Empowerment and Social Work: Introduction to Community Services

This essay provides an overview of empowerment in community services, defining it as the process of giving individuals and groups the authority and autonomy to improve their situations. It discusses the role of empowerment in social work, emphasizing its importance in helping people gain control over their lives and achieve their goals. The essay also explores different approaches to empowering communities, including allowing more control, providing support, and fostering independence. Key characteristics of empowered communities, such as trust, mutual respect, and involvement in decision-making, are highlighted. The significance of empowerment is discussed in terms of enhancing beliefs, promoting self-determination, and encouraging respect for human rights. The essay concludes that empowerment is crucial for encouraging and enabling individuals and communities to control their lives and create positive change, with Desklib offering additional resources for further study.

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Introduction to community services

Introduction to community services
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Empowerment.............................................................................................................................................3
Empowerment in social work......................................................................................................................3
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................5
References...................................................................................................................................................6
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Introduction to community services
Introduction
In today’s competitive world, empowerment plays a significant and vital role in the life
of individual and society. It explains how empowerment plays an important role in social work.
The empowerment provides authority and autonomy to people to do some activities and actions.
The approaches, roles and significance of empowerment have been elaborated in the task
effectively and successfully. More detail of the task is discussed below.
Empowerment
The empowerment of an individual or group of people is the process of giving them
status and power in a specific situation. In other words, empowerment refers to the power and
authority given to the someone to do something. Furthermore, empowerment may be defined as
action or measure that is created to maximize the degree of self determination and autonomy in
people and in societies to enable them to disclose and present their rights and interests in a hassle
free manner (Hess, 2014). On the other hand, it is an effective and dynamic process of becoming
more confident and stronger especially in controlling and monitoring one’s life and claiming
one’s right.
Empowerment is based on the idea that giving workers skills, authority, resources,
motivation, opportunities and holding them accountable and responsible for the outputs of their
actions and activities that will contribute to their satisfaction and competence. Empowerment
also helps in making decisions effectively and efficiently (Rubin and Babbie, 2016).
Empowerment in social work
Empowerment plays a significant role in social work to accomplish the goals and
objectives. The empowerment is defined as the means by which groups, persons and societies
become able to gain control of their situations and accomplish their own objectives and goals.
Furthermore, people also have been able to perform roles and responsibilities towards helping
themselves and others to increase and enhance the quality of their lives. With the help of
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Introduction to community services
empowerment, social group may be assisted to build and enhance increased skills and talents to
take control of their lives. This maximized control will help them to attain their aspirations and
goals and therefore potentially maximize the quality of their lives. This idea has connection with
boldness and sovereignty and is clearly interconnected to the various form of advocacy.
Education is also seen as a main source of empowerment, rights of access and equality. It is
noted that empowerment is not just an idea for front line executives that protect their rights and
interests smoothly. The empowerment helps people with learning difficulties to ensure their
safety and also empowers them to live a life full of joy in the society. In this way, empowerment
provides various benefits to the society, groups and individuals. Apart from this, empowerment
also helps in providing motivation to people for performing tasks and duties effectively and
efficiently. It has been found that empowerment may be defined as a multi-dimensional social
process that helps people gain control over their own lives and goals. It also helps in resolving
the issues and concerns related to the community and group. There is a close and reciprocal
relationship between the empowerment and social work (Lee, 2010).
For example, working with a disabled people, what a non-disabled social employee may
consider to be suitable involvement to empower the disabled worker may not be what they
believe to be empowering (Rubin & Babbie, 2012). If a people have never been disabled
themselves then they can never claim to know and understand what a disabled person wants to
feel empowered. It is an effective and significant example of empowerment in social work. Thus,
empowerment is a very complicated notion and one needs to tread cautiously. The empowerment
approach recommends that client is being helped and careful in various ways to develop and
build their independence and autonomy. Along with this, an individual and group can be
empowered to make effective and dynamic decisions and taking action for example (Payne,
2015).
The approach to empower community includes the following.
 Permit more control and supervision.
 Helping or supporting people, group, and individual to attain their objectives and goals.
 Work within society.
 Using or implementing persuasion and social reinforcement.
 Give more autonomy and sovereignty (Alonuniquecollege, 2012).
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Introduction to community services
 Rendering successful and effective model and support.
It has been noted that empowerment provides ample of benefits to the community and
groups. The features of empowered community include trust, mutual respect, developing
cooperation, and feedback, reviews, valuing people opinion, decision making information and
social reinforcement (Turner, 2017).
It is stated that empowerment enhances and increases beliefs of people so that they are
able to provide maximum contribute to the community. It also provides maximum level of
contribution to the society. A sense of self determination can be possible with the help of
empowerment and further, people can feel more independent and confident (Adams, 2008).
Aside this, it also helps in motivating the individual and community towards the accomplishment
of the goals and objectives. It also provides a perceive meaning of life to the people. In this way,
empowerment plays a significant role in the society. Beside this, empowerment promotes or
encourages respect for human rights and for essential freedoms for all without distinction as to
sex, race, religion and sex. Empowerment plays a significant role in giving women access to
labor markets, and reducing economic risks handled and faced by the working families and
supporting poor households in order to meet their fundamental requirements, wants and needs. It
also helps in ensuring environmental sustainability in the global market (Adams, 2008).
Conclusion
It is concluded from the above mentioned analysis that empowerment plays a significant
and empirical role to encourage and empower the people, society and group to control over their
live and it also provides enormous opportunities and choices to the people for actions and
activities. It is analyzed that an empowered individual or group can help in various manners such
as socially, environmentally and economically and it also provides various advantages to the
communities. The significance and characteristics of empowerment also have been explained in
the task.
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Introduction to community services
References
Adams, R. (2008). Empowerment, participation and social work, 4th edition, Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Alonuniquecollege.,(2012). Three approaches to empowerment [Online], Retrieved from
http://www.algonquincollege.com/mdstudentsuccess/2012/11/03/three-approaches-to-
empowerment/
Hess, R. E. (2014). Studies in empowerment: Steps toward understanding and action, vol 3(2),
London and New York: Routledge.
Lee, J. A. (2010). The empowerment approach to social work practice, 2nd edition, New York:
Columbia University Press.
Payne, M. (2015). Modern social work theory, 4th edition, Oxford University Press.
Rubin, A. and Babbie, E.R., (2016). Empowerment series: Research methods for social work.
Cengage Learning.
Rubin, A., & Babbie, E. R. (2012). Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: Essential research
methods for social work, Third edition. Cengage Learning.
Turner, F. J. (2017). Social work treatment: Interlocking theoretical approaches, 6th edition,
Oxford University Press.
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