Empowerment Participation Research Articles

Empowerment: ciclo de implementação, dimensões e tipologia

O empowerment é uma abordagem de projeto de trabalho que objetiva a delegação de poder de decisão, autonomia e participação dos funcionários na administração das empresas. Este artigo mostra as especificidades do empowerment em termos de suas dimensões, ciclo de implementação e tipologia. Discutem-se as etapas do ciclo de implementação do empowerment com o objetivo de enfatizar sua complexidade e sua natureza estratégica. Como dimensões tratadas têm-se: a visão compartilhada, a estrutura organizacional e o gerenciamento, a responsabilidade pela gestão do conhecimento e aprendizagem, e o reconhecimento institucional dos funcionários. A diversidade do empowerment é analisada em função de dois tipos de autoridade para tomada de decisão: sobre o conteúdo do trabalho e a sobre o contexto do trabalho. Com base nesta análise, os seguintes tipos de empowerment são apresentados: nulo, estabelecimento de atividades, participativo, definição de missão e auto-gerenciamento. Estabelecem-se também relações do empowerment com as configurações organizacionais, os estágios evolutivos das áreas funcionais e a administração de recursos humanos.

Coordination of science and technology in the first Bush administration

This case study examines the functioning of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (FCCSET) during the 1989–1993 Bush administration and the transition to the subsequent Clinton administration. In addition to the traditional elements discussed in the literature as essential to effective cooperation in complex, multi-participant initiatives, several new elements have been identified. We have found that among the traditional elements the expectation of increased resources and the satisfaction of legal requirements were of greatest importance. Among the new elements are the maintenance of institutional autonomy, peer pressure, empowerment of individual participants, a common analytic measure of success and strong centralized leadership for the overall process.

TAKE CHARGE for the Future: A Controlled Field-Test of a Model to Promote Student Involvement in Transition Planning

This study investigated the efficacy of an intervention model to promote student involvement in transition planning. The intervention included the coaching of youths in the application of student-directed planning skills to achieve transition goals, peer-based mentorship and parent support, and in-service education for school transition staff. An independent groups, repeated measures design was used to evaluate the impact of the intervention with 43 youth who experienced diverse disabilities. Results indicated that students in the treatment group demonstrated significant increases in their involvement in transition planning activities, empowerment, transition awareness, and level of participation in transition planning meetings compared with youths in the wait-list or control group. Implications of these findings are discussed and the need for additional research emphasized.

Neo-liberalism's New Gendered Market Citizens: The 'Civilizing' Dimension of Social Programmes in Chile

This article explores the reconfiguration of social citizenship, or 'market citizenship', underway in Chile, as one crucial dimension of the refashioning of state institutions along neo-liberal lines in Latin America. It focuses on the 'civilizing' dimension of social citizenship, as an instance of the state's involvement in the regulation of subordinate populations. Specifically, the article studies the case of new social policy aimed at poverty alleviation. Inspired by Michel Foucault's late work but moving beyond it, it examines institutional transformation as on-the-ground practices through which policies take effect and sees 'market citizenship' as emerging from the rearticulation of the efforts of myriad individuals located at different levels of government, 'civil society', and poor and working-class communities. In this process, state agents are translators on the one hand of official documents into instances of participatory learning and empowerment, and on the other of people's realities into instances of documentary categories of poverty. This cultural-political transformation of neo-liberal modernization in Chile and beyond is potentially radical, and we need to ask: to what extent will the new market terms of belonging in the national community, which increasingly permeate private and public actions and discourse, change the very material and cultural contexts in which people's lives and struggles are framed?

Collaborative inquiry with low-income Latina women.

Collaborative inquiry is a form of research in which researchers and participants work collaboratively as partners. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the process of collaborative inquiry through an example of a longitudinal, community-based study conducted over a six-year period. The research program focused on HIV education, counseling, and antibody testing with low-income Latina women attending a nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) in Los Angeles. Collaborative, community-based inquiry emerges from the community and uses members of the targeted group to design the program, convey the message, act as advocates, evaluate the outcomes of the program, and disseminate research findings. The goal is empowerment and emancipation of both participants and researchers. Five areas in the conduct of community-based collaborative inquiry are demonstrated here: program design, implementation, evaluation, dissemination of the results of the program, and empowerment and emancipation.

Quality Management in Local Government - Issues and Experience

The aim of the article is to examine key dimensions of service quality and to consider the situation within British local government. A model of public service quality is introduced. From this starting point, it is argued that local government service quality must consider the 'citizen question'. Values, objectives, definitions of quality and of standards, systems for implementation and a constructive approach to monitoring and evaluation need to be brought together in an integrated approach. Front-line staff, elected councillors and trades unions have an important part to play and all their voices also need to be heard. Local government as a whole has not yet taken on board this comprehensive approach. However, over ten years or so it has adapted to the new policy environment through a wide range of strategies. These include organisational development and quality initiatives, decentralisation, public participation and community empowerment. All help to build an environment where quality can flourish. A 'tight-loose' organisational culture is essential for success. Some tools from the private sector can be used eclectically, but the article warns against wholesale transfer, since the needs and purposes of local government are generally very different. Public service quality is not only about improving citizens' quality of life. It is also potentially a route to greater sense of citizenship, participation and democracy.

Making Connections: Community Organizing, Empowerment Planning, and Participatory Research in Participatory Evaluation

This article shows the intersections of participatory research, popular education, empowerment planning, and community organizing with participatory evaluation. It argues that a truly successful participatory evaluation involves participants in guiding and even conducting the research, doing a process of self- and program study, creating plans for change, and organizing themselves for implementing these plans. Next, the chapter shows how these elements played out in a participatory evaluation of a community organizing training and technical assistance project in Toledo, Ohio. The first year of the project was facilitated by participatory evaluation that helped identify early successes and problems so participants could make programmatic changes early in the process. The telling of the story also develops practices of participatory evaluation, including planning the evaluation, doing the research and adapting it to changing conditions, uncovering creative tensions, participatory validity checking, and linking the process to planning and action. The chapter concludes with some lessons for participatory evaluation practice.

Another Look at the Dimensionality of the School Participant Empowerment Scale

Teacher empowerment is a cornerstone of most educational (restructuring) reform movements. This investigation explored the stability, reliability, and validity of scores on the subscales of Short and Rinehart's School Participant Empowerment Scale with data from a large sample of classroom teachers working in Ohio. The sample of 4,091 teachers was representative of state and national populations of classroom teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis failed to confirm the subscales identified by Short and Rinehart. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify six revised subscales. Use and validity for scores on the new subscales are discussed.

Constitutional Reform and Regional Politics in Kazakstan

The fate of democracy in Kazakstan may well depend less upon decisions taken in Kazakstan's capital, Almaty (the capital is now Aqmola), than upon what takes place in Kazakstan's far-flung and disparate regions. This should come as no surprise to anyone who appreciates the history and complexities of democratic development. The history of democracy is a history of bottom-up initiative. The democratic institutions that are the most successful and enduring are those that originate from the common and everyday interests and concerns of citizens. Even in historical cases where the political institutions of democracy were adopted consciously and deliberately to break with authoritarian tradition, democracy has been closely associated with local control, self-governance, public participation, and citizen empowerment. The fate of Kazakstan's constitutional order, on the other hand, depends almost exclusively upon decisions taken at the “center” of the new Kazakstan government. The establishment of a constitutional order is a highly conscious and deliberate process. It is also a highly political undertaking. To what extent has the democratic process in Kazakstan corresponded to the process of the establishment of a constitutional order in Kazakstan? To what extent has constitutional development supported limited, accountable government based on popular sovereignty? To what extent can democratic process and constitutional development be expected to mutually reinforce one another in Kazakstan's future? The answers to these questions have great importance for the development of democracy in Kazakstan. They have great importance for the efforts of the international community to encourage democratic development in Kazakstan. These are the key questions of this article.

School-Based Decision Making and the Empowerment of Secondary School Teachers

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher empowerment in high schools that had a school council over varying lengths of time (either zero, one, two, or three years). Teachers in this study were in a state that mandated a school governance process to involve teachers in the decision-making process. A School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES) was used to measure empowerment and it contained the following six subscales: decision making, autonomy, self-efficacy, professional growth, status, and impact.Each teacher received a packet containing a demographic form, the School Participant Empowerment Scale (six scales), and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The returned data were analyzed by a MANOVA technique resulting in a significant Wilkeslambda. A follow-up procedure (ANOVA) indicated that a significant difference existed on the decision-making scale between schools with no experience with councils and those with three years experience. There were no significant differences for the remaining subscales. These results are interpreted and implications for practitioners and policymakers are suggested.

Bridging the Gap: A Community-Based, Open-Systems Approach to School and Neighborhood Consultation

In this article, we describe an approach to neighborhood-based consultation that emphasizes collaboration with and advocacy for local citizens. Our primary goal is to facilitate involvement of families and other citizens in collective action. The school, viewed as an open system situated in a neighborhood context, is. seen as an important location for collective action and citizen empowerment by creation of a range of opportunities for meaningful participation. Practice involves assessment of direct interests as defined by participants, development of bridge-building activities between school and citizens, small wins over time, and long-range commitment to creation of organizational structures that connect the culture of the school and the interests of the neighborhood. Practice is based on several principal tenets of community psychology: the value of democratic participation and citizen empowerment, the power of collective action, attention to strengths and resources as well as stakeholder interests, ecological analysis and identification of interdependencies, and system adaptations. We elaborate on how the theoretical underpinnings of this approach suggest roles for psychologists and other professionals as consultants who can help to bridge the gap between schools and economically disadvantaged communities.

Environmental learning in land development with lots reformation process in areas damaged by Kobe earthquake

Opportunity, local initiatives and enabling system for community-based residential rebuilding are analyzed in areas damaged by Kobe earthquake. Voluntary environmental learning actions observed in those areas show wide varieties of stimulating consciousness, community survey, future image building, means-searching and valuation. The shortage of illustrative papers of lots reformation prosess and few case of interpretation of technical jargons to laymen are found at first glance, however, in this paper the author emphasizes the degree of understanding environmental and monetary spillover of pros (benefit) and cons (cost) of park and road services in lots reformation process prior to cost-sharing of urban rebuilding project. Leadership in community organization, partnership between local government and community development association and local coordination among various motivations and behaviors of stakeholders are essential to empowerment in public participation.

The implications of status, class and cultural diversity for health education practice: the case of worksite stress reduction programs

Empirical evidence for the effectiveness of traditional worksite stress reduction programs for subgroups of employees is not available. However, empirical and conceptual investigations of the influence of status, class and culture on the experience of stress provide indirect support for the hypothesis that employees with low status, of the working class or of a minority culture are the least likely to benefit from typical worksite stress programs currently conducted in the US. In order to better meet the needs of employees in these groups, a participatory empowerment approach to worksite stress reduction is recommended. This approach involves a process that is inclusive of the diverse cultural and class-based views of employees, and builds on the strengths of each. Suggestions for the implementation of a participatory empowerment approach are provided.

Transformation for Health: A Participatory Empowerment Education Training Model in the Faith Community

Abstract As a result of new public health science and economic forces, greater emphasis is being placed on coalition building, partnerships, advocacy, and community empowerment. New skills are needed for community health educators, particularly for building relationships that will facilitate collaboration and reduce powerlessness associated with poor health. The purpose of this article is to describe an application of participatory education methods in a hospital–based, community–oriented training project. It addresses one approach to a question now often asked, “How do professionals learn to value sharing power and decision–making with individuals and the community?” By providing participatory, empowerment training, The Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh has demonstrated what is possible for health care institutions seeking ways to develop effective partnerships with the community. At the same time, their actions identify a significant role the faith community can play in creating healthy communities.

Participatory methods and empowerment in rural development: Lessons from two experimental workshops with a Chilean NGO

Increasing attention has been given to participatory methods in agricultural research and rural development. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) has become popular among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and applied researchers in development. This paper analyzes PRA with respect to its usefulness for NGOs, drawing upon the outcomes from two experimental PRA workshops conducted with a Chilean NGO. Emphasis is given to discussing farmer participation in PRA and its empowerment effects. It is argued that PRA is potentially empowering if it is situated within broader long-term social and political strategies guiding the interactions between rural community and external organization.

School Participant Empowerment Scale: Assessment of Level of Empowerment within the School Environment

Two hundred eleven teachers in public schools rated 68 beliefs about what makes them feel empowered in schools. The items were factor analyzed revealing six dimensions or subscales: (a) Decision Making, (b) Professional Growth, (c) Status, (d) Self-Efficacy, (e) Autonomy, and (f) Impact. A 38-item School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES) was constructed by selecting marker items for each of the six dimensions. Obtained internal consistency estimates of reliability for the total scale was .94, and ranged from .81 to .89 for the six factor scales. Evidence of discriminant validity also was discussed.

Restructuring Schools through Empowerment: Facilitating the Process

School restructuring through participant empowerment has gained national attention. One restructuring effort, The Empowered School District Project, is a three-year endeavor to facilitate the creation of empowered schools in nine school districts across the country. A primary objective is to study the change process in these schools in order to understand key variables significant in the facilitation of school empowerment. The results of the three-year study are reported in this article.

Child Survival and Development with Special Reference to the Girl Child

This article is based on plenary address given before the International Symposium on the Girl Child in Asia, a Neglected Majority. The author answers the question of how do the efforts in child survival relate to the real welfare of children. The statistics are grim. 40,000 children 5 years died today. 1 child dies every 2 seconds. Every other second a child is severely disabled with a permanent mental or physical handicap, mostly in developing countries. More female than male children die even though, biologically, it ought to be the reverse. Most of the 14 million dying in a year and comparable figures for those who are disabled are preventable. Safe drinking water, appropriate sanitation, immunization, basic nutritional measures, and the guarantee of basic human rights would contribute greatly to changing the trend. 500 million children have insufficient food and clothing. The status of girls, particularly those in Nepal, is also grim. In 1981, 14.6% of Nepali children 10-14 years were either married, widowed, or divorced. Female illiteracy is high. Approximately 102 million of those 6-11 years old are not in school. In 50% of developing countries, universal primary education is decreasing. 57% of 10-14 year olds in Nepal are economically active. Daily, hundreds of girls are subjected to bonded labor, marriages without consent, sexual abuse and prostitution. 150 million street children are begging, picking rags, or engaged in underpaid, unhealthy and unsafe labor. The goal of ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is not enough. Implementation is required. The rights of the child begin in utero. Women and girls are economically, politically, and socially powerless. Their complaints are frequently misunderstood, misinterpreted, or ignored. The development and education of the child must be appropriate to the historical, physical, sociocultural and demographic conditions of the country. Empowerment of women and participation in the social and political processes is necessary. It is hoped that concrete solutions to some of the problems will be actualized. There must be hope that reason will prevail and that all children, including girls, will grow up healthy informed, responsible citizens.

The University of the Wilderness

Abstract Academic wilderness education is separate from adventure and skills-oriented approaches. Though problems in logistics, academic expertise, and leadership place unusual demands on teachers and students, the qualitative benefits of field studies can be profound. Three programs are described ranging from short- to long-term immersion in backcountry environments. The University of Montana Wilderness and Civilization program focuses on the boundary between wildness and domesticity. The Outdoor Program of Hampshire College uses an individual-in-community approach that leads toward participatory empowerment. Sierra Institute programs, offered through the University of California Extension, Santa Cruz, challenge students with eight weeks in wilderness areas, probing the roots of ecology and attitudes toward nature. At the deepest level, wilderness studies direct participants toward reconnecting culture with nature through advocacy and cultivation of the ecological self.