondedness. As we all know this is not always possible for CAF members and their families regardless of what region they are posted to.

   
   

   There you have it Let’s Get Together. “Sense of Community” is an important topic. It can make or break your OUTCAN. Stay tuned next month for tips and tricks on navigating friendships in your community. We’ll discuss befriending people that are not “your people”, the number one easiest way to foster community (hint- it’s called Pleasantology), and how to get people to come to your community event.

   
   

If you would like to learn more about community engagement, either in a one-to-one consult or by community presentation, please contact your regional CFMWS Social Worker.   

• USA:  Marion Hall-  Hall.Marion@cfmws.com; 

• Europe: MFSSocialwork@cfmws.com; 

• Global:  Andrea Liss-  Liss.Andrea@cfmws.com 

If you would like to pose a question for the Ask Andrea column, please send your anonymous question to https://forms.office.com/r/F3rxQKvTdQ and Andrea will do her best to share some of her ideas.

Andrea has a master’s degree in Social Work and is a Registered Social Worker (Ontario) with over 20 years of experience. She maintains a faculty appointment at McMaster University where she teaches in the Masters of Science in Psychotherapy program. Andrea is your MFS OUTCAN Rest of World Social Worker.  If you are a CAF family member and would to speak with her or join the spousal support group for all OUTCAN spouses that she runs please email her at liss.andrea@cfmws.com.