The Organizational Context of Empowerment Practice: Implications for Social Work Administration

Gutiérrez, Lorraine; GlenMaye, Linnea F.; DeLois, Kate

doi:10.1093/sw/40.2.249

Cited by 43 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…A systems/ecological perspective (Rogers, 2013) provide an explanatory framework reflecting the intersystem exchanges that have resulted in the gradual positive value changes in society and the social work profession in terms of their treatment of the LGBT communities as well as our cultural resistance to change. These changes can also be understood through the empowerment perspective (Gutierrez, DeLois, & GlenMaye, 1995) ,which emphasizes change through personal, interpersonal, and political arenas. For instance, the challenging intrapersonal and interpersonal dialogues as well as the political strife and negotiation that occurred prior to changes in CSWE and NASW policy related to greater subsequent inclusion of the LGBT community.…”

Section: Discussion/implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A systems or ecological perspective sheds light on the importance of recognizing the mutual influences of various groups upon each other (Rogers, 2013). The empowerment perspective identifies how certain groups become disenfranchised and may also work to combat this disenfranchisement through engagement on a personal, interpersonal, and political level (Gutierrez, DeLois, & GlenMaye, 1995).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Untitled

2015

J SW Values and Ethics

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Social enterprise has emerged as a viable strategy to address increasingly complex social problems. Despite the field of social work's commitment to solving social problems, it has been absent from the growing social enterprise movement. This paper describes the compatibility between social enterprise and social work. Furthermore, the argument is made that social workers have an ethical responsibility to play a role in shaping the growing field of social enterprise.

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Section: Discussion/implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

2015

J SW Values and Ethics

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“…For the critical paradigm, it is also important to monitor certain members' marginalization, exclusion, and power inequality in coordinating collaboration (Hardy & Phillips, 1998). Finally, technical support that ensures financial, human, and social resources enable marginalized members to be empowered by improving their capacity and power to engage in collaborative coordination (Gutierrez et al, 1995;Sørensen & Torfing, 2009).…”

Section: Empowering Coordinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Synthesis Toward Transformative Collaboration: A Dialectical Analysis of Functionalist and Critical Paradigms

Kim¹,

Lee

2022

csw

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Social workers are required to become effective boundary spanners to address complex social problems with community-based and cross-system collaboration. However, substantial tensions exist in the literature about how to build successful collaboration, stemming from the massive use of the two competing paradigms: functionalist and critical paradigms. Using a dialectical analysis, this article attempted to uncover and synthesize paradoxical understandings of the major elements of successful collaboration. Significant contradictions between the two contrasting paradigms are identified at the multidimensional levels, including (1) member capacity for developing objective/consensus knowledge vs. subjective/dissensus knowledge, (2) unity vs. diversity in membership, (3) centralized vs. decentralized network governance, and (4) stable/standardized vs. flexible/responsive coordination. The results suggest that there is no consensual approach to developing transformative collaboration that promotes members’ critical capacity, equal relations, democratic governance, and empowering coordination. Social workers should identify and utilize inherent contradictions as a catalyst for developing and maintaining transformative collaboration by considering its dynamic process, context, and interconnection with other systems.

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“…The construct of empowerment has been studied across many disciplines. Besides the contributions from the field of social work (Gutiérrez, GlenMaye, & DeLois, 1995;Hardina, 2005;Itzhaky & York, 2003;Mano-Negrin, 2003;Turner & Shera, 2005;Wallach & Mueller, 2006;Zippay, 1995) and international social work (Cheung, Lo, & Lui, 2012) to our understanding of empowerment processes, other disciplines that have paid considerable attention to analyzing empowerment, such as community psychology (Okvat & Zautra, 2011;Peterson & Zimmerman, 2004;Rappaport, 1984Rappaport, , 1995Zimmerman, 1995Zimmerman, , 2000; nursing (Spence laschinger, Gilbert, Smith, & Leslie, 2010); and health care promotion studies (Anderson & Funnell, 2010;Mohajer & Earnest, 2009). Despite extensive investigations over the years, a unified definition is still missing.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways to Effectiveness in Substance Abuse Prevention: Empowering Organizational Characteristics of Community-Based Coalitions

Powell

Peterson

2014

Human Service Organizations Management, Leadership & Govern

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Coalition development is an important approach to the prevention of substance abuse. In addition, empowerment is considered a critical foundation of coalitions' effectiveness. Few studies, however, have tested the characteristics of coalitions that predict empowerment and effectiveness in substance abuse prevention contexts. This study tested a path model that included organizational characteristics as predictors of members' empowerment and ratings of coalition effectiveness. Participants (n = 138) were members of 11 coalitions. Leadership had an indirect effect on coalition effectiveness through its influence on opportunity role structure, social support, and group-based belief system. Empowerment mediated the effect of social support on effectiveness.Keywords: coalitions, empowerment, perceived effectiveness, strategic prevention framework, substance abuse prevention INTRODUCTIONCoalitions often focus on creating changes in public policy or other environmental conditions that contribute to the prevalence of substance abuse in communities (Bunnell et al., 2012;Frieden, 2010;Gloppen, Arthur, Hawkins, & Shapiro, 2012;Linowski & DiFulvio, 2012; Wolfson et al., 2012). The present study contributes to the literature through an examination of community coalitions implementing a new federally driven substance abuse prevention framework. In particular, we test a conceptual model specifying organizational characteristics that are hypothesized as promoting empowerment among coalition members and their perceptions of coalition effectiveness. This social work investigation of coalition building within a substance abuse prevention context is an important step in increasing our understanding of empowerment-related processes and outcomes and how they can contribute to the effectiveness of groups working to improve quality of life through communitylevel interventions. Research that applies empowerment as a theoretical framework may contribute to our knowledge of strategies to improve social work practice in ways that build on the strengths of coalitions to effect social change, especially as it relates to preventing the harmful consequences of substance abuse in communities.Correspondence should be addressed to Kristen Gilmore Powell, Rutgers University, School of Social Work, 390 George Street, 5th Floor, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. E-mail: kgilmore@ssw.rutgers.edu 472 POWELL AND PETERSONEmpowerment is a fundamental concept within the social work profession. For example, the social work Code of Ethics emphasizes the need for social workers to facilitate the empowerment of vulnerable populations by addressing environmental barriers that negatively affect the health and well-being of people on a macro scale (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). Empowerment theory encourages researchers and practitioners to focus beyond the individual level of analysis and attend to environmental risk factors affecting the well-being of those most vulnerable. Tracing the field's roots back to the settlement house movement, social wor...

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The Organizational Context of Empowerment Practice: Implications for Social Work Administration

Cited by 43 publications

References 17 publications

Untitled

Untitled

Critical Synthesis Toward Transformative Collaboration: A Dialectical Analysis of Functionalist and Critical Paradigms

Pathways to Effectiveness in Substance Abuse Prevention: Empowering Organizational Characteristics of Community-Based Coalitions

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