Showing papers on "Empowerment published in 1999"

Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment

Abstract: This paper evaluates the measurement of womens empowerment in the context of three interrelated dimensions: resources agency and achievements. Several studies are analyzed to stress important methodological points. Resources is here understood to refer not only to material resources but also to the various human and social resources which enhance the ability to exercise choice. Individual and structural change are interdependent in processes of empowerment. The idea of choice must be qualified so that it incorporates the structural dimensions of individual choice according to two criteria: the criterion of alternatives relates to the structural conditions under which choices are made while the criterion of consequences relates to the extent to which choices made have the potential for transforming structural conditions. By definition indicators of empowerment cannot provide an accurate measurement of changes in womens ability to make choices; they can merely indicate the direction and meaning of change. Finally there are problems in measurement and conceptualization associated with capturing particular kinds of social change. Thus giving women access to credit creating constitutional provisions for political participation or equalizing educational opportunities is unlikely to empower them automatically; instead it will create a vantage point from which to view alternatives; this in turn constitutes the precondition for the establishment of a more transformatory consciousness.

Beyond Self-Management: Antecedents and Consequences of Team Empowerment

Abstract: We examined the antecedents, consequences, and mediational role of team empowerment using 111 work teams in four organizations. The results indicated that the actions of external leaders, the production/service responsibilities given to teams, team-based human resources policies, and the social structure of teams all worked to enhance employee team empowerment experiences. More empowered teams were also more productive and proactive than less empowered teams and had higher levels of customer service, job satisfaction, and organizational and team commitment.

The Will to Empower: Democratic Citizens and Other Subjects

Abstract: How do liberal democracies produce citizens who are capable of governing themselves? In considering this question, Barbara Cruikshank rethinks central topics in political theory, including the relationship between welfare and citizenship, democracy and despotism, and subjectivity and subjection. Drawing on theories of power and the creation of subjects, Cruikshank argues that individuals in a democracy are made into self-governing citizens through the small-scale and everyday practices of voluntary associations, reform movements, and social service programs. She argues that our empowerment is a measure of our subjection rather than of our autonomy from power. Through a close examination of several contemporary American "technologies of citizenship"-from welfare rights struggles to philanthropic self-help schemes to the organized promotion of self-esteem awareness-she demonstrates how social mobilization reshapes the political in ways largely unrecognized in democratic theory. Although the impact of a given reform movement may be minor, the techniques it develops for creating citizens far extend the reach of govermental authority. Combining a detailed knowledge of social policy and practice with insights from poststructural and feminist theory, The Will to Empower shows how democratic citizens and the political are continually recreated.

Paradoxes of Participation: Questioning Participatory Approaches to Development

Abstract: This article suggests that the concepts underlying participatory approaches to development should be subject to greater critical analysis. Drawing on research on water resource management in sub-Saharan Africa, and on social theory concerning the recursive relationship between agency and structure, it illustrates the need for a more complex understanding of issues of eAciency and empowerment in participatory appro- aches. Particularly, two key concepts are examined: ideas about the nature and role of institutions; and models of individual action. The article concludes by identifying the questions such an analysis raises about the relationships between community, social capital and the state. Copyright # 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1 PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE Heroic claims are made for participatory approaches to development, these being justified in the terms of ensuring greater eAciency and eAectiveness of investment and of contributing to processes of democratization and empowerment. The conundrum of ensuring the sustainability of development interventions is assumed to be solvable by the proper involvement of beneficiaries in the supply and management of resources, services and facilities. However, despite significant claims to the contrary there is little evidence of the long-term eAectiveness of participation in materially improving the conditions of the most vulnerable people or as a strategy for social change. Whilst the evidence for eAciency receives some support on a small scale, the evidence regarding empower- ment and sustainability is more partial, tenuous and reliant on assertions of the rightness of the approach and process rather than convincing proof of outcomes. Participation has therefore become an act of faith in development; something we believe in and rarely question. This act of faith is based on three main tenets; that

Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment

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What's a good reason to change? Motivated reasoning and social accounts in promoting organizational change.

Abstract: This study provides support for social accounts theory and motivated reasoning theory, both of which help explain how employees interpret the reasons that organizations undertake change. In a field study of a hospital implementing empowerment among nurses, staff nurses (n = 501) cited 3 types of reasons as motivating the change: economic, quality improvement, and self-serving or political reasons. (The formal, managerially stated reason for the change was quality improvement.) Results generally supported social accounts theory regarding the managerial explanation. In this setting, however, many nurses did not believe the explanation management offered. Their alternative interpretations of the change were investigated from the perspective of motivated reasoning. Findings indicated that nurses' trust in management, their psychological contracts with the hospital, and the beliefs of their coworkers affected the reasons nurses cited for the change. "We want to care for patients not paper." "Nurses are able to share in their own future." "Added responsibility without monetary reimbursement." —Three contrasting views of the same restructuring Downsizing and restructuring have brought about radical changes in employment relationships worldwide (Kanter, 1989). These events are blamed for increased employee stress and dissatisfaction (Mirvis & Hall, 1994) and, when poorly implemented, for reduced performance and commitment and increased perceptions of injustice (Novelli, Kirkman, & Shapiro, 1995; Schneider & Bowen, 1995). Global competition, cost pressures, innovations in information technology, and rising customer expectations are seen to

Antecedents and Outcomes of Empowerment Empirical Evidence from the Health Care Industry

Abstract: Using a statistical model, this study examined the correlates and consequences of psychological empowerment among a group of 612 technically skilled, professional, and managerial hospital employees...

Empowered to lead: the role of psychological empowerment in leadership

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between psychological empowerment and leadership. Empowered supervisors are hypothesized to be innovative, upward influencing, and inspirational and less focused on monitoring to maintain the status quo. Tested on a sample of mid-level supervisors from a Fortune 500 organization, the hypotheses were largely supported. Supervisors who reported higher levels of empowerment were seen by their subordinates as more innovative, upward influencing, and inspirational. No relationship was found between supervisory empowerment and monitoring behaviours. Implications for theory and practice are discussed, and future research directions are suggested. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An Exploration of Helping Processes in an Online Self-Help Group Focusing on Issues of Disability

Abstract: The number of US citizens with temporary or lifetime disabilities constitutes a large segment of the population It is estimated that there are as many as 24 million people with a severe disabling condition (International Center for Disability Information, 1999), including 7,500 people with spinal chord injuries per year, 750,000 people with cerebral palsy, 200,000 with muscular dystrophy, and more than 5 million with severe arthritis Nationally, there are an estimated 17 million people with disabilities who are homebound and an additional 125 million who are temporarily homebound There also are many caretakers of disabled and elderly people who are essentially homebound as a result of their responsibilities at home In addition to the physical and emotional difficulties directly associated with disability, a number of social and emotional difficulties result from being alienated or "socially quarantined" from the larger society: depression, loneliness, alienation, lack of social interaction, lack of information, and lack of access to employment (Braithwaite, 1996; Coleman, 1997; Shworles, 1983) Online groups - self-help and mutual aid groups - found on Internet newsgroups, commercial information networks, and computer bulletin boards are potential resources to this large population because they combine the advantages of self-help and the accessibility of computer networks Given the limited number of trained leaders and the relative scarcity of services, online groups could provide an important adjunct to in-person services as part of a wait-list condition, as a source of concurrent support, and as follow-up to time-limited groups (Finn, 1995) Although the existence of online groups has been documented, there are very limited research and anecdotal reports about the types of help offered or the content of the information shared among members Self-Help and Mutual Aid Groups Self-help groups have been described as an essential human resource and a permanent social utility (Katz, 1992) The groups are an attempt by people with a mutual problem to take control over circumstances that affect their lives In general, self-help groups are based on principles of empowerment, inclusion, nonhierarchical decision making, shared responsibility, and a holistic approach to people's cultural, economic, and social needs Their values include cooperative self-organization, nonbureaucratic mutual helping methods, social support, and free services (Schopler & Galinsky, 1993; Segal, Silverman, & Ternkin, 1993) It has been estimated that there are 400 distinct types of self-help groups, comprising 500,000 groups in the United States, attended by more than 15 million people The number of groups has quadrupled in past the 15 years (Boreman, Brock, Hess, & Pasquale, 1982; Kessler, Mickelson, & Zhao, 1997; Leechsen, Lewis, Pomer, Davenport, & Nelson, 1990) The health care arena has seen exponential growth in self-help groups since the early 1980s Group membership includes people and their families suffering from chronic disease, people requiring long-term rehabilitation, people experiencing terminal illness and bereavement, and people recovering from addiction Factors that have promoted the development of self-help groups include insufficient health care resources for some populations, rising cost of health care, lack of support within the medical system for chronic conditions, growing distrust of medical professionals, increased interest in alternative medicine, a new emphasis on prevention, and a rise in consumer consciousness (Riessman & Carroll, 1995) The research evidence points to the positive outcomes of self-help participation (Ayers, 1989; Furlong, 1989; Gottlieb, 1982; Gottlieb, 1985; Kyrouz & Humphreys, 1998; Lipson, 1982; Yalom, 1985) A considerable amount of research has been undertaken in defining the kind of help that self-help groups can provide and the theoretical reasons for their success …

Teacher Empowerment and the Capacity for Organizational Learning

Abstract: Teacher empowerment has been the subject of considerable educational research in recent years, but the capacity of schools for organizational learning has received limited empirical attention. This study links these two research streams and identifies those dimensions of the capacity for organizational learning that are also the themes of school restructuring. Data for the study come from 24 site-managed public schools engaged in significant restructuring activities, 8 at each of three grade levels (elementary, middle, and high). Multilevel analyses demonstrate a strong and consistent relationship between organizational learning and teacher empowerment, measured both as a school organizational characteristic and as an experience of individual teachers. The relationship is particularly strong for empowerment in the domains of teacher work life and student school experience.

Discourses of Partnership and Empowerment in Contemporary British Urban Regeneration

Abstract: Drawing upon the work of Bourdieu, Foucault and Fairclough, this paper focuses on the discursive construction of partnership and empowerment in the official discourse of contemporary British urban regeneration. The paper argues that partnership and empowerment are not neutral terms but are discursive constructs, the meaning assigned to these terms is thus the result of the exercise of power, which in turn has a crucial role in structuring the discursive context within which urban regeneration partnerships operate. The paper's emphasis on official discourse constructs a top-down view of the regeneration process and the community's role in that process. These issues are investigated through a narrative which focuses on a key official document, Involving Communities in Urban and Rural Regeneration, providing guidance on community participation in urban regeneration partnerships. The paper concludes that the operation of these discursive constructs in urban regeneration reinforces existing social relations.

A Functional Model of Self-Determination: Describing Development and Implementing Instruction.

Abstract: This article describes a functional model of self-determination as a dispositional characteristic of individuals. This model has been used to conduct research to examine the impact of self-determination on the lives of people with developmental and other disabilities, to describe the development of self-determination, and to design interventions to promote self-determination for people with and without disabilities.

Psychological Empowerment as a Multidimensional Construct: A Test of Construct Validity

Abstract: The construct validity of scores on Spreitzer’s Psychological Empowerment scale was examined. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of data from a sample of 160 nurses showed substantial support for Spreitzer’s four empowerment dimensions: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. In contrast to Spreitzer’s findings, the results of this study indicated that self-determination is a precursor of impact. This finding was cross-validated with data from a subset of the same sample 1 year later, after implementation of a job redesign program. In addition, results from structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrated job characteristics to relate differentially to the empowerment dimensions, providing evidence for both convergent and discriminant validity of scores on the four empowerment dimensions. Finally, this study found that the four empowerment dimensions differentially related to organizational commitment and career intentions, providing evidence for the predictive validity of the Empowerment scal...

Leader behavior impact on staff nurse empowerment, job tension, and work effectiveness.

Abstract: Objective:The authors tested a model linking specific leader-empowering behaviors to staff nurse perceptions of workplace empowerment, occupational stress, and work effectiveness in a recently-merged Canadian acute care hospital.Summary Background Data:An integration of Kanter's organizational empow

The Intergroup Dynamics of Collective Empowerment: Substantiating the Social Identity Model of Crowd Behavior:

Abstract: Recent accounts of collective action highlight the importance of psychological empowerment, but conceptualize it simply as a precondition for such action. By contrast, the social identity model (Reicher, 1996, 1997; Stott, 1996) suggests that empowerment is a product as well as a precondition of collective action. However, existing research on the social identity model has merely inferred the emergence of feelings of power rather than shown it empirically. This paper describes a study of a town hall anti-poll tax demonstration, using interviews, written accounts, newspaper accounts, and video evidence. The principal source consisted of interviews with 29 protesters which were subjected to thematic analysis to identify (i) whether and to what extent empowerment took place in the crowd; (ii) features of the intergroup relationship responsible for any such empowerment; and (iii) any normative limits to empowered behavior. The analysis suggests that feelings of power increased among crowd members due to the more inclusive categorization among them brought about by their perceived wholesale illegitimate exclusion from the town hall. Moreover, the empowered action of crowd members was limited by shared definitions of proper practice. The implications of these findings are discussed for studies of collective action, and it is suggested that further research along the present lines is necessary to shed more light on factors leading to the endurance and generalization of the types of empowerment found here.

Organising feminisms : the micropolitics of the academy

Abstract: Introduction: The Micropolitics of Academic Feminism The Challenges of Feminist Research Equity and Change in Higher Education Feminism and Equity: Political Partners or Discordant Discourses? Between the Lines: Gender and Organization Power, Pedagogy and Empowerment Feminist Students: Radicalism, Rights and Resistance Feminist Academics: Disruption, Development and Disciplines Concluding Comments: the Dangers of Certainty References Index

Paradoxes of participation : questioning participatory approaches to development

Abstract: This article suggests that the concepts underlying participatory approaches to development should be subject to greater critical analysis. Drawing on research on water resource management in sub-Saharan Africa, and on social theory concerning the recursive relationship between agency and structure, it illustrates the need for a more complex understanding of issues of efficiency and empowerment in participatory appro- aches. Particularly, two key concepts are examined: ideas about the nature and role of institutions: and models of individual action. The article concludes by identifying the questions such an analysis raises about the relationships between community, social capital and the state. Copyright ',€) 1999 John Wiley & Sons. Lid.

Predicting Psychological Empowerment Among Service Workers: The Effect of Support-Based Relationships

Abstract: Data from 292 service workers in 21 private clubs show that supportive peer and customer relationships are predictive of higher levels of employee experienced empowerment. Both organizational and employee-customer relationships accounted for significant variation in the dimensions of empowerment: meaningfulness, influence, and self-efficacy. Peer helping and supportive customer relationships were the two most influential predictors of all three empowerment dimensions. Implications for future research and for management practice are discussed.

Professional nurse autonomy: concept analysis and application to nursing education.

Abstract: Professional nurse autonomy, an essential attribute of a discipline striving for full professional status, is often confused with personal autonomy, work autonomy or aggregate professional autonomy. Using Walker & Avant's (1995) model for concept analysis, this paper presents an analysis of professional nurse autonomy. Professional nurse autonomy is defined as belief in the centrality of the client when making responsible discretionary decisions, both independently and interdependently, that reflect advocacy for the client. Critical attributes include caring, affiliative relationships with clients, responsible discretionary decision making, collegial interdependence, and proactive advocacy for clients. Antecedents include educational and personal qualities that promote professional nurse autonomy. Accountability is the primary consequence of professional nurse autonomy. Associated feelings of empowerment link work autonomy and professional autonomy and lead to job satisfaction, commitment to the profession, and the professionalization of nursing. A student-centred, process-orientated curricular design provides an environment for learning professional nurse autonomy. To support the development of professional nurse autonomy, the curriculum must emphasize knowledge development, understanding, and clinical decision making.