Showing papers on "Empowerment published in 1993"

Gender Planning and Development: Theory, Practice and Training

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Gender roles, the family and the household 3. Practical and strategic gender needs and the role of the state 4. Third World policy approaches to women in development 5. Towards gender planning 6. The institutionalization of gender planning 7. Operational procedures for implementing gender policies, programmes and projects 8. Training and strategies for gender planning 9. Towards an emancipation approach

The Struggle for Pedagogies: Critical and Feminist Discourses As Regimes of Truth

Abstract: Part 1 Critical Pedagogies and Feminist Pedagogies - Adversaries, Allies, Other?. Part 2 Regimes of Truth. Part 3 Authority and Empowerment in Feminist Pedagogy. Part 4 Authority and Empowerment in Critical Pedagogy, Part 5 Discussion. Part 6 A Reassembling for Practice in "Radical" Teacher Education.

What’s Wrong with Empowerment

Abstract: Although it has stimulated useful and important research and theory in community psychology, the concept of empowerment is problematic. This article criticizes two assumptions and values underlying the concept of empowerment: (a) individualism, leading potentially to unmitigated competition and conflict among those who are empowered; and (b) a preference for traditionally masculine concepts of mastery, power, and control over traditionally feminine concerns of communion and cooperation. The challenge to community psychology is to develop a vision that incorporates both empowerment and community, despite the paradoxical nature of these two phenomena.

[Ap]parent involvement: Reflections on parents, power, and urban public schools.

Abstract: As discourse on \"parent empowerment\" floods the 1990s, I find myself suspicious about my own work and that of others. Parents are being promiscuously invited into the now deficit-ridden public sphere of public education, invited in \"as if\" this were a power-neutral partnership. Many would argue that parents in urban districts are being asked in when it is too late, asked in to \"fix\" the damage of racism and an economy with the bottom carved out. Conservatives' call for parental involvement only thinly drapes a strategy of victim blaming, yoked to a federal retreat from the public sphere, a concerted effort at union busting, and an energetic agenda for privatization. When not reifying \"choice\" and private-sector vouchers, the Right has committed to disinvesting in \"those\" schools and \"those\" children. But it is not only the Right that is mobilized.

Relationships between career motivation, empowerment and support for career development

Abstract: This paper examines relationships between empowerment, supervisor's support for career development and components of career motivation: career resilience, career insight and career identity. In Study 1, self-ratings of career insight and identity from 183 employees were positively related to supervisor ratings of the degree to which the subordinate is empowered and receives support for career development. Self-ratings of empowerment and support for career development were related to supervisor ratings on all three career motivation variables. Study 2 collected supervisor and self-ratings of the same variables for another sample of 59 employees at two points in time with a 3½-month interval to examine the test–retest reliability of the measures and further study their interrelationships. The results supported the test–retest reliability of the measures, indicated that career identity may be composed of two independent dimensions, work identity and organization identity, and suggested that individuals who are higher on organizational identity are those who are rated lower on empowerment by their supervisors. The discussion considers directions for research on variables that affect perceptions of empowerment, support for career development and career motivation.

Understanding generalist practice

Abstract: Organized around the authors' coherent and cohesive Generalist Intervention Model, this introductory guide to generalist social work practice gives you the knowledge and skills needed to work with individuals and families, as well as the foundation knowledge from a generalist perspective to work with groups, communities, and organizations. The authors fully explore the interrelationship between micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work practice. This edition reflects the latest Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards with empowerment and strengths perspectives for partnering with clients.

The Process of Empowerment: Implications for Theory and Practice

Abstract: This article describes a research study completed on the process of empowerment. Conducted with 55 men and women who had experienced extensive powerlessness in their lives, qualitative interviews and focus groups were designed to understand participants' lived experiences as they struggled toward increased control in their lives. Several themes were identified, including elements which provided an impetus for empowerment and the importance of support from people. As the empowerment process unfolded, access to valued resources and participation in community life reduced isolation and contributed to the competence and confidence of participants. Several implications for the concept of empowerment are identified such as self-efficacy and personal control; and principles for community practice are outlined. This study confirms the importance of understanding empowerment from an ecological perspective.

Health is empowerment.

Abstract: A consideration of health in relation to global and diverse social and economic contexts forces nurses to reexamine the centrality of health in the discipline of nursing and to confront the issue of whether health is a personal matter. In this article, the authors review development of the concept of health in nursing science, discuss the limitations of some current definitions in addressing diverse clients, and challenge members of the discipline to develop a contextualized definition of health congruent with societal needs and the mission of nursing.

Researching Change and Changing the Researcher.

Abstract: In this article, Concha Delgado-Gaitan describes her experience as a researcher in Carpinteria, a predominantly Mexican-American community in California. After collecting data about family literacy practices through ethnographic observations and interviews, she began meeting regularly with parents to share her findings and solicit their input. These meetings became a turning point for Delgado-Gaitan, redirecting the focus of her research from literacy activities to the process of community empowerment as she learned from these parents about their own understanding of literacy and about their concerns regarding communication with schools. Through these meetings, the parents organized as a group, in order to demand that the school respond to their needs.The situation challenged Delgado-Gaitan to redefine her role as a researcher. After much internal debate and reflection, she decided to become involved in the empowerment of parents as an informant and facilitator. This article is the story of how this resea...

Beyond Section 504: Satisfaction and Empowerment of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education:

Abstract: College and university students with disabilities were surveyed to determine their levels of satisfaction with accessibility, special services, and accommodations at their schools. In addition, students were requested to identify barriers to postsecondary education, improvements in services, and other concerns. Respondents generally expressed satisfaction with the services that they had received. However, the majority indicated that they had encountered barriers to their education, including a lack of understanding and cooperation from administrators, faculty, staff, and other students; lack of adaptive aids and other resources; and inaccessibility of buildings and grounds. Recommendations were made for improving the delivery of services and self-advocacy of students with disabilities.

Choice, Empowerment, and Involvement: What Satisfies Parents?

Abstract: School choice advocates maintain that parents who choose their schools will be satisfied with those schools. This study examines the nature of the interrelationships between parents' satisfaction with public schools of choice and (a) parents' empowerment, (b) parental involvement, and (c) the congruence between what parents expected of the school when deciding to enroll their child and the actual school program. Findings from a study of school choice in Israel reveal that socioeconomic status is a major factor in understanding the relationships between parent satisfaction and choice.

Women, leadership, and empowerment

Abstract: This paper is a review of leadership research, focusing primarily on women as leaders. The more recent perspective of studying leaders by examining followers is included; but research is sparse as to how leaders are perceived as empowering by their subordinates. A study in progress, conducted by Denmark, Nielson, and Scholl, indicates that stereotypes were more typically held by women against female leaders. However, a leader's ability to be empowering varies with status. The higher the status, the more empowering that individual is perceived, whether female or male. Yet, more men than women held higher status positions. More women are needed in high-level positions to better assess leadership and empowerment.

Empowerment and self-help agency practice for people with mental disabilities.

Abstract: During the past 15 years, there has been tremendous growth in the number of self-help groups and agencies for mental health clients. This article examines the self-help perspective in relation to problems with traditional mental health services and the need for client-run services. Self-help agencies see their goal as empowerment on an individual, organizational, and societal level. They strive to accomplish this by helping members obtain needed resources and develop coping skills; providing means of enhancing members' self-concept and lessening the stigma of perceived mental disability; giving members control in the agencies' governance, administration, and service delivery; and furthering member involvement in social policy-making. The goal of this article is not to endorse the self-help perspective but to use it as the basis for raising research questions that will further the mental health practitioner's understanding of this service modality.

Research Strategies for Consumer Empowerment of People with Severe Mental Illness

Abstract: Research concerning the care and treatment of people with severe mental illness has not been consonant with the well-established emphasis on consumer empowerment in social work and the psychiatric rehabilitation field. This article provides a set of research strategies that would help bridge the gap. We argue that research should amplify "the voice of the consumer" by attending to the context of research, the vantage point, the process of formulating research questions, the selection of interventions to be tested, the selection of outcomes and measures, and the dissemination of research results.

Job Satisfaction and Empowerment among Teacher Leaders, Reading Recovery Teachers, and Regular Classroom Teachers.

Abstract: Empowering teachers is an essential part of school restructuring as evidenced b projects such as Sizer's Coalition of Essential Schools (Muncey & McQuillan, 1993), the New Standards Project (Simmons & Resnick, 1993), school-based decision making in Chicago and Kentucky, or teacher involvement in developing standards (Alexander, 1993) Another project, developed by Short and Greer (1991), educated teachers to competently analyze a problem and reach reasonable conclusions because effective decision making is an important attribute in today's schools Even though making judgements is an essential part of empowerment, other factors may exist and should be identified as researchers begin to study re-structured organizations A few researchers are beginning to investigate empowerment and its effects on selected organizational variables For example, Short and Rinehart (1992) developed an instrument to measure empowerment and, sequentially, utilized it with teachers to examine the relationship to school climate An inverse association was found between these two variables which was attributed to teachers expressing more divergent beliefs and ideas, raising levels of conflict, and lowering perceptions of school climate Short and Rinehart indicated a need to explore the relationship to other psychological constructs (such as job satisfaction, commitment, motivation, etc) that may be affected b restructuring efforts In fact, it is believed that empowerment may be a better predictors of job satisfaction than demographic variables (Billingsley & Cross, 1992) In following this suggestion, teacher job satisfaction was chosen for analysis because of a hypothesized, although not always supported, relationship to productivity In educational settings and with teachers as subjects, researcher have already examined job satisfaction with correlates of job performance, quality of work life, and organizational effectiveness (Hoy & Miskel, 1991) However, with restructuring efforts emphasizing teacher empowerment, Lester (1988) urged investigation of this variable as a correlate of job satisfaction because of its unknown effects on educational settings and related constructs Conceptual Framework Empowerment Empowerment is a dominant theme in all types of organizations including businesses, industries, and service institutions Consequently, this strategy has received the attention of educational policy makers who sought to restructure public education (Maeroff, 1988; Lightfoot, 1986) Teacher involvement in educational decision making also has been promoted by researchers, educational, and political groups (Cuban, 1990; Farber & Miller, 1981; Maeroff, 1988) because of a belief that those closest to existing problem have the expertise to solve them Embedded within the participative problem solving strategy is the assumption that the derived answers will improve outcomes or enhance production For example, some researchers have indicated that employee participation in decisio making will result in increased organizational effectiveness(Lawler, 1986) Other authors visualize staff members, who are enabled to initiate and carry ou new ideas, creating enhanced learning opportunities for students (Lieberman & Miller, 1984; Short & Greer, 1989) These impressions of empowerment are glimpses from an outcomes perspective Other viewpoints of empowerment range from single to multiple dimensional statements For example, Jenkins (1988) stated "To empower others is to give a stakeholder share in the movement and direction of the enterprise" which implie that empowerment is essentially participative decision making Lightfoot (1986) who envisioned a multifaceted variable, indicated that teacher empowerment was the opportunity for an individual to have autonomy, choice, and responsibility Short and Rinehart (1992), by empirically deriving components of empowerment through factor analysis, identified six dimensions which they labeled (a) decision making, (b) professional growth, (c) status, (d) self-efficacy, (e) autonomy, and (f) impact …

Who shall decide? The relevance of theory and research to decision-making by people with an intellectual disability.

Abstract: In the context of normalisation and rights recognition, capacity for decision-making by people with an intellectual disability has emerged as an important but potentially contentious issue. Although increased community integration has opened up many new options, opportunities for greater autonomy are still unnecessarily constrained. Perceptions of limited competence, the issue of who has control over choices, and organisational structures are some of the factors which influence the extent to which clients are able to make decisions. This paper argues that, in order to resolve these issues, decision-making by people with an intellectual disability should be studied within the broader context of psychological theories of decision-making and human behaviour. Theoretical findings are reviewed and areas identified in which decision-making behaviour may break down. The relevance of theoretical research to issues of competence and empowerment, and to the small body of research on decision-making and cho...

Equality, Education, and Physical Education

Abstract: Part 1 Introduction: equality, equity and physical education, J. Evans and B. Davies removing the ugle "isms" in your gym - thoughts for teachers on equity, P. Dodds. Part 2 Concepts and issues: disability, empowerment and physical education, L. Barton the body, class and social inequalitites, C. Shilling equality, multiculturalism, antiracism and physical education in the National Curriculum, P. Figueroa. Part 3 Strategies for change in physical education: who cares about girls? - equality, physical education and the primary school child, A. Williams equality, co-education and physical education in secondary schooling, S. Scarton equal opportunities - race and gender in physical education - a case study, B. Carroll and G. Hollinshead gender, physical education and initial teacher education, A. Flintoff equality, physical education, ideology struggles and transformative structures?, B. Humberstone.

Learning from success: autonomy and empowerment.

Abstract: Evidence of autonomous, empowered behavior among nursing personnel at all levels is one of the critical factors looked for by teams reviewing a hospital for magnet hospital status. The kind of culture and leadership strategies which can ensure an atmosphere necessary to facilitate such behavior are described as they exist at a suburban community hospital which has achieved this distinction most recently.