Back to Search
Start Over
Conceptualizing Empowerment in Youth Work: A Qualitative Analysis of Hong Kong School Social Workers' Experiences in Generating Empowering Practices.
- Source :
-
International Journal of Adolescence & Youth . 2009, Vol. 15 Issue 3, p257-276. 20p. - Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- Based on a qualitative analysis of Hong Kong school social workers' experiences in generating empowering practices, this paper discusses how a critical social work perspective provides a new frame of reference in which to examine the concept of empowerment in youth work. The recurrent themes of the narratives collected through in-depth interviews with 15 school social workers suggest that empowerment can be generated through a number of ways and understood in terms of dialogical process, reflexive practice, discourse construction, localized actions, and collective actions. The synthesis of these themes opens up the possibility for developing a framework of empowerment-oriented school social work practice. This framework provides a "map" to guide practitioners to work with power in diverse, dynamic, creative, and contextual ways. It is in many ways parallel to a critical social work perspective that emphasizes a dialectical view between the individual and social environment and synthesizes the critical theory and postmodernism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02673843
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Adolescence & Youth
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 48300323
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2009.9748032