Training Kit : Personalised Social Support 2012
Module 6:
Empowerment
Shirin Kiani and Annie Lafrenière
(Technical Resources Division)
Handicap International
2012
Overview
1. What is empowerment?
•
Process or result?
2. Measuring empowerment
•
•
•
Within yourself
Towards life
Towards others
3. Path to empowerment
4. Special considerations when empowering…
•
•
•
•
•
Someone with a disability
Women
Children
older persons
minorities
What is
empowerment?
Process or result?
emPOWERment is…
• Knowing what you want and being
able to get it
• Having more control over your life
and making choices
• Thinking for yourself and taking
action on the things you want.
Process AND result
Empowerment is a process that we go
through daily, weekly, monthly to learn how to
gain more control over our lives.
Empowerment is a result that we reach with
the daily self-work that we do.
Empowerment is a life long project and though
we can achieve some satisfactory level of
empowerment (result), there is always more
work to do (process)!
Empowerment varies with
each culture
The need for empowerment is
universal but…. It will vary from
culture to culture
What does empowerment look like in your
culture?
Measuring
empowerment
•Within yourself
•Towards others
•Towards your life
1. Empowerment… within
yourself
What does it mean?
What does it look like?
Empowerment…within yourself
• Understand and accept your limitations
• Know and use your strengths
• Choose goals based on knowing and valuing
yourself
• Willing to make difficult decisions yourself
• Problem solve or know where to get help
• Desire to acquire skills/knowledge
• Self-esteem/confidence in who you are and what
you can offer the world.
Within yourself
• Locus of control: who controls my life?
• Reflection: self-observation & evaluation
• Self knowledge: How do I think, feel and behave about
different things?
• Choice making: what do I prefer?
• Decision making: what do I want?
Key to empowerment within… is
deciding where to put your
LOCUS OF CONTROL
Locus of Control
• Internal LOC
– Person perceives him/herself as
responsible for certain things.
– his or her actions would have a direct
affect on the result.
• External LOC
– one would most often blame (or thank)
fate, destiny, luck, society or some other
force beyond his/her control.
Are you internally or externally
controlled?
Questions to ask yourself
Questions to ask yourself
• Do you like to have other people help you make
decisions or you make decisions by yourself?
• Do you think people’s unhappiness is due to bad
luck or their own fault/choice?
• Do you think it is common to get our parents’
personalities no matter what or you think we develop
the personalities we want to be?
• Is getting a good job a result of luck or hard work?
• Will a good leader decide for a group, or help group
members decide for themselves?
People with an External LOC…
• think outside circumstances
caused their mistakes
• credit their successes to luck
rather than to their own efforts
• are readily influenced by the
opinions of others
• are more likely to pay attention to
the statements of the opinionleader.
People with an Internal LOC…
• take responsibility for their
actions
• are not easily influenced by the
opinions of others
• pay more attention to the
quality of someone’s opinion
not WHO has the opinion
• tend to do better at tasks when
they can work at their own pace
2. Empowerment
towards others
What does it mean?
What does it look like?
Towards others
• Self-expression: I can defend my position and my choices
• Non-abusive relationships:. I know when to say ‘yes’ and
when to say ‘no’.
• Negotiation and communication: We can agree on what is fair
for both of us.
• Self-advocacy: I can explain my rights to others when they are
disrespected.
• Leadership: I speak and act on issues that matter to me
• Acceptance of others: I accept others as they are, just as I ask
others accept me as I am.
3. Empowerment…
towards your life
What does it mean?
What does it look like?
Towards your life
• Know how and where to access to
resources/money/ people and how to use those
things to improve your own life
– how to get help, where to go, who to speak to, how to
speak to them to get the things you need.
• Know about and use support systems
• Able to take risks e.g. financial risk to start
business, make decisions to become allied with
various people that you may not know well, but
where benefit may be.
• Participating fully in different activities and
opportunities
Taking risks… a part of empowerment
I have missed over 9,000 shots in my career.
I have lost almost 300 games.
26 times I have been trusted to take the game winning
shot and missed.
I have failed over and over again in my life, and that
is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan
Self-reflection
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
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Before we can empower others, we first need to be
empowered and know what this means.
Reflect on what we have discussed so far & what
you have learned about yourself
What work do YOU still have to do, to be
empowered?
Areas of
empowerment
Within:
Towards others:
Towards life:
How to develop
them
Empowerment
Within yourself
Empowerment
Towards others
Empowerment in life
Path to
empowerment:
Process of personal change
Change happens all the time (p.21)
• Sometimes change happens to us impairment as result of accident
• Sometimes we make change happenempowerment
Change is a normal part of life and being
human and building our lives…. but it can
be difficult and we need to help people
through it!
Change is not easy…
and takes time
Mourning process is normal
Think of one personal change
you made in your life
Do you remember going through
these stages?
Special consideration
when empowering…
• Someone with a disability
• Women
• Children
• Older persons
• Minorities
Empowering
someone
with a disability
What are the
challenges and opportunities in
empowering someone with a
disability?
Empowering someone with a disability
Challenges
• Common that decisions were made for them by
family, throughout their life.
• May have experienced isolation, lack of power,
lack of idea on opportunities.
• Accessibility needs have to be met, for them to
participate in community life.
Opportunities
• Role models with disabilities exist and are good
inspiration for PWD.
• EVERYONE has abilities and can find ways to
contribute to their own life.
Empowering women
Do you think some women are oppressed (or
treated unequally) in your society, and why
would that be so ?
What are the challenges and opportunities in
empowering women?
Empowering women
Challenges
• Long history oppression from men/society
due gender roles and cultural norms.
• Economic dependence on husbands
• High risk of abuse and disabling situations
Opportunities
• There are women’s groups almost in all
villages, to link up women with peers
• Women are creative and resourceful as they
manage many things at once (family, work)
Empowering children
What are the challenges and opportunities in
empowering children?
Empowering children
Challenges
• Physically small/invisible, have small/no voice
• Risk of abuse/oppression if vulnerable
• May agree with adults, and not express needs
Opportunities
• Absorb new attitudes/behavior better than adults
• Can be creative, resilient and forget past
difficulties if presented with new opportunities
Empowering older persons
What are the challenges and
opportunities in empowering older
persons?
Empowering older persons
Challenges:
• Invisible and vulnerable to abuse
• Multiple needs and dependence on others
(economic, physical, emotional)
Opportunities:
• Have wisdom and life experience, which may
make them more resilient.
• May have contact/support from life
Empowering minority groups
What are the challenges and
opportunities in empowering minority
groups?
Empowering minority groups
Challenges:
• Long standing oppression from majority.
• Systems around them may discriminate.
• May be afraid as have experienced hardship.
Opportunities:
• Minority community may be supportive and
close-knit, find mentors/role models.
Link to practice
•
Give participants 10 minutes to answer these questions individually on a piece of
paper, and then do a roundtable with each person sharing some of their answers.
• What are the most memorable things you have
learned about empowerment?
• Do you find that you are empowered enough in your
life ? What do you need to do.
• Do you think you could become a role model to
empower other ?
• Do you have examples of empowerment in your own
life ?
• How will you work to help others deal better with
personal change?