Arnstein's ladder -a way of mapping out the different degrees of a participation by local residents ad users in the services or community projects that affect them.The tool literally uses the shape of a ladder with the highest degree of the participation on the top rung and the lowest degree at the bottom rung. At the higher end of the ladder citizens exert maximum power and control over a project or service. At the lower end are forms of participation that are manipulative and something of a sham.From the highest rung in descending order are citizen control, delegated power, partnership, placation, consultation, informing, therapy, and manipulation. Because social work is committed to empowerment in principle, practitioners may be tempeted to think that in their work they automatically should aim for the levels of participation at the top of the ladder. But other legal obligations and the dictates of the social work agencies' policies might point otherwise.Each project or service should be looked at carefully to determine what level of participation is both desiderable and realistic.