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.Community psychologists have long emphasized the importance of context for understanding human behavior. Leaders in our field have persuasively argued that human actors play out their roles in particular environments which offer specific constraints and opportunities and serve as stimuli for action. Yet, despite our awareness of context for those we study, we do not always apply that understanding to ourselves. My purpose here is to point out how our context --that is, the assumptions and values underlying the discipline of psychology in the United States --shape, sometimes without our awareness, how we define and study key ideas in our field.

Social Change: Toward an Informed and Critical Understanding of Social Justice and the Capabilities Approach in Community Psychology

“…In publications in the English language, we have not come across a community psychology book or article that presents historical, contemporary, and critical perspectives of social justice. Thus, similar to Riger's (1993) key critique of the lack of consistent usage of the term empowerment in community psychology, we argue that despite calls from scholars such as Fondacaro and Weinberg (2002), Walsh, Teo and Baydala (2014), and Evans, Rosen and Nelson (2014) to adopt a social justice framework, social justice remains insufficiently defined, operationalized, and critically examined in community psychology.…”

“…Although not universally accepted and by no means considered a central concept by most community psychologists (Fondacaro & Weinberg, 2002), the past several decades have seen a growing awareness of and interest in issues of power (e.g., Martın-Baro, 1994;Riger, 1993;Van Uchelen, 2000) and oppression and liberation (e.g., Bond, Hill, Mulvey, & Terenzio, 2000;Mankowski & Maton, 2010;Martın-Baro, 1994;Montero, 2007;Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2005, 2010Watts & Serrano-Garcia, 2003), leading some community psychologists in North America to focus on (and use the term) social justice as a tool to create social change in their scholarly endeavors (e.g., Albee, 1986;Evans et al, 2014;Fox & Prilleltensky, 1997;Prilleltensky, 2001Prilleltensky, , 2012Prilleltensky & Nelson, 1997;Sloan, 2010). Examples of writings on social justice include Prilleltensky's focal articles where he suggests that community psychology needs to move toward social action and social justice (2001) and where he links wellness to social justice through providing some historical underpinnings and identifies subtypes of justice (2012).…”

Analyse du processus d’empowerment dans des trajectoires de femmes victimes de violence conjugale à travers le système judiciaire

“…Deuxièmement, il y a consensus chez la plupart des auteurs que l'initiation du processus d'empowerment est autodéterminée. Troisièmement, l'empowerment est intrinsèquement associé à l'action (Rappaport, 1987 ;Breton, 1993 ;Le Bossé et Lavallée, 1993 ;Riger, 1993 ;Perkins et Zimmerman, 1995 ;Rodwell, 1996 ;Le Bossé, 1996). Les actions qui sont entreprises par les personnes elles-mêmes concourent au processus d'empowerment, tandis que leurs bénéfices correspondent au résultat concret de celui-ci.…”

“…Le gain de pouvoir envisagé vise à récupérer un pouvoir d'influence nécessaire pour négocier la restauration de rapports sociaux équitables (Zimmerman, 1995 ;Dallaire et Chamberland, 1996 ;Le Bossé, 1996 ;Drolet, 1997). L'empowerment référerait ici à l'opportunité d'agir plus librement dans certains domaines ou contextes à partir d'habiletés particulières permettant de partager ou de renégocier le pouvoir (Riger, 1993). Ce paradigme rejoint le modèle de la psychologie communau-taire, lequel est inspiré fortement par les idéologies psychologiques et environnementales (Rodwell, 1996).…”

Homosexualidad y matrimonio en Ibero-América: cambios psicosociales e institucionales

“…En su propio estudio, Zimmerman y Rappaport (1998) concluyen que la involucración en grupos comunitarios así como la participación activa es de gran relevancia para entender el concepto de empowerment e interpretan el fortalecimiento psicológico como "la conexión entre un sentido de competencia personal, el deseo y la voluntad de actuar en el espacio público" (p. 764). Sin embargo, para Riger (1993), Speer y Hughey (1995), los factores que componen ese nivel de fortalecimiento necesitan de una puesta en práctica y desenvolverse en un contexto social y teniendo en cuenta el colectivo al que se refiere.…”