Power And Empowerment - Essay Example

Power and Empowerment Power and empowerment Power is one of the main indicators that enable people to become leaders, to act with confidence or to bring benefit to the society. Power is a very tender instrument, since it can be applied improperly to suite one’s own ends. In order to promote health in the society power and empowerment can play the leading role. In other words it is the basic energy that is necessary to start the changes. According to Bailey, “it can be defined as the potential ability to influence behavior, to change the course of events, to overcome resistance and to get people do things that they would not otherwise do” (Bailey, 1999). Power is realized and applied through certain social laws, actions and even strikes. The example, in terms of health it can be the social policy of a definite state. If local hospitals will have the power to check all potential HIV carriers then the rate of the malady spread will surely go down. Another example may include the power given to the directors of organizations not set the pre-condition of non-smoking in the office. This aspect is also very important to the health promotion. Power is the best incentive for some organizations to step in. For instance there many medical institutions that just do not have power to fulfill all their plans and intentions. There is an organization that strives for treating alcoholics. It is well known in the medicine that this chronic disease is treated only with the patient’s consent. However, only a small percentage of the drunkards are going to accept them being ill. That is why this organization demands to be given the power to take such people to hospitals by force. The thing is that in this way doctors limit a patient’s freedom that is considered the most violent crime in the modern world. On the other hand such person terrorizes the whole family not allowing them to live peacefully. Mothers and wives cannot cope with the physical force of a drunken man and have only to suffer. All their exhortations result in nothing – the only way out to fight with alcoholism is to give power to medical centers to go ahead. During several decades social discrepancy, poverty, famine, and other social disaster has risen significantly. Despite the rising numberк of prosperous people in the developed countries – they constitute for about 20%, at those developed countries the number of poor people has reached the amount of 30%. “World-wide health disparities are increasing due to vulnerability to disease from severe malnutrition, rapid re-emergence of water and blood-borne infectious diseases, environmental degradation, disinvestment in the health infrastructure and violence” (Speer, 1995). Meanwhile, the strategies have become really popular among political leaders as the best way to improve the state of things in social and health care sphere. The most frequently used techniques are the ones based on participation and other bottom-up strategies. In order to apply empowerment in a proper way it is necessary to clear up the terms connected with it. Accordingn to Lukes, “empowerment is recognized both as an outcome by itself, and as an intermediate step to long-term health status and disparity outcomes” (Lukes, 1994 ). In the first case the results have been received in the form of psychological, managerial improvements. They occur in the family, school, organization, economy, politics and other levels. Many researches have proved that empowerment is really a viable strategy that brings about visible outcomes in the sphere of health promotion. The majority of research has been dedicated to empowerment of those who are considered outcasts: people having HIV, homeless, old people without financial support, prostitutions, though the issue of empowerment touches upon all strata of society. The empowerment in concern of the young generation really shows visible results. Alma-Ata meeting (1996) concerning empowerment in the sphere of health promotion resulted in the government efforts to involve citizens into this process. After thorough research carried out by the British scientists there were defined three main techniques how to increase the citizens’ participation: “the medical approach, in which health professionals foster community participation in order to reduce individual morbidity and to improve sanitation; the health service approach, in which community participation aims to mobilize people to participate in the delivery of health services; the community development approach, in which community participation aims to involve community members in decisions that are related to the improvement of the social, economic and political conditions that affect their health” (Wilson 1996 ). With some time the initial enthusiasm about the people participation calmed down and there was a sudden shift to the empowerment. In that time there were worked out two definite participation frame-works. The first frame work considered that the present day health development takes place only due to some discoveries in technology. The second approach is based on Paulo Freire’s theories that can contribute to participation in the health promotion activity. Participation can be identified as the process of empowering the poor, the disabled, and others people who need the medical aid with information, technical data and the power to take decisions about the ways of being treated. Nowadays the majority of societies exist with the systems where the authorities take all important decisions concerning medicine. After studying these two paradigms, the scientists came to the conclusion that it is even better not to oppose these two theories but to merge them together in order to cause more efficient participation. According to Nina Wallerstein, empowerment is “a social action process by which individuals, communities, and organizations gain mastery over their lives in the context of changing their social and political environment to improve equity and quality of life” (Starhawk 1987). When people who have some problems with health or those who know the problem from inside can and will contribute greatly to the resolution of the problem. Another thing is that when a person is empowered he/she is likely to change behavior and demand from others to be responsible and law abiding. There was such example set in one of the papers, that in order to fight with prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases the government empowered several ex-call-girls to influence the current ones. The result was just enormous - more than 50% of girls abandoned their craft and decided to get education and start their life from null. Speaking about knowledge it is necessary to point out that it is the greatest power in the world and it can empower those discriminated in life. Knowledge empowers you with specific education that gives you an advantage over those who are ignorant or just do not want to study. Knowledge teaches a person how to analyze, make assumptions and conclusions. When uneducated person is empowered then there might be some negative consequences. Foe example a homeless person will have power to decide upon the families that must be provided with accommodation. What he will do? He will give accommodation to all those who are in need or to those who are homeless. However, it is impossible to act without a plan, schedule and financial budget. To put it another way, it is impossible to give power to the hands of uneducated personality. If people need improvement, for instance in health promotion, then they need to bring their demands to the government. But the authorities will never hear the unorganized voice of the crowd. The result comes only, when a single person states the facts and reasons in a proper way. It possible to consider the problem of empowerment and knowledge from the other hand – a person who is rather ambitious is given power to take some decisions of average importance. At first, he may be frightened by the responsibility or by chance he may make a mistake. But in the process of work he acquires much knowledge on the issue that he is in. So, here the empowerment helps to develop the personality and education skills. Paulo Freires Educational Theory can be applied to understand empowerment and power better. According to him students are to be subjects but not objects of education. The only way to achieve this is to make students think creatively and democratically. “... there are no themes or values of which one cannot speak, no areas in which one must be silent. We can talk about everything, and we can give testimony about everything” (Friere, 1970). Reflecting on knowledge the philosopher distinguishes two types of it: the unconscious and the critical one. The latter one is acquired only through constant learning and reflecting on the material. Knowledge shouldn’t rely only on feelings or emotions or logics and facts. Knowledge should combine all these things then the proper result will take place. The main thing is that the students have to build the knowledge on that knowledge they already have; otherwise there is no use in education. The empowerment is based on knowledge and only a person who thinks creatively and never stops learning is to be empowered. The second philosopher whose theory is necessary to consider is Foucault. “Rather than looking for a deeper meaning underneath discourse or looking for the source of meaning in some transcendental subject, Foucault analyzes the discursive and practical conditions for the existence of truth and meaning” (Florin & Wandersman, 1990). He was a structuralist and perceived education as the outcome of many structural elements such as: behavior, hardworking, environment and social influence. The power, according to him, is the ability to combine all the elements having impact on us with the goal to deduct the most efficient outcome. To sum up everything stated above, it is necessary to underline that the main empowerment technique used to promote health is participation. Though, some scientists say that empowerment is more efficient than participation, because it implies not only being a member of some processes or organization but also to have responsibility for one’s decisions. Power is the greatest benefit that a person can have in life, because it make possible to have an advantage over others and to bring more use to the society. However, a person without proper knowledge will never cope with the task set even having power. So, it is very important to be well educated in order not to make things worse. Bibliography 1.Bailey, D 1999. “Using participatory research in community consortia development and evaluation: lessons from the beginning of a story”. American Sociologist, 23 (4), 71-82. 2. Bookman, A., & Morgen, S. (Eds.) 1984. “Women and the politics of empowerment”. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 3. Chavis, D., & Wandersman, A 1990. “Sense of community in the urban environment: A catalyst for participation and community development”. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18 (1), 55-81. 4. 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