"Empowerment" has become a widely used term in discussions of disability and rehabilitation issues. However, the term has been given a confusing variety of meanings and interpretations. The meanings and some conflicting views of empowerment are reviewed. We argue that there is a great deal more clarity regarding how disability services currently limit empowerment than about what empowerment is, and we outline five core features of disability services which are said to be disempowering. Elements of a service system that overcome these limitations and promote empowerment are presented. Incorporating these elements will require a more radical restructuring of current service systems than many have supposed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Atwood, N. (1982). Professional prejudice and the psychotic client . Social Work, March, 1992: 172-177.
2.
Bachrach, L. (1981). Continuity of care for chronic mental patients: A conceptual analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 1449-1456.
3.
Bertsch, E. (1992). A voucher system that enables persons with severe mental illness to purchase community support services. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 43, 1109-1113.
4.
Bolton, A. (1993). The village: An historical perspective. Journal of the California Alliance for the Mentally Ill, 4 (2), 5-8.
5.
Butterworth, J., Hagner, H., Heikkinen, B., Faris, S., DeMello, S., & McDonough, K. (1993). Whole life planning: A guide for organizers and facilitators. Boston, MA: Children's Hospital Institute for Community Inclusion.
6.
Chamberlin, J. (1978). On our own: Patient-controlled alternatives to the mental health system. New York: McGraw Hill.
7.
Chandler, S., & Czerlinsky, T. (1993). Empowerment issues for rehabilitation counselors and service providers: Training manual. Dallas, TX: University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center.
8.
DeJong, G. (1979). Independent living: From social movement to analytic paradigm. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , 60, 435-446 .
9.
Emener, J. (1991). An empowerment philosophy for rehabilitation in the 20th century. Journal of Rehabilitation, 57(4), 7-12.
10.
Ferleger, D. (1995). The place of "choice." In C. Sundram (Ed.), Choice and responsibility: Legal and ethical dilemmas in services for persons with mental disabilities (pp. 69-97). Albany, NY: Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled.
11.
Hahn, H. (1991) Alternative views of empowerment: Social services and civil rights. Journal of Rehabilitation, 57(4), 17-19.
12.
Harp, H.T. (1994). Empowerment of mental health consumers in vocational rehabilitation. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 17, 83-90.
13.
Hasenfeld, Y. (1983). Human service organizations. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
14.
Holmes, G. (1993). Historical roots of the empowerment dilemma in rehabilitation. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 4(1),1-18.
15.
Hughes, C., & Rusch, R. (1989). Teaching supported employees with severe mental retardation to solve problems. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 22, 365-372.
16.
Jenkinson, J. (1993). Who shall decide? The relevance of theory and research to decision-making by people with an intellectual disability. Disability, Handicap & Society, 8, 361-374.
17.
Klein, J., & Black, M. (1995). Extending the American dream: Home ownership for people with disabilities. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability.
18.
Lenrow, B., & Burch, R. (1981). Mutual aid and professional services: Opposing or complementary? In B. Gottlieb (Ed.), Social networks and social support (pp. 233-258). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
19.
March, P. (1992). Do photographs help adults with severe mental handicaps to make choices? British Journal of Mental Subnormality , 38, 122-128.
20.
Marrone, J. (1994). If everybody's already doing it, how come it doesn't get done? Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 18, 131-134.
21.
McCrory, D. (1991). The rehabilitation alliance. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 1, 58-66.
22.
McKnight, J. (1995). The careless society. New York, NY: Basic Books.
23.
Mechanic, D. (1991). Strategies for integrating public mental health services. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 42, 797-801.
24.
Mount, B., Ducharme, G., & Beeman, P. (1991). Person-centered development: A journey in learning to listen to people with disabilities. Manchester, CT: Communitas.
25.
Mowbray, C.T., & Tan, C. (1992). Evaluation of an innovative consumer-run service model: The drop-in center. Innovations and Research, 1, 19-24.
26.
Murphy, S. (1988). Counselor and client views of vocational rehabilitation success and failure: A qualitative study. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 31, 185-197.
27.
Murphy, S. & Hagner, D. (1988). Evaluating assessment settings: Ecological influences in vocational evaluation. Journal of Rehabilitation, 54, 53-59.
28.
National Council on Rehabilitation Education. ( 1992). Reauthorization hearing targets empowerment. National Council on Rehabilitation Education Newsletter, 16(3), 1 .
29.
Olney, M., & Salomone, P. (1992). Empowerment and choice in supported employment: Helping people to help themselves. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 25(3), 41-44.
30.
Patterson, J. (1992). The client as customer: Achieving service quality . Journal of Rehabilitation, 58(4), 16-21.
31.
Powers, L.,Wilson, R., Knowles, E., Rein, C., O'Neil, D., & Ginsert, J. (in press). Facilitating adolescent self-determination: What does it take? In D. Sands & M. Wehmeyer (Eds.), Self-determination across the lifespan: Theory and practice. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
32.
Reidy, D. (1992). "The first thing in my life I can call my own ": Holyoke/Chicopee consumer housing preference survey. Holyoke, MA.: Education for Community Initiatives.
33.
Riger, S. (1993). What's wrong with empowerment? American Journal of Community, Psychology, 21, 279-292.
34.
Rohrer Institute. (1994). Service brokerage: Individual empowerment and social service accountability. Toronto, Ontario: Author.
35.
Rousseau, C. (1993). Community empowerment: The alternative resources movement in Quebec. Community Mental Health Journal, 29, 535-545.
36.
Salomone, P., & McKenna, P. (1982). Difficult cases in career counseling: Unrealistic vocational aspirations. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 60, 283-286.
37.
Sigelman, C., & Budd, E. (1986). Pictures as an aid in questioning mentally retarded persons. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 29, 173-181.
38.
Shern, D., Surles, R., & Waizer, J. (1989). Designing community treatment programs for the most seriously mentally ill: A state administrative perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 45, 105-117.
39.
Shevin, M. & Klein, N. (1984). The importance of choice-making skills for students with severe disabilities. Journal of the Association for Persons With Severe Handicaps, 9, 159-166.
40.
Smith, M., & Ford, J. (1986). Client involvement: Practical advice for professionals . Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 9(3), 25-34.
41.
Tanzman, B. (1993). An overview of surveys of mental health consumers' preferences for housing and support services. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44, 450-455.
42.
Tessler, R. & Goldman, H. (1982). The chronically mentally ill: Assessing community support programs. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
43.
Tymchuck, A., Yokota, A., & Rabar, B. (1990). Decision-making abilities of mothers with mental retardation. Research on Developmental Disabilities, 11, 97-109.
44.
Tyne, A. (1994). Taking responsibility and giving power. Disability and Society, 9, 249-254.
45.
Vash, C. (1991). More thoughts on empowerment. Journal of Rehabilitation, 57(4), 13-16.
46.
West, M., & Parent, W. (1992). Consumer choice and empowerment in supported employment services: Issues and strategies. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 17, 47-52.
47.
Williams, P., & Schoultz, B. (1984). We can speak for ourselves: Self-advocacy for mentally handicapped people. Cambridge, MA: Brookline.
