Analyses of Empowering the Adults with Learning Disabilities - Assignment Example

Analyses of Empowering the Adults with Learning Disabilities Introduction: This study focuses on the concept and the appropriate definition of empowerment of the beneficiaries of the social works. To make this point clear this study focuses on the vulnerable adults with learning disability and a paradigm will be structured to empower them to take their decisions and to overcome the problem they face. The assessment that is done will establish what theory the social worker will take. The historical review of the concept of empowerment is also discussed to have the explicit understanding of this still hazy idea. What is Power To understand empowerment of the users of social work it is also essential to discuss first what is meant by power and to see what are its affects on the people with whom the social workers work The most important question is to know how we can use power for the benefit of people. Thompson (2003) sees power as, "the ability to influence and control people, events processes or resources". The positive side of power enables things to be done and the negative side is abusive and destructive. It is useful to look at the concept "of being in power within a theoretical frame work. Allen (2000) and Thompson (2003) both refer to Weberian concept and idea of Foucault to explain power." In contrast to this concept power is a guiding force also which can be exerted for the benefits of the disadvantaged segment of the society. Brotherton (2008) is of the view that power is all around and we are fully encompassed as every organization works as bureaucratic organization within an obvious hierarchal structure. Therefore, to enable people to participate in assessing the work, which is done for their benefit, and to make them confidence to have their say in decision making is also the facet of power. Review of the Literature: The concept of empowerment in the context of social work has been fluid one and some analysts opine that this word has become a buzz word in the scenario of social work. Empowerment and advocacy are both concerned with a shift of power or emphasis towards meeting the needs and rights of people who otherwise would be marginalized or oppressed. Beyond this generalization, the concepts of empowerment and advocacy are not simple and as such are almost impossible to define. Where the term 'empowerment' is used it often covers a whole range of activities from consulting with service users to involvement in service planning. Leadbetter, (2002, p. 201) This analysis of empowerment emphasizes on the consultation with service users and it calls for the need of involvement of the beneficiaries who are the marginalized segment of the society. The International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and International Federation of social Work while defining the empowerment, stresses on the principles of human rights and social justice to truly empower the users for this definition believes in the fact that empowering the marginalized is to liberate them. But it does not explain the scope of the word of liberation in the context of social works. The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human behaviors and social systems, social work intervenes at points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work. (IASSW, 2001, emphasis added) Gillen (1994) is of the view that empowerment is a blend of the moral principle of beneficence and the respect for autonomy. The issue of social justice and equality also come in its sphere. It is observed by Graham (2008) that the issue of moral principle is compatible to Kantian principle of respecting people as to make their decisions and choices about their lives and moreover, it is also compatible with 'doing the greater good, particularly when the greater good to care the need of people while providing them the services. (Brotherton, 2008) Payne (1997), who has given a good definition of empowerment, says, Empowerment aims to use specific strategies to reduce, eliminate, combat and reverse negative valuations by powerful groups in society affecting certain individuals and social groups. All the discussions above aim at that the moral principles of the social workers are essential to realize the empowerment of the users of the social works. Empowerment and Social Works: Social workers work with people that are often disadvantaged in some way. They may come from different backgrounds, cultures and from different economic and social structure, they may feel that they are not empowered and may feel discriminated against. Social workers assist people in gaining control over their lives, helping them to become better prepared to deal with the problems and challenges they face, especially those that involve seeking to counter or overcome discrimination and oppression (Thompson, 1998). As our focus is the empowerment of adults with learning disabilities it is pertinent here to have distinction between adult and children as service users. White Paper, Caring for People (Department of Health 1990) makes it clear that "community cares means providing the services and supports which people who are affected by the problems of aging, mental illness, mental handicap or physical or sensory disability need." To overcome these negativities the social worker must put in place strategies that can empower the service user to the best of their ability. (Thompson, 2000) The task- centered approach starts with the easiest order to boost confidence and establishes a basis of success. (Thompson, 2006). This will empower the service user and this recognizes the need for problem solving to be a partnership effort between service user and social worker (Healy, 1957). By showing respect, unconditional regard and empathy for a service user, it can make them feel equal. This in turn will help them to attain their goals and control of their lives. It is clear that social workers deal with diverse groups of people within society, who can be seen as having little power a typical example of this is people who are old. The central part and value of task-centered practice are partnership and empowerment. (Hanvey & Philpot, 1994) Two or more people cooperate to form a partnership to achieve the common goal. But this partnership is not equal because the power, role and responsibilities are different. Actually partnership in task-centered approach focuses on the fact that the users of the social work are the 'best authority on their problems. (Hanvey & Philpot, 1994) Psychoanalytical approach suggests it '[requires] a paradigm shift to allow emotional and conceptual change.' (Sinason, 1994) In the past the psychoanalytical strategy to deal with the learning disabilities of the adults was rejected on the ground that the client centered therapy would not be helpful for the problem of learning disabilities. Carl Roger (1957). The misconception was that this therapy, particularly talking treatment, needed a high intellect notwithstanding the fact that it was proven that such treatment required emotional intelligence instead of cognitive functioning (Sinason, 1994: Corbett et al, 1996) But Sinason herself agrees that it is a time consuming process and as Oliver et al (1987) only '12 out of 596 children and adults who were seriously self-injuring were receiving psychological treatment.' Among the most influential education thinkers of the 20th century, Paulo Friere emphasized on the importance of dialogue in education as he was very critical of the traditional approaches, which to him, were one way approaches and did not benefit the passive recipients. Friere is in favor of the change of the circumstances of the disadvantaged and it requires clear commitment to values and action, which is called praxis. It is to make clear to the recipient that the values, they were brought up, were the real cause of the hindrance in their learning. Since values are, "belief, ideas and assumptions that individual and groups hold about themselves and the society they live in." (Ebby. 2000) It is also important that the social workers also approach the problem with the clear understanding of their moral principles. If they themselves are prejudiced about the beneficiaries' abilities then the problem remained unsolved and the efforts do not bear fruit. The anti-discrimination practice and anti-oppressive practice also demand the same approach as discussed in the above deliberations. It won't be far fetched to discuss these approaches in detail to assess the appropriateness of the stratagem of these approaches to deal with the problem of the adults facing disability in their learning process. Anti Discrimination Practice: This approach stresses on various ways to counter the discrimination against individuals or groups. Discrimination can be on the bases of racism, sexism (gender), and aging and on class. In 1960s' and 1970s' social workers worked to aware people of the discrimination and inequality in the class based society causing hindrances in the betterment of the users of the social work. The decade of 80s' is the age of awareness about the gender and racial inequalities. In short the emphases was laid on that the social workers, policies and theories in this context must consider the issues of discrimination in the broader range encompassing all the issues discussed above. This approach of dealing with social problems requires the shunning away the traditional approaches. The main focus was on the concept of power which was misused to exploit the underlings consequently the need arose to empower the affected to counter the abusive power of the powerful people of the society. A key element of this approach is language for language is the medium which reflects discrimination and it helps to instill discrimination as for example the use of masculine expression is to exclude women from the society. The basic function of this approach is to promote the sense of equality and social justice in the society and it is value based. But it does not mean that it is a separate social work theory rather it changes the value stance to focus on to eliminate social inequalities from the society. Anti Oppressive Practice: This approach focuses on the experiences of the oppressed people. It is the analyses of power, discrimination and inequality to see how these factors determine the structure of the social structure. Anti-oppressive is based on the belief that those people who have been oppressed and deprived in the past can become powerful to control their lives and can assert their rights to become the active member of the society. The Consumer Empowerment Strategy to overcome the problem of disability of learning: Gregg and Phillips (1996) came up with the concept of 'consumer empowerment' to deal with the problem. This term is not new for the social workers. During 1960s, special education specialists started acknowledging the importance of the greater consumer input in policy decisions. The upsurge of this demand was witnessed in the United States after the Viet Nam war when too many demands were made on the government to provide shelter and to provide rehabilitation centers for the war affected people. The 1994 election made it clear to the policy makers that the consumers be listened to avoid the turmoil on the political scene. Emener (1991) had a model to examine empowerment in all key factors. The term key factors included (a) system (b) professionals (c) families and (d) clients. The reevaluation of the concept of power and values of consumers and professionals is the prerequisite to achieve the maximum from this strategy. The consumer is also required to reexamine the past and future performances and methodologies to deal with families, system and most importantly to deal with, themselves. (Gregg and Phillips, 1996). So, the emphasis is on the willingness of self-reflection proactive change. (Hahn, 1986). Conclusion: This study brings out that to enable the adults to overcome their disability in learning is only possible when the social workers encourage the discriminated to re-evaluate their sense of value and the strategy, formulated, must be based to encourage the willing self-reflection of the user to promote the sense of participation among them . The focal point of the essay is that there are no authenticated strategies to follow to over come this problem and no strategy can be effective unless the power structure of the society is changed and discriminatory policies are reviewed. As Freiere suggested that it needs change in the environment which promotes the values of equality and social justice. The social work also needs to reassess his/her sense of value and it is essential that the social workers must be above all prejudices and do not succumb to assert the wrong notion of power i.e. abusive. Their role should be encouraging and empathetic to the problems of the underlings. Bibliography 1- Brotherton, Graham & Parker, Steven. Your Foundation in Health and Social Care. A Guide for Foundation Degree. London: SAGE Publications Inc, 2008 2- Department of Health. Caring for People: Community Care in Next Decade and Beyond. London: HMSO, 1990. 3- Ebby, C.D. Learning to Teach Mathematics differently: The Interaction between Course Work and Field Work for Perspective Teachers. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. 3, 69-67 4- Friere, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. NY: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. 2006 5- Gregg, Noel & Phillips, Carolyn. Empowering Network of Inclusion, Collaboration and Self-Acceptance. Adults with Learning Disabilities. Ed: Noel Gregg & Cheri Hoy. NY: The Guildford Press, 1996 7. Hanvey, P. Christopher. Philpot, Terry. Practising Social Work. London: Routledge, 1994. . Read More