Empowerment

History

There are various settings in which empowerment may take place, including in vocational settings. In vocational settings, empowerment may be defined as the process of encouraging and allowing employees to take the initiative to improve the quality and conditions within their work environment. Empowerment also allows workers to improve the operation or the service of the organization with which they are employed. Several forms of empowerment exist, such as individual empowerment, social empowerment, and political empowerment. The commonly referenced examples of empowerment include the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s and the women's movement, which began in the mid-1800s, both of which sought after political empowerment for supporters. Some of the well-known leaders in political empowerment include César Chávez, Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Multicultural Issues

Issues of empowerment are important with regard to multiculturalism, and in particular to oppressed groups and marginalized populations. Empowerment is related to cultural competence as both focus on how groups have experienced issues such as racism and discrimination. Empowerment contributes to change and improvement in the quality of people's lives and also to the improvement of societies. From a social justice perspective, empowerment involves giving people the right to make their own decisions and choices and allowing people to act on those decisions and choices. Empowerment can be generated within individuals to address inequalities in their lives, or it can be generated across communities to help larger groups gain control over their life situations. Empowerment may bring about more choice and freedom for individuals and groups and may lead them to be more involved in organizations and advocacy efforts. Furthermore, empowerment can facilitate gained respect, strong [Page 1128]relationships with others, and the sense of connection to a larger community.

Conceptualization of Empowerment

The process of becoming empowered involves more than just gaining access to power. Becoming empowered also involves a change in the way that people think, such that awareness and critical thought occur. Additionally, empowerment is not something that can be forced upon others. If an individual or group attempts to generate empowerment within others, the conditions should be created that facilitate its development; it should not be forced. Empowerment theory explains that empowerment involves the process of changing beliefs and attitudes within the self or among others, which subsequently leads to social change. Empowerment has been described as ecologically embedded and operating within intricate connections among individuals, groups, and community settings. Thus, empowerment is a concept that changes over time and takes on different forms depending on the individual.

...