|
Title
|
|
|
|
Taking the measure : a participatory approach to measuring and monitoring psychological empowerment in social work practices
|
|
|
Author
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
| For years, the professional field has been searching for methods that could be used to chart the effectiveness of social services. Social workers report that their current systems for registration and measurement do not provide an accurate reflection of their practice. The measurement of client empowerment might offer an alternative method that could improve the evaluation of social services. This method links the need for measuring instruments to the paradigm of empowerment, which has shaped contemporary social work. A scale for measuring psychological empowerment was developed in consultation with social workers and people in poverty, based on validated and reliable measurement scales. It was subsequently tested in two Public Centres for Social Welfare in Flanders (Belgium). Results of confirmatory factor analysis indicate that the measurement model provides a good fit for the data and that the various latent factors are reliable and valid. We conclude that the factors emerging from the factor analysis reflect the three dimensions that form the concept of psychological empowerment: the intrapsychic, interpsychic and behavioural components. Results from the post-test survey indicate that this measurement instrument is promising, and that it could offer a response to current needs, although additional efforts are needed in order to improve the instrument's handling. |
|
|
|
Language
|
|
|
|
English
|
|
|
Source (journal)
|
|
|
|
European journal of social work. - Oxford
|
|
|
Publication
|
|
|
|
Oxford
:
2017
|
|
|
ISSN
|
|
|
|
1369-1457
[print]
1468-2664
[online]
|
|
|
DOI
|
|
|
|
10.1080/13691457.2016.1255878
|
|
|
Volume/pages
|
|
|
|
20
:4
(2017)
, p. 522-535
|
|
|
ISI
|
|
|
|
000406101200007
|
|
|
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
|
|
|
|
|
|