Application of empowerment theory in social work practice

First, the basic concept of empowerment

Empowerment is closely related to power, powerlessness and disempowerment, and is the core concept of empowerment theory. Power in empowerment theory refers to the ability of individuals or groups, and the lack of power, as opposed to power, refers to the lack of the above-mentioned ability. The reason for the lack of power lies in the lack of power, that is, the power of some individuals or groups in society is deprived or the development of power is hindered and restricted. Therefore, authorization means increasing power. The core assumption of authorization is to believe that everyone has potential even in a difficult environment, and individual powerlessness can be changed through their own efforts and outside help. Therefore, empowerment is not directly empowering the object, its essence is to tap or stimulate the potential of the service object. The goal of empowerment is to strengthen the ability and self-confidence of individuals to use power by weakening personal or social obstacles that affect their decision-making power, fully realize the needs of vulnerable groups, and emphasize the autonomy and self-realization of the case owner.

Second, the application of empowerment theory in social work practice

(1) introduction of new immigrant villages

As a part of the ecological migration project planning, the immigrant new village has been built into one village, two villages, three villages and four villages since it was relocated on 20 13. Although the villagers have moved here for two or three years, the provisions on land allocation in the policy have not been implemented, and there are still problems of small housing area and difficult livelihood. Conflicts between immigrants also occur from time to time. Although the government has provided recreational facilities such as jukeboxes and fitness equipment to enrich the cultural and recreational life of immigrants, these facilities have not been well used and most of them are idle.

The social worker made a preliminary needs assessment. According to the reflection of the village committee, he learned that the villagers in immigrant villages, especially some left-behind women, need to form a square dance team for them, so that they can not only take care of the elderly and children, but also have recreational activities, which can not only exercise, but also promote family harmony.

(b) The application of empowerment theory in the formation of square dance teams in immigrant villages.

1, recruitment and publicity of square dancers

To form a square dance team, we must first determine the members of the square dance team. After consultation, social workers draw up and print out the recruitment notices for square dance players, and post them in four village departments respectively, so that the village Committee can inform the villagers through radio. Villagers will come to register soon, which shows that the demand of immigrant villages in this area is still urgent. Among these registered villagers, the age is between 30 and 60, and many of them are female members.

It can be seen that a small organization can gather so many people to participate, give them a platform to explore their potential and show themselves, and let them have the courage to challenge themselves and do things that they never dreamed of before, which is undoubtedly conducive to enhancing their confidence in life.

2. Fully empower them in the process of learning square dance, and let them learn from each other and learn independently.

After recruiting members, social workers explore village leaders in the process of teaching square dance, and drive more villagers to participate, so as to achieve the goal of independent learning without social workers' participation. In the teaching process of square dance, some new members will join, and of course some old members will be lost, which is frustrated because of something at home or not dancing well enough.

Some members learn quickly. At first, they just danced to the music. After fully empowering themselves, social workers begin to teach others actions, and other members will take the initiative to ask for advice if they have questions. This small empowerment has achieved good results.

3. Hold a general meeting of square dance members, and independently determine the captain, activity time and future development direction of the square dance team.

The theory of empowerment tells us that the social vulnerable groups are in a state of powerlessness because they are deprived of the right to speak. Therefore, if we want to empower them, we should listen to their voices and respect their opinions and decisions. Under the guidance of this professional concept, social workers decided to hold a meeting to allow each member to fully express their opinions and independently determine the captain, activity time and future development direction of the square dance team.

At the beginning of the meeting, they really want social workers to help them make decisions. Social workers have repeatedly stressed that you are the main body of the activity and you are the masters. After the initial silence, everyone began to speak. Finally, Auntie Yang and Auntie Hu, the two best dancers who can persist all the time, were identified as the captains of the square dance team. Social workers will continue to guide them in the next time and clarify the responsibilities of the two captains and each team member. In the process of determining the time, some disputes have arisen. Some members have to take care of the children. They think that the time should be based on the time when children go to school, while some members who don't take care of their children hope to wait until the weather is warmer. After further discussion, the time to follow the child care worker was finally determined, 8 am in winter and 7 am in summer. For the final development direction of the square dance team, the members of the square dance team agreed that they should not only learn, but also dance neatly, hoping to have uniform clothes, okay? Go out? Participate in competitions or communicate with each other in other villages. This is a very ambitious goal. Seeing that every member is full of confidence, social workers hope that their wishes can be realized as soon as possible.

Judging from the example of square dance teams formed in new immigrant villages, these rural women do not have this ability, but do not have suitable personnel organizations. As long as they are empowered and given opportunities, they can propose solutions and analyze the feasibility, advantages and disadvantages of these methods. If we social workers do everything and don't let them participate in decision-making, they are just ordinary participants, and their ability can't be exercised and improved, and empowerment theory can do this.

Third, summary and reflection.

In the authorization theory, it is emphasized to analyze the problem from a macro perspective. This orientation of analyzing problems will not put all the responsibility on the personal ability of the case owner, but treat the case owner in specific circumstances, so as to objectively analyze the problems existing in the service object. Of course, the participation of the case owner plays an important role in the effect of empowerment. In the initial stage of intervention, the participation of the case owner is generally low, which requires the active encouragement of social workers, who are good at tapping the strengths of the case owner, improving their self-image and allowing the case owner to actively participate in activities. In the case, the square dance team lost because the social worker didn't take this into account. At the same time, empowerment is a long-term intervention process, and its intervention effect cannot be seen in a short time. Therefore, the application of the empowerment method should also consider the issue of time.

It can be seen that the empowerment theory emphasizes the importance of power in social relations, the partnership between workers and the case owner, the strengths rather than weaknesses of the case owner, the dual concern of the work for individuals and their social and material environment, the recognition that the case owner is the active subject and takes the disadvantaged groups deprived of power as the working object, all of which show its uniqueness. In a sense, this empowerment orientation constitutes a new perspective of social work theory and practice, which has certain enlightening significance for us to reflect on and improve previous social work.

References:

Tang Yong. A Review of China's Empowerment Theory [J]. Social Scientists, 2009 (1): 18-20.

[2] Pang Wen,. On the educational empowerment of the disabled [J]. China Special Education, 20 1 1(7) (No.133 in total).

[3] Chen Shuqiang. Empowerment: A New Perspective of Social Work Theory and Practice [J]. Sociological Research, 2005(05)