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The Empowerment Approach to Social Work Practice
First published in 1994, this book was hailed as a cutting-edge, theory-driven report from the front-line trenches in the battle for social justice. Both clinical and community oriented and written from a global perspective, it presents clients speaking for themselves alongside reports of prominent social work educators. This new edition puts greater emphasis on "how-to" skills in working with people toward their own empowerment and stresses multiculturalism. A new chapter identifies worldwide issues of oppression such as abuse of women and children and neglect of the mentally ill.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 1994
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November 26, 2007
Thanks, Monica, that is super nice to hear. Actually, I tend to find the people I work under (mucky-mucks at agencies who make the big decisions) a whole lot scarier than the people I work for (my clients). At worst clients mostly just frustrate me; the people running the show can make me question any optimism I've had about humanity (they sure did today!), while my clients more frequently restore it.
This is some of what Judith A. B. Lee (who so far seems to draw on Freire and D. Solomon, among others) says about empowerment in her introduction, which is as far as I've gotten:
"There are three interlocking dimensions of empowerment: 1) the development of a more positive and potent sense of self, 2) the construction of knowledge and capacity for a more critical comprehension of the web of social and political realities of one's environment, and 3) the cultivation of resources and strategies, or more functional competence, for attainment of personal and collective goals. As we break down and operationalize the concept of empowerment, empowerment can become the keystone of social work... It is also, as Simon notes, 'a series of attacks on subordination of every description -- psychic, physical, cultural, legal, political, economic, and technological'....
"Empowerment practice seeks to create community with clients in order to challenge with them the contradictions faced as vulnerable, hurt, or oppressed persons in the midst of an affluent and powerful society. Practitioners must develop effective interventions to deal with individual pain by taking social forces into account. Mancoske and Hunzeker define empowerment practics as 'using interventions which enable those with whom we interact to be more in control of the interactions in exchanges'...
"Critical consciousness and knowledge of structural inequities and oppression are power. Transformation occurs as people are empowered through consciousness-raising to see alternatives. Transformation is a vision of social change as well as a process and outcome of throwing off oppression in one's own life and in the life of the community. It requires restlessness and anger at injustice and the dehumanization of poverty, negative valuations, and the culture of personal greed" (2001, p. 34).
So far Judith A. B. Lee kind of reminds me of a big fluffy teddy bear covered with rainbows and bleeding hearts, holding a bullhorn and a book of poetry in one paw, and a fuzzy pink hand grenade in the other. Again, though, we're still just in the Intro, so I'll have to get back to you on this one. It's just a first impression, not really backed up by anything.
This is some of what Judith A. B. Lee (who so far seems to draw on Freire and D. Solomon, among others) says about empowerment in her introduction, which is as far as I've gotten:
"There are three interlocking dimensions of empowerment: 1) the development of a more positive and potent sense of self, 2) the construction of knowledge and capacity for a more critical comprehension of the web of social and political realities of one's environment, and 3) the cultivation of resources and strategies, or more functional competence, for attainment of personal and collective goals. As we break down and operationalize the concept of empowerment, empowerment can become the keystone of social work... It is also, as Simon notes, 'a series of attacks on subordination of every description -- psychic, physical, cultural, legal, political, economic, and technological'....
"Empowerment practice seeks to create community with clients in order to challenge with them the contradictions faced as vulnerable, hurt, or oppressed persons in the midst of an affluent and powerful society. Practitioners must develop effective interventions to deal with individual pain by taking social forces into account. Mancoske and Hunzeker define empowerment practics as 'using interventions which enable those with whom we interact to be more in control of the interactions in exchanges'...
"Critical consciousness and knowledge of structural inequities and oppression are power. Transformation occurs as people are empowered through consciousness-raising to see alternatives. Transformation is a vision of social change as well as a process and outcome of throwing off oppression in one's own life and in the life of the community. It requires restlessness and anger at injustice and the dehumanization of poverty, negative valuations, and the culture of personal greed" (2001, p. 34).
So far Judith A. B. Lee kind of reminds me of a big fluffy teddy bear covered with rainbows and bleeding hearts, holding a bullhorn and a book of poetry in one paw, and a fuzzy pink hand grenade in the other. Again, though, we're still just in the Intro, so I'll have to get back to you on this one. It's just a first impression, not really backed up by anything.
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