Empowerment

The Power of Feminist Rituals by Grace Kao

by Feminism and Religion

Originally posted on the Feminism and Religion project

March 31, 2012
by Grace Yia-Hei Kao

Jeanette Stokes’ 25 Years in the Garden is on my bedside... more
March 31, 2012
by Grace Yia-Hei Kao

Jeanette Stokes’ 25 Years in the Garden is on my bedside table. It’s a book I read several years ago with a small group of feminist Christians when I was living in Blacksburg, Virginia. The following passage from one of her essays got me to thinking back to the 2012 PANAAWTM conference (Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry) I had attended just two weeks ago:

“Rituals are part of everyday lives: reading the newspaper, checking the weather, waiting for the mail to come, or talking with a family member at the end of the day. Rituals can also mark the extraordinary events in our lives: the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, a birthday, marriage, anniversary, or divorce” (Stokes, 2002, p. 37).

We PANAAWTM attendees participated in two rituals that, while neither “everyday” nor “extraordinary,” were nevertheless symbolically very rich, meaningful, and unifying.

Teacher evaluation by students

by Sardar Anwaruddin

Youth and democracy: Participation for personal, relational, and collective well-being

by Scotney Evans

Evans, S.D., Prilleltensky, I. (2007). Youth and democracy: Participation for personal, relational, and collective well-being (Introduction to Special Issue of Journal of Community Psychology), 35 (6), 681-692.

In this article, we introduce a framework for understanding well-being in general and the well-being of youth in... more In this article, we introduce a framework for understanding well-being in general and the well-being of youth in particular. In addition, we offer a model for analyzing interventions designed to promote personal and collective well-being. Finally, we dis- cuss the contributions of the authors of this special issue to our analytical and inter- vention frameworks.

Empowerment and Resistance Strategies of Working Women in Turkey

by sule toktas

Sharing Sensitive Health Matters Online – Design Challenges for Participation and Polyvocality

by Ole Smørdal

Co-authored with Anne Moen
Presented at Therapeutic strategies – a challenge for user involvement, workshop at NordiCHI2010, Reykjavik 16-20 October 2010

Online communities for patients and their families complement health care therapeutic regimes of care and treatment.... more Online communities for patients and their families complement health care therapeutic regimes of care and treatment. We present how we have addressed challenges to establish a community applying a collaborative design process where participants providing quite heterogeneous perspectives took part. The process draws from participatory design and agile approach to development; extensively using design workshops and iterative prototyping. In the process several challenges and requirements surfaced. For this contribution we highlight two design challenges related to sharing sensitive health matters online; design for participation and design for polyvocality. The outcome was a new net-based service supporting challenges of “living well” with a rare, chronic disorder.

Feminism, Sexualisation & Social Status

by Robbie Duschinsky

published in Media International Australia

New formulations and responses to classic questions have emerged in recent feminist thinking on the relationship... more New formulations and responses to classic questions have emerged in recent feminist thinking on the relationship between gender and consumption. One instance of this is the work of Abigail Bray on the damage caused by the media sexualisation of girls. She offers important insights into some problems with the discourse of media and sexual empowerment, and also critically considers the social distinction that such a discourse tends to confer. This article offers a sympathetic account of her argument, but also moves beyond Bray to express concerns regarding the class and race codings of the discourse of childhood innocence.

Education, empowerment and community based structural reinforcement: An HIV prevention response to mass incarceration and removal

by Laura McTighe

Co-authored with Jeffery Draine (Temple Uniersity) and Philippe Bourgois (University of Pennsylvania)
Published in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, July 2011

In the context of US urban jails, incarceration is often seen as an opportune intervention point for prevention... more In the context of US urban jails, incarceration is often seen as an opportune intervention point for prevention interventions in public health. For the detained individual, it is an opportunity to reflect on individual choices and the potential for changes in one's life course. For population focused public health professionals, jail detention facilities represent a concentration of health risks, and an opportunity to have an impact on a significant portion of those at risk for HIV and other health concerns. This paper presents an innovative education and empowerment model that bridges across jail walls, beginning on the inside, and continuing on the outside of jail where individuals continue to be challenged and supported toward positive health and social choices. The intervention also seeks to foment community activism in the communities to which jail detainees return, thus aiming to have a structural impact. This paper examines both the intervention model and the challenges of examining the effectiveness claims for the intervention at multiple levels.

the Impact of Active Citizenship Learning on Disadvantaged Target Groups

by Gabi Recknagel

This brief paper gives concrete examples of the impact of the Take Part approach to active citizenship learning on the... more This brief paper gives concrete examples of the impact of the Take Part approach to active citizenship learning on the empowerment of disadvantaged groups, using the examples of two case studies, one with a Sure Start family centre, the other with a BME disability user group. Prepared for a NECE conference on citizenship education and the empowerment of disadvantaged group, it forms a small part of the current PhD research undertaken on the topic.

Feminine Oppression and Empowerment in Historical and Contemporary Judeo-Christianity

by Joseph Langston

Class Paper

The argument is made that, while Judeo-Christianity was, by and large, historically oppressive of or for women, the... more The argument is made that, while Judeo-Christianity was, by and large, historically oppressive of or for women, the religion today serves more so as a vehicle and means to feminine empowerment, liberation, and self-determination, a fact not so much overlooked by modern feminists as it is one which is rather underappreciated.

Leading for the future

by Fay Blair

Co-authored with Jane Buckley Sander

Leading for the Future (LfF) is an innovative
approach to the question:

How can we create more... more Leading for the Future (LfF) is an innovative
approach to the question:

How can we create more leaders for sustainability
who live and work for a just and sustainable world?

LfF was designed, developed and delivered by
Commonwork, David Dixon, head teacher, and
WWF-UK. It was trialled with school leaders to
explore how a combination of experiential learning,
hosted space, as well as deep reflection on values
and interconnections within ourselves and between
each other and the natural world could inspire and
create leaders for sustainability.

This report is a fascinating read. It opens eyes on the
role of leadership and demands deep consideration
about the future of learning for our children.
The report is also available to download from

www.commonwork.org
or
www.wwf.org.uk

For further information or to discuss future
plans, please contact

Jacqueline Leach, Commonwork,
jacquelinel@commonwork.org

Written by Jane Buckley Sander and Fay Blair, 2011
Edited and designed by Julia Bracewell, Commonwork

A review of related literature on “media and community”

by Saeid Nouri Neshat

Co-authored with Parvin Pakzadmanesh - this is only a draft.

There is a popular belief that video offers many advantages as a communication medium and extension tool for... more There is a popular belief that video offers many advantages as a communication medium and extension tool for sustainable rural development. And indeed, video does offer several benefits over other media. There are certain papers that offer an overview of the different roles the mass media can play in positive social change, particularly with respect to education and the reduction of poverty.

the Mosaic Model for Youth Development through the Arts

by Lorraine Gutierrez

Coping with stressful life events: An empowerment perspective

by Lorraine Gutierrez

Empowerment - a comparison of Pentecostal and Liberation theologies

by Paul Ede

The Missing Voice of the Critically Ill: A Medical Sociologist's First‐person Account

by David Rier

Sociology of Health and Illness 22:68-93; 2000


{Reprinted in Readings in Medical Sociology [2nd Ed.], William C. Cockerham (ed.), Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2000}.

{Reprinted in Case Study Research, Vol. II, Matthew David (ed.), London: Sage, 2005}.

Existing sociological studies of critical illness deal mainly with providers and families, but seldom with patients,... more Existing sociological studies of critical illness deal mainly with providers and families, but seldom with patients, themselves. Moreover, most of the literature on the patient's experience involves chronic illness. Based on the author's experience as an intensive care unit (ICU) patient, this paper demonstrates that certain concerns of the post-Parsonian literature, such as full disclosure of information to patients and patients' negotiation and collaboration with physicians, are of minimal relevance for critically ill patients. This paper also discusses the notebook the author used in the ICU to communicate while on a respirator, thus unintentionally leaving a concurrent record of his experience, in a form of "inadvertent ethnography.” This allowed him to reconstruct experiences rarely accessible to sociologists. Such notebooks can help us construct accounts of the ICU patient's experience, and move us towards a sociology of the critically ill patient. Potential topics for this new research area are suggested.

KEY WORDS: critical illness; intensive care unit (ICU); Parsons; empowerment; disclosure

Towards a healthy organisation model: the relevance of empowerment

by Francisco Diaz Bretones

English
Published in "Is-Guc, The Journal of Industrial Relations & Human Resource, 13 (3), 7-26" (2011)

After a review of publications on the emerging concept of Healthy Organisations, we contribute a conceptual model of... more After a review of publications on the emerging concept of Healthy Organisations, we contribute a conceptual model of workplace health improvement based on empowerment strategies to promote worker participation, autonomy and control in the organisation. We propose that structural strategies can increase the engagement and organisational commitment of employees, but only if they truly feel in possession of power and autonomy, and that this psychological empowerment also facilitates the development of healthy organisational practices. Achievement of both types of empowerment could improve the work climate, psychological well-being and performance of employees and lead to reductions in absenteeism and staff turnover.

Towards a healthy organisation model: the relevance of empowerment

by Francisco Diaz Bretones

English
Published in "Is-Guc, The Journal of Industrial Relations & Human Resource, 13 (3), 7-26" (2011)

After a review of publications on the emerging concept of Healthy Organisations, we contribute a conceptual model of... more After a review of publications on the emerging concept of Healthy Organisations, we contribute a conceptual model of workplace health improvement based on empowerment strategies to promote worker participation, autonomy and control in the organisation. We propose that structural strategies can increase the engagement and organisational commitment of employees, but only if they truly feel in possession of power and autonomy, and that this psychological empowerment also facilitates the development of healthy organisational practices. Achievement of both types of empowerment could improve the work climate, psychological well-being and performance of employees and lead to reductions in absenteeism and staff turnover.

El empowerment organizacional: el inicio de una gestión saludable en el trabajo

by Francisco Diaz Bretones

Spanish
Publicado en Revista de Trabajo y Seguridad Social. Recursos Humanos, 334, 209-232 (2011)

En el presente artículo analizamos la relación del empowerment (estructural y psicológico) con las tres dimensiones... more En el presente artículo analizamos la relación del empowerment (estructural y psicológico) con las tres dimensiones del compromiso organizacional según el modelo multidimensional de Meyer y Allen (1991), el bienestar laboral, el clima laboral y la intención de irse de los trabajadores. Para ello llevamos a cabo un estudio con 56 trabajadores de una empresa española que opera por todo el territorio nacional. Los resultados mostraron cómo el establecimiento de estrategias de empowerment estructural por parte de la dirección de la empresa es una fase previa esencial para la obtención de resultados beneficiosos para la organización tales como mayores niveles de compromiso por parte de los trabajadores, un mayor bienestar laboral, un mejor clima laboral y una menor intención de irse de los empleados. Así mismo, los resultados también mostraron diferencias con los encontrados en estudios realizados en otros países con culturas diferentes.

Beyond coping: An empowerment perspective on stressful life events

by Lorraine Gutierrez

Educação e formação de adultos: a caminho do empowerment comunitário

by Joaquim Luís Coimbra