A presentation at Heritage University @ CBC Week 03 in in Pasco, WA 99301, USA by Jacob Campbell
Time: Wednesday’s from 5:30-8:15
Date: 01/27/21
Content: Theoretical and Philosophical Foundations to Groups part II
Reading Assignment: Garvin et al. (2017) Chapters 4-6
Due Dates:
[Whole Class Activity] Watch the Pinky and the Brain video clip.
The readings for this week were about empowerment theory, ethics, and social justice. Whenever I think about those subjects I also get the feeling that we have to find ways to take over the world.
Empowerment, Advocacy, and Leadership Activity 1 taken from (http://berkstransition.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/activity1.pdf)
Description: In this activity, approximately 1/3 of the participants will be given a lollipop. Each participant with a lollipop can voice their ideas and are “empowered,” while people without lollipops do not have a voice and are seen as tokens.
Purpose: This activity can demonstrate the importance of empowerment and making sure that everyone is self-determined and has a voice.
Recommended Group Size: any size of group Estimated time: 15-20 minutes
Activity Summary: As participants are being seated (or prior to the activity), hand out lollipops to every third or fourth person (after the activity others can also have the lollipops). Participants musts be informed that the lollipops are for an activity and to wait to eat them. In this activity, participants with lollipops are people with a voice, who are empowered, and whose ideas are seen as valuable; while the participants without lollipops are seen as tokens who are not seen as having valuable ideas. This activity is meant to demonstrate the importance of empowerment and establishing your voice.
Leader Instructions with a Draft Script of Directions: . Below there are key words that should be included in the introduction and conclusion.
~Key Points~
State that you will be discussing how to best assist youth with disabilities with $1 million and want ideas from everyone
~Concluding Points and Discussion Questions~
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will” — Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
So what is empowerment, what does it mean?
[Small Group Activity] Have class break up into small groups (partners or trios) and come up with a definition for what empowerment
Robbins, S. C. Chatterjee, P., Canda, E. R.(2006) Contemporary human behavior theory: a critical perspective for social work. University of Michigan: Pearson/A and B
There are some primary principals of empowerment theory in general, not just in how it relates to working with groups.
The first step in empowerment theory is the empowering of the client. This means helping them to gain self-efficacy. This can be done by the following:
The second step in empowerment theory is connecting the client to the “bigger picture.” This means helping them to gain a critical consciousness about oppression and obstacles. Some examples of this are as follows:
The third step in empowerment theory is creating larger social change. The following are some possible ideas:
The following are the parts of doing empowerment theory with groups or in mezzo practice. It really closely aligns with steps two and three of the micro practice.
Planning is the basis of any process. There are some criteria that are important to consider when planning.
The Consciousness-Raising stage is when collaborative action really starts.
When we move on to the actual implementation and making changes in the community or other locations is where things get really exciting.
The final stage is around embeddeness and is post action stage.
To provide an example of this, I want to share a little bit about one of my colleagues at the University of the California Institute of Integral Studies. Last spring I was in California for our Residential Intensive for my program, and I attended her dissertation defense.
Montgomery Di Marco, A. (2020). How a group of refugee-immigrant women living in the diaspora in Metro-Vancouver define flourishing and experience participatory-hospitality: A feminist participatory action research project California Institute of Integral Studies.
[Small Group Activity] Thinking about using empowerment in relationship to students at Heritage and Potential needs. Start the planning of what a social action group might look like.
[Whole Class Activity] Discuss what are some potential ethical dilemmas that could come up in relationship to groups.
The tasks to do in the event of an ethical dilemma is to:
Talk about each value
[Small Group Activity] Break up into groups and have talk about how you would know that you have these values within a group.
Week three students read through chapters four, five, and six of the Garvin textbook. These include chapters focused on Brenton (2017) and empowerment perspective in groups, Barksy and Northern (2017) and ethics and values in group work, and finally, Ortega (2017) social justice practice. To start the class session, we will be completing an activity to demonstrate power dynamics, talk about empowerment perspective, and do an activity related to social justice.
Reference
Barsky, A. E., & Northen, H. (2017). Chapter 05 - Ethics and values in group work. In C. D. Garvin, L. M. Gutierrez, & M. J. Galinsky_Handbook of Social Work with Groups_ (pp. 74-93). The Guilford Press.
Breton, M. (2017). Chapter 04 - An empowerment perspective. In C. D. Garvin, L. M. Gutierrez, & M. J. Galinsky_Handbook of Social Work with Groups_ (pp. 55-75). The Guilford Press.
Ortega, R. M. (2017). Chapter 06 - Group work and socially just practice. In C. D. Garvin, L. M. Gutierrez, & M. J. Galinsky_Handbook of Social Work with Groups_ (pp. 93-110). The Guilford Press.