This information is derived from a public benefit project in 1995. At that time, the project manager was aware of the marginalization of women and advocated to help women out of poverty by empowering them at the individual, interpersonal and community political levels. The services provided by the project began with individual and group consultations and were later extended to mentoring, advocacy and organization, including models of women's empowerment and leadership that combine community participation and personal growth。
Key policy
Two key strategies can be used in the empowerment process:
One-on-one interview: this strategy allows women to share their situation and hopes, as well as their concerns about their current lives, outside the therapeutic relationship. Unlike clinical assessment interviews, one-on-one interviews are conducted mainly by outreach workers, volunteers or interns. The guidelines for interviews included encouraging women to move out of labels and problems to achieve their goals and to identify specific concerns and obstacles. The key objective of the interviews was to clarify individual actions and related interests and to incorporate them into the framework of the growth drive. There is no single criterion for interviewing, but it must be built into the context of each woman's own experience. Through these issues and dialogues, women can begin to link their personal lives to the environmental and political issues they face, often including class and racial discrimination。
Storyring: the process of bringing women together or forming a group is an important part of women's empowerment. The story circle is a structured one-time group in which women can share and explore their commonality and the meaning of their experiences, while workers can present their behavioural responses. Under the guidance of the community facilitator, the entire process took about an hour and the number of participants was between 6 and 12. There are often specific themes such as community child care and cultural and spiritual construction. The storyring process has to take place in a structured form. This format consists of five components: 1. Introduction and set-up guidelines; 2. And core issues of direct relevance to the theme; 3. Participants ' response and discussion time on the panel process; 4. Action requirements; and 5. Closure。
Figure 1: models of intervention
This approach gives women the opportunity to improve their voice and promote personal growth beyond therapeutic relationships. After participating in interviews or story loops, women may wish to become members of an institutional women leadership project. And that might get them to react like this -- "oh, i'm not a leader." at this point, the workers invited them to “try” at a meeting in the evening of january. Such gatherings provide for dinner and childcare, and women only have to enjoy nighttime without any family burden. Night meetings include workshops and discussions on women's role issues and life experiences. Topics included a range of issues of concern to women, such as self-esteem and self-confidence, courage, conflict resolution strategies, etc. Some topics change as a result of policy changes, while others are determined by the responses of women during interviews. When women become more involved, they can help to complete their programmes and play a more active role in their activities。
This approach has proved to be an opportunity for all women to come together and tell their problems and for individuals to change their beliefs and perceptions. It must be noted that the process of individual development should not be separated from women's empowerment, but rather an important part of community change. For example, in activities that focus on courage, the focus may be on how courage is experienced in an individual's life; how a person's social orientation helps her to recover herself; and what tools can be used in empowering courage。
Being leaders and advocates means sharing ideas within communities and engaging in community discussions and actions through greater leadership. Leadership development and training, through community-based organizations, is an important part of this process. Specific leadership training will teach women how to analyse problems in their daily lives, understand the legislative process and facilitate the development of the storyring. For some women, this means playing an advocacy role for themselves and their families, as well as for projects. Self-advocacy can create a new process that can also be used by others. Through a series of advocacy processes, these women have learned to express their views, participate in public discussions, conduct surveys and assume leadership roles。
The key to this approach is its non-linear nature. Women are not involved from scratch in specific activities, but in different parts of their own processes. The effectiveness of this approach is evident when women are involved in leadership projects and are not involved in previous counselling and group services. They can be angry, and that anger allows them to act more effectively to organize the rights of others, which are linked to personal trauma。
Impact assessment
The assessment of the study was derived from findings, interviews and stories of participants, divided into three themes. The first theme was empowerment awareness, which could be seen in many stories, and it was found that women participating in the project were being empowered through networking, sharing stories and gaining security. The second theme is balancing commonality and personality. And one of the participants said, "being aware of the differences in women's lives... Our group was a hybrid, and when i heard a white middle-class woman talk about the domestic violence she suffered, i learned that some experiences were class-free and racial.” the third theme was a meaningful experience of participation and hope. A two-year-old single mother said, "this is an opportunity to inspire me and then learn to be myself, to use my leadership skills to discuss important issues like poverty and race... ... That's an important step in teaching my daughter."
Conclusions and application
Social work empowerment methods and strategies can be applied in later practice. First, clinical and community work needs to recognize that gender oppression is embedded in our service systems, especially when we go to define some of the problems of women, such as their situation, trauma-induced depression, limited social support and economic deprivation caused by poverty. Social workers working with women need to focus more on the situation of women's lack of empowerment than simply presenting a problem or providing services in the institutional sphere. The practical approach we need is that here women can be considered as a whole and the principle of feminism, “individually, politically”, can be reflected in activities. Second, women social workers need to learn the practical framework for relationship empowerment and apply it to group interventions such as those focusing on power, stigma and betrayal. In such a practice, everyone is a learner and participants are experts in their experience. Finally, increasing access to knowledge, skills and opportunities. The effectiveness of this service model lies in giving women a voice and sharing their experiences, as well as creating a collective power by establishing relationships with others。
(this is an editorial team. Social working group 3rd delivery.)
