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...Some describe it as a process. For others it is an outcome or goal, and still others view it as a form of intervention (Dunst, Trivette, & LaPointe, 1992; Gutierrez, DeLois, & GlenMaye, 1995). Because empowerment takes place in different forms, on different levels, and within a variety of contexts and situations, Rappaport (1981) contended, "Empowerment [needs to be] viewed ... as a process of infinite variety" (p. 3). The Social Work Dictionary defines empowerment as "the process of helping individuals, families, groups, and communities increase their personal, interpersonal, socioeconomic, and political strength and develop influence toward improving their circumstances" (Barker, 2003, p. 142). The emphasis in most definitions of the concept is "directed at influencing a sense of control over important life events" (Dunst et al., p. 12).
Although many in the social work profession have written about empowerment, few have offered a description of the empowerment process from the perspective of frontline workers in high-risk communities. How do frontline workers enact empowerment principles in their everyday work environments? What do these workers perceive to be the challenges in implementing empowerment interventions with disadvantaged populations? What strategies do they employ to overcome or address individual and situational challenges to the empowerment process? This article examines these questions on the basis of findings from a 2001-2004 qualitative study of the implementation of the Casey Family Resource Center Initiative in four of Casey Family Services divisions.
FAMILY RESOURCE CENTERS
Comer and Fraser (1998) suggested that family resource and support centers are distinguished from other programs by their consumer perspective. They tend to emphasize family participation based on joint decision making between families and service providers. Family resource centers embrace a prevention orientation and emphasize social support, empowerment, and skill development. Most family resource centers have an additional goal: improving the health, safety, and general well-being of children. Family resource centers, like those being developed by Casey Family Services, "are mandated to reach a wide spectrum of families representing a diverse set of needs and strengths" (O'Donnell & Giovannoni, 2000, p. 72). Effective family resource programs may also have systemic goals, such as helping to initiate, develop, or improve interagency cooperation, promoting joint service initiatives, enhancing social supports for families, and increasing family economic self-sufficiency--the latter two of which were prominent goals for the Casey Family Resource Centers.
The Casey Family Services Family Resource Center Initiative used empowerment interventions to provide mental health services, child and recreational activities, parent services, educational programs, and other skill training. Casey's Family Resource Center (FRC) programming began in 1999 in four of its seven divisions. (Although all seven of its divisions embraced the FRC initiative, only four had begun implementing the model when this study was conducted.) The sites and program models of these four centers differed slightly. One was located in a school setting in rural New Hampshire, another in two public housing development sites in a small New England town, and another in a midsize urban mid-Atlantic city. Population size, racial composition of the community, and poverty levels among families differed. Although three of these centers were embedded in host settings and one was a freestanding center, frontline staff had similar experiences while engaging in empowerment practices.
Without a blueprint for designing such programs, Casey allowed its centers to develop from the ground up, starting with assessments of community needs and creating activities and programming in response to these needs. Although the activities of each center differed, most offered homework clubs, GED and English as a Second Language programs, after-school activities for children, computer classes, and information and referral and case management. Geographic location and the diversity within the community (that is, race, ethnicity, language, class, religion, and length of time in the United States) were influential factors in the development of center activities. Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of these centers. For many of the individuals and families served by these centers, the concept of empowerment was new. Many were ill-prepared and distrustful of the staff's motives and slow to respond to empowerment interventions.
EMPOWERMENT
Empowerment, a multidimensional concept, encompasses what Cowger (1997) described as "personal empowerment" and "social empowerment." Personal empowerment, similar to self-determination, is achieved by developing personal competence. Social empowerment is associated with social justice and occurs on a larger societal or political level (Breton, cited in Ackerson & Harrison, 2000, p. 238). The goal of empowerment is to increase the abilities of individuals, families, and communities to get what they need; influence how others think, act, or believe; and influence how resources are distributed (Gutierrez et al., 1995).
Psychologically, empowerment has been described as "a cognitive state characterized by a sense of perceived control, perceptions of competence, and internalization of the goals and objectives of the organization" (Menon, 1991, p. 161). Reaching this goal is often a slow process involving, first, internalized changes, which Gutierrez and colleagues described in terms of a "reduction of self-blame, an assumption of personal responsibility for change, and an enhancement of self-efficacy" (1995, p. 535). Exactly what promotes the internalized psychological changes that enable individuals, families, and communities to become empowered is not well studied and is only minimally based on the experiences of individuals who have implemented empowerment-oriented practice in social services settings. Empowerment intervention methods are based on helping relationships that promote:
Collaboration, trust, and shared power; utilizing small groups; accepting the client's definition of the problem; identifying and building upon the client's strengths; raising the client's consciousness of issues...
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