Question

Take this time to think about the word “empowerment.” Now consider this statement: You cannot empower anyone; only a person can empower him or her self. The most you can do as a helping professional is create a context for someone to empower himself or herself. What are the implications of this statement for your approach to the work you are doing?

1 page paper please

Answer 1

Empowerment: the capacity of individuals, groups and/or communities to take control of their circumstances, exercise power and achieve their own goals, and the process by which, individually and collectively, they are able to help themselves and others to maximize the quality of their lives.

One definition for the term is "an intentional, ongoing process centered in the local community, involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring, and group participation, through which people lacking an equal share of resources gain greater access to and control over those resources".

Personal empowerment means taking control of your life. It is about more than just feeling able to do so, though this is an important element. True personal empowerment requires you to set meaningful goals to identify what you want from life, and then take action to achieve those goals and have more impact over the world around you. You need to develop your self-awareness, so that you understand your strengths and weaknesses. You also need an awareness and understanding of your goals—and how these differ from your current position. Achieving your goals may require you to change your behaviours, and even your deeper values and beliefs.

Some steps for personal empowerment are-

1. Identify a goal that is used for focus on power.
2. Increasing knowledge.
3. Increasing self-efficacy, and belief that you can achieve.
4. Taking action—and keep on taking action,
5. Assessing the impact.
6. Increasing the skills and competence.

The use of language, how individuals express themselves verbally and non-verbally to others, can be empowering to both themselves and the people with whom they are communicating. Looking at how language is used is important in terms of self-empowerment and when attempting to empower other people.

Like-

1. Use of positive language.
2. Use of active language.
3. Choice of own words to define oneself.
4. Avoiding criticism and negativity.