What is empowerment?
Empowerment can be defined as an attitudinal, structural, and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including youth and adults. It is a multi-level construct consisting of practical approaches and applications, social action processes, and individual and collective outcomes. Empowerment is used in distinctive ways and is shaped by the ideological and theoretical disputes. Moreover one can say that Empowerment is one of the critical components of Youth Work.
“It might sound paradoxical, but when a young person does walk away the street worker is appreciative of this, as it is an expression
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This differences is used by Weber to refer to authority as legitimised power where the idea of power without authority is: “ The probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his (sic) own will despite resistance, regardless of the basis on which this probability rests” Weber, (1947)(as cited in Fitzsimons, A., Hope, M., Russell, K., & Cooper, C. (2011), p. 5)
Authority mainly exists when people give their consent and accept the authority of others as legitimate, as power is based on legitimate authority and not on coercion. Weber (1947) investigates three bases of legitimacy for authority and power.
1. Traditional authority, an established belief in authority, e.g. the divine right of kings.
2. Charismatic authority, Obedience to an exceptional individual as they are deemed to possess inspirational characteristics. Such people possess the authority over others on the basis of their personal qualities or charisma, such as religious figures e.g. Christ, Jesus etc.
3. Rational legal authority, where power is given to those who hold a position in society, such as government, police officers or a judge.
According to Weber, the rational exercise of power is based on legitimate authority. Posing this question, is there any other way power operates in
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(as cited in Fitzsimons, A. (2011): 7)
Foucault recognises the fact that when two or more people are engaged in some kind of activity power conflicts and struggles are unavoidable.
However this means that socially excludes groups or marginalised individuals are also involved in the exercise of power. Rather than viewing power with discomfort, or as a negative concept terms of control, he sees the fact that everyone has a certain amount of power, meaning that power cannot simply be located with particular groups in society. His concept of power gives new air to the possibility of enabling in a productive dialogue on power that could be used to explore empowerment in customs that can be progressive and liberating.
Towards a
Some find it difficult to diffuse authority… [which] causes some to feel threatened and insecure” (Sferra). More simply, an authoritative leader is one that has supreme power over the people. McMurphy’s transformational
Every human society no matter how primitive or complex must have a power structure. Yet there can be many ways in, which power and authority are shared or sometimes not shared at all. Other the centuries there have been a variety of theories and systems to identify plus when possible implement the proper role of power and authority. There are instances of power and authority evolving over time as well as attempts to introduce ideal or utopian power structures. Concepts about the wielding and distribution of power have certainly altered over the centuries though not always in a progressive or democratic way.
Kevin Arenibal Mrs. Goldsmith English 4 17 October 2014 All Quiet In The Western Front : The Abuse of Power Many people in our society and in history abuse the power they have been granted; such as taking advantage of someone or manipulating someone with the ability to punish them if they don't agree.
But first what is Power? When researching Power words such as authority, control, direct, command and influence all appear. These words all support the following statement “Power is the ability to influence and control the behaviour of others.” The problem with power is that it often leads to those in power abusing it. As Lord Acton famously quoted “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
For example, a teacher having control over a student is not equivalent to the control the United States government has over its citizens. Nevertheless, everyone has their own ideas of what power can do and how it affects a group of people, but what exactly determines who is powerless and who is not? The factors that determine power in modern society are authority, affluence, and fright.
Power is the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way, Power is not only strength it is a human relationships, power is the authority one person holds over another. In the play The Crucible,written by Arthur Miller. Three characters Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, and Judge Danforth. All want to gain power as the play goes on. But it takes a turn and influenced them negatively.
Although empowerment theory is intended to alleviate the oppression of marginalized groups, there are no specific guidelines or procedures for doing so (Gutierrez et al., 1995). As a result, this theory may prove to be too abstract for some practitioners, as there are no specific processes for implementing empowerment in an individual, group, or community and it is a more open-ended
Vygotsky states the definition of authority is, “All the hierarchical relationships that give one person decision- making authority and superiority control over another.”
Power is not an object, nor is it a verb. It is a feeling. An action. Power can both destroy and save lives. Power is “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.”
Power is the ability to actor do something in a particular way. People who have too much power and abuse it, and turn their power into a negative power. Fear and tyranny are abused by people with power creating a negative effect on society. Leaders with a huge rule of power will abuse their role as a leader by creating a fearful environment.
Power is often the root at which conflicts begin. As those on the bottom attempt to gain power and those at the top of the power dynamic attempt to consistently degrade those below them to prevent them from gaining influence. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the surprise, seemingly societally transcendent, ability for Othello to gain power and Othello to be able to marry Desdemona, is immediately followed by those in power trying to relieve Othello of his role in society, leading Othello to even attempt to exert his own power. The powerful men of Othello attempt to destroy and subjugate the lives of others to prevent them from advancing and maintaining power.
Power as conceptualized by critical theorists. Power is one of the words that holds great effect. It is defined by Webster (2015) as “the ability to control people or things; a person or organization that has a lot of control and influence over other people or organizations”. In general, a person or organization that holds power has authority over others. Thus, power is conceptualized in the organizational communication by critical theorists.
(ii) Power and Conflict: The capacity the one person has the influence over the other persons such that other persons act in accordance with his/her wishes can be defined as ‘Power’. Conflicts could be both positive and negative. Good conflicts could be encouraged but bad conflicts ought to be prevented.
This leads the concepts of power to shift away from theories that associate power with just the economy and the state. It thus moves towards an ideal beneath which power functions at the most micro level of social relations (Gaventa, 2003). This is a pro because instead of ignoring the power hierarchies between individuals and the various power dynamics within society, Foucault essentially focuses on them. Other critiques have failed to mention historical contextualisation and have been inclined to occur in isolation from questions that regard the broader production of knowledge (Hook, 2004). This helps us to understand power relations and hierarchies better within society.
Power can be translated to the “ability to influence others” (Agunis, Pierce, & Simonsen, 1998, p. 456). Barack Obama has influenced millions in his lifetime by taking the power he desires to have, from being an attorney, moving up to Illinois State Senator, to becoming a US President for two terms. While he was a Senator in 2004 he was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention. In his Keynote Address, he expressed different bases of power as he spoke. The bases of power, as explained by Agunis, Pierce, and Simonsen, are reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert.