Empowerment Theory

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This essay will be discussing and analysing the application of empowerment theory on a placement practice example. This essay will first give a brief description and critique of empowerment theory. This essay will then discuss how this theory was applied in the practice example and will then analyse the effectiveness of this theory. This essay will then analyse the impact of power, ethics, and politics has on the application of empowerment theory in the example provided. This essay will then discuss the method of reflection for the practice example. Finally, this essay will reflect on the process of applying this theory and the relationship between this theory and my personal and professional values and beliefs.
Empowerment in a social work …show more content…

The practice example I will use in this essay involved an interaction between myself and a 50-year-old client with a mild intellectual disability. This interaction was regarding the reason the client had not been participating in activities. The presenting issue in this case was the clients dislike for the current activities. The client felt as though she had no say in the activities she is enrolled in by her acre takers and believed she could not change into different programs, she had stated she was only doing these activities because she believes she had too. After hearing this I felt as though an empowerment approach would be most appropriate. As a practitioner my first step was to recognise the oppression in this situation. As a disabled elderly woman, she has been oppressed by both the disability sector and her care workers. In recognising this I also had to take note that in this situation I was working as one of her care workers therefore did hold power and needed to ensure this did not disempower the client. I began this intervention by asking the client what she wanted, what where her goals, to gain a clear idea of what she wanted to get out of the interaction. She responded that she wished to change activities to meet goals of social interaction. I then used questioning techniques to start getting her to question that way of thinking about the amount of choice she has. I …show more content…

After learning about this theory in workshops in new that this theory would be included in my practice framework as it ties in well with my values and beliefs. During my time at placement I was able to practice implementing this theory and then was able to reflect on the interaction.In this practice example a client and been disempowered and oppressed to a point that she believed she had no say in the decisions in her life. After hearing the perspective of the client and how powerless she felt I went straight to an empowerment approach. I believe that interventions are more beneficial when the clients have strong input and control, for this reason I found that empowerment theory would be the best perspective for this scenario. Humanistic approach and empowerment theory are key professional perspectives that ties in with this scenario and my practice frame work. I chose this approach as I have a strong belief in the human capacity for conscious choice and strongly value control in both a personal and professional settings this approach. For this reason, I chose to use an approach that would facilitate the client’s ability and right to choose. Empowerment theory allowed me to promote the client’s potential to take control over her life. I also have a strong value for self-determination, by taking an empowerment approach I was able to

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