This study examines how two community art programs in Brazil have empowered participants through art practice. The programs are contextualized historically and theoretically to address how program participants from varying social, cultural, and economic backgrounds, are prepared to be responsible world citizens. / text

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This study aims to establish the knowledge and learning needs of parents with toddlers in order to formulate guidelines for a pro-active parental support programme. The topic represents a response to the need for information and skills expressed by numerous parents in the researcher's private practice. Contemporary parents continue to be confronted by the significance of the responsibility of parenthood. They also continue to experience learning deficiencies regarding their role as parents in spite of living in an age of information and technology. Intervention research was undertaken. The principal findings of this investigation were the following: parents participating in this investigation expressed the need for guidance that take into account two specific factors, namely that the program should be based on a Christian perspective and that the guidance should take the specific developmental phase of the child into consideration - the toddler phase in this case. Themes were also identified that these parents would like to see included in such a programme. These were: discipline, developmental phase, moral values and character development, emotional needs of toddlers, parental involvement in children's play, the uniqueness of every child, conflict management and communication, parental style, children and marriage, and aspects in the adult's world with a negative impact upon parental status. These themes were used as guidelines to compile a prototype parental support programme. This program was subjected to a pilot study involving three separate groups of parents. Guidelines were continuously evaluated and adapted where necessary. A final global evaluation confirmed the suitability of the program for further development and testing. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Since colonization, Indigenous women in Chiapas have occupied very disadvantaged social positions, characterized by ethnic, gender and class-based oppression. However, during the last thirty five years, important social dynamics have taken place which have driven women to perceive themselves as the main actors of social transformation, and to start participating in planning and development efforts at a household and community level. Building on the ideas of Paulo Freire and Pierre Bourdieu, oppression is understood as a dynamic where the oppressed are also implicated by, among other things, the involuntary body adhesion to oppression, experienced as shame, fear and silence. Therefore, the main focus of this research is the processes by which women achieved to exercise the internal capability to speak out; as well as how this new ability has been critical in order to have transformative agency, by having a meaningful participation in planning, agency and decision-making in the different spheres of their private and public life. The main findings of this thesis arise from six month of field research. With a phenomenological and hermeneutic approach, seventeen Indigenous and ten non-Indigenous women participated through in-depth interviews and focus groups. Participatory observation and a validation workshop were also undertaken. Findings are related, first, to women’s participation in group processes, by which, on the one hand, they achieved to generate critical-reflective awareness, denaturalizing oppression, and, on the other hand, they removed embodied oppressive dispositions by retraining their bodies through dialogue and corporal techniques. Second, praxis of liberation aroused from reflection, with no need of a mechanistic plan informed by efficient and effective predetermined justifications. Praxis of liberation took the form of practical wisdom and wise judgment for the achievement of good life.

The purpose of this study was to compare indicators of female empowerment gathered in the Demographic Health Survey, conducted in India as the National Family Health Survey. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a country-wide, nationally representative survey that collects important information on household characteristics, health information, and other topics, such as family planning. Two different years, NFHS-2 in 1999 and NFHS-3 in 2006, of the NFHS were compared to examine areas of progress, change, or lack of change in the selected indicators of female empowerment. Specifically, the level of decision-making and autonomy was assessed through the questions located in the Women’s Questionnaire of the NFHS. These data sets from NFHS-2 and NFHS-3 were used in this research. Two specific questions were selected as indicators of the level of independent decision-making for currently married women who participated in the survey. These questions pertained to the decision on personal healthcare and the ability to choose independently to stay with relatives. The logistical regression model revealed a positive change in the level of decision-making between the two survey years, with the range of odds ratios being 0.90 to 1.36. The largest difference occurred in the rural residents. In both measures, the youngest women had the smallest percentage of individuals with high autonomy and mobility. Overall, the study revealed an increase in the decision-making power of women but the majority of women still lack a high degree of freedom and autonomy.

Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva hur sjuksköterskor inom äldreomsorgen skattar sin arbetssituation utifrån strukturell- och psykologisk empowerment, arbetstillfredsställelse, upplevd hälsa, vårdkvalitet samt chefs- och ledarskap. Vidare var syftet att studera skillnader och samband mellan ovan nämnda faktorer utifrån subgruppers (ålder, yrkesverksamma år, heltid/deltidsarbete och uttag av kompetensutvecklingsdagar) skattningar. Under 2011 – 2012 besvarades fyra standardiserade frågeformulär av 79 äldrevårdssjuksköterskor i fem kommuner i Mellansverige. Resultatet visade att sjuksköterskor som var 50 år eller yngre upplevde att de fick mer kritik än äldre sjuksköterskor. Deltidsarbetande sjuksköterskor skattade sig ha lägre grad av informell makt samt lägre grad av stress än heltidsarbetande sjuksköterskor. Sjuksköterskor inom äldreomsorgen som hade arbetat 12 år eller kortare ansåg sig besitta högre grad av möjligheter, global empowerment, personlig utveckling och samarbetsförmåga. Uttag av kompetensutvecklingsdagar visade sig ge ökad upplevelse av psykologisk empowerment, strukturell empowerment, arbetstillfredsställelse och LaMI. Positiva samband identifierades mellan upplevelsen av arbetstillfredsställelse och skalorna total LaMI, total CWEQ och total psykologisk empowement, samt mellan total CWEQ och skalorna total LaMI och total psykologisk empowerment.

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<p>The thesis hopes to augment this focus by exploring the multitude of discourses women make in terms of oppression, resilience being one such possible response. It is proposed that the research may expand on existing literature, offering an alternative perspective as to why women often remain in abusive relationships. Furthermore, the rationale of the thesis is to contest the notion that women who remain in domestically violent relationships do so for underlying pathological reasons.</p>

This case-study was conducted in Babati Town in Tanzania and examines what motivates women to go to secondary school and the goals that they have with their education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 young women and a content analysis was conducted on the interview narratives. Motivation plays a vital role for being able to accomplish and perform well in education and to improve future life. Maslow’s theory of motivation, the needs hierarchy, is used to examine how the women’s motivations can be viewed. The concept of empowerment is used to examine if the women are motivated by empowerment. The results of this study show that control over their own life is a primary motivation for the women as well as having an income and a job. The results are connected to previous research showing that the goals of having a stable income and attracting a well-educated partner are primary motivations. The women are primarily motivated by the higher levels of Maslow’s needs hierarchy, i.e. the esteem needs and the study shows that women’s motivations can be connected to empowerment. The study also connects Maslow’s needs hierarchy and empowerment to development.